Jane didn't see Charles anywhere around school. After she got home straight from school, like her parents had required, she thought about calling him but then decided to leave it for later. She went to her room, avoiding her mother, and lay on her bed to think.
She didn't have the chance to see Ms. Li that day, something that bothered her because she really had wanted to check for any behavior that could incriminate Ms. Li. Instead, she was weirded out by Mr. O'Neill, Mr. DeMartino and pretty much any teacher or student she had seen that day. Once again, like in that first day, being around Charles had been the less stressful thing so far.
She was wondering about one thing in particular when thinking about the Ms. Li theory, something that made her doubt of her otherwise perfectly logical plan. Why had Ms. Li made the whole town act the way she wanted the high school students to act? Everyone around Lawndale, except perhaps for Charles' father who was either ignoring everything or being neglectful even when being ordered by supernatural forces not to, was acting very competent and full of energy and happiness. She could understand Ms. Li wanting to change the teachers too, Jane had to admit that when it came to be someone's boss the new version of DeMartino was easier to handle than the original one, but why changing Lawndale itself? Because she didn't want to destroy the only theory that seemed plausible to her, the only hope keeping her around as a promise of getting her best friend and older brother back, she thought Ms. Li had somehow accidentally messed up her request for the devil and had ended up screwing the whole town instead of just some high school students. Or maybe she had done it on purpose, Jane thought, to make sure the people outside of Lawndale High wouldn't react the way Jane had reacted when she saw the drastically changed teachers and high schoolers.
For her own surprise, she had been thinking on her bed for two hours. She had been utterly lost inside her thoughts for a long time. It was a good time to call Charles and set up the appointment to go to Lawndale High that night, probably at 10:00 pm again, and this time Jane was taking a small card and a bobby pin with her, both of which she knew how to use to open a door like the one inside the locker.
She took the phone and waited until Charles picked up.
"Hello?".
"Hey, are we still going tonight?".
"Oh, hey, Jane" he sounded more calm and less hesitant ". Yeah, I think so, ten pm again?".
"Sure" she was glad that he sounded less tense ". By the the way, why didn't you go to school today?".
"When I got home I was too tired so I decided to give myself one more day off".
He could, of course, take days off every once in a while thanks to his grades, which were much better than Jane's.
"Did your parents notice you were out all night long?" He asked.
"No, I'm good. I mean, I'm still grounded because of the Boston thing, but my brother didn't tell them I didn't get home. I still don't know how I'll manage to convince him I won't stay out all night tonight but I'll make it, even if I have to sneak out like I got in this morning".
"How did you get it?".
"Through my sister's bedroom's window" she chuckled.
"Hey, about last night...".
"We're good about that, right? Please don't tell me it makes things any different. It doesn't, does it? So we slept together in a football field and then woke up just in time not to get caught by the whole school. It's not big deal, is it?".
"Not in a bad way, if that's what you mean. It was kind of a... big thing for me. I mean, you're you and I'm me and I don't know what I'm trying to say but I think I will just shut up".
Jane laughed.
"Hey, I didn't know that awkward and confused version of you".
"Neither did I" Charles replied followed by an awkward laughter.
Jane had decided to use Trent's help again. It was more convenient to have him making sure her parents thought she was asleep. Trent got home at 9 pm, which gave her one hour to convince him.
"Trent, please, just do me this favor one more time and I swear I won't ask you to do it again. Please, I'll get in through Penny's window, just make it easy for me by letting it open. I promise that if I get one minute after 11 pm you can tell mom and dad. I just want to go out one more time before being grounded for a month. Please" Jane begged.
"I know you want to go out but I don't want you going out with guys. Why don't you go out with Daria? I mean, what were you even doing out all night?".
"Trent! We fell asleep in the football field. We were going for a walk, then we decided to lie in the football field and fell asleep".
Trent raised an eyebrow.
"Janey, I'm in college, I'm not stupid".
Jane shrugged.
"It won't happen again".
He crossed his arms.
"Fine, fine, not tonight at least. Hell, Trent, this is a really awkward conversation for me. He didn't talk me into it, it was me who... why am I even telling you this? Are you going to help me or not?".
He sighed.
"Okay. You can go but I'll check you're here by 11 pm. I'll leave Penny's window open".