Lydia outlined the entire plan to the others. “Convince them to hold off bringing Ozzy up here until around ten, when the test will start,” Lydia told Janice. “Once you’re on the second floor, Ozzy will escape and Aidan will open the door as soon as he comes. Then Aidan will help add to the confusion and keep people off Ozzy. Have Ozzy trip over the nets, as many as he can, and drag them. This will throw Cooper off and let him fake an injury and I’ll ‘save’ him.”
“How is Ozzy supposed to escape?” Cooper asked.
“They’ll have him on a leash,” Janice said. “But he’s strong when he needs to be. I’ll distract them enough so he can take them by surprise.”
They spent the rest of the evening practicing the routine. It took several attempts for Ozzy to pick up and drag one net around his body. However, he soon gathered three, enough for Cooper to crash into and leave no one the wiser.
When everyone retired to the dormitories at midnight, Jando waited by Lydia’s room. “Been swimming?” he asked.
“Sort of,” she said, shaking her hair like a wet dog and flinging droplets on him.
Jando shielded himself, chuckling. “Stop! Stop!”
“Okay.” She ran her hands through her hair, rustling any leftover water loose. “So what’s up?”
“Did you find a way to help Cooper?”
“I think so,” she said.
“Good,” he nodded. “Good. ’Cause I tell you, if I didn’t know better, I would say Nina was trying to drown herself. Didn’t see her surface once today before dinner.”
“You didn’t tell her anything, did you?”
“No,” he said. “But you might think about doing it.”
“I have,” Lydia said. “We have a plan. After tomorrow, everything should be fine for a while.”
“‘We’?”
“Aidan, Cooper, Janice, and me.”
“What happened to keeping this a secret?”
“I know, I know,” she said. “But if this is going to work, we need Cooper and Janice.”
“I was wondering where you snuck off to with Aidan,” he said, smiling. “A lesser boyfriend might be jealous.”
“Boyfriend?” she asked. “Have we reached that?”
He tilted his head. “Haven’t we?”
“I don’t know. It’s too late to figure it out.” She opened her door. “Was there something else?”
“Yeah,” he said, standing in the doorway. “How are you doing? I saw Wren giving you the cold shoulder.”
“It’s nothing,” she said. “Just a,” she twirled her hand, “disagreement.”
“Want to talk about it?”
She considered it, but she was groggy and had to concentrate on Cooper. Maybe if you had asked this morning. She yawned and shook her head. “Not tonight. Maybe later. Good night.”
“Good night.” He leaned in, but Lydia was quicker this time. She caught his puckering lips in her palm and wagged a finger. Amused, he pushed off the door frame and went to his room.