“Thank God,” he says, leaping to his feet. “I’ve been in here for hours. Took you long enough to find me!” he barks, stretching out his legs and making a beeline for the door.

“Wait,” I say, blocking his path. “Not so fast. Who was that Jake look-alike you were arguing with earlier?”

“Where are the teachers?” Ollie demands. “And what’s up with Archer and Tessa—”

“Nothing’s ‘up’ with us,” says a dismissive voice behind us. I turn to see Tessa herself, right behind me, with Archer flanking her on her left and the other Jake—soccer Jake—on her right. Before we can demand answers, they’ve shoved us into the closet with pajama Jake, and locked the door.

The Duplicates

Ten minutes later, we’re pounding on the door of the janitor’s closet, screaming for someone to let us out. I’m trying to bust the door down, but it’s futile; it barely even gives. Ollie tries to pick the lock, but we know it’s probably pointless. That dead bolt on the other side isn’t budging. Meanwhile, my plum won’t work—when I try to call up Dash, he doesn’t answer. I can’t connect to the school Wi-Fi at all.

“Same,” says Jake, showing me his own unresponsive plum. “They must have one of those black-market signal blockers,” Jake explains. “When I get out of here, those guys are toast.”

“Hang on,” says Ollie, trying to remain calm. “First things first. Who were those kids? They aren’t Tessa and Archer. And obviously, if you’re really you, then who is that other guy?”

Jake sighs, leaning back against the wall and kicking off his expensive designer loafers. “I met them yesterday, right before the dance. Someone helped them breeze right onto campus. Directed them straight to the ball.”

I feel a sick twisting in my stomach. That person was me. I mentioned the masquerade ball when they were coming up the path to Darkwood. I told them because I was sure they were who they said they were. Who they seemed to be. And then I buzzed them through the gate, let them walk in right behind me…

“When I found out there was this other Jake clone walking around—and not Jago,” Jake clarifies, “but this other kid who wanted to have fun and pretend to be me for the weekend…” He shrugs. “I thought it was hilarious. And harmless. Maybe if I let him crash with me, have some fun as me for a bit, I’d be able to convince him to go to my classes on Monday. So I could sleep in. You know, goof off for a change.”

“So you realized these kids were clones,” I say, incredulous, “and that they were planning on impersonating you, and two of your best friends, and your first thought was to use the whole situation to be incredibly lazy?”