Chapter 9 (iii)

Jayden breathed a shaky sigh of relief as he exited. Whether he would admit it or not, he was rattled and incredibly grateful Jonie had shown up when she did—possibly at his request. It made the most sense, after all. Jonie and I had French this period and there was another bathroom, one much closer to room 56 than the one in which we hid. It seemed collecting data wasn’t the only business she attended to on behalf of the president and, had I not been so rattled myself I’d have pried deeper into this orchestrated rescue mission.

Jonie re-entered the stall and got to work quickly. She fished a small makeup kit from a hidden inside pocket of her hoodie and ordered me to have a seat. Confused, I did as I was told and the girl worked her mysterious magic. Minutes, later, she pulled me carefully to the mirror and ordered me to have a quick look—reassurance I was pleased with her work and would be willing to move on. She was a miracle worker, a fact I found