15

15

I actually succeeded in getting Maddie to take some time off. Maybe only because there wasn’t much for us to do over the holidays. Hannah and Victor were with their families, we hadn’t heard back from Scarlett, and Julian never showed up in person.

He sent emails every day, though. Eventually I changed my email settings so that everything he sent me went straight into a folder. I didn’t have to see them if I didn’t want to. I was tired of the constant dread.

I did, however, have to see the gifts he sent. He started with flowers, a huge bouquet that Nicole took directly to the dumpster. Then he sent me macarons (also in the trash), chocolates (trash), and several cards (Maddie shredded them).

On Christmas Eve, he sent a necklace. I took it out of the box and held it up by one finger, showing it to Maddie and Nicole, who stood in the kitchen, drinking coffee. It was a diamond pendant in a shape of a heart on a gold chain.

“I’m going to send it back to him,” I said.

“Oh, no you’re not,” Nicole said, leaning forward to examine it. “He spent a lot of money on that.”

I cocked my head, peering at it. “You think so? It’s kind of ugly.”

Maddie snorted.

“Trust me, I know my jewelry. He spent a lot of money that he doesn’t have.”

Maddie looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean, that he doesn’t have?”

“The Montgomerys were broke when they died,” Nicole said. “Bad investments. There were rumors they were going to declare bankruptcy soon.”

Maddie appeared delighted by this. I stifled a laugh.

“Julian will probably be selling off all their assets soon. Their apartment is already on the market.” She took the necklace from me. “This might have been his mother’s, actually.”

“What do you want to do with it?” I asked.

She took the box from me and put the necklace inside. “I say we sell it. I know a guy who will give me a great price. I’ll send you whatever cash I get for it.”

“I don’t want his money.”

“Then give it to charity,” Maddie said. “Give it to one that’ll really piss Julian off. Maybe that homeless shelter Edan used to stay at occasionally. Julian hates Edan and homeless shelters.”

“What in the world does he have against homeless shelters?” I asked incredulously.

“He said they discouraged homeless people from getting a job.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. We used to fight over that guy.”

“Thanks for the reminder. I feel great now,” I said dryly. She laughed.

Nicole smiled at her daughter, then patted me on the arm. “I’d spend it on myself, personally, but you can do whatever you want with it.”

“I . . .” I trailed off as Nicole walked out of the kitchen, apparently uninterested in my protests.

“You’re getting the money from that necklace,” Maddie said, an amused look on her face. “There’s no use fighting with her about it. She probably sees it as a way to screw over Julian, and I couldn’t agree more.”

“I think your mom hates Julian more than all of us,” I said.

“She really does.”

---

Part of me thought that Mom might finally email on Christmas, but she didn’t, and I tried to tell myself that it didn’t bother me. I spoke to Laurence that morning, and he said he was spending the next day with them. I changed the subject.

It was my first Christmas away from my family, and Maddie and Nicole’s first Christmas without Grayson, so no one was really in the holiday spirit. We agreed not to exchange gifts, and instead cooked a meal and watched Die Hard, which was apparently a family tradition in Maddie’s house. We’d watched A Christmas Story in my house, a movie I hated, so I was more than happy with this new tradition.

The day after Christmas, I sat in the media room, my laptop on the table in front of me. I pressed Accept on the incoming call from Patrick. His smiling face filled the screen.

“Clara! I feel like it’s been a hundred years. How is New York?”

“I love it. How is Austin?”

“I hate it.”

I laughed, and he sighed dramatically.

“OK, I don’t hate it. But things are weird now. Half of my friends are telling me why trained scrabs are actually a great idea for our military, and shockingly, they don’t appreciate me telling them what dumbasses they are.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Former friends, I guess I should say.” He shook his head. “Anyway. You wanted to talk before everyone else joins?”

“Yeah. I’ve been working on some new training and recruitment ideas, and I wanted to get your input. Can I send you some stuff I’ve been working on?”

“Of course.”

“I’m thinking of extending our training period by several weeks, which Maddie will hate, but I feel like might be necessary.”

“It is,” he said. “I’m happy to back you up there.”

“Thank you,” I said gratefully. “And I’m also sending you my ideas for noncombat teams.”

“Noncombat teams?”

“Yeah, I got the idea from Grayson’s notes. I did research into what some charity organizations are doing to help with scrab destruction, and I think we should look into creating rebuilding teams. People who go in and help with construction of new houses or businesses after they’re destroyed by scrabs.”

“I love that idea, but we don’t even have enough people for our combat teams right now.”

“I know. It would require a lot of work and . . .” I trailed off. He looked skeptical, and I still wasn’t sure that this was a good idea. He was right, we didn’t even have enough people for what we’d already built.

I heard footsteps on the stairs, and I returned my attention to the screen. “I’ll send you what I have and we’ll talk about it later.”

“Sounds good.”

Edan appeared at the bottom of the stairs, smiling as he walked over to me. He sat down beside me, so close that our arms brushed. I didn’t move away.

“Hey, Edan,” Patrick said.

Dorsey joined the call, followed by Priya, Laila, and Noah.

“Have you talked to Saira, Laila?” I asked. “Is she still at the hostel?”

“Yeah, she’s there,” Laila said. “She said the UK teams are talking about pulling something together themselves if we don’t ever come back. I keep telling her that Maddie isn’t giving up.”

“She definitely isn’t. I can barely get her to take a break.” I leaned away from the computer to yell up the stairs. “Maddie! Everyone’s on!”

“Coming!” she called from upstairs.

“Did you get to Chicago OK?” Edan asked Dorsey.

“Yes. Thank god. Two nights in Indiana was more than enough. Both my parents are convinced that North Korea is about to invade us with trained scrabs. I feel like I just wandered into some alternate dimension.”

“Oh my god! Me too!” Patrick said. “I mean, not my parents, but my friends.”

“My neighbor suggested I join MDG now that the teams are dead,” Priya said.

“I hope you told him to fuck off,” Maddie said as she walked into the room. She slid on the couch on the other side of me.

“Maddie, I’m in Alabama. I said, ‘Bless your heart.’”

“It means the same thing,” Patrick said.

“It does,” Priya confirmed.

“Do you guys have any updates?” Laila asked. “My friends were asking about New Year’s Eve, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be here for that.”

“I think you will be,” Maddie said. Patrick groaned. “You’re welcome to come to New York, if you want, though.”

“No, that’s OK,” Patrick said with a sigh. “My parents throw a big New Year’s Eve party every year; they’d probably really like it if I was here for it.”

“We may have a lead on Dust Storm,” I said. “We’re just waiting to hear back.”

“Hear back from who?” Noah asked. “What kind of lead?”

“An old . . . friend of Maddie’s,” I said, glancing at her. “She’s doing a little digging. No guarantees, but it’s the best we’ve got right now. If we don’t get a solid lead, we’re going to have to try something else.”

“But we’re going to the conference for sure in January,” Maddie said. “So, we may just plan to meet up there, unless any of you want to join us here before then.”

“There’s plenty of room,” Edan said. His arm brushed mine again when he leaned forward.

“I may take you up on that after New Year’s,” Dorsey said. “The buddy I’m staying with has to go back to school.”

“Just let me know,” Maddie said. “We’ll keep you updated on Dust Storm. In the meantime, please yell at all your friends who think trained scrabs are a good idea.”

“On it,” Patrick said.

I waved as we ended the call, feeling a pang of disappointment as their faces disappeared from the screen. It had only been a few weeks, but I missed them. I was ready for the team to be together again.