Crisis Zero by Chris Rylander Page B

even knows that she has an uncle Medlock at all. But even further, I found out she has debate team after school every day, and was there yesterday when Nineteen’s office was ransacked, confirmed by three other students and the debate coach.”
    I nodded, not questioning her further. After how many times she’d saved my skin the past week, I trusted her probably more than anyone else in the world. Even Agents Blue and Nineteen. Danielle and I went back way before the Agency, our friendship cut right through that stuff.
    â€œSo that leaves us with Junior,” I said.
    Danielle shrugged. “Lots of kids have black hoodies, but considering the circumstances, it is pretty incriminating. I’ll help you keep an eye on him.”
    â€œThanks,” I said. “Since I have detention after school, I think I’m going to have to get there early to scope out the parking lot construction. Can you make it?”
    â€œShoot, I can’t,” she said. “Dillon would get too suspicious. He’s already been asking me a lot more questions than usual lately. If I’m already gone when he gets up early to collect more fungus samples, it’s going to be an issue.”
    â€œOh, man, that’s right!” I nearly shouted. “I forgot all about that.”
    â€œWhat is it?” she asked.
    â€œI made plans to help Dillon with his weird mushroom collection thing tomorrow morning,” I said.
    I knew it would upset him to cancel; I’d been basically ignoring him lately with all this Agency madness. But I had to back out—there was no way I could blow off my assignment for some ridiculous mushroom collecting thing that was completely pointless. I had no choice, so I pulled out my phone and sent him a text.
    I can’t make it tomorrow, sry man . . . don’t hate me . . . I gotta go to school early for xtra help.
    â€œYeah, he’ll definitely be bummed,” Danielle said as I typed. “He’d be even more disappointed and suspicious if I take off early now, too. Maybe I will help him instead. Are you sure you can cover the construction thing alone?”
    â€œYeah, totally. We don’t have much choice anyway,” I said. “Besides, if you snuck out early, Dillon would probably think you were going to some kind of Meeting of Hooded Figures in the Woods Plotting Creepy Ritualistic Things Better Left Unsaid or something.”
    Danielle smirked at first and then a laugh burst from her mouth like it had forced its way out. She covered her mouth in surprise, which made me laugh, too. And that’s how our night ended, somehow in spite of everything happening, with both of us standing in my dark alley, laughing at nothing like lunatics.

CHAPTER 25
CURSING YOUR ANCESTORS
    I T WAS AN ESPECIALLY COLD MORNING, EVEN FOR NOVEMBER IN North Dakota, which made riding my bike to school instead of taking the bus torturous. I’d actually rather have been getting tortured by Mule Medlock’s little psychopathic friend, Packard, than have to spend another minute out in the subzero temperatures. Thankfully there was no snow to add to the misery—it was too cold outside for snow to fall. Yes, that’s a real thing that happens in awful places like this.
    And don’t ever let anyone tell you that people getused to weather this cold. Trust me, there is no getting used to negative ten-degree weather. It’s impossible. It’s simply too painful. You don’t get used to it, you just get slightly better at surviving it.
    There were times just like this one every year, where I cursed my ancestors for settling down in North Dakota instead of a normal state. There were dozens of perfectly normal, nonfreezing states they could have lived in. Why on earth had they chosen this one? But there wasn’t much I could do about that now except pedal faster.
    By the time I got to the school, I had frozen boogers crusted to my upper lip and it felt like shards