PRO: Laundry. Sure, Grandma Morgan is an expert ironer, but the Gallagher Academy has this lavender-scented detergent that is maybe the most awesome-smelling stuff ever.
CON: There is nothing like being back at school to remind you that you have a lot of work to do. (And I do mean A LOT.)
PRO: Over the break, the maintenance department finally got around to installing the new judo mats.
CON: Bex, of course, had to challenge everyone to a round of judo.
PRO: Two words: Sublevel. Access.
CON: No matter how many hours we spent trying, we never could figure out exactly what the Circle was up to.
I know I shouldn’t admit it, but I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the rest of the students coming back to school. Bex and I had been alone with my mom and the other teachers for three whole days by then, and there was something nice about it. No lines in the Grand Hall, no crowds on the stairs. I could use all the hot water I wanted in the shower. But most of all, I totally wasn’t looking forward to—
“What happened?”
Sure, they call me the Chameleon, but when it comes to getting lost in the crowds at the Gallagher Academy, Liz really is quite a natural. After all, that afternoon the halls were full of girls and teachers, piles of backpacks and suitcases lining the halls, and even though we’re seniors and all, Liz was lost in a throng of freshmen and sophomores.
But as she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into a quiet alcove, I couldn’t help but remember that the start of a new semester meant questions—lots of questions. And the hardest ones weren’t going to be coming from our teachers.
“So…what happened over break? Where did you go? Who did you see? What do the Baxters think about Preston, and…oh… Just tell me what happened!”
Technically, the answer was classified. We were in an unsecured alcove with far too many highly trained ears and eyes around. I could have given any of those excuses, but I didn’t have to, because just then Bex stepped into the alcove and said, “She’s here.”
Now, to be technical about it, there were a whole lot of girls there, but I knew exactly who Bex meant. What I didn’t know was why she was leading us down the main staircase and through the foyer that served as the official front door of our school.
Out front, at least a dozen limos and town cars were lining up to deliver our classmates, but Bex broke into a full run, darting around the corner of the building.
“Bex,” Liz cried, “slow down. Where are we…”
But then Liz couldn’t finish. She was too transfixed by the sight of the swirling blades of the helicopter that was slowly coming to rest on our school’s back lawn.
“I’ll hand it to Macey,” Bex said. “She still knows how to make an entrance.”
We were used to some pomp and circumstance, but even for Macey McHenry, a helicopter arrival seemed a little over the top. But then I realized that Macey wasn’t alone.
My mother was walking around the corner of the mansion, waving to a man in a trench coat and scarf who was offering a hand to help Macey climb out of the helicopter.
“Senator,” my mom said, shouting over the roar of the engines. “What a nice surprise.”
She sounded like she’d been expecting him, but considering the fact that our school wasn’t going on full automatic lockdown, my mother must have had it on good authority that he wasn’t coming inside.
“Hello, Mrs. Morgan,” Senator McHenry said, taking my mother’s hand. Then he seemed to notice Bex, Liz, and me. “Girls,” he added.
Macey was quiet beside her father. She looked thinner than I remembered. Her usually bright blue eyes were duller. Worried.
“Hello, Senator. It’s so nice to see you again,” Bex said in her best American accent, harkening back to the role she’d played so well the very first time Macey had ever set foot on our campus. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Oh, just dropping Macey off,” he said. “I’m sorry for the intrusion, but with all that has gone on in the past few weeks… It seems being a public figure has become a bit of a hazardous job. I mean, did you hear about that woman from the European Union? Dubois, I think her name was.”
“I did,” Mom said.
“And then Sir Walter Knight,” the senator went on. “I can’t believe it. If a man isn’t safe at Cambridge…” The senator shook his head then looked into my mother’s eyes. “I got acquainted with him during the campaign, you see. He and Ambassador Winters were close. Knight was a top advisor.”
“Oh. I wasn’t aware of that,” Mom said, even though she was very well aware of it all. In fact, she knew more about what was going on than even the senior senator from Virginia, but that’s part of the job, sometimes. Shaking your head. Saying the right things instead of the truth.
“I wanted to make sure Macey got here safely.” He squeezed his daughter’s shoulders, and Macey didn’t pull away. In fact, she didn’t do anything. I wondered if maybe that was what I’d looked like the semester before, climbing out of a helicopter, numb and too thin. But exactly why Macey looked that way I wasn’t really sure.
“Now, Macey, you have a good semester.” He patted her awkwardly on the arm.