Battle of the Beasts. Ned Vizzini

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      Will reached out to open the gates. Locked. He could climb them, but that would almost certainly lead to arrest on the other side. He wasn’t sure what to do. Until …

      A FedEx vehicle crunched the gravel as it drove towards the gates. Will backed off and gave a friendly wave to the driver. The driver identified himself over the intercom. This was followed by a loud buzzing, and the gates opened. Like magic, Will thought. He ducked behind the truck, hopped on to the rear bumper, and rode into Bay Academy Prep.

      Looking past the duck pond, Will spotted a big, modern building next to the school’s main building. He leaped off the truck, scampered over, dashed inside a service entrance, and found himself in the enormous kitchen of the dining hall. The place was bustling with workers, all dressed in yellow smocks, preparing the day’s lunch (and vegan option). Will spotted a laundry basket filled with freshly washed smocks, snatched one, and put it on. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

      “Hey, you! What’re you doing standin’ around?!”

      The head cook, a burly woman with chin whiskers and a hair net, was a dangerous type. Will tried to explain to her, “I’m new” – but she was already shoving him out of the kitchen and directing him to the hot-food bar.

      “In about thirty seconds there’s gonna be a stampede of hungry little silver-spooners! You’re on mashed potatoes and green beans, so shut up and get to it!”

      The dining-hall doors burst open and students raced inside. Will made himself busy dishing out portions over and over from the steaming pans as the kids made ungrateful faces. Then he heard, “Will?”

      He looked up. A confused Brendan faced him.

      “What are you – Why are you—?”

      Will raised a finger to his lips: Shhhh. He placed mashed potatoes and green beans on Brendan’s tray, but took extra time, arranging the serving to make a message for Brendan in green-bean letters: Outside.

      Will stepped away from his post and rushed towards the rear exit. The head cook stopped him.

      “Where do you think you’re goin’?”

      “These working conditions are deplorable!” said Will, whisking off his smock and throwing it on the floor. “I quit!”

      Will left with the head cook staring at him open-mouthed and the other workers cheering. No one ever talked to her like that!

      Outside, Will met Brendan, who kept his distance.

      “Okay, so now you’re showing up at my school in my dad’s clothes, working the cafeteria line … Can you give me one good reason I shouldn’t be totally creeped out?”

      “Cordelia’s gone,” Will said.

      “What?” Brendan stepped towards him. “What did you do to her?”

      “Nothing. She ran away. Something’s wrong with her, a spell—”

      “You mean the tooth thing. She told us it was a frozen Snickers. What’d she tell you?”

      “Just that it started happening out of nowhere … and it terrified her—”

      “So my sister lied to me and not you?”

      “That’s not the point—”

      “Yeah it is, Will. My sister’s not supposed to trust you more than me!”

      “Bren. She needs help. She’s scared. She’s not herself—”

      “And whose fault is that?”

      “What? … You think it’s my fault?”

      “Duh. She’s in love with you. You kinda broke her heart. She’s been missing you since you disappeared.”

      “Well, that’s … that’s …” Will struggled for the right words and found them in his past. “There’s one thing I’ve learned from fighting in a war, and sleeping on the street. That kind of experience teaches you a very valuable lesson. Do you know what that lesson is, Brendan?”

      “I don’t really care—”

      “It’s that problems like love are what you worry about when you’re safe. And right now, your sister isn’t safe. And we need to help her. If you’re not up for the task, that’s fine. But I’m going to find Cordelia and protect her. I thought you were going to help me. Are you?”

      Brendan looked into Will’s eyes. He saw the same deep worry he felt in his own gut.

      “Fine. Tell me everything you know.”