“Well, I guess we have to go now,” they said. “But which way, Héctor?”

To the left was the bulk of the hallway. There was a set of silver double doors at the end.

To the right was a shorter hallway and a large glass cabinet full of awards and trophies.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never been here.”

“Well, neither have I!” said Sal. “We can . . . guess?”

Héctor had to laugh at that. None of this made any actual sense. “To the right, then,” he said, grinning. “We probably won’t get lost. How hard could it be to find the main office?”

Minutes later, after making multiple turns and getting caught peeking in on a math class, Héctor and Sal had still not found anything resembling the principal’s office. Héctor had started to sweat. The idea of coming to Juliana’s aid had been a whole lot more attractive than the execution of it.

“I don’t understand the shape of this school,” Sal whined. “Is it a square? A circle?”

“Why can’t the Room just download maps to our brain?” Héctor said. “Ugh, it figures that we’d get lost in another state because of a magical closet.”

Sal froze, but Héctor didn’t notice until he was twenty feet ahead of them. “Sal?” he called back. “You okay?”

Their eyes went wide. “Dude,” they said. “We’re in another state.”

“I know,” said Héctor, walking back over to Sal. “You ever been to South Carolina?”

Héctor felt another rush of adrenaline, but Sal’s eyes were only getting wider. “Héctor, what if we can’t get back?”

Héctor’s blood chilled. “Oh,” he said. “I . . . I hadn’t thought of that.”

“We’re so far from home,” they said. “I’m scared.”

Héctor grabbed Sal by the shoulders. “Breathe, Sal,” he ordered. “I don’t think the Room will abandon us here.”

Sal took a few deep breaths, but the color had not returned to their face. “Okay, you’re probably right,” they said. “But we still don’t know how to find Juliana!”

“We’ll probably find her eventually?” said Héctor, and it came out more like a question.

Sal’s features twisted up again. “What have we done?”

“What are you two doing out of class?”

The voice echoed down the hall, and both Héctor and Sal turned slowly to come face-to-face with a very tall, very angry white woman. Her hair was cut in a rather stunning bob (Héctor had to appreciate that), and it waved side to side as she spoke. “Do you have hall passes? And does your destination require that you be out and about during first period?”

Sal said nothing, but Héctor was okay with that. It was his time to shine.