An ambulance came and whisked Artemis away. If only it could do the same for Miren's problems...
She had resumed her appearance as Miles, and with Jeno and Chara, she met up with a thin crowd of students outside the mess hall. The teacher chaperones, including Ms. Cowdry and Sister Francesca, had done a decent job of reducing student outcry, as most of them were still in the dance hall, trying to salvage the rest of the night. But with only half an hour left of the dance, and their Homecoming Queen practically lifeless, it was easy to declare that the night was over.
Miren's eyes skimmed over to the two headmasters talking to some emergency medical workers. In the faint lighting it was hard to make out what they were talking about. She could only hope that it would be good news on Artemis' side. But when they shook their heads, she knew that wasn't even sort of a possibility.
She clenched her fists, not wanting to play the blame game, but realizing blames were in order. She did what she was supposed to. But for some reason everything just had to blow up in her face.
"Jemma just texted me that she's at the hospital with Klondike and Parker," Jeno said, tucking his phone back into his pocket. "So far no sight of Penelope."
Miren nodded to that. Expected. The girl had a way of appearing and disappearing when the opportunity suited her.
A stray hand found Chara's shoulder. "What did I miss?" Wallace said in a pant. The brains of this failed operation certainly wasn't a gym class hero.
"Me fucking up everything." Chara's head was to the ground. Wallace rubbed her shoulder, shaking his head.
"I don't know what happened," he offered, his lips puckering as he got a taste of the sour air. "I texted her to go upstairs to Miren. She should have been there. Where did she go off to?"
"I don't know. Maybe she became a ghost," Jeno offered, turning to Miren. She wrinkled her nose at his attempt at a joke.
"That's not funny," she snapped. "Artemis' hurt, we can't find Penelope, and we have nothing."
Jeno shrugged. "Standing around like we don't know what happened isn't going to help anything either."
He was right about that. The dance wasn't over, but they didn't come here to get their groove on.
"Alright then, let's leave," Miren said.
And they left.
***
Chara was dropped off at Rosemunde. She would have objected to being prematurely dismissed from the group, but she had caused enough trouble for one night. Her usual smile was tainted by tragedy, fading as she waved goodbye.
The rest of them rode in a defeated silence as they approached Rinzen. When they made it to Woodley Hall, they were welcomed by some of the more introverted students who had skipped out on the night's festivities.
In the elevator, Wallace was the first to interrupt the uneasy stillness in the air. "I'll try to figure out what went wrong. I guess I'll talk to you guys later tonight or in the morning."
Jeno offered a single nod. With a slight wave, Wallace disappeared into the hallway that led to his room. And then there were two. They made it to the third floor, and Jeno pulled out his key. But once they were alone in the dorm room, tension spiked out of control.
"Is it so hard for something to go right?" Miren asked outright, trying to control the volume of her voice. Unlike the way everything else in her life was out of control. And naturally Penelope was unscathed. How fitting.
"Why don't you ask your foolish little friend?"
"Don't talk about Chara like that," Miren snapped. But it was true. She had sort of ruined everything. But that didn't explain why Artemis was there. "Somehow Artemis swapped places with Penelope. How? Why?"
Jeno scratched his temple before shrugging. "I don't know," he said, removing his tie and throwing it on his mattress.
"And now Artemis's injured," Miren said, feeling dread replace her anger. "I'm just so... sick of everything falling apart."
The only thing secure about her life was the lie she was living. But even dressed as Miles, she felt more exposed than she usually did. The plan gave her hope. That she would be done with the charade. And just like that, all hope was lost.
"I have to go see her," Miren then said, her voice low and pensive. "I can't just stand around and do nothingâ"
"We've been letting Artemis and Parker pursue you for weeks now," Jeno said, his eyes hard against hers. "I'm not going to let you get caught by her hapless groupies just because you feel bad."
"And why shouldn't I?" She clenched her fists. "We fucked up, Jeno! The plan is over! I don't want to run, and I'm sick of hiding."
"What are you going to do then?" Jeno asked her, his voice sharp, the expression on his face beyond provoked. "She probably has a concussion. A broken limb. Are you going to soothe her back to health with an apology? Screw that."
"Fine! How about we just screw everything?" Her eyes were wide and brimming with frustration. "Screw the fact that we failed. Screw the fact that she cared when no one else did!" That wasn't completely true. She knew it. But she had already spoken. And she wasn't retracting anything.
Jeno would have looked taken back. That is, if it were in his nature to look taken back. Instead his eyebrows furrowed, forming an angry crease. His ember eyes lit on fire.
"Don't say I don't care."
Miren scoffed. "You don't care about me. You're just like everyone elseâa rich asshole who's somehow unsatisfied with their over-privileged lot in life. So thanks a lot for helping me take down Penelope. That wasn't an epic fail!"
"You think you're the only one who has problems?"
Miren scoffed, her face contorting in disgust. She didn't bother outlining her disguise. "Do you have fucking eyes?!"
Jeno hissed through his teeth, though his expression calmed. "I had a stutter."
Miren blinked before narrowing her eyes at him. That caught her off guard. But a lot of things did lately. "Wait, what?"
"I don't like talking," he began, his voice composed and steady. "I still don't usually speak unless I have to. Or if Headmaster Edsel annoys me. But whenever I did when I was younger, Parker and his girlfriend always humiliated me. So everyone else humiliated me. It wasn't particularly mean-spirited behavior, but it ate at me nevertheless." He shook his head as if to dispel the depressing thought. "And it didn't help that my own twin sided with them. Hell, I hated you too."
Miren parted her mouth to say something, but it took a while for words to escape. "What did I do?"
"Nothing. But I guess that's why. You were so desperate to be liked by Penelope that you ignored how horrible she was - and still is," he said, though the look in his eyes wasn't hateful toward her. "I just don't like complacency. And that's what you were. Complacent. That's what you still are."
Complacent? She folded her arms. "What the hell do you mean? I've been trying my best toâ"
"To what?" he questioned. "Fit in? Well you do. So now what? You think I want you here?"
"Iâ"
"I what?" he stopped her again. "Yeah, people used to do that a lot, interrupt me. So I stopped talking and started observing. And what I sawâwhat I continue to seeâdidn't impress me."
Miren scratched her head, trying to make sense of his aggressive rambling. "Look, I'm sorry. It's not fair to say that you don't have your own personal demons. It's just thatâ"
"Just what?" He was doing it again. And she didn't know how much more she could take before bolting out the door. Or kicking his ass. Kicking his ass sounded appropriate.
"I'm confused!" she forced out before he could cut her off. "But aren't I allowed to be? I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to be worrying that someone broke their neck because they were trying to find me. I'm not supposed to be scared of a psycho bitch who's still out to get me no matter where I go!"
"I know," Jeno said with a sigh. "But you can't think like that. Getting caught up in these details will get you caught."
Miren shook her head, folding her arms. "Then what should I do? I'm complacent remember."
"You have to keep moving forward," he offered, rubbing her shoulder. "I'm not happy that the plan didn't go through. But we can't lament over it. We'll just have to think of something else. Something better. Don't give up hope, Miren." He pulled her into a light embrace. It wasn't until she felt dampness on his shoulder that she realized she was crying. She took a step back, wiping her eyes clean with the back of her hand. She hated crying. It was a sign of weakness. And she didn't want to feel anymore powerless than she already was.
"I'm sorry," Miren said, her eyes focused on the wet imprint.
"Tears dry," he offered with a shrug. She shook her head.
"No, about not doing anything then. I remember you..." she began slowly, releasing a sigh. "...Some rough things happened in my life during middle school. I guess I was so ecstatic that I had a friend that I completely lost touch with reality." And now she couldn't escape it. "But that doesn't justify my behavior."
"I didn't expect you to do anything then," he said, shaking his head. "I probably wouldn't have in your situation. Then again, I wasn't a pudgy little girl desperate to be liked." He paused to laugh. Miren gave him a dry look.
"Did I go too far?"
"Just a smudge."
"But as far as crappy lives go, you're undeniably the winner," he said. "And since you don't want the prize, we have to return it to the person who gave it to you. "
"But the plan was perfect." It was. It presented her with the perfect opportunity to go back to Rosemunde without worrying about the auburn devil.
Jeno pursed his lips. "After tonight, you should be painfully aware that nothing's perfect." He pinched her hand. "But we'll find away. Don't worry." She took a deep breath.
If life were perfect, she wouldn't be here. She wouldn't be a boy named Miles.
However, despite everything that had happened, dating from her leaving Rosemunde until now, she was mostly glad for this experience. There was some good in this decision.
Now if only she could straighten out all of the bad.