The bus rumbled on through California farmland. Three hours into the ride, my phone buzzed.
Group chat. The one without Misato.
Belle: so tonight's still on right
I stared at the message. My brain took a second to catch up.
Oh.
Oh.
The heist. The Platinum crystal. The insane plan that Belle had proposed back when we were desperate and broke and ranked seventh.
I typed fast.
Jace: we literally just won 5k each
Belle: and?
Jace: and we can just run more gates instead of stealing from the academy
Jace: we're in FIRST PLACE
Belle: which is why security will be focused on Blair's squad getting investigated not us
Belle: plus we're off campus
Belle: perfect alibi
Jordan's phone buzzed. He groaned and rolled over, still passed out in the back row.
Naomi's phone lit up. She picked it up from where it rested on her lap, read the messages, and her face went carefully blank.
Belle sent another message.
Belle: 100k crystal splits 5 ways = 20k each
