Ostin was miserable. His stomach was growling and he was homesick. Taylor came and sat by him. “Are you okay?” she asked softly.
“No.”
“Are you afraid?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too.” She put her arm around him. “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry that I wasn’t very nice to you back in Idaho.”
“I thought you were nice. Except at that party when you kept threatening to reboot me.”
Taylor looked down. “Maddie’s party. That seems like a million years ago. It’s funny how the things that were so important back then don’t matter anymore. Maybe Hatch is right: We have been brainwashed.”
“Hatch isn’t right,” Ostin said. “Hatch is a devil. It’s like my mother always says, ‘The devil will tell a thousand truths to sell one lie.’ ”
Taylor slowly nodded. “Want to know something?”
Ostin looked at her. “What?”
“I was jealous of you.”
“You were jealous of me?” he said.
Taylor scratched her head. “You’re so smart. I’ve always wished that I were that smart.”
“But you get good grades.”
“You don’t really have to be smart to get good grades. Just good at doing what they tell you to do.”
Ostin slowly shook his head. “How could you be jealous of me? You have everything. You’re like the most popular girl in the universe. Everyone loves you.”
“Not everyone. Being popular isn’t always easy. You make enemies. And they’re usually people who pretend to be your friend. Frenemies.”
“I never thought of that.”
“So maybe I do know something you don’t.” She sighed. “It all just seems so stupid now. What am I going to wear to Emily’s party, what if Megan wears the same thing, who is Chase going to ask to the prom? It’s all so meaningless.”
Ostin put his head down. “I wish those were still our problems.”
Taylor said, “Me too. What do you think they’re going to do to Michael?”
“They’ll try to break him.”
“It’s my fault he’s here.”
“No, it’s not. I mean, he would have come after you, but he would have come anyway. They have his mother. He’s got a great mother.” Ostin touched her arm. “It’s not your fault.”
She smiled sadly. “Thanks.”
“Besides, even if it were, we’re a club, right? All for one and one for all.”
“Yeah. I’d just rather be the one for all instead of the all for one.”
Ostin sat back and breathed out heavily. “You know, there’s something about all this I don’t understand. Why have they kept these kids here for so long?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ian, Abigail, McKenna. They clearly aren’t going to convert. So why don’t they just”—he hesitated—“you know, get rid of them?”
“I don’t know.”
Suddenly Ostin’s eyes widened. “The only reason you keep something around is because it’s valuable. That’s it.”
“What?”
“If they’re valuable, they’ll protect them.” His whole face animated. “I have an idea how to get out of here. But I’ll need everyone’s help.”
Taylor’s eyes lit with hope. “Let’s go talk to them.”
