“Regan?!” came a voice from outside, and I jumped, my heart slamming into my throat. It was Mrs. Ellsworth.

“Yes?” I said. My voice sounded wobbly even to my own ears.

“Are you almost done?” she asked. “Officer Salzburg left and your mother wanted to speak to you before you went to bed.”

“Yes!” I called back. “I’ll be right out.” Her footsteps retreated down the hall, and I typed in a reply to Elliot’s message.

Okay. Meet me by the fountain before first period.

That done, I shucked off my clothes and threw myself into the shower. We’d apparently run out of hot water while I sat on the floor staring at that message, and I inhaled hard as icy water jolted me out of my preoccupied fog. I scrubbed quickly with the soap, making sure my hair was wet all the way through before jumping back out and wrapping myself in a towel.

A reply was already flashing on my laptop, and I dripped water all over the keyboard in my hurry to read it.

Not tomorrow. Now.

Now? I repeated. What did he mean now? It was late, way past the curfew that determined when students were allowed to be out and about on campus grounds. I was about to type back a snarky reply, but I stopped myself. It was not the time to make him mad, not when he was potentially holding the only piece of evidence needed to ruin my entire future. I bit my lip. I was just going to have to find a way.

Give me thirty minutes. Meet me at the fountain.

I was about to close my laptop so I could go get some clothes on and see what my mom wanted when a message pinged back.

What fountain? There are a million of the dumb things on this campus.

His annoyance seemed to drip from every word, and I had to stifle a smile. Readjusting my towel, I typed back.

You’re right. But I only shoved you into one of them. See you there. Bring it with you.

I stared at my reply for a second before hitting send. I didn’t dare put down in writing what I wanted him to bring with him. I glanced at the time on my laptop and grimaced. If I was going to make it to the fountain in half an hour and talk to my mom, I was going to have to hustle. Tucking my dirty clothes and laptop under my arm, I made my way back to my room to throw on my pajamas. A minute later, I flew back down the stairs, my still-dripping hair making the back of my T-shirt wet. I rounded the bottom of the stairs at full speed and almost ran headlong into my mom. She caught my shoulders before I could fall backward onto my butt and smiled.