A- Villain

Chapter 21 - F.O.O.D

I shake my head at the crazy girl in front of me. "Come on," I nod my head towards the exit. "If you're going to talk like that we need to leave."

Emily eagerly agrees as we leave the building, "You're right, we need to get to a more private location."

As I fumble to get my keys out of my pocket, I mumble, "I was thinking more along the lines of taking you to a psychiatrist, but whatever..."

Once we're in my truck, I begin to poke holes in Emily's plans. "Look, Em, you can't fake your death."

She rolls her eyes as she leans back in the passenger seat, "If I can't fake my death, then that means you're going to have to fake your death."

I throw my hands in the air, "Why does someone have to die?!"

"Because it's the only way to make sure Dr. Hayes doesn't kill us! If we fake our own deaths, he can't come after us anymore."

Suddenly, her plan is starting to make sense. "And if Jenga and Switch die-"

"Then he'll think he got what he wanted all along." Emily finishes with a proud smirk.

"But then we show up as Emily and Beck to take his final exam, ace the test, and bamboozle him! We turn him in to the Dean and the S.E.A through all those emails he sent me and The Undergrounds is done for!"

Emily raises an eyebrow, "You think you'll ace the final?"

I scowl at her, "Is now the time to be roasting me?"

She fires back, "You were about to check me into a psychiatric ward!"

I throw my hands up in surrender, "Okay, point taken! Look, the tutoring has been helping. The last quiz we took? I made a 90."

Her eyes light up, "That's great Beck!"

"So what I'm saying is, your plan could work. We just need to make our deaths really convincing. Oh - and we shouldn't tell your other sidekicks."

She nods along, "Agreed. You never know who's a snitch these days."

My jaw tightens, but before I can say anything, she touches my shoulder. "I'm kidding. I know it's because we have to convince everyone."

Still, I huff, "You're going to tease me about my mistakes forever, aren't you?"

Emily smiles, "I'd like to think that if it weren't for your mistakes, we wouldn't be together right now, planning our fake deaths."

I allow a small smile to come to my face too, inching closer to her by propping an elbow on the console. "Your idea of 'romantic' is slightly morbid, you know."

She scoffs, "Haven't you heard of 'Til death do us part?'"

I laugh, "Then lets plan this thing."

***

I didn't realize the plan was going to include me having to talk to Professor Hayes after class today, but once Emily explained that a few vague emails were not enough proof that he was blackmailing me, I realized this had to be phase 1 of the F.O.O.D plan - the Fake Our Own Deaths plan. Just know that we were starving by the time we got around to a name last night.

Emily grabs my hand before we walk into the classroom. "You remember what to say to him, right?"

I nod, "I start discussing psychological disorders and then tell him he has psychological issues if he thinks I'm going through with his deal."

Emily slaps my arm, to which I laugh at. "I beg to be let off the hook with a passing grade?"

She lets go of my hand to facepalm. "I'm starting to think I'm going to have to slap on a baseball cap and pretend to be you today."