Unfortunately, when Wren asked Lydia the next day if she wanted help studying for her final exams, she abandoned all efforts on the holding cells and turned them to pouring through her textbooks. She cursed her forgetfulness and that it was Friday, leaving the weekend to cram for a week’s worth of tests. Through much of that time, she studied and memorized all she could. She only managed to keep her promise to Cooper once to check in on Nina. It had been when Cooper was visiting her, so Lydia quietly left them alone.
Wren proved a distraction that weekend instead of a helpful tutor, but Lydia welcomed the breaks for conversation and enjoyed watching her silly antics in between intense study sessions. At times, her sessions went well into the night, fueled by energy drinks and soda. The only other breaks were in the form of training sessions, when Ryan and Wren listened enthralled to her recant the daring escape on the plane.
“That sounds so awesome! I want to be an agent and do that!” Ryan said, reenacting it by swinging around while Wren fired ice bullets at him.
Aidan and Jando were in the same position as she was. All three spent the next week taking make-up exams and studying for upcoming ones. They barely had enough time for training, which for Lydia meant more focus on her tailing targets. “You’re getting better,” Sylvia said, catching her when Lydia lost her for only a moment, “but you still need practice.”
Worse still, they almost couldn’t squeeze in time to witness more of Heather’s interrogations. Sylvia conducted the questioning again, and again left empty-handed. She received the same results all week, no matter how easy or harsh she was in the session. Gary had a little more luck. “Heather hates this mystery person with a passion,” he said. “In my opinion, she wants them dead.”
“Then why not tell us about them?” Lydia asked.
“She fears this person, too,” he said, stroking his beard and checking his notes. “More than she lets on. Heather is desperate to stay hidden from whoever it is.”
“Isn’t she already?” Lydia waved her arms at the holding cell hall. “We’re in a secret area of an underground government facility! You can’t get more hidden than that.”
Gary had no answers to explain the rationale. Lydia pondered what Heather’s reasoning could be, but she put it aside for the time being. That would be one of the many questions she would ask when she confronted Heather. It had to be soon. According to Arthur, they had to turn Heather over to the FBI that month. “Maybe they’ll get something out of her,” he said.
When the week came to an end, Lydia wanted to collapse. The late nights and caffeine overload threatened to bowl her over. It was with welcome relief she penciled in the final question on her math exam, the very last exam, on Friday afternoon. Despite starting late on studying as well as the brutal nature of the make-up exams, she felt confident she had come out on top overall.
She rose and handed in her test to the teacher. “Thank you, Ms. Penner,” he said. The only other student in the room followed her, handing in his test as well. But when the teacher grabbed it, the stapled papers stuck to the student’s hand. The teacher and student pulled apart, but the test clung to the student by a trail of sticky slime.
The student yanked suddenly and the slime snapped, the papers tearing and scattering everywhere. His hand smacked his face and stuck there, no matter how hard he pried at it. Part of a test was trapped between his hand and face. He bent down to help the teacher pick up the papers but was waved off. “No, no. I’ll handle this, Mr. Friedman.” The student pulled at the trapped piece and it ripped further. “It’s alright. I can read most of your answer for that question. Thank you.”
The student left, tugging at the piece and at his hand, and Lydia headed to the mail room. Aidan was there, reading through his letters. “How do you think you did?” he asked. The mail clerk handed Lydia a couple of envelopes. One from her mother and one from Dariela.
“I think I did alright,” she said, walking to the dormitories with Aidan. “How about you?”
“Eh, I think I passed English, but I’m not so sure about Chemistry.”
“Well, at least it’s over,” she said. “Now we can watch the holding cells. Figure something out.” Today, she was too exhausted. She wanted to watch the cells, but dinner was soon, and she figured a fresh start bright and early was better.
“Arthur will expect you to try and sneak in,” he pointed out.
“I’m sure,” she said. “That’s why I’ll need you and Jando to help watch it and plan something.”
“He might expect us, too.”
“Not as much as he would me.”
“How do we watch it then?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure yet. Jando could hide us, but he would still be visible. I don’t know.”
“We can pretend to show an interest in interrogation techniques and learn more about the security,” he suggested.
“That’d work. And I can watch the outside when I visit Cooper, see who goes in and out, and when, since it’s close to his pool. I’ve been visiting him anyway, so no one will be the wiser. Maybe he can keep watch, too.”
“Sounds good. Although we might be too busy to sneak in right away,” he said as they reached the dormitories.
“Why’s that?”
He fanned one of his letters to her. “Dariela and your mom are coming up here next week.”
“What?” Lydia asked. She looked closer at his letter. It was postmarked from her friend. At the bottom, Dariela had signed it with a “Love ya.” Her arm twitched. “Why are they coming early?”
“Dariela’s going on a trip with her parents this summer. Wants to come visit before she leaves,” he said. “As for your mom, I don’t know. Figured she may as well come at the same time?”
Lydia ripped open her letters. The one from Dariela confirmed what Aidan told her. A trip to Europe for the whole month. Sounds nice. Her mother’s letter explained that she soon be swamped with plenty of work, and this was the best opportunity to squeeze in a visit.
“I’ll let Jando know about our ideas when he gets in,” Aidan said, bounding up the stairs.
Lydia nodded and climbed to her room, numb frustration building up. Wren bounced off her bed and into Lydia’s face. “So, how did it go? Did you ace it?” Lydia pushed past her and fell onto her bed, tossing the letters on her pillow. “That hard, huh? I know! How about I run down and get some movies and we’ll have a movie night after dinner. Sound good?”
Lydia mumbled incoherently. Why did Aidan and Dariela’s relationship affect her so much? Because it seems so wrong. But why should that matter? Maybe she needed to talk to Dariela about it.
Wren sat next to her and shook her shoulders. “Hey, what’s up? Did something happen?”
“It’s nothing,” Lydia said, turning her head. Her tulip had finally decided to sprout and bloom. A small pleasure, but it helped and made her a little happy. If she looked close, a tinge of red peeked out from the slowly opening petals.
“C’mon. You can tell me.”
She sighed. “My mom and Dariela are coming next week.”
“And that’s,” Wren asked, examining her roommate’s face, “bad?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s…,” Lydia rubbed her cheek. How did she explain this when she couldn’t explain it to herself? “It’s Dariela and Aidan.”
“What about them?”
“They’ve been getting really close,” she said. “Writing letters to each other, saying ‘I love you,’ and it’s just, I don’t know, weird.”
Wren nodded. “Yeah, I see what you mean.” Lydia cocked an eyebrow. Did she? “I mean, Aidan actually being romantic. Who knew?” She nudged Lydia’s side and grinned.
“No, it’s more than that. It just feels off.”
“Well, what do you expect? If they like each other, that’s what couples do,” Wren said.
“I know. But not them. I didn’t expect it to go this far. They shouldn’t be doing this.” She gripped her pillow and pulled at it, ripping the seams.
r /> “You’re saying they should be with someone else?” Wren asked.
“Yes.” Then she paused. “I think. I don’t know. All I know is that he’s not Dariela’s type. She should be with someone else. There’s plenty of guys at her school she could date.”
“And Aidan? Who should he be with?”
“Me.” Lydia and the room froze. A calm before the storm of epiphanies and dumbfounded shock slammed into her mind with unyielding force. Her? The first answer out of her mouth without thinking and she named herself? That was the reason for all these mixed emotions since those two began dating?
She wanted Aidan.
Oh, crap!
The more the thought processed, the more it made sense but was no less unbelievable. How? When? When did this happen? Millions of similar questions raced around and none helped clarify things. At some point in time, she had started to care for Aidan more than she thought, and now she was caught in a pit of jealousy. Jealous. Over Aidan. Aidan. She shook her head.
“What was that?”
Time resumed and Lydia looked up. Oh, crap. She had forgotten about Wren. The girl had the biggest, toothiest smile that anyone could manage, and her eyes were alight, as if fireworks exploded behind them.
“Nah,” Lydia hastily added. “He should be with Mina.”
Wren tilted her head, her expression unchanging. “And who’s this Mina?”
“Just some girl from my old school,” she said. “Sort of like him, you know.”
“No, I don’t know,” Wren said, inching closer. “Tell me about,” she stuck her face in hers, “Mina.”
“She’s just an example,” Lydia said. “You asked for one. There you go.”
“Funny how you didn’t name any names for Dariela,” she said smugly. She hummed and turned her head upside down. “Very funny. Hmm? Hmmm? This Mina, that wouldn’t happen to be a middle name, would it? Is she a brunette, about yay tall, green eyes, and are her initials L.P.?”
Lydia rolled off the bed and muttered, “I’m going for a walk.” She shut the door behind her and headed to the first floor of the building. She stopped at the exit doors and spun around. Where should she go? She didn’t really know what to do with this revelation. The worst part was that her feelings now had a name, and they were directed at two good close friends. It seethed and festered in her chest when she thought about them together. She didn’t want to be bitter at them. At the same time, she couldn’t change what she realized about Aidan. She was lightheaded. This was just what she needed, right as she was planning to break into the holding cells to grill Heather. And it wasn’t like she could push it away like a distraction. She had tried that already, and this situation kept cropping up, more intense each time.
Why, of all times, did this have to manifest when she was dealing with something big? Why did Dariela and Aidan start dating? Why not a few months down the road when things were less hectic?
She mushed her face in her palms and puffed out a sigh, sitting down on the stairway. Why did they get together in the first place? They’re not each other’s type! Although how could she be so sure with this bias? I know he’s not Dariela’s type. That’s for sure. She had known her for years, and people don’t change their taste that much.
The thought clicked in her mind. Aidan definitely wasn’t the kind of guy Dariela usually dated. And their relationship had moved too fast. Way too fast for Aidan. He wasn’t the kind to jump into a relationship like theirs and already be at this stage, was he? The whole thing smelled rotten to Lydia.
Aidan says it’s not a rebound, Lydia thought. Then what? The memory of Dariela and her in the game room flashed past her eyes. Dariela had been asking if there was something between her and Aidan. Could…Could Dariela have seen it before I did? And she did this to draw out jealousy? To make me realize it? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Lydia bet Aidan’s letters were actually reports to Dariela, telling her how well their little scheme of manipulating Lydia was working.
And I’ll bet it was all Dariela’s idea. It sounds like her. She probably planned that kiss in the game room and knew Lydia was there all along. All this frustration because of Dariela. Oh, you clever little sneak. I’m onto you. She could confront Aidan, but he would likely deny it. Dariela would as well.
I need proof. But where could she get proof? She smiled. The letters. Surely those told everything.
She raced upstairs to Aidan’s room and knocked on the door. He answered, surprised to see her. “What’s up?”
Her mind blanked. She needed some excuse to enter. She couldn’t just ask to see his letters. “Uh, I was wondering if,” she ran through a list of things to ask for, “if you have any toilet paper. Wren needs some.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure.” He opened the door wider. “Come on in. Give me a minute.”
“Okay,” she said. While he was in the bathroom connecting his room to that of his neighbors, she scanned his dorm. Like her dorm, there were posters on either wall, denoting bands and movies they liked, and scattered textbooks on each side from studying. The furniture was a replica of hers, like every dorm room. Two beds, two dressers, nightstand for each bed, the latter of which she checked first. She pulled open drawers, but found nothing except stationary, envelopes, and a Bible. All the standard items provided by the BEP Division.
She straightened as Aidan returned, twirling a roll of toilet paper on his finger. “Here you go,” he said, handing it to her.
“Thanks,” she said. She bit her lip and eyed his dresser. Maybe his letters were buried under some clothes?
“Was there something else?”
“Yes,” she said. “Do you have any conditioner? We’re running a bit low.”
“Uh, I’ll check,” he said. Alone again, Lydia dashed to the dresser and pulled out drawers, pushing clothes aside. There had to be some letters there. There had to. But there was nothing. No sign of them.
“Is rejuvenating hair conditioner alright?” Aidan asked from the bathroom.
She turned around. She had almost forgot about him in her haste. “Do you have any for frizzy hair?”
“I think.” There was a thump as he searched. She pounded her head, trying to think of where the letters would be. Under his bed and the dresser? Nothing under there. She yanked her hair in frustration and gave up. Wherever he’d hidden the letters, she would need more time to search.
Dariela will be coming next week, she reminded herself. I’ll weasel the truth out of her then.
She climbed to her feet as Jando entered. He passed Lydia, tugging off his shirt and throwing it on the bed, his defined back exposed to her. Aidan came out of the bathroom, carrying the conditioner and halted when he saw the two of them.
“What?” Jando asked. He followed Aidan’s gaze to Lydia. “Oh.” He grinned. “You know, there are easier ways to get a free show than sneaking into our room.”
She opened her mouth for a sarcastic reply but was struck by brilliance. “Then how about you swing by sometime and give me one?” she said, a coy smile dancing on her lips.
Jando’s and Aidan’s mouths hung agape. Jando was the first to recover. “Uh, yeah. I’d love to.” He put on a fresh shirt. “Better hurry up, Seagull. Dinner’s ready.”
Lydia took the bottle of conditioner from Aidan’s stiff grip. “Thanks,” she said. Then she left, smug and satisfied. Two could play this game.