“I don’t want you worried about Wayne.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” he said.
“Older people. Well, sometimes they need a visit away from home, or fresh air, or even a day or two in the hospital. But I’m sure he’s fine.”
“That’s not exactly reassuring. What do you mean: the hospital?”
“I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I’m sure he’s with friends somewhere.”
“Enemies is more like it,” he told his pancakes, quietly enough that she couldn’t hear.
“Your cell phone buzzed.”
“What? When?”
“While you were sleeping. Just now. A text I think. A short buzz.”
He’d left it charging the night before amid the sea of wires and wall warts at the end of the kitchen counter. He extracted it and unlocked the keypad.
“Hey, where’s the rat?” Finn said.
“You will not call your sister derogatory names. Not in this house, young man.”
“Student council,” he said, answering his own question. “Dad dropped her?”
“Uh-huh.”
jess crosd ovr lst nite. finishd her dream…cll me-pby
“Anything important?”
“Huh?” Finn stuffed the phone into his pocket. “No. Nothing. Just stuff. Boy stuff. You know?”
“Boy stuff as in boy-and-girl stuff?”
It was all his mother could think about. He was supposed to be the one thinking about girls, but he could have sworn that she spent ten times more time than he did thinking about all that stuff. He barely thought about girls at all—except Jess and Amanda, and they didn’t count. Not exactly, anyway.
“Just stuff.”
“No more of that Kingdom Keepers nonsense. We’re clear on that, young man. Yes?”
“You’ve made yourself very clear on that,” he said, dodging yet another straight answer. Three in one morning. That was close to a record. He didn’t want to push it. She was the one who always told him to quit while he was ahead.
“I think I’ll ride my bike, if it’s okay. Maybe I’ll walk Amanda home today, if you wouldn’t mind?”
As expected, she practically exploded. “Mind? Why would I mind? What a lovely idea, Finn. You could ask her for dinner if you wanted.”
How could he bring a girl home for dinner with his mother analyzing every word spoken, every gesture? She treated him like a lab rat.
“Maybe so,” he said, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
He’d just bought himself at least two hours after school, but he walked calmly to his bike, not wanting to appear too anxious.
He successfully flew beneath his mother’s radar. He pedaled as fast as his bike would carry him. Jess had crossed over, confirming that Philby had successfully installed her—and presumably Amanda too—onto the DHI server. Their mission at the Studios had been a success. She’d apparently finished her dream of Wayne while crossed over.
He couldn’t wait to see whatever she’d sketched.
He one-handed the bike and called Philby, reaching him on the second ring.
18
SCHOOL COULD SEEM ENDLESS. Days could stretch out for an eternity, as if someone had put weights on all the hands of every clock, slowing them down. This must be how prisoners look at clocks, Finn thought, the days stretching out impossibly long, compounding their incarceration. He felt like a prisoner himself, knowing what lay ahead when the bell rang and the doors opened.
Amanda was waiting for him at the bottom of the steps.
“Jess crossed over last night.”
“I heard. And you?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Oh, you’d know, believe me. But that’s strange. Was it into Epcot?”
“Yes.”
“Then Philby got it right.”
“I suppose.”
He walked his bike, Amanda alongside him.
“I could sit on the bar, you know,” she said. “It would be faster.”
Finn’s throat tightened. If she sat on the bike’s top bar it was going to be cozy—real cozy.
“What about your bag?” he asked, looking for an excuse to prevent this from happening.
“I can put it with yours. Unless you don’t want me to….”
Trapped. “No, that’s okay. Sure. I guess.” He held the bike for her, steadying it.
She slipped onto the bar, held the handlebars and waited for Finn to mount the saddle. Amanda was tall, and it suddenly felt as if she were sitting in his lap. Her left shoulder was touching his chest, and her long, dark hair tickled his chin.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he said, their faces nearly touching, his voice sounding like air leaking from a balloon. “Why don’t you take the saddle?”