Luckily for Claire, she didn't get hit in the face by a paper airplane upon entering Miss Circle's classroom. While Oliver and his friends weren't any less rowdy than yesterday, they didn't seem to be sending airplanes towards anyone who entered the door today. Claire hoped that maybe they had forgotten about her, but knowing her luck so far that probably wasn't the case.

Engel was walking next to her, Bubble just behind, as she'd met the three just outside the door. The three walked across the room and sat down at the cluster of desks they shared for class.

"Sleep well?" Engel asked Claire as he got out his completed homework. "I didn't see you this morning, so thought I'd ask."

"Alright," Claire said with a shrug. She got out her homework as well, which was also completed. "I'm bunked with Lana, so that's cool."

"Yeah, Lana's nice," Engel agreed. "Glad you're making more friends, then. It's definitely good to have people to stick with here."

Wholeheartedly agreeing based on what she'd seen at the school so far, Claire nodded. She looked down at her homework, looking at the answers she'd filled in. She knew at least a quarter of them were wrong - she figured out a few of them, but she wasn't one hundred percent sure on any of them.

"Can I ask you guys something?" Claire said in a low voice.

Engel and Bubble both glanced at each other in a little bit of confusion.

"Yeah, anything," Bubble said assuringly. Though her voice was slightly concerned, as though she expected it to be something troubling by Claire's tone.

No one at the table noticed, but Oliver, not too far away, slid his gaze to the three.

"Do you guys know of any way to get out of here?"

Bubble's disembodied eyes filled with surprise and a bit of panic, glancing around.

"Claire, you know we're not supposed to talk about that-!"

Engel didn't seem to be concerned with the current rule breaking happening. In fact, he seemed interested.

"Can I ask why?"

Claire glanced around again. She was beginning to grow paranoid that someone was listening in. But, Addie wasn't in this class, so she kept talking.

"I can't stay here. I... I can't.I'm not gonna be stuck here for the rest of my life, Engel."

Engel thought on that for a moment and hesitated before finally saying,

"...not now. Meet me behind the bleachers next period. We'll talk there."

Honestly? Claire didn't expect Engel to agree. But he did, and she was relieved she at least had a possible source of information that may lead her to freedom.

Oliver narrowed his eyes, then turned back to his friends.

Miss Circle came into the room not long later, announced that the class would be getting their "so far thoroughly incompetent and disappointing" grades on the test the previous day and began the lesson that might as well could've been verbal chicken scratch. Claire paid attention the best she could, but none of it quite clicked in her brain the way math usually did. Part of that could be her anxious anticipation of what Engel would tell her next period about being able to leave, but the other part was very much that Miss Circle seemed to be purposefully teaching in a way that was indecipherable to the teenage human brain. She did, however, pay enough attention to catch the sporadic, well-hidden suspicious and accusing glares Miss Circle would occasionally throw at her.

It felt like much more than the actual fifty-five minutes between the start of class and the end of it. When the bell rang at long last, Claire put her new sheets of homework into her folder and stuck it in her bag as she stood and walked with Engel and Bubble to the door.

The three said nothing on the way to the pool room. Claire glanced at her two friends occasionally as she walked next to them, and sometimes they returned the look. But none of them spoke a word. It was almost eerie how quiet they were.

They set their stuff down on the bleachers, and Engel pulled Claire aside as soon as the coast was clear. He brought her to the back of the pool room and walked under the metal bleachers, beckoning Claire to follow.

"You sure we're allowed to be back here?" Claire asked, before realizing how dumb the question was considering the circumstances.

"You're asking me about leaving, which is very strictly prohibited. I don't think they'll care as much about us being beneath the bleachers, Claire," Engel remarked with a chuckle.

Claire chuckled as well. "Yeah, you're right, I guess. What if someone hears us, though?"

Engel, knowing who Claire was referring to with this, assured her, "Don't worry. I don't think she can hear us through the bleacher seats."

Now feeling more confident about this, Claire stepped into the dim light underneath the bleachers. It was quite dark, but they didn't really need light to talk, so they made do.

"You know about Alice, right?" Engel asked Claire.

"Yeah," Claire nodded. "What's she got to do with it?"

Engel adjusted one of the feathers in his hair. "I've already told you, I think, that people think she used to be either a student or a teacher here. But there's other rumors that say that... she has the key to get out of here."

"Why would Alice have the key?" Claire was very confused. "I mean, there's probably a reason she's locked up in a room that says 'Do not enter' in bold claw marks on it. What if she's dangerous?"

"I don't doubt that she might be dangerous," Engel agreed. "But if she was really that dangerous, why would Miss Grace keep her in the school at all, locked away or not?"

Engel made a good point. "So if I wanted to know how to leave here, I'd have to somehow get into Alice's room and talk to her in order to get the key."

"In theory, yes."

"In theory" wasn't very assuring to Claire. "But what if those are just rumors? What if there's a demon or something in there?!"

"Demons aren't real, Claire, don't worry about it," Engel remarked. "If Alice doesn't have any information about it, then I've got nothing. But if you want to leave? Then you'll have to try and talk to Alice unless you figure out something else."

Claire was silent for a moment, thinking over what Engel was saying, then nodded. "Okay."

"Hey. If you need help with this, feel free to talk to me. I'll help you out. I'll be honest, I really wanna know what's behind that door."

Claire smiled a little. "Thanks, Engel."

Engel smiled back. "No problem."

Claire glanced back at the entrance to where they were before jumping and gasping in surprise.

"What, what is it?" Engel asked, looking that way as well. Nothing was there.

Claire shook her head after a moment of hesitation. "N-nothing. I thought someone was standing over there. That wouldn't be great."

Engel chuckled a little, to let out the relief that relaxed in his chest.

"Yeah. It wouldn't be, would it?"

-

1206 words

Really sorry for the short chapter, I didn't plan enough >:(