Neverland Academy (9 page)

“Let
me guess,” Daphne whispered as she leaned in to Finn. “You borrowed those
too?”  Finn smiled.

“Actually
Kevin borrowed the TV. Shag and Trick borrowed the DVD and player. We’ll
probably be borrowing a few more DVDs, though, now that we can actually watch
them.”

“I
wanted to ask you,” Daphne said after a pause, “how is it that you guys have
working phones? How do pay for service? And how have you been charging them if
you haven’t had electricity until now.”

“They
actually belong to the school. We only use them when we have to, so nobody’s
discovered them missing yet. As for your other question, that kind of goes
along with the shower thing. I’ll show you in the morning.”

Daphne
wanted to go back to bed. She was about to say something when Finn leaned back
with his arms behind him and his hand rested against hers. The feeling jolted
Daphne awake as if she’d be zapped with mild static electricity. He didn’t move
his hand. She didn’t want to leave now. Not yet. There was something about his
touch that she found comfort in, something that warmed her deep inside. It was
like a fuzzy woolen mitten on a crisp autumn morning. She didn’t want to lose
that feeling. She didn’t move her hand either.

Chapter
Ten

Josh
and Max

When Daphne awoke
the following
morning, she felt alive and vibrant. She couldn’t remember a time in her life
when she felt so good. Last night’s events brought out an energy in her that
she didn’t understand—and didn’t want to. It was a feeling she couldn’t
quite explain because she’d never done anything so reckless. Not intentionally,
anyway. Finn had already delivered breakfast to the boys. He’d saved her some
toast and an orange, which she gratefully scarfed down.

“What
time is it?” Daphne asked between bites. Some orange juice dribbled down her
chin, leaving wet spots on the pillow beneath her. She vigorously rubbed it
with her thumb, embarrassed at her sloppiness.

“Does
it matter?” Finn returned as he padded his iPhone with his fingertips. Daphne
recognized the jaunty jingle. He was playing Angry Birds. “Time doesn’t really
exist here, Daffy. What time do you want it to be?”

Daphne’s
eyes did a somersault. “I
mean
how late
did I sleep?”

“By
society’s standards, it’s eleven-fifteen. But, like I said,” Finn’s stretched
his last word into a yawn.

“Yeah,
yeah. Time doesn’t exist here. What about calendars? Do you even know today’s
date? The month?”

Finn
chuckled. “Yeah, I know the dates when I need to, but only to keep track of
birthdays and academic events. Need to know that kind of stuff when we plan our
pranks. I even know the year too, if you’re wondering.” Noticing that Daphne
had finished eating, he tossed the phone to the side.

“You
ready?”

“Ready
for what?” Daphne stood.

“You
wanted to take a shower, right?”

“Oh
yeah, I forgot.”

“I
didn’t. You stink.” Finn’s lips curved up as he judged her reaction.

“Gee,
thanks. You’re not exactly a Yankee Candle Factory either.”

Finn
chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll clean up today too. And so will the boys. Right
guys?” Finn said exaggeratingly loud. The boys all moaned, but agreed.

“Let’s
go.” Finn took her hand.

Daphne
stopped off at her room to pick up her backpack that carried the necessities,
and then Finn led her deep into the tunnels. Once again she tried to make
mental notes of the turns, but still couldn’t feel confident trying to maneuver
it on her own. The route they took now was longer than any Finn had taken her
on the day before. She found herself wondering what was going on at home. By
now her parents would have discovered her missing. Had they reported it yet?
She was the archetype for the typical runaway teen, having gotten into trouble
so much and being angry with her punishment, so it’s possible that they may
have decided to wait it out and see if she came home on her own. Then again,
her father was a district attorney and he had connections. It was unlikely that
he’d let even an hour slip by without alerting the authorities to her absence.
Her father’s hurtful words echoed in her head. Daphne felt smug. She wanted
them to suffer, to know how much they’d hurt her. Her steps picked up to a skip
as she followed Finn.

It
seemed like they’d walked for miles when the tunnel finally came to a dead end.
A rusty A-frame ladder stretched across the span of the tunnel from wall to
wall.

“Where
are we?” Daphne asked as she peeled some of the chipped paint from one of the
ladder rungs. Finn was already halfway up and knocked against the ceiling where
a door would be. It reminded Daphne of the attic in their home.

“The
old foreman’s home,” Finn replied as he stared up at the door, waiting for an
answer. “This is where Lily and her mom live.”

“I
thought you said the tunnel was sealed off here.”

“Actually,
the tunnel branched off a little ways back. The other one, which went to the
main slave quarters, is the one that was sealed off.”

The
door swung open and sunlight beamed down from above. Daphne squinted as she
climbed the ladder behind Finn, sneezing twice once she finally opened them
fully.

“Hi
Daff!” Lily called out as Finn helped her onto the floor. She gently dropped
the trap door back into place. Daphne scanned the room. It was an old home,
charming and quaint, with dark wood floors and plain white walls.

“Daffy
wants to use the shower,” Finn said.

“Finn!”
A large woman with big, bright brown eyes just like Lily’s wiped her hands on a
damp dishrag and hugged Finn as if he were her own child. “My boy, where you
been? It’s good to see you, son.”

“This
is Lily’s mom, Janine,” Finn introduced. “She was like a mom to me when I was
in school.”

“Still
am, especially now that you’re
not
in
school,” she chastised. “And who is this?”

“This
is Daffy. She just came for a visit. And she’s going to borrow your shower, if
you don’t mind.”

“Of
course. Come with me Daff,” Lily said as she took Daphne’s hand and tugged her
away. They passed a room on the right, where an older man lay on a recliner
watching TV. Daphne followed Lily up a flight of stairs, down a short hallway
and ended up at a small bathroom.

“Don’t
worry, my mom’s cool,” Lily said.

“So
she won’t tell the headmaster where Finn and the others are?”

“No.
None of the staff will. They have an agreement: Finn doesn’t mess with them,
they won’t give him away.

“He
really does have an effect on people here, doesn’t he?”

“You
have no idea,” Lily said, handing Daphne a towel. “Take your time. None of the
administrators ever come here so you’re safe. My room’s right there. You can
come in when you’re finished.”

“Thanks,
Lily.” Daphne squeezed into the bathroom and twirled around. The toilet and
single sink were crammed together along one wall. On the opposite wall was a
shower, no bathtub. Daphne noted that this was the smallest bathroom she’d ever
been in. There was barely enough room to turn around. Even the half-bath at her
new home was bigger than this. She’d almost certainly have to get dressed in
Lily’s room.

After
what felt like the longest shower of her life, Daphne shut the water off,
wrapped a fluffy towel around her, securing it under her armpits, and peeked
into the hallway. It was empty. She tiptoed carefully to Lily’s room. Lily was
sitting on her bed, leaning her back against the simple wooden headboard,
reading a book. Her head popped up when she heard the door creak open.

“Feel
better?”

“Where’s
Finn?” Daphne asked, peering around the scarcely decorated room. She was
shocked at how little there was in here. Daphne’s old room had as much
furniture as she could fit, and every surface was covered with electronics,
lamps, makeup, jewelry, and her collection of mermaid figurines. Her walls were
filled with mirrors, posters of Rocks’s band, and ticket stubs. She hadn’t
gotten around to decking out her new room after she’d moved in, but it was
still somewhat bright. Lily’s room, in contrast, had nothing but a small 8 x 10
mirror on the wall. There was a small dresser with a stack of books and a white
nightstand next to the twin-sized bed that held a cheap Wal-Mart lamp and a
pair of black-rimmed glasses.

“He
left while you were in the shower. I told him I’d help you get back when you’re
ready. You can get dressed over there.” Lily pointed to a standing tri-fold
screen in a corner. Daphne quickly shuffled over there. Once she was
comfortably dressed in a pair of short denim shorts and a black peasant top,
she towel-dried her dripping hair.

“So
you don’t work today?”

Lily
dog-eared the page she was on and swapped the book for the glasses.

“I
do, but I’m on break.”

“Oh.
So how long have you been doing this?”

“I’ve
been working here since I was twelve.”

“Twelve?
Aren’t there, like, child labor laws against that?”

“Yeah,
but it was all under the table.” Lily smiled. “It was okay, though. It gave me
a head start on saving up for college. I’ll be the first in my family to go.
And my children will be the first to not be tied to this horrific place.”

“So,
you don’t go to school?”

“I’m
homeschooled. Actually, my mom tried teaching me years ago, but I ended up just
teaching myself. It’s not that hard really, with an endless supply of books at
the library and internet access. Plus, going at my own pace meant I could
finish faster. I’ve already done the SAT and got my GED.”

Daphne
strolled over to the dresser and let her eyes fall over the books. They looked
like sci-fi or fantasy, but she wasn’t too sure. She wasn’t really that
interested either. The urge to ask Lily about her relationship with Finn was
strong, but Daphne was trying to come up with a subtle way of asking. “How does
Finn feel about you leaving? For college, I mean.” So much for subtlety.

“I
guess he’s okay with it. I don’t know. He’s got plenty of friends here so it
won’t be much of a loss when I’m gone.”

“But
you two, were . . . a thing, right?”

Lily
laughed. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. I mean it was never anything close
to being serious. It was a couple years ago. We were both young and testing the
waters so to speak.”

“So
what happened?”

“We’re
just too different. Different priorities, you know? I wanted to leave and he
wants to stay. It would never work out in the long run.”

“But
what if he wanted to make it work? What if he decided to go? He can’t stay here
forever, you know.”

“Tell
that to Finn!” The laugh the girls shared seemed to diminish the light tension
of the conversation. Lily shook her head. “Finn won’t ever leave unless he’s
forced to. And believe me, they’ll never catch him. He’s like a ninja. Except,
without the nun chuck thingies. Besides, even if he did leave by choice we
wouldn’t want to be together in that way. That boat has sailed. We’d rather
just be friends.”

“Oh,”
Daphne hummed, trying to soften the slight curve pushing through at the corner
of her lips.

“You
like him, don’t you?” Lily took off her glasses and squinted at Daphne, a smile
spreading across her cheeks.

“No,
of course not!” Daphne was quick to deny, a little too quick. “I mean, he seems
like he’s fun to be around. As a friend of course.”

“Uh-huh.
Did you know you’re face turns a funky shade of hot pink when you’re
embarrassed?”

Daphne
slapped her hands to her cheeks and flew to the tiny mirror hanging just beside
the door. Lily was right; she was blushing.

“It’s
okay, Daff. Finn’s hot. Everyone knows it. That’s why Belle hates you. She
wants him, but he’s just not interested in her. She’d rather see him alone than
with another girl.”

“Sounds
like a great friend,” Daphne mused sarcastically.

“She’s
got a lot of growing up to do. Besides, Finn seems to like you too, though
he’ll never admit it.”

“What
do you mean?” Daphne spun around with a combination of hope and dread.

“Look,
don’t get your hopes up. He’s not the kind of guy you can sweet-talk into
changing his ways for you, if such a guy exists. I’ve known Finn for half of my
life and I can see that he’s fond of you. And the fact that Belle detests you
only proves it further.”

“Okay,
yes,” Daphne admitted. “I think Finn is cute. But I just got dumped myself. I
don’t want to be involved with anyone right now. That’s part of why I’m here. I
just needed to get away from life for a while.”

“Okay,
well, just be sure to return to it before it’s too late.”

Daphne
pulled a brush from her backpack and combed it through her hair. She slid an
elastic from her wrist, pulling her damp hair back in a ponytail, and pinning
the straggling wisps into place. The talk about Belle reminded her of her
brothers. Belle had made a comment about Josh the day before. Daphne wondered
what he and Max were up to. She really wanted to see them.

“Are
you about ready?”

“What,
trying to kick me out?” Daphne smiled at Lily’s reflection in the mirror.

“No,
I’m on break, remember? I’ve got the administrator’s lunch shift.”

“Hey,
can I ask a huge favor?” Daphne asked, turning to face Lily.

“Sure.”

“Can
you get me into the boys’ dorms?”

“Now
that would be a huge favor.”

“Can
it be done? Without being seen?”

“Well,
it was built a while after the tunnels, so there’s no access from underground.
But I might be able to sneak you in on my way to the kitchen. There’s a back
entrance that can’t be seen from the main building. It would be good
timing—the boys will still be in the cafeteria so it will be empty, and
most of the professors will be arriving for lunch. Why do you want to go to the
boys’ dorms anyway?”

“My
brothers are there. I just want to let them know I’m okay. In case word gets
out that I’m missing.” Daphne thought of her father and his ties to the police.
“If it hasn’t already.”

“You
don’t think they’ll rat you out?”

Daphne
shook her head. “Not Josh and Max.”

***

Finn
climbed back down the ladder into the darkness of the tunnel and switched his
headlight on. He squinted and peered down the tunnel, certain that he would
find something, or someone, of interest. He was searching.

“You
can come out now,” he said, his voice bouncing off the cold brick walls. “I
know you’re here, Belle.”

Around
the corner shuffled the strawberry-blonde, dressed in a denim miniskirt and tight
lime green tee shirt. Something glittered at her neck, but it was hard to make
out under the enveloping darkness.

“How
did you know?”