Miren opened her mouth to respond, but no words formed. She considered playing hard to get, but enough time had passed to render such a gesture obsolete. So just like that, she was done hiding.
"You caught me." There was bitterness in her voice, but it was mostly to mask the fear she was feeling. She fought the urge to gulp. "Are you going to release me?"
"How about I ask some questions first?" Jeno said simply. "Like what the hell are you doing masquerading around as a boy?"
And not doing a very good job at that, she thought. After all, she'd only been here for a few days! Days. And sure, she could blame the fact that Jeno was both her roommate and incredibly observant, but an exposure was and exposure. She was in trouble either way. A hiss escaped her lips.
"Penelope's the reason, if you couldn't guess."
He smirked. "Of course. Saw the showdown live on center stage." he laughed almost obnoxiously. "So you got tired of being her personal bitch? Took you long enough."
Miren clenched her teeth. "Whatever," she said, her fear slipping away. Being afraid just made her feel even more pathetic. "Why don't you stop laughing and just turn me in?"
He shrugged, obviously not that deterred for someone who just found out that his roommate was female. Guess it beat Dylan. "I can't see how that would help you."
Miren's heart began to beat faster. So he's not as heartless as he lets on. But now that her identity was in shambles, she wasn't so sure that she liked the living arrangement. In fact, she sensed that he was only toying with her.
"What's the catch?" she said, placing her hands to her hips like an angry girl. What? She wasn't hiding any more. Not here. "You aren't really going to let me stay here, are you?"
He gave her a serious look. Well, one that was more serious than usual. "Look, I'm not going to be the one to personally lead you to your downfall. I'm a reasonable person."
Miren scoffed. Reasonable. "Coming from the guy who hated me solely because he thought I was gay?"
"Dylan was a pain in the ass," he offered, referring to his past roommate. "And he wouldn't stop staring at mine."
Miren rolled her eyes at his comment. Is he trying to be funny now? After all the hell he gave me? She shook her head. Maybe it would be best if she left, even if she couldn't think of any other options.
"Like I was saying, I'm a rational person," he said, standing tall and not very humbly, "but I'm afraid you're not."
"And why is that?"
"Well, we could consider all of the decisions you've made recently," he began, pacing the room now. "Or we could just move onto the obvious, which is that you're letting Penelope win."
She stared at him for while, letting his words sink in, before looking away. "I did what I had to do."
"But you're no better for it." He stopped in front of her; his eyes had settled into a calm, scarlet-brown. "Think about it. Everyone on God's green earth knows that she doused you at the assembly. Yet, on YouTube, you're the one who looks like King Kong attacking Naomi Watts. And now she probably has the award, doesn't she?" he considered. "She probably stole your rank too, and she still has your lover-boy, doesn't she?" Miren opened her mouth, possibly to reject his words, but he pressed on. "Oh, come on. Everyone saw you drooling over him."
Mortified, she sealed her lips. He had read the situationâhe had read herâso simply, like a children's book. And he wasn't even finished. "And what have you done to counter her cruelty?"
"Nothing," he answered for her. "Meanwhile, Van Helsing the Vampire Queen keeps enjoying life at your expense. Tell me, are you enjoying life?"
Her tongue glided across her teeth as she searched for an answer in the ceiling. It was hard to say. Was Miren enjoying life? She never had. How was Miles doing, on the other hand? Pretty good, shockingly.
But most of her trouble as Miles was credited to the individual standing in front of her. She shook her head. "I can't say that I am." Her eyes were on his now. "But I would consider you to be a significant part of the reason."
"You seriously think I'm half the demon Penelope is?" he questioned, his eyebrows arching in moderate shock.
"Why not?" she said, lifting her shoulders. What compassion had he shown her? Hating her for superficial reasons was the same crime Penelope committed.
"If you really think that's true, then I'm not going to help you," he said, the seriousness of his gaze contrasting with the passiveness of his voice.
"And what could you possibly help me with?" she asked before realizing it. She didn't want to know. She didn't like Jeno, and she didn't want it to seem like she was actually considering his lackluster offer.
"Revenge."
Her eyes widened. Revenge?
"Just because I'm not all happy-go-lucky like your wannabe boyfriend doesn't mean that I stand for injustice," he said. "Especially when the victim is living with me."
Living with me? There was a look of irritated dismay on Miren's face. What kind of arrangement did he think this was? That she simply decided, "Screw St. Rosemunde, I'm going to dress up like a dude and  see if Jeno will help me because we're all chummy and such"? It wasn't like that. Not remotely.
But she was without options. And just when she was about to rule out this one too, Jeno spared her. He was the first person to show her mercy. And although part of her wished he could keep on acting arrogant and snotty so she could hate him for it, the other part was relieved.
"What do you have in mind?" she said with a sigh. The charades were over. And the one advantage to this reveal was that she had one space where she could be a girl.
"Homecoming," he said. "We take van Helsing down when she's on one of the highest high school social platforms."
It was one of the only times the rival schools came together, battling to see who was the best. Miren never attended the festivitiesâshe was wary of social events ever since The Incident. But it was time to stop hidingâto stop letting the enemy win. Once and for all.
Miren nodded, her eyes sharp but understanding of the implications that would follow her after this day. "And you promise you won't turn on me? Because if you do, I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you."
"I don't need anyone's forgiveness," he said matter-of-factly. However, he brought his hand out for a shake. A promise. "But I won't."
She hesitated for a moment, glaring at his hand as if it were her impending doom. But it was the only hope she had. She sealed her palm against his, trying to stop the marathon length of thoughts running through her mind. What does he get out of this? Why not just turn me in, get his room and his life back in order?
But she couldn't afford to think about that now. Or ever. She had to trust him, just like she trusted Chara and Wallace.
And although having faith in people wasn't her specialty by any means, she was placed to the edge again, forced with no choice but to jump. Her only hope was that Jeno's arms would catch her before she fell to her death. Or that she'd sprout wings. But there she was, hoping when she swore to never do that again.
"Okay," Miren said after a while. "Let's take the bitch down."
**
But the bitch was already down. Physically, at least. Located at the second level of Woodley Hall, Penelope was on a mission of sinister proportions.
She had charmed past the RD, before making her way to her room of target. It was a Sunday evening, which meant that there were housemaids vacuuming and dusting the hall, and some boys with baskets in hand walked toward the basement level to do laundry. But she ignored them, before knocking furiously on Soren's door.
She didn't hide the scowl on her lips, the aggravation she felt from never seeing her boyfriend because he was too busy searching for Mirenâthe girl she despised, with Artemis âthe girl she was quickly beginning to.
"I know you're in there!" she screeched.
"Penelope?" Soren said as he opened the door, rubbing his eyes. "Parker's on the third floor. Go bother him, would you?"
"Don't talk to me like that," she said, examining the blonde boy with a hard stare. The junior was on the tall side, though not as tall as Parker. He had a lean, slightly muscled frame that must have been due to his participation in Rinzen's swimming and soccer team. But she could care less. Something else was bothering her.
"Why don't you tell me why you're here, first?"
"Get a hold of your girlfriend," Penelope said firmly, ignoring him. "Tell her to cut the righteous shit because she's being annoying. Believe me, she has no idea what she's getting into." She wrinkled her nose at the musky male odor of the space, the tacky soccer and sports illustrated posters on the walls, and the overall sporadic cluster of items on his crowded nightstand and floor. Artemis must not have visited much.
"Don't talk about her like that," Soren countered, his gaze finally hardening on the evil girl.
"Are you telling me that you're all fine and dandy with everything? Are you happy that your girl has been spending all her time with the most popular guy in school? More time that me, even?" Her last comment hurt more than she realized, but she ignored it. Parker wasn't getting sick of herâhe couldn't be. "Furthermore, they're making us look bad."
"You're making yourself look bad." He crossed his arms, trying to gain some dominance over Penelope. This was his room. And like ninety percent of the students, he had bought his right to be here. He was a relatively bright boy, but standing up to Penelope wasn't a question of brightness. It was a question of bravery. Because she wasn't backing down.
"Don't you get it?" she hissed, "We need to stunt their efforts. Either we make them stop, or sabotage them by acting more supportive."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Parker and Artemis have joined forces. So should we."
Soren scoffed. "Aren't you the one who created this mess in the first place? If you would have just left Miren aloneâ"
"Can't you see she's not innocent in this?" she said, her voice on the verge of a frustrated yell. She was tired of everyone taking Miren's side. Especially when they didn't know the half of it. "Who knows what bullshit she was feeding  Artemis?" she said. "I know I'm not the nicest person, but Miren is responsible for our friendship crashing and burning. And I guess out of anger, I made things uncomfortable for her. But that was just because she..." Penelope shook her head. "...I'm still traumatized by it."
She blinked at Soren whose previously defensive look was now a more contemplative one. "Everyone might think I'm a bad person, but it's all an act. Miren's manipulative. And Parker and Artemis..." she sighed. "...They think they're helping, but they're just going to get hurt. And you don't want anything bad happen to her, do you?"
Soren nodded hesitantly. "But what do you want from me? What are you even proposing?"
"That we work together to bring them to their senses," she offered.
"We can either find her first and make sure she stays out of the picture..." Penelope continued, her blue eyes brimming with a destructive type of determination, "...or unmotivate them."
Soren scratched his head. "Fine. I just want Artemis to stop worrying about her." And for Artemis to stop hanging out so much with Parker. But he didn't care to add that.
"I know," Penelope said, with false conviction. "I want that too. So are you with me?"
"Yeah," he said with a slight nod. "As long as we stop this madness."
But Soren didn't realize he was creating it. No good could ever come from siding with evil. And Penelope knew no good could come from locating Miren. If Parker and Artemis did, there would be a social revolution. Miren would become a martyr. Secrets that she would never be ready to tell would be exposed against her will.
And Princess Penelope couldâwouldâcrumble.