They sat down and talked strategy. Marie kept glancing in Edgar’s direction. He didn’t talk much, just listened. She wanted to believe he was being honest in his willingness to help. On the flip side, he could be a dangerous spy. Yes, she was probably thinking ill of him because he terrified her. Ignoring her fear, she focused on strategizing with everyone. She kept him in her side view and felt there was little she could do except hope he was telling the truth.

“I’d say Billy is our best bet finding Harriet,” Abe said. “She’s at a college he’s already gotten scholarship offers for. He can poke around campus without too much suspicion.”

Billy frowned. “I mean, I guess so. Or we could all meet up tonight and break into the main office and hack their database to find the student directory and get Harriet’s information that way.”

Marie wasn’t sure if he was serious. She glanced at Abe, like she always did, when something Billy said didn’t quite make sense. Abe caught her glance and gave a small shake of his head for an answer.

“Think of it this way, Billy. You won’t have to practice any roll maneuvers,” Abe said.

Billy schlumped into himself, hands under his chin. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Notes covered every inch of the coffee table. She was reminded again of seeing Presley high and the overwhelming emotion that came when she remembered her first time seeing the building with her dad. It was slightly off topic, but she needed to know.

“Um, just curious, do you guys know what happened to my dad?” Marie asked.

Marie hoped against hope he’d been released from the S.E.A. when they found out he knew virtually nothing. Maybe she could walk back to her old apartment and her dad would be there. But the S.E.A. wouldn’t be that careless. As she looked at the boys’ faces, she could tell the news couldn’t be good.

“No one has seen him since you left,” Abe said.

“He just sorta disappeared,” Billy said.

Edgar, staring off in the distance, quietly cleared his throat. “A lot of people have disappeared since you left.”

Albert nodded at that. “Mr. Edison’s gone too. Did you see him at all across the wall?”

Marie’s eyes widened. “Mr. Edison’s gone?”

“People said he jumped across the wall when they discovered he was a mad scientist,” Albert said.

Marie shook her head. “I never saw him.”

Albert’s face fell. “Oh.”

There was another silence. Marie felt sick to her stomach. Musical Land seemed to be imploding, and she had no idea. Maybe it was just her view as a hobo, but everyone else seemed to have a pretty good life. Marie knew she was just brushing the surface of what was actually going on with the citizens of Musical Land.

Billy glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s about time we head to dinner.”

A loud gurgling noise made all the boys turn to Marie, who crossed her arms over he stomach as her cheeks burned.

“Have you had lunch?” Albert asked.

“No.” Marie decided not to mention she skipped breakfast. What with running as hard as she did, she was starving.

“We’ll bring you something. Billy’s great at sneaking food back here,” Abe said.

Billy grabbed his backpack. “I have a particular cook who always takes such pity on me when I look swamped with homework.”

“Okay. You guys be safe, please,” Marie said. It felt more than just something considerate to say at parting. Now that her friends were officially helping her find the underground, she was terrified for their safety.

They left to go back to the school cafeteria, which Marie thought was so odd. Was President Arnold really that paranoid?

Marie got a drink of water and paced the length of the apartment. She found herself slipping back into old habits of staying away from the windows. There weren’t too many here. The windows faced an alleyway, but she still tried to be cautious.

Marie resisted the strong urge to peek at their bedrooms. She wanted to give them the same respect she’d request of them if their roles were reversed. Instead, she sat on the couch, trying not to feel like she’d doomed her friends to a certain fate. It was so amazing to find them and be with them again, but she hoped they wouldn’t be taken from her like her dad.

Memories of her dad flooded back to her, and she fought back the swelling in her throat. Now she was positive the S.E.A. were keeping him in the basement. She rubbed her face, which did nothing except loosen the tears in her eyes as she felt them pour down her cheeks. She wouldn’t stop fighting to get him back. A wave of homesickness filled her soul, the same kind that hit her in the clearings. The more she analyzed the feeling, the more she realized homesickness was only a part of it. She desperately missed her dad and felt terrified about his safety.

Marie had cleaned her tears and face as the homesickness finished its course in time for her friends to return. They’d been gone maybe an hour. Each had snuck some food for her. She found it strangely touching that even Edgar handed her an apple. Maybe she was wrong about Edgar. Billy opened his backpack to reveal every available space crammed with Tupperware full of food. Marie smiled as they spread it out on top of the notes on the coffee table.

“You guys are the best,” she said.

“Don’t feel obligated to eat all this. It’ll also replenish our midnight snacks,” Billy said.

Marie’s stomach didn’t allow her to use proper etiquette. She inhaled half the container before she noticed it was mashed potatoes. The rest of it went so fast the potatoes barely registered on her taste buds.

“Or... maybe you should go ahead and eat everything,” Billy said. “I thought they fed hobos. Isn’t there some sort of government outreach program or something?”

Marie gave a little laugh as she opened the next container. “Oh, they do. I just didn’t have lunch, and I had to run to Presley High to find you guys. I’m famished.”

Marie ate the corn in the container. At least she registered it was corn before she started eating it.

“There’s something you ought to know, Marie,” Abe said quietly.

The touch of fear in his voice was enough that Marie froze before finishing the last of the corn. “Yeah?”

“There’s S.E.A. agents patrolling the area. They seem to have come in an unusually large number today,” Abe said.

When Marie felt like she had control of her body again, she gave a small nod. She was afraid this would happen. Planning it and then actually doing it were two separate things, and she felt the nerves shrink her stomach and start to churn the food already in there.

Marie needed to go, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She missed these guys, and the thought of leaving and not seeing them, even for a week, made her hesitate. Now agents were searching for someone, most likely her. They’d have to be super careful about how she left. She didn’t want to bring any suspicion to her friends.

She got to her feet. “I better go then.”

Albert frowned, and she could sense his protective nature taking over. “So they are after you?”

Marie couldn’t keep eye contact with him. It was easier that way. “There’s a good chance. I don’t have my watch, so they don’t know where to find me. I better get back.”

“Stay here for the night. There’s room on the couch,” Albert said.

Marie shook her head. “I can’t. The S.E.A. won’t stop looking for me.” I won’t let you end up like my dad, she secretly told herself.

“But they could already be suspicious of you. If you go back now, you might get arrested,” Albert said.

Marie shrugged. She most likely wouldn’t be arrested. If anything, they would just wipe her memories again, but she hadn’t told them about that, and she had no intention of doing so now. “It’s the chance I have to take. I can do more good as a hobo.”

Albert frowned. “But Marie-”

She cut him off. Albert would never be satisfied unless he was helping her somehow. “I’ll tell them I got horribly lost and I just want to get back. They should let me go. And, with a solid week of being a normal watch-wearing hobo, any suspicion they might have will dry up.”

Albert and Abe looked uneasy. Billy’s face had a blank expression. Edgar, well, she could never tell what he was thinking about.

“Would it be okay if we checked up on you in our designated meet spot tomorrow night instead of next Friday? I’m pretty sure we’ll be singing a lot more next week if we don’t have confirmation you’re okay,” Billy said.

Marie nodded, happy for an excuse to see the guys again so soon. “That sounds perfect.”

To be honest, she wanted to make sure they would be okay too. She wasn’t entirely sure how safe it was for her to be going out tomorrow night, but she pushed away the initial fear.

Her friends seemed more at ease with the thought of seeing her tomorrow. Marie inched toward the apartment window to try and spy out, even if everything inside her told her to stay far away from them.

“I think the farther I am from here and Presley High, the safer you guys will be,” Marie said.

Albert stood up. “Once you get out of here, head south until you can’t go that direction anymore, then head east through all the alleyways there. It should get you good and lost, and well away from main street.”

Marie nodded. “Thanks, Albert.”

“Should we take her back out the same way we brought her in?” Abe asked.

Marie shook her head. “I don’t want anyone coming with me. And I don’t want to leave a Presley jacket abandoned somewhere. I don’t want them to have any hint you guys helped.”

They hesitantly agreed. Albert approached Marie and hugged her tightly. “Please, please be safe. I don’t want to go another seven months without seeing you again.”

Marie nodded. “I’ll try my best. So many things are out of my control.”

She took a quiet but deep breath in. Her senses remembered the feel of Albert, and the smell of him. She felt her cheek against the crest of his blazer and tried not to analyze whether or not Albert’s heart was beating unusually fast.

Albert broke away. “Well, you’re not alone anymore, okay? We’re going to help you.”

He said the exact thing Marie needed to hear from someone, though she didn’t realize she needed to hear it. She reached out and squeezed his hand. She wasn’t sure what kind of help four more teenagers could do in the fight against President Arnold, but she was immensely glad she wasn’t alone in it anymore.

She gave Billy a hug before she turned around and saw Edgar. Marie had lost track of him and he’d somehow snuck up behind her. Marie gave a tiny shriek of surprise, and Edgar’s face gave nothing away as to whether or not he was surprised she screamed. He didn’t seem the kind of person to want a hug, and the way his arms were folded tightly over his chest suggested he didn’t want one.

“Sorry, Edgar, so sorry. Macbeth, you… you do sneak up on people, don’t you. Sorry, really sorry. Didn’t mean to scream,” Marie said.

Billy stifled a laugh behind her back. Marie bit her lip, her cheeks reddening. She wished Edgar wasn’t so terrifying. She also wished she could control her waterfall of speech every time she was close to him.

“So, um, see you later. Edgar. Um, yeah, tomorrow. See you tomorrow.” Marie gave a super lame wave and Edgar gave a small nod in her direction before disappearing into his room.

“He’s a great guy, once you get to know him,” Billy said. “Can you believe no one else wanted him as a roommate? We got lucky.”

“Yeah, lucky,” Albert said, not sounding nearly as convinced.

Marie rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to get the lingering emo feeling out of her mind whenever she thought of Edgar.

“See you later, Abe,” Marie said. Abe gave her a hug, and Marie smiled. Abe was a quiet guy, but he always seemed to give out such a calming energy. Albert opened a window, checking the alleyway and at other windows.

“We should be clear,” Albert said.

Billy emerged out of his room with some sheets and wrapped them around to make a thin rope. “We’re only on the second floor, so it shouldn’t be too bad if you slip.”

Marie rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Billy.”

She went to the windows and tentatively checked for herself before climbing out. She grabbed the sheet rope and eased her way down to the alleyway. With barely a wave to the boys, she ran out of the alleyway. After following Albert’s direction, it didn’t take her long before she felt hopelessly lost. It was much better this way. Marie closed her eyes, thought of her friends, and tried her best to cry. If she wanted to get found by the S.E.A., she’d need to look the part. And if they weren’t looking for her, at least she had a story for them when they stumbled upon her.

Her mind brought up images of her dad, and though it made her cry in the guys’ apartment, now it just made her mad. The S.E.A. was hiding him, and she was beginning to hate them for it. A lot of the things that had sometimes brought her to tears now just made her angry. She hated that Sophie was in the situation she was in. She didn’t deserve to be a hobo.

Turns out hate brought about tears too.

Her heart began to pound at the prospect of what she’d have to do. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen to her. Could she act well enough to make the agents believe her? She had been acting a lot lately, and it was wearing her down.

Marie got out of the alleyway and tried to look the part of a frantic hobo who had lost her way. Since she was actually lost, she tried to think of what she needed to do. The S.E.A. skyscraper was a familiar landmark, and knew she had to find it among the other tall buildings to get her bearings. Since the skyscraper was hidden, it made her job of being a hopelessly lost hobo much easier.

Marie maneuvered out of the side alleys until she got to a bigger road and saw an S.E.A. car. It immediately pulled over and two agents stepped out of the car.

“You there, why aren’t you with the rest of the hobos,” the agent said.

“Please,” Marie said, trying to wipe away the too hot, angry tears running down her cheeks. “I got hopelessly lost. I don’t know where I am! I don’t know where any of the other hobos are. Please, take me back. I… I want to go back. I never should have wandered off!”

Marie could only hope she didn’t lay it on too thick. She covered her face to try and make it seem like she was sobbing as she tried to make marks on her cheeks.

“Well, alright, no need to cry. We’ve found you now,” one of the agents mumbled.

Marie followed them into the car. One of the agents grabbed a walkie-talkie.

“We found the female hobo. Apparently she got lost. Do you want us to bring her in, or should we return her to the other hobos?” the agent asked whoever was on the other side of the walkie-talkie.

There was some static before she heard a broken: “Bring her in.”

Marie’s heart dropped and her breathing increased. She’d recognize that voice anywhere, even if it was over static. It was Sophie’s dad, Mr. Germain.