Oliver realized then that leaving the School for Seers was going to be even harder than hed bargained for. Not only were his friends not on his side, but now his enemy knew what he was planning. He would have to formulate an escape plan and keep it to himself. It was the only way hed be able to leave and stop Lucas. But that only made things feel even more tense for Oliver. Hed figured stopping Lucas would be hard enough without the added hurdle of escaping from the school.

Maybe, Esther said gently, thats the real sign from the universe. Maybe shes telling you not to leave.

Oliver looked at her twinkling eyes. He didnt want to lie to Esther, but nothing could change his mind. He was going to come up with a plan to leave and he was going to do it without them. Whatever plan he came up with it would have to be failsafe. He had one shot at this.

Youre right, he replied, sighing heavily to mask the awkwardness of his lie. Sorry, guys, I just freaked out, I guess.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

So youre not leaving? Hazel confirmed.

Oliver shook his head.

Good, Ralph said, sounding relieved. Now lets get some breakfast and put that whole thing behind us.

Oliver followed everyone toward the F atrium. Little did they know...

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

Oliver kept a low profile all day, silently plotting his plan of escape, pretending to his friends hed put the silly dream out of his head. He knew he only had one chance to leavewhile the timetables were switched offand decided his best bet would be while everyone was in their sleep pods. He just had to make them think he was going to bed, then he could escape.

As the day drew to a close, Oliver walked along with his friends toward the Z atrium. The letter on the door glowed white and they went inside the first airlock door.

As they headed to the lockers to collect their sleep suits Oliver kept his overalls on him. There was no way he was saving the world wearing a strange white sleeper suit.

He changed quickly and stuffed his overalls into the front of his suit, then hurried out to the lockers, pretending to deposit his clothes inside a locker in case anyone noticed. Just as he closed the locker door, Esther reemerged in her own sleep suit. Oliver turned abruptly, trying to hide any signs of guilt from his face. Esther did not seem to notice that anything was amiss and went about putting her clothes into one of the lockers.