The Rules Read Free Page A

to go to jail forever.
    The fog was on the move, so thick an entire army of the walking dead could be headed their way and they’d never know it. Robin thought back to all the ghost stories she and Beth used to scare themselves with. It was hard to believe that once upon a time, she had been afraid of pretend things. The real world was pretty darn scary on its own.

OPPORTUNITY
    THEA’S RULE #1: Never get caught cheating.
    Thea Ward slunk out of her house in black leather pants and a fuzzy black sweater and popped into the front seat of Beth’s new Beemer—new to Thea, anyway—like she was on a spy mission. Her long black hair was pulled into such a tight ponytail she looked like she’d had a face-lift. At least, that’s what her little sister said.
    Thea was amazed that Beth had invited her to this party. Freshman and sophomore years, Thea, Robin, and Beth had been “the three amigas,” but then Beth had started hanging out with August DeYoung and Mr. Brissett got hit by a car and she’d gotten involved with Jackson.
    And
nobody
but Thea liked Jackson. Crazy, that’s what people said about him.
    Tonight the amigas were back together again, Robin tucked in the backseat, Beth at the wheel, except they were going to the Callabrese High equivalent of the People’s Choice Awards. It was like Thea was living in an alternate universe. But every time her phone dinged, her reality intruded:
    “Oh God, you guys, Jackson has texted me, like, fifty times,” she said with a quaver. “He’s so mad that I broke up with him.”
    “Ignore him, sweetie.” Behind the wheel, Beth glanced away from the road and held out her hand. “Better yet, give me your phone.”
    “You don’t know what he’s like when he’s upset,” Thea said. He was positively homicidal, but she didn’t say that. “He can’t help it. He had a brain injury,” she added quickly.
    “Oh my God. So what’s
your
excuse?” Beth asked. Just then Beth’s own phone trilled like a bluebird, signaling an incoming text message. “I’m betting that’s our first clue!” She held her phone out to Thea. “Read it, please.”
    Thea grunted but did as she was told. “It’s from August. It says, ‘On your mark! Square root of one hundred sixty-nine?’ ”
    “Type in
thirteen,
” Beth said without hesitation.
    Thea blinked. “Wow, super math woman,” she said. “Unless August already told you all the answers.” August and Beth were tight. They had been odd-couple besties for a year. Robin spent all her time with her family, and Thea must have lost her mind when she decided it would be a good idea to fill her empty Friday and Saturday nights by dating a gangbanger.
    It’s not Jackson’s fault that he has a brain injury,
she told herself.
And if he didn’t, he’d be really sweet all the time.
It was just that he had what he called “episodes.” He would go completely berserk. Everyone at school judged him for them. Jackson told her the Free Souls accepted him exactly as he was. But she couldn’t. Jackson was all wrong for her.
    Plus she kind of had someone cooler on the back burner.
    “August didn’t give me the answers,” Beth replied. “He wanted me to have fun, too. This is the last hunt. And? Math makes us free.”
    Thea raised her brows. Beth used to hate math. But then old Beth would never have thrown herself in with August DeYoung and a cynical clique. Only new Beth liked running with the big dogs, buying August’s old car from him for peanuts, and doing precalculus. Thea didn’t even know what calculus was.
    “Type it in,” Beth insisted.
    “One-three. Sent,” Thea reported. They all waited.
    “ ‘Thirteen is your lucky number,’ ” Thea read off the phone screen. “Go you, Bethie-B! Okay, here’s the clue: we’re supposed to drive to Second and Vineland, then go north on Vineland for thirteen blocks and then text for further instructions.”
    “And we’re off!” Beth cried. “This is how it works. How we find