“You had to Wikipedia ‘raw cookie dough’ to make sure that you wouldn’t get salmonella.”
“It had raw eggs! It was a risk!”
“And you fell asleep at ten o’clock.”
“I’m an old soul. We go to bed early.”
Roux tried to keep glaring at me, but her grimace collapsed into a smile instead. “Anyhoodle,” she said. “We could try having a slumber party, see if you’ve learned anything. Or, you know, maybe I could hang out at your house instead.”
“Roux, it’s not exactly the safest place.”
“Are you kidding? You have four deadbolt locks and a fingerprint scanner! Your windows are bulletproof! It’s the safest apartment ever!”
“Could you not say it so loud?”
“This park is one of the weirdest places in Manhattan,” Roux said. “No one gives a rat’s ass. Here, watch!” Roux stood up and straightened her dress. “HEY, EVERYONE! THIS GIRL HAS A FINGERPRINT SCANNER! SHE’S A SAFECRACKER!”
“What are you doing?” I hissed, yanking her back down on the bench. “You are insane! Legimately insane!”
Roux just gestured out at the summer crowd. “See? No one cares. Except for all the pot dealers.” I looked where she was pointing and saw several men scrambling out of the park. “Wow. Who knew they could run so fast?”
“You made your point,” I said. “Our loft is super safe, yay. Now all of lower Manhattan is aware thanks to the Roux Broadcasting System.”
“Now in stereo,” she said, not missing a beat. “So when can I come over?”
I sighed and rubbed my palms on my knees, feeling itchy and nervous all of a sudden. “Roux?”
“Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“That’s not a good voice.”
“All I said was Roux!”
“But you said it ominously. Like, with omin.” She grinned when I started to crack up. “I’m serious! The last time you sounded like that, you dropped twelve passports in my lap and then I had to run twenty blocks and jump into a helicopter so a crazypants madman wouldn’t kill me.” Roux sipped at her Coke. “You can see why I’m wary.”
She had a point.
“Well, it’s not that bad,” I began, which got Roux’s attention. In the worst possible way.
“Are you on a mission?” she whispered, glancing around us. “Are we staking someone out right now?”
“We don’t do stakeouts—”
“No, of course not, of course not. That’s for less talented spies. Spies in training, that sort of thing. I’ve been studying up on it.”
“You have?”
“You should see the stack of spy novels by my bed.” She sighed. “It’s exhausting trying to be well read.”
“Roux,” I tried again. “I’m not on a stakeout. Calm down.”
“Phew. ’Cause I cannot run in these shoes, let me tell you.”
I shook my head. “Can we just focus, please? We only have a few minutes before we get back to class.”
“Let’s ditch and go buy night vision goggles.”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“The Collective is accusing my parents of stealing evidence.”
Well, that got her attention.
“Really?” She gasped. “Did they do it?”
“No!” I cried. “Of course not! My parents are, like, model spies.”
“That sounds like an oxymoron. Why is the Collective saying that?”
“Because I think they’re pissed at me for showing a gap in their armor.” It wasn’t the whole truth, and maybe not even a little bit of the truth, but I wanted to protect Roux as much as I wanted to protect Jesse. They didn’t need to know everything.
“You mean when Colton Hooper tried to kill you? They should be thanking you!”
I smiled despite myself. “That’s what Jesse said.”
“Hell yes, he did! Finally, we agree on something.” Roux took the last sip of her Coke, then expertly tossed the bottle ten feet into a recycling bin. “So what’s the plan?”
“I’m not really sure. I just need to prove that my parents didn’t do it because if the Collective finds them guilty, then we get tossed out.” It was terrible to even think about it, the fact that my family and I would truly be on our own for the first time in my life. I was already plenty nervous about whether or not to apply for colleges, and that was still nearly six months away. Being kicked out of the Collective would be like losing the only family I had ever known. And what would my parents do for money? A computer hacker and a statistician with no legal work experience weren’t exactly at the top of the job postings on Craigslist.
Roux’s voice was small when she spoke again. “If you get kicked out, does that mean you can’t go to Harper anymore?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, even if you do, I’ll homeschool you.” Roux dug her elbow into my side, trying to cheer me up. “I’ll give you all my quizzes and homework and I’ll let you do the reading, too. No need to thank me!”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“I don’t like to brag, but I am an amazing friend.” She slung one arm over the bench and looked around her again. I wondered if she had seen Angelo do the same thing whenever he was out in the city. “And you don’t have to tell me if you have a plan. I know you have a plan.”