Return to the Isle of the Lost - Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,18
starters; there’s no way they have a chance against the Lost Boys. They need us.” He looked meaningfully at Carlos. “I know you weren’t at practice today, but we’re counting on you to be ready by game time.”
Carlos sighed. “Right.”
Jay turned to Mal and Evie, who both looked skeptical. “You guys understand, we’re part of something bigger here than just us. We’re part of Auradon now,” he told them. “You know we are.”
“Yes, but—” Mal tried to argue.
“Besides,” he interrupted with an apologetic smile. “We don’t want this Anti-Heroes group to think we’re onto them. What do you think will happen if news gets out that the four of us are suddenly missing from school? We need to go back, but on our own terms. We can’t let them know we know.”
Mal considered it for a moment, thinking. Finally she nodded. “Okay. Jay’s right. We need to lie low,” she said. “We’ll leave Saturday after the game since everyone gets off-campus privileges on the weekend. Come back Sunday night like everyone else, be back here in time for class on Monday.”
“Now you’re talking.” Jay smiled.
“Wait, hold on,” said Evie. “If Jay and Carlos get to play tourney, what about the dance? I’m part of the royal committee, and I have to make sure everything’s set up correctly. Otherwise, what if it looks like Wonderland threw up on everything? Plus, it’s right after the game, and people will notice if we’re not there, especially you, Mal. Even if Ben’s not there, people will be expecting you.”
“So we go to the dance too,” agreed Jay. “Why not?”
Carlos made a few calculations in his head. “The game ends by five, and the dance starts at six, we stay for an hour, maybe, to make sure everyone notices that we were there. That doesn’t leave us a whole lot of time to get out of here and to the Isle by midnight, but it’s doable.”
“And this way you guys won’t let down your team,” said Evie.
“And Evie gets to set up with her committee,” added Jay.
“And Mal gets to…dance?” said Carlos.
“We all get to dance,” said Evie, whose eyes were sparkling now.
Mal threw up her hands. “Okay,” she said. “We won’t leave till after the game and the dance so we don’t arouse suspicion, and I guess it’s good to live up to our responsibilities.”
They discussed the logistics of their plan for sneaking out of Auradon: Evie would come up with disguises while Jay would figure out transportation.
“Did we miss anything?” Mal asked.
“Yes, I think so,” said Carlos after a moment. “So far the plan can get us out of here, but wouldn’t people notice that we’re gone on Sunday? That would raise some alarms, don’t you think? Even though we’re allowed to be off campus for the weekend, people might think it’s strange since we never go anywhere.”
“Oh, right,” said Jay with a sheepish smile. “What are we going to do about that?”
Mal grimaced, thinking hard. “We’re going to be gone for less than twenty-four hours. How about we all pretend to catch some sort of bug that keeps us in our rooms, and we can post things online about how sick we are, when in reality we’re actually running around the island. Isn’t that what our online feeds are for? To convince people you’re doing something that you’re not?”
“I don’t think that’s what they’re for, actually,” said Carlos.
“No, it’s perfect,” said Jay. “We all get the flu. No one will want to be near us, then. Everyone will leave us alone.”
“Evie, can you set up our accounts so that the posts show up automatically? We won’t be able to update them ourselves from the Isle,” Mal pointed out.
“Of course,” said Evie. “I feel like I’ve been training my whole life for this.” She batted her eyelashes jokingly before looking serious again. “So we’re taking off on Saturday night for sure?”
“For sure,” said Carlos, who had turned a bit green. “What are you smiling about?” he snapped at Jay, who was leaning back, arms behind his head, looking like he hadn’t a care in the world. “Aren’t you scared?”
“Totally, but I sort of expected something like this would happen,” Jay replied.
“What do you mean you expected something like this to happen?” demanded Carlos, who was practically pulling out his black-and-white hair at the roots at the thought of returning home so soon.
“I just did,” Jay said, and stopped to consider why he felt that way. He had grown up on the Isle of