The ride back to the cafe was so uncomfortable that I almost would've preferred to walk. I tried to look on the bright side, thinking it could've been worse-- Madeline and Daniel could've been fighting and yelling, but instead, they were silent the whole way. The tension of the conversation they were putting off was unbearable, and as soon as we got back to the cafe's parking lot, Roy and I headed to his car to give them some space.

I watched the couple talk under the awning of the restaurant as the rain continued to fall. The storm was starting to calm down, but that didn't change the fact that all of us were already soaked.

"You think he'll change his mind?" Roy asked. I laughed, thinking he was joking, but turned to see him looking at me seriously.

I shook my head. "I think the chance of that happening is pretty much non-existent."

He nodded, both of us returning our gazes to where they stood across the lot. "I guess it doesn't matter. Not like The Seven have anyway of knowing if he participates or not."

"Even if they did, they didn't exactly give us a list of terms and conditions to follow. Who's to say it even matters?" I pulled down the car's sun visor, hoping there was a mirror where I could check the state of myself after being in the storm. Papers immediately fell past my face and into my lap, and I heard Roy choke back a laugh.

"Sorry!" I apologized, trying to gather all the papers: report cards, scantrons, receipts, and a Polaroid photo of him with the now-familiar golden retriever.

"No, it's my fault," he said, taking the stack from my hands and leaning over to stuff it into the nearly overflowing glove box. "I really need to clean in here. A lot of this stuff is leftover from my brother-- this is his old car. I just never got around to emptying it out."

There was a mirror-- it was already reflecting my face back to me since the protective cover was missing, broken off at the seam. I was trying to think of something to say as I wiped away my smudged eyeliner, but Roy spoke first.

"What's the deal with them, anyway?"

"Who? Daniel and Madeline?" 

"Yeah. I mean, Daniel seems to hate The Seven, and Madeline mentioned something about justice back there. What's with their... vendetta?"

"I have no idea when it comes to Daniel," I admitted, "but you really don't remember what happened to Maddie?" The nickname slipped from my lips without really thinking, and I realized I'd already been calling her that in my head. It was probably too soon to start feeling close to these people, and yet I couldn't seem to help it.

"Remember?" he questioned, obvious confusion in his voice.

"Yeah... last year? The Seven made a post about her...?" I attempted to jog his memory. I didn't want to outright say it-- it wouldn't feel right telling someone what happened if they didn't already know.

"Oh- um, no. I didn't... I wasn't really in the loop yet." He cleared his throat, a small hint of red making its way up the back of his neck. "I was, uh, still saving up for a phone and all, so... I didn't have the app yet."

With that new information, plus the obvious jalopy we were sitting in, I had to figure that Roy wasn't doing this competition just for the fun of it. As the gears turned in my mind, I remembered I'd seen him working at a local grocery store before, but never really thought about how he was one of the only kids in our high school to already have a job. 

His eyes shifted away, and I couldn't stand to not say something after what he just confessed.

"Well, The Seven, uh... Last year they posted Mad-"

The door behind me opened and a ticked-off looking Maddie slipped inside. I shut up immediately, hoping "Mad" was not incriminating enough evidence to let her know I'd been talking about her.

"Sorry about that," she apologized. "I tried convincing him, but he's impossible. He says he'll do the next challenges with us, but only if they're not like this."

Roy shrugged, seemingly unbothered. "The guy's got his moral compass figured out. No shame in that."

"Yeah, I guess." Madeline sighed, turning to her left and patting the toolbox next to her. "Anyway, that's enough time wasted-- I say we go complete our first challenge."

And we tried to-- we really did-- but when we got to Rutherford, the doors leading into the Gym were totally and completely locked.

My swiss army knife didn't suffice this time-- all the tools were far too thick to pick the lock. We tried one of Madeline's bobby pins, but that didn't work, and neither did her fingernail, which came out of the bolt with more than a few chips in its scarlet polish. We tried the same key that we used to open the toolbox, but it nearly got stuck in the lock. 

And as much as I loved Scream, it was really hard to breathe, see, or do anything in that Ghostface mask.

We went home defeated for the night, saying we'd sleep on ideas for the next day. And apparently for Roy, that was all he needed. 

"Jade!" I heard my name called as I was walking to my morning spot and turned around to see Roy sprinting down the hall towards me, pushing past unsuspecting students and teachers alike.

"Jade." He was panting when he reached me, hunching over and resting his hands on his knees. He held up one finger, taking a few seconds to catch his breath. "Hi."

"Something you want to tell me?" I asked, unable to hold back the amusement in my voice.

He looked up, a grin plastered on his face. "I know someone who can help us," he explained, putting a hand on my shoulder to help him stand upright. My mind seemed to stall, so distracted by the action that it took me a second to register what he said.

"I should've figured," I joked, knowing Roy probably knew most of the school.

"Ha-ha," he pronounced sarcastically, but he smiled as he led me down the hallway into an empty locker bank. "We should all meet up at lunch-- me you and Madeline, anyway."

"Sure, but don't leave me in suspense here," I said, curious to know who the mystery savior might be.

That was all the invitation Roy needed to jump into a gleeful explanation. "There's a sophomore named Ian-- I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner-- but he's the equipment guy for, like, all the sports teams," his voice lowered, "including basketball."

"You think he can get us in?" I whispered back, trying to ignore the way my face warmed up as he inched closer to hear me.

"I'm almost positive. Only problem is, I've got no idea if he's already in a group."

"Hopefully not. We should ask him as soon as possible-- any idea where he sits at lunch?" 

"Okay, so we have two problems." He chuckled, but it was cut short by a crackling over the PA system.

"Hellllooooo Rutherford!" A strange, distorted voice singsonged through the speakers. "The Five Capers will be taking over the announcements this morning. The weather outside is abso-freaking-lutely gorgeous, so ladies, make sure to wear your shortest shorts for gym class today-- especially you, Rachel Stradlin."

The whole school had fallen silent around us, the only sound the heavy footsteps of panicked teachers racing through the halls. Roy and I looked at each other in both disbelief and defeat-- another team was currently completing their challenge. As hilarious as it was, it made my heart drop straight to my feet. 

"For lunch, we've got the usual horrendous options, so I hope you either packed a meal or are looking to vomit to get out of your fifth period. You'd have to be one sick freak to stomach the garbage this school classifies as food."

"Look," Roy said, turning his phone to face me. On the scoreboard page, one team name now stood on the list: The Five Capers. Next to their name, under the points section, there was a three.

I had no idea who Ian was, but I hoped he was willing to cooperate-- I was determined to get into that gym.