CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Charlotte sat behind a desk in a small lobby, typing away at a computer. She smiled when she saw me.

“Good news,” she said. “Bob—that’s my boss—says we can set up a payment plan for you as long as you make the initial $150 deposit.”

“That I can do,” I said.

“Nice camera,” she observed as I handed it to her. “You must have spent a fortune on it.”

I felt myself blushing. Yeah, I was the guy who had fancy toys but needed a payment plan to purchase her company’s services.

“Oh, crikey!” she said when she saw my face. “I didn’t mean it that way. Gah, I’m such a . . .”

“Did you just say crikey?”

“I did.” She grinned, and her face went all dimply. I have to admit, it was pretty adorable.

“That’s, uh, a good word.”

“It is, isn’t it? So I’ll just need you to fill out this form here. It details the work you want done and gives us permission to raid your camera for data. Sign at the bottom.”

I filled out the form, requesting that copies of the report be e-mailed to me and to Principal Juarez. Charlotte ran the deposit on my debit card.

“When will you have the report? Do you know?” I asked.

“Five to seven business days.”

Uh-oh. That was way too long for my purposes.

“Is there any way you could rush it? I really, really need the report by midday Friday.”

“Ten percent rush fee,” Charlotte said. “We can fold it into your payment plan.”

“Sweet. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me.”

She tucked a green curl behind her ear. “Let’s just hope we find what you think we will,” she said.

At least that was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.

•••

The next day, Tuesday, Mom had the day off again. That posed a problem, because I had a second mission to complete. There was no way she would believe another story about needing to run errands. She’d already surveyed my “maze supplies” with a critical eye, trying to figure out if I’d been playing her. (Note to self, I’d thought. Build maze soon.)

My best bet would be to go while Mom was at her yoga class. During the couple of hours she was out, I’d have plenty of time to drive to school, meet the person I needed to see—hopefully without getting spotted by any faculty members—and get back home.

I wasn’t sure what to do with my cell phone. My parents installed one of those annoying GPS trackers on it. (“For your own safety, Kaito,” my dad said. Yeah, thanks for the trust, man.) Yesterday, I’d gone to a hardware store on the same block as McNamara Digital Forensics, so that was no problem. But if I took my phone with me today and my parents checked the tracker, I’d be busted.

What if I left the phone behind? If they called or texted to check up on me, that would look bad too. Ultimately, I decided the second problem would be the easier one to deal with. I’d just say the battery had run down and I hadn’t noticed.

Nothing could go smoothly for me during my suspension, though. Mom informed me that she was skipping yoga so she could paint the garage (translation: keep an eye on me). There was no way I could just wander out the front door, much less take my car. I’d have to sneak out, and I’d have to walk. If she checked up on me while I was away, I’d be screwed, but I couldn’t do anything about that.

I decided my best shot at getting away unnoticed was to go out my window. Good thing our house is just one story. After Mom started painting, I unlocked the window, pushed it up as far as it would go, and popped out the screen. Then I swung a leg over the sill and tried to figure out what to do next. These things look so easy in the movies, you know? But in real life, it’s kind of awkward to climb out a window aboveground, especially if you’d rather not fall into the bushes below.

Okay, so my future career as a ninja wasn’t looking so good. Another reason to focus on photography. Finally, I leaped for it, landed with an oof, and dusted myself off. My room would be plenty cold by the time I got back, but that was the least of my worries.

It took a half hour to walk to school. I got there in the middle of third period, so the halls were mostly empty. Just in case, I kept my hoodie pulled up after I slipped inside. I traced a route that avoided the administrative offices too. A couple of juniors saw me at one point, but no teachers. So far, so good.

The person I needed to see could have been almost anywhere, so I waited in the one spot I knew he’d come back to eventually. He looked surprised to see me, but he smiled.

“Hey there, photographer Kai,” he said. “I heard you were suspended. Whatcha doin’ here?”

•••

If getting out of the window had been tricky, getting back in proved almost impossible. Even in our one-story house, the sill was way above my head. I’m no wimp, but I’m not exactly the pull-up champion of the world. As I scrabbled up and over the sill, I pictured my mom on the other side, ready to scream her head off. But my room was empty, door closed, just like I’d left it.

I put the screen back in place, shut and locked the window, and got a drink of water. Then I headed out to the garage. My mom would probably appreciate some help with that painting.