Marie waited for her dad to leave the next morning before she left her room. He had knocked on her door to make sure she was up. When she told him sharply that she was, he left her alone. She didn't want to see him. The anger left her last night, leaving a deep emptiness behind. The situation she found herself in made her terrified for her dad. She was terrified for herself. She wished she wasn't in this situation at all.

She shoveled her breakfast in her mouth. With not eating dinner last night, she was starving.

At school, she made up some excuse to be away from her friends in the morning. She didn't want Albert to want to walk her to Biology when she no longer had it, and she wasn't ready to tell them she was forced to drop them.

She cared little for her pottery class. With the amount of work she had to catch up on, it made her shut down. It was too overwhelming to even think about. Maybe dance would have been better, but she just went through the motions. Abe tried to talk to her at the end, but she was giving him one-word answers until the bell rang for lunch.

"Are you okay?" Abe asked as they left for her locker.

"I'm fine," Marie said, not looking at him. Maybe two words would make him not as worried.

Abe looked concerned but said nothing as she got her lunch box. They walked quietly to the cafeteria.

"See you at the table," Abe said.

Marie nodded, heading to their spot. Albert was already eating his lunch and Billy, to Marie's surprise, was asleep on the table. She sat down next to Albert.

"What's up with him?" Marie whispered, even though the cafeteria was at its usual noisy pitch and Billy was sound asleep.

Albert shrugged. "No idea. He doesn't get here much sooner than I do, but he was out by the time I sat down."

There was an opened notebook turned to a page of Billy's brainstorming with a pen resting to one side next to Billy's head. His untouched lunch was on the other side of him.

"Should we wake him?" Marie asked.

Albert shrugged. Marie poked him. Billy did nothing more than snort.

Marie took a bite of her sandwich as Abe sat down and noticed Billy.

"Oh great interpreter of Billy, what's going on?" Albert asked.

An amused look crossed Abe's face as he looked at Albert before he turned his attention to Billy again. "My only guess is he woke up at three in the morning to write his play." Abe scooped up some corn with his spoon.

"What?" Marie asked.

"Billy claims the best time to write is at three in the morning. What with midterms coming around, he's probably swamped with everything."

Abe ate his corn before he shook Billy's shoulder. Billy sat straight up. "Coming Mr. Miller!"

"Eat your lunch," Abe said.

Billy rubbed his eyes and oriented himself. "Right." He pulled his food over to him.

"Hey, Marie, where were you in Biology today?" Albert asked.

Marie stopped chewing and glanced at Albert. She had to be as honest as possible, for her sake as well as her friends. "I had to drop the class."

Albert's eyes widened. "What!"

Billy glanced up from his lunch. Abe gave Marie a worried look. Marie's heart began to pound in her chest as she thought up the most innocent lie she could.

"Something came up, and I was told to drop the classes. I'm not taking Algebra either."

Albert looked shell shocked. "But midterms are next week!"

An annoyed and stress filled sigh escaped Marie before she could stop it. "I know."

"Well, fight it! They can't do this to you. You loved those classes," Albert said.

She refused to look at Albert. "It's already done, and there's nothing I can do."

"But I like you, Marie."

She about said something else to further the lie when the words Albert said registered in her brain. She closed her mouth and gave him a curious look, not quite believing he said what she thought he said. Though when Billy and Abe joined in staring at him, she realized she might be right. Albert's eyes widened.

"In the class. I like you being in the class. With me," Albert finished, his face turning a deep magenta.

There was silence at the table. Albert squirmed in his seat as Marie couldn't stop staring at him. Abe's eyes darted between Marie and Albert. Billy looked as though he was watching his favorite drama play out in real life.

Marie continued to stare at Albert and came to a startling realization. She did like him. With time her feelings might even deepen. The potential was there, which wasn't how she felt with Abe. But Macbeth, why did she have to realize this now? She would have to lie to him, and it would crush whatever thing they had right now. Albert was in danger because of her. All her friends were.

She finally tore her eyes away and looked down at her food, doing everything she could to not look at Abe. "We have drawing together."

"It's not the same," Albert said.

"Isn't it?" Marie asked.

"No. Poe's in drawing. And... and it's not science. I like talking science. With you."

Music started to swell. Marie stiffened as her chip came alive. Merphy's law! The chip began translating her feelings into lyrics and confirmed a duet between the two of them. The lyrics rolled in, and as she feared, the first verse mentioned Marie's fear of the S.E.A. hurting her friends and what it would do to her and Albert's feelings. It even started talking about Mr. Edison as their science teacher. She was terrified to think what the chip would force her to sing with those lyrics.

"Marie I l-"

"No!" Out of pure instinct, Marie grabbed the back of Albert's head and clamped her other hand over his mouth. There was a good three seconds where no one did anything except listen to the music play. The lunchroom went quiet as they searched for who was supposed to sing. Marie panted as she stared into Albert's deep brown eyes, realizing how close she was to his face. Realizing how close her entire body was to his. Albert tried to break away once, but Marie only tightened her grip over his mouth. Billy and Abe watched, jaws dropped.

Whispers began through the cafeteria as the music began to lessen. What would be the cost of this? Would Albert be sent to the S.E.A. too? The music faded away since no one sang, but Marie still held her hand over his mouth. Marie saw every confused and worried expression that flitted across his eyes. She could practically hear his heart beating in his chest.

Marie took a deep breath. "When they come question you, don't be a hero. You tell them I forced you not to sing, and they will understand. You should not get in trouble for this."

She released her hold on him. The three boys stared at her.

"Marie? What's going on?" Billy asked in a whisper.

Her hands trembled as she packed up her lunch. "I can't."

Albert reached for her wrist as she got up. "Marie wait."

It wasn't hard to get out of his grip. She left the cafeteria, the stares from her friends and most of the cafeteria following her as she pushed through the doors. She clutched her lunch box, taking deep steady breaths. Where was she supposed to go? Could she go to Mr. Edison? She needed to calm down first before she talked to him, and she needed somewhere private.

She slipped into the bathroom and locked the stall behind her. Her forehead touched the grimy stall as she took deep, steady breaths. What would the S.E.A. do to her now?

Worst case scenarios bombarded her. She had to push them aside and assume her friends would be safe. She, on the other hand, was not. As soon as her breathing relaxed, she strode out of the bathroom and headed for Mr. Edison's classroom. Part of her felt like she should run away, but where?

Hushed but irate voices inside Mr. Edison's room pulled her out of her thoughts. She stopped a few feet from the doorway to see Mr. Edison and Mr. Freud having a heated but quiet conversation. Again. What did Mr. Freud have against Mr. Edison? Mr. Freud was out of sight because of the wall, but she recognized his voice. Mr. Edison was leaning against a table, arms folded, glaring at Mr. Freud as he continued his hushed talk.

This changed things. Maybe she should wait until Mr. Freud left? It was a thought, until the intercom crackled to life.

"Marie Curie and Albert Einstein, please come to the office. Marie Curie and Albert Einstein, come to the office."

Blood drained from her face. Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she heard sirens approaching the school.

Mr. Edison had glanced at the intercom over the door when it turned on, frowned, then noticed Marie at the doorway. Marie met his eyes. His frown turned to dread as he stood up straight. Mr. Freud leaned over to see Marie. He seemed to glare at her.

"Well, they called your name, didn't they? Go on, Marie," he said rather sharply.

Marie forced herself to calm down and tried to give Mr. Edison a smile before she turned and made her way to the office. She wasn't sure what else to do.

The main office was abuzz with noise and chaos. There were three officials, and since they sent officials and not agents, Marie got a glimpse of how much trouble she was in. Mr. Machiavelli was talking, borderline shouting, with S.E.A. officials. Marie saw Albert in one of the chairs. He turned to see her and gave the smallest of smiles.

"See! I told you she wouldn't run!" Mr. Machiavelli said.

One of the official's grabbed Marie's arm. "It was still unwise to alert a criminal. If she did run, it would have been on your head!"

Albert glared at the official. "She's not a criminal!"

The official glared back. "Shut up, boy. You're in plenty of trouble simply associating with her."

The official tore Marie's bag off her back and handed it to another person to search through. He forced Marie in the chair next to Albert.

"You okay?" Albert asked.

"I will be when you get off the hook," she said.

Albert frowned. "I want to be there with you. What's going on? I want to help."

Marie gave him a pathetic smile and almost spoke when Mr. Machiavelli shook his finger at them. "No talking, you two."

Marie closed her mouth and stared at her hands in her lap. The hullabaloo continued as officials talked into their cell phones and deliberated with Mr. Machiavelli what should be done. They already agreed Marie had to go to HQ, they were determining whether to take Albert, too. Marie's hands trembled as she bit her lip. Albert reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. Marie surprised herself by squeezing back.

"It's President Arnold!" an official said.

Marie turned to the doorway before she realized President Arnold had called the official's phone. The official flipped open his phone and listen to the brief instructions. The call lasted maybe ten seconds.

"Yes sir. Good bye sir." The official snapped his phone shut. "President Arnold wants Marie in his office, and just Marie. The boy is free to go."

With horror, Marie saw the defiance in Albert's eyes, and she felt her insides seize up. "Do what they say, please."

Albert stood up. "I'm going with her!"

Marie closed her eyes and groaned. Mr. Machiavelli scowled at Albert.

"Sit down young man. We don't go against President Arnold's wishes."

"Well why not?"

An official grabbed Albert's shoulder and forced him down. "President Arnold doesn't want to see you, so he's not going to. Are we clear?"

Albert struggled under the official's hand but didn't say a word. An officer grabbed Marie and forced her out of the chair. He dragged her out of the office and she barely had time to glance back at Albert before the door slammed shut.