Alice in Wonderland High by Rachel Shane Page B

listening.”
    I opened my mouth and shut it again. “But that’s it. I just meant that it’s . . . in my genes to be part of your group.” I held my breath and tried to keep my face steady instead of shattering from anticipation.
    â€œNo, about the photo album. I’d like to see it. And anything else you can find about the stuff your parents organized.” She pursed her lips. “Chess, you should have told me this.”
    I shifted in my chair. “Um, okay, but . . . why?”
    â€œAll questions can’t have answers. Or at least ones I want to share.”
    â€œCan I exchange the album for . . . membership?”
    Kingston bolted from his chair, banging his mug down on the table. My teeth clattered together. “That’s it? You’re going to let her in because she may have some information? We already tried with Mr. Katz and got nowhere, which is exactly where this will get us.”
    I contorted my eyes and lips into an expression that would best crown me as an angel, halo and all.
    â€œThis is the wrong path,” Kingston continued. “The right one’s not even visible. It’s covered with leaves and twigs.”
    â€œYou do realize we’re inside, right?” Whitney kicked him with her foot.
    â€œOnly temporarily.”
    Whitney nodded as if that made sense. “Well, it’s not just the information. There are some bigger things we’ve wanted to do that we could use an extra hand on. Like that parking lot that used to be the nuclear-power plant?”
    I expected Kingston to whine about that with some lame excuse, but he sighed melodramatically like a little kid who didn’t get his way. What could have possibly made him give in all of a sudden?
    â€œAll right, Alice.” Whitney drummed her fingers on the table. “We’re going to do something tonight. We could use you, but we can’t get caught and we can’t mess up.”
    I swallowed hard. Perfection and I weren’t exactly cohorts in our endeavors. Usually I lagged behind someone else’s lead. Second in the class. Third wheel in friendships. Fourth in their group.
    â€œYou get info on a need-to-know basis.” Kingston shot me a smile that revealed a thin, blue line above his gums. He coughed again and took a sip of green liquid.
    â€œIt’s a probationary period,” Whitney clarified.
    I chugged my foamy, green drink, hoping it would give me some kind of liquid courage, like spinach for Popeye. I knew something interesting was sure to happen if I drank this liquid. “I’m in.”
    Whitney pushed herself off the table. “I have to get some supplies upstairs. Want to start loading the car, guys?”
    â€œSend Alice to get the supplies.” Kingston flicked his wrist at me.
    Whitney swirled her mug along the glass table, leaving behind streaks of green. “Yeah, it’s probably good if you’re out of the way for a few minutes.”
    â€œWhatever you need.”
    â€œFetch me my gardening gloves. There’s also a fan somewhere; get that, too. Then wait there until we’re ready.”
    â€œWhere are they?” I stood up.
    Whitney shrugged. “I can organize missions, not myself.”
    The three of them led me to the foyer and disappeared around the bend without another word. Upstairs, several closed doors lined the hallway. A picture of a skull and crossbones hung from the first door. How unoriginal. Must be Kingston’s; he didn’t strike me as a burgeoning well of creativity. I opened the only unpainted door in the hallway, the one going against the status quo.
    A floral, earthy scent attacked my nose. Palm trees shielded Whitney’s bed in a canopy. Flowers sprung from open drawers, nestled into soil instead of clothes. Above her bed, an enlarged architectural drawing took up the length of one entire blue-painted wall. A blown-up blueprint. Pushpins of varying colors stuck out in specific