Despite eneral ck of energy from our sleepless night, we were all power walking somewhere. Our time was getting really short, so it retty now or never if we were gonhis experiment done.

  “Diast didn’t tell us what the fang ice cube experiment is,” Oka said. “So we either guess and wing it, look through a textbook, or search it in the library.”

  “I’m trying on my phone and I’m just gettis about the pany that makes our sce textbooks.” I said. “Who also publish a series about princesses that actually…looks pretty good. One kinda looks like Raina Starlight…”

  “Zeta, quit drooling over someohat only kind of looks like Raina Starlight and focus!” Oka said.

  “Hold on, if yoing to the library, it’s gonna have to just be you two,” Kalei said.

  “Why?” Oka asked.

  “I kinda…” Kalei scratched her head. “Got banned from the library for the month.”

  “Wait, what?” I asked. “When was this?”

  “I didn’t want to tell you because it’s embarrassing!” Kalei said.

  “Why, did you get caught looking at…inappropriate websites?” I asked.

  She scratched her head again. “I mean…”

  “Kalei!” Oka said.

  “Please expin,” I said, already giggling. “I demand the story.”

  “No,” Kalei said. “I already said too much!”

  “You said very muot enough!” I said.

  “Zeta, quit drooling over this admittedly hirious i Kalei got herself into and focus!” Oka said. “We chide Kalei about her i browsing ter. We o finish this thing or we’re taking a major hit trades!”

  “But…but I o know!”

  “Wait, shut up,” Kalei said.

  “Don’t try to deflect,” I said.

  “I’m serious, shut up,” Kalei said, holding a hand close enough to my mouth to cover it, but I flinched away from her. “Is that Soleri?”

  “I hear Caya too,” Oka said, and motioned for us to hide.

  Caya was talking to Soleri at an interse in the hallway ahead. We put our backs against the wall to listen as Soleri sighed deeply.

  “Every year I hear that sigh,” Caya said. “How’d the preliminary sweep go?”

  “Pitiful,” Soleri said. “If I see one more fang ice cube experiment, I’m instantly failing them.”

  We all exged g that. Caya chuckled.

  “Maybe we should just fail all the fang ice cubes if they don’t do anything iing with it.” Caya said.

  “That’d be the oertai I find today,” Soleri said.

  Their voices were getting farther away. Kalei peeked around the er to check.

  “OK, they’re gone,” Kalei said. “I’m just gonna say it, let’s see what Iris’ pn is.”

  “But…” Oka said.

  “We at least hear her out,” I said. “Because my energy is starting to run out."

  “Me too,” Oka said. “But that Volleyball Muscle also has me a bit jittery."

  “I think we’ve given it all we give.” Kalei said. “I’m sure Iris’ pn ’t be that stupid.”

  * * *

  “OK, I so here’s my idea,” Iris said wheold her we’d given up and were listening to her pn. “Oime I didn’t want to go to the dentist, so I got Feral Flu. Then I did it again aime when I didn’t want to go to the dentist. Then another time when I didn’t want to go on a camping trip. And when I didn’t want to hang out with a friend oime.”

  “You get Feral Flu on purpose?” I asked.

  "Wait hold on, was this all when you got your fangs in?" Oka asked. "Wouldn't that have only been like a few months ago? You gave yourself Feral Flu that many times over the st few months?"

  "I mean...yeah?" Iris said.

  “This is the stupidest pn I’ve ever heard,” Kalei said.

  “Oh, whatever like you have any good ideas, beam for brains.” Iris said. “It’s worked for me before.”

  “You wanna say that again?” Kalei asked.

  "Yeah wait, did you mean beam for brains as in like beam chasers, or did you mean to say bean for brains?" Oka asked.

  "Why would I say bean for brains? Is that even a good insult?" Iris asked.

  "I don't know, maybe!" Oka said.

  “Hey hey, calm down!” I said. “We’re trying to work together here. Do we have aer idea than Feral Flu?”

  “It’s either that or actually try to do the presentation.” Oka said.

  Oka, Kalei, and I looked at each other.

  “Alright, Iris, how are we all gon Feral Flu?” I said.

  “I know someone in rade who has it,” Iris said. “We just have to find em and bm, Feral Flu.”

  “Is it that easy?” I asked.

  “This is an Iris idea, so I am ed there.” Kalei said.

  “Thanks for the vote of support,” Iris said. “I hear some kids have it over by the dumpsters out back.”

  We followed Iris out to a little alcove of dumpsters behind the auditorium. There were only two students there, Snake Riley, the fennec fox Kanibari, and her friend Ema Kari, who was currently in a crude cage.

  “Zeta, I’m frightened,” Oka said. “Aren’t those the…bad girls that gave you a rough time in the garden?”

  “You know I exist tht?” Kalei said.

  “Kalei, I’m frightened,” Oka said. “Aren’t those the…bad girls that gave Zeta a rough time in the garden?”

  “How should I know?” Kalei said.

  "I just know they were the ohat did tail stomps." Oka said.

  "Well, we don't have tails." Kalei said.

  "And Rain isn't around to tell them to stomp on me, so we have that going for us." I said.

  Oka squinted. "Right...remind me of that again after all this when I have more sleep ihen she quietly added, "I'm still plotting my retribution for that..."

  "What was that st part?" I asked.

  "N-nothing!" Oka said.

  “Well, anyways. So it’s Snake ahat have Feral Flu?” I asked. “ we trust this?”

  “I don’t know if there’s a trustable way to spread Feral Flu.” Oka said.

  “I mean more in that they’re really stupid, so they might have screwed this up,” I said.

  “I think we o stop asking logical questions here and just dive in,” Kalei said.

  “Yeah, quit with the logic crap!” Iris said.

  Ema Kari thrashed around in her cage that looked like it was made from materials plucked out of the garbage. There was a cardboard sign in front of it that said:

  “FERAL FLU BITE FIVE BUCKS”

  “We fancy ourselves to be entreurs,” Snake said, pletely mangling the word. “Ema got fang flu so I thought, why not kickstart our business empire?”

  “Ah,” Oka said. She could barely ceal how bad an idea she thought this was.

  “You’re lucky to catch us when you read the sign,” Snake said.

  “How e?” Iris asked.

  “It’s pretty genius if you ask me, but it flips down when a teacher walks by.” Snake said. “So we be all sneaky about it and stuff.”

  “And they don’t say anything about Ema in the cage there?” I asked.

  “Not really.”

  “Let’s get this over with already,” Kalei said. “Who has money?”

  We all checked our pockets and handbags. Iris sighed when we only had a few s total.

  “Y’all owe me for this.” Iris said as she handed a twenty-dolr bill to Snake.

  “It was your idea.” Oka said.

  “Hang on, just let me t this,” Snake said. She poi each of us, looking back at the twenty-dolr bill each time. “Ohat’s five…two…that’s five plus five…three…that’s five plus five plus five…”

  “The math works out! we just do this?” Kalei asked.

  “Now I have to start over,” Snake said. “Ohat’s five…”

  “ you just t ter?” I asked. “We’re kind of on a time ch here.”

  “Fine, but if you swindled me, I’m kig your asses.” Snake said.

  I looked over at the rabid looking Ema, who s me. “Wh-what do we do, exactly?”

  “Hold your arm out, and she’ll bite you.” Snake said. “Then you get Feral Flu.”

  “I don’t want to get bitten!” I said.

  “Zeta, seriously, stop questioning things.” Kalei said. “You go first because the rest of this aren’t gonna be babies about this.”

  “Huhuh, yeah,” Snake said. “Don’t be a baby, Zeta.”

  “Fine, whatever,” I said, rolling my right sleeve up. “So I really just…go up to her?”

  “Yes, go!” Kalei said.

  I inched over to Ema. When I barely got my arm out, she grabbed it with both hands and bit me really hard.

  “OW!” I yelled. It felt like she scratched me with cws too. I mao get away as Ema let out a wild, pig squeal sounding ugh. Her bite left four little marks in my forearm, breaking the skin just a little.

  I felt naturally really panicked about our really stupid pn as Oka, Kalei, and Iris each got bit by Ema. She seemed to hold on tighter and for a lot longer with Kalei, who had to shove her off to get away.

  “Well…we actually did this.” Oka said, rubbing her bitten arm.

  “I don’t feel anything.” I said.

  “It takes a few minutes, idiot.” Snake said.

  “Alright, well good luck with your business, we are all going to go wait inside for this to ki.” Oka said. “Right, guys?”

  Ema snarled and nearly broke out of her cage, making our move baside a much speedier a.