Superior

Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six

Delaney

"Tomorrow?"

I squeaked out the word with a dash of fear, peeling the three syllables from my tongue and squeezing them through my lips. Grimly, Nessa nodded her confirmation

"Miracle has finally made a decision as to what will be done with you," she stated, shoving her hands into her blazer pockets. "You'll find out tomorrow, the same day as the ceremony."

"Well, that's just wonderful," Abby snapped sarcastically. She then let out a stream of expletives that I think summed up what all of us were feeling, though in an admittedly vulgar way.

"Do you know what she's decided?" Trai questioned, seemingly unfazed.

Nessa shook her head. "All she said was to tell you three that she'd made her choice; you'll find out soon, though, I guess. But don't worry too much," she said with a wink.

Then, stealthily, she retracted her hands from her pockets, reaching under the table and pressing a folded slip of paper into the palm of my hand. It happened in less than a second.

The sly look in her eyes kept me quiet as I carefully unfurled the scrap and scanned over the words scrawled across it. After reading it, I looked up, caught Nessa's eye, and nodded imperceptibly.

Nessa stood up, sighing. "Well"—she smoothed down the front of her suit—"I'm afraid that's all the time I have, for now. I'll have some plans to attend to later."

The impassive look on Trai and Abby's faces showed no sign that they understood, but I knew they got the hint. Somehow, in some way, we'd receive the information about the plan later that day. The instructions for obtaining the information, in fact, were clutched in my hand, crumpling more by the second. As soon as Nessa was out the door, I thrust the paper into Trai's hands beside me, then began babbling incessantly, spewing out the words that I knew I'd be expected to say.

"I'm so scared, guys," I said, and even though I was terrified, I was thinking less about my fear and more about buying Trai and Abby enough time to read Nessa's note. "What do you think she'll do to us?"

"Who cares?" Abby snorted. She wore a calm expression, but I could see her glancing at the paper out of the corner of her eye. Trai passed it to her when he had finished reading, and I watched as she mouthed it to herself, already knowing what it said by heart.

From 3 o'clock to 3:30, all cameras will be off. At that time, follow these instructions: Above the sink in your bathroom, there is a grated ventilation track. Between the slats, you will find a packet of information regarding your parts in the rebellion. Take it, memorize it, and destroy it in the remainder of your half hour. Whatever you do, whatever happens, do not panic, and do not let the packet fall into the wrong hands. That much is imminent. We will not see you before tomorrow, so until then, good luck.

Beneath the handwritten note, Nessa and Perfecta had signed their names in scraggly script. I saw Abby slowly close her fist around the paper, her face a blank screen. Discreetly, she looked up at the clock above the television, and I followed her gaze. Two-thirteen. Just over forty five minutes until zero hour.

We sat in tense silence for a moment, each of us lost in our own thoughts—then Abby sighed and stood up, throwing her arms back over her head in an exaggerated stretch and yawning. Then she turned to us with a stern look.

"Well, there's no use in worrying until it happens, right?" she asked, referring, I suspected, to both the rebellion and our punishment. "Whatever it is, it won't kill us. Probably," she added with a snort.