
The Gem
He didn’t mean to trip the alarm. But that didn’t stop the noise that now blared throughout the museum’s jewel exhibit. Reaching down towards his school bag, he tossed the gem into the front pocket, slung it over his shoulder and bolted. He had learned that if you just looked calm and confident, people wouldn’t question you, but his nerves had taken over.
“You idiot!” Caroline yelled behind him as he escaped the jewel exhibit. She sprinted to catch up with him as they both abandoned the museum. Security guards lined the exits. There were far too many of them. Last time they had been there, they had only counted half the number of bulky men that now stood in front of them. They both felt their stomachs sink as they realized it had been a trap.
Caroline ran as if she was going to burst right through the museum doors while Jacob turned and sprinted back to the bathrooms. The guards leaped into action, ready to stop Caroline from fleeing the building. Jacob whipped open the smudged doors, being sure to cover his hands with his sleeves. He couldn’t let them find his fingerprints. He knew what it would do to the rest of them. His hands hit the cold granite of the counter as he pulled himself onto it. He stumbled, slipping off the smooth surface. His head crashed onto the filthy tiled floor. His head spun, and pain coursed through his bruised body. His head was in a puddle of something he hoped was water. Heavy footsteps pounded closer to him. Jacob scrambled to his feet and climbed back onto the countertop. He cursed himself and pried open the vent from the ceiling. A shower of dust rained down, and Jacob had to resist the urge to cough. He stretched his hands up into the narrow opening, slicing his palm on the rough, rusty metal. Ignoring the blood, and, barely reaching, maneuvered himself into the vent.
He met Caroline outside the building, not questioning the strong smell of smoke coming from her. Jacob watched as a salesman tripped while walking across the uneven asphalt street. He stood back up quickly, sighing as he noticed the decent-sized rips in the knees of his pants. The salesman carried on anyway, attempting to find another group that would talk to him.
Caroline shot Jacob a harsh glare as they started walking down the cracked sidewalk. “I can’t believe you.” she spit. “That was one of the first things we learned to do!”
“You know I didn’t mean to! Who means to trip an alarm?” Jacob shouted back at her, in the middle of applying a bandage to his cut palm.
“How can I really be sure, right? It was a setup. Who tipped ’em off, huh?” Caroline turned towards him accusingly. Her words stung as much as his cut hand.
Jacob’s cheeks turned red, in both a mix of anger and embarrassment. “I didn’t know it was going to be a setup! That’s how a setup works!”
The salesman had found a new victim and was in the process of pushing an insurance plan on them. Jacob was jealous. If he only he could do his job that well.
“Do you even know how much trouble you’re going to be in? How much trouble I’m going to be in? God, this is all your fault!” Caroline wouldn’t even make eye contact with him. She carried on, staring dead forward. She rubbed her temples, her eyebrows furrowed.
Jacob pulled his attention away from the salesman. “You could’ve helped, too, you know. Why did I have to be the one who got the gem? Wait, I think we both know why.” Jacob’s started at her, his eyes turning cold.
Caroline faced him quickly, almost shocked at what she was hearing. It had been far too long to since it had happened to use it against her, but it still struck her. “I didn’t know.” She looked down, taking a short breath.
“At least both of us actually got out,” Jacob continued. “I didn’t leave you stranded there.” The salesman was now approaching them, a forced smile plastered on his face. Jacob sped up.
Her head snapped back up at Jacob’s statement. “But you did! You went out a different way while I distracted them! I saved both of us!”
“You saved us, Caroline. But you couldn’t save him.”
Caroline turned away, her blood running cold. She saw the pitiful salesman getting closer to them. She sent him a glare cold enough to stop him in his tracks. He decided to leave them alone.
Caroline didn’t want to think about this anymore. She couldn’t believe she had left Kyle there all those years ago.
In the midst of one of her first missions, something had gone wrong. She panicked. She was supposed to do the very thing she had done just a few minutes ago: distract the guards from her partner, then escape herself. Caroline didn’t distract them. She crept out as soon as the alarms started. Kyle was in there all by himself, waiting for her to help get him out. She failed him.
“Whatever.” All she wanted to do was go home.
Jacob looked over at Caroline. Though she was trying her best not to look at him, he could still see the tears that had welled up in her eyes. He looked towards his feet, his anger dissolving. He should’ve done better. He fidgeted with the bandage on his hand. “I’m sorry, Caroline. I know you didn’t mean to.”
Caroline matched Jacob, gazing down at the sidewalk. Her footsteps were light on the rough concrete. “I’m sorry, too. Accidents happen.”
He didn’t answer. They continued to walk in silence.
Jacob gently pulled the gem from his bag with his good hand and let it balance in his fingers. The blue glow reflecting down was calmer than he felt. He attempted to catch his breath and control his pounding heart. He had done it, though. In the end, he had gotten this dumb rock. A thousand of his eyes stared back at him from the hundreds of facets on the stone. He knew he might as well have failed. He would receive the same treatment. He tried to let the ocean hue clear his nerves, but the thought of returning to the school kept him on edge.
Jacob slipped the gem back into his school bag, careful not to let Caroline see he had taken it out. The sky wasn’t nearly as blue as the jewel had been. In fact, Jacob struggled to find any blue in it, at all. The clouds covered a majority of the sky, but the rare free spots were a miserable gray. The sky looked like it could crack open any minute, spilling freezing water down onto the earth. Jacob shivered, thinking about it. All too soon did they arrive at the dreary gates of West Hill. Coincidentally, it suddenly began to rain.
Mrs. Green wasn’t happy. It didn’t matter if they had gotten the jewel, they had practically been caught! The school had been put in a tight spot. It wasn’t Jacob or Caroline’s fault the museum had been that heavily guarded, but they certainly could’ve gotten the gem without security even getting involved. Mrs. Green, luckily, was leaning towards just giving them a lifetime of detention, rather than expelling them. After all, the whole thing had been a setup. You don’t want to know what happens if you get expelled from West Hill, though. Jacob shuddered, picturing the horrifying fate that could quite possibly be coming for him and Caroline. He blamed himself, rightfully. Why couldn’t he have just placed the weight a little quicker? The alarm would never have even gone off. Caroline, one of his closest friends, might suffer because of him. This was something he couldn’t undo.
The air seemed to clear as Mrs. Green announced they wouldn’t be expelled. Jacob was so happy, even the exorbitant amount of detentions didn’t dull his spirits. Caroline let out a sigh of relief and let her shoulders slump, the black fabric of her shirt scrunching.
Though they had avoided that danger, they still didn’t know what would come of the group that set them up at the museum. Something was wrong, and this was only the beginning.
“This school will be the death of me one day,” Jacob thought. Why had he joined a school for thieves, anyway?
