Page 81 of Faultlines

Sloane: It may or may not involve sneaking into the school after rehearsal.

Lucy: I’m trying to get pregnant. I cannot go to jail.

Absolutely not.

Sloane: You haven’t even heard the plan.

Lucy: The fact that there’s a plan is the problem.

Sloane: Have either of you looked at the flowchart? Amateurs improvise, professionals prepare.

We’re not breaking into a middle school. What flowchart?

Sloane: ‘Breaking in’ is an unnecessarily negative term.

Sloane: The flowchart is in your email. The file is encrypted just in case.

Lucy: What’s the positive version of ‘breaking in’?

Sloane: An enthusiastic self-guided tour.

Lucy: You’re forty years old.

Sloane: And yet, somehow still the smartest person in this group chat.

Lucy: So your plan is to sneak into the school to spy?

Sloane: When you say it like that, it sounds bad.

Lucy: Refer to my earlier response about not going to jail.

Sloane: Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate your commitment to the legal system. Unfortunately for the legal system, we grew up with the entire Juniper Ridge police force. I’ve smoked weed with the majority of them.

We’re not spying on anyone.

Sloane: Then why are we discussing logistics?

Lucy: We are not discussing logistics.

Sloane: Then explain why I’ve already assigned responsibilities.

That is deeply concerning.

Sloane: Thank you. I’ll continue adding to my list.

Lucy: That wasn’t a compliment.

Sloane: Agree to disagree.

A few minutes pass before another message appears, the bright ping startling me.

Sloane: Next question.

Lucy: I dread this question.

Sloane: Has Ethan ever mentioned Brooke outside of theater-related things?

I don’t know.