“Are we going?” Teddy asked. She was all dressed up. That was, she had changed from her pj’s to her cargo shorts and a hoodie and slid her boots on without tying the laces. Her costume was firmly stuffed into Emily’s bag.

“Yes,” Emily said. “Yes, we are.”

Her dad had once told her that, sometimes, you needed to help yourself. That without making the effort to get something, you wouldn’t get it, and that relying on chance alone was a complete waste of time.

She picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. Then she stopped next to Teddy to tie her shoes before the girl sent herself spiraling down a staircase.

“Let’s go,” she said while extending a hand for Teddy to grab.

It was only when they were outside that Emily realized she didn’t know where they were going. “Uh. Did you grab Alea Iacta’s number?” she asked.

“Nope,” Teddy said. “But I know where he hangs out twice a week.”

Emily squeezed her eyes shut. “This isn’t off to a great start,” she said.

“It’s that way,” Teddy replied.

Seeing as how she was already almost certainly doomed, Emily just sighed and gestured for Teddy to take the lead.

A few minutes later, after crossing half the campus on a winding path that looped over itself a few times, and after asking Teddy if she was sure she knew where she was going, they arrived before the old theater building near the center of campus.

“This is it,” Teddy said with confidence Emily was pretty sure she didn’t deserve. They’d passed by the roads around the building twice before Teddy had finished retracing her route.

“You sure?” Emily asked. The idea of just walking into a building she wasn’t meant to be in felt incredibly wrong on so many levels.

Teddy nodded and moved ahead, but pushing on the door did a whole lot of nothing. “Uh. It’s locked.”

“Oh well,” Emily said. “Back home it is.”

“Hey!”

Emily froze, but Teddy was a lot faster in turning around and looking toward the voice calling out to them. “Oh hey,” she said. “It’s the Black guy.”

“Teddy!” Emily squeaked. “You can’t say something like that.”

She turned to see the person calling out to them was a tall young man with rather handsome features and a concerned look in his eyes. “Hello,” he said to her before looking down at Teddy. “And hey to you.”

“Hello, comrade,” Teddy said. “I’m looking for comrade . . . Jacob. Do you know where he is?”

“Oh,” he said. “And here I thought you were going to break into the theater again.”

“Teddy!” Emily said. “You said you walked in!”

“I did!” Teddy said. “The doors weren’t locked or anything.”