Neverland Academy by Daelynn Quinn Read Free Book Online Page A

massive
handful and tossed the bag to his friend.
    “Hangman’s
got the munchies, too.” Trick grinned devilishly.
    Finn
turned and flung his headlamp into a cubby. He frowned at both the boys. “You
guys been tripping again?”
    “Not
me,” Hangman retorted. “You know I’m not into that stuff. I get a high seeing
Vermin get what’s coming to him.”
    Finn’s
eyes shot to Trick.
    “Okay,
you got me. I found some weed in that new kid’s stash. I just borrowed a
little.” Finn stomped over to Trick and stopped within two inches of his face.
    “Where?”
he demanded.
    “Don’t
worry, man. It was way back at the lake. No one could smell it.”
    “You
should have told me.”
    “Did
it matter?”
    “Of
course it matters!” Finn barked. “It’s not just the smell that could lead them
down here. I know what that stuff does to your head. You could have gotten
lazy. Careless. You could have screwed up the plan.”
    “But
I didn’t.”
    “That’s
not the point! Look, Trick, I don’t care if you smoke dope. I don’t care if you
smoke or shoot or snort anything else for that matter. You are free to do
whatever the hell you want here, you know that. But you do it on your time and not mine . You knew we had plans tonight. I can’t risk all of
our lives on your dope habit. Next time, you tell me. Understand?”
    “Yeah,
Finn. Sorry,” Trick murmured. Finn snatched the bag of Cheetos from Hangman and
poured the remains directly into his mouth. A waterfall of orange gushed down.
    “Hey,
shouldn’t the others be back by now?” Hangman wondered aloud. Finn rubbed his
arm across his chin, dusting off the remaining powder in an orange flurry.
    “We’ll
give them a few more minutes,” Finn said, glancing back toward the tunnel
opening. “Shag’s probably slowing them down with that bum knee.”
    “I
told that dumbass not to jump off that wall,” Trick piped in. “I guess that’s
what he gets for having such a monstrous ego.”
    “Almost
parallels the size of yours. After all, you wouldn’t shut up about the night
you snagged that kid’s iPod,” Hangman mused. “I still can’t figure out how you
managed to do it right in front of his eyes.”
    Trick
snickered, his smile reaching both ears. “And that’s the reason for my
namesake, my friend. A magician never reveals his secrets. I’ve always got
plenty of tricks up my sleeve.”
    “You’re
not wearing any sleeves,” Hangman argued.
    “It’s
an expression you moron!”
    Finn
stood, leaning against the wall, looking bored. He was tired of listening to
those two bumbling boys talking and wished they’d just shut up.
    “Shh!”
    Trick
and Hangman shut their mouths abruptly and looked up at Finn. He was listening
intently to the silence in the tunnel. A subtle glow cast shadows on the bricks
across the way. Suddenly, a small figure with a mop of short curly hair skidded
to a halt at the entrance.
    “Toot!
Where’s Shag and Kevin?” Finn asked, suddenly alert. The smaller boy—the
youngest of those living under the academy at age twelve—folded over and
huffed, struggling to catch his breath. “They’re . . . coming . . .” He
continued to gasp for air.
    “Did
you get them?”
    “Course
we did,” Toot snapped between breaths. “We’re not morons.”
    Two
more boys came to a halt behind Toot. Shag, a stocky teenager with long black
fringe that covered his eyes, shoved Toot to the side. Toot tumbled over and
shot up just as quickly, ramming his shoulders into Shag’s solid body, barely
nudging him.
    “Nice
try, Toot.” Shag laughed and flipped his hair to the side. “But you’re still a
runt.”
    Toot
began to walk away, then turned and swiftly kicked Shag behind the knee. He
went down and cried out in pain.
    “You’re
gonna regret that!” Shag reached out and clawed Toot’s jeans at the ankle. He
yanked and Toot fell with a yelp.
    “Okay
guys, enough horseplay for now,” Finn declared. “Did you get enough,