To Dudley Nick and Bella You are my light and truth
CHAPTER 1 Graffiti For her first ever act of vandalism Indigo chose a deep blue paint studded with glitter like stars flung across the galaxy the color of breaking rules and uncovering the truth For sure two offenses in one week would land her on a list labeled Troublemaker Troublemaker She smiled as she assessed the blank stretch of concrete in front of her Indigo had decided to work on the cafeteria side of the building treeless shade less brown grass stretching stretching to the far end of the Loon Lake Middle School grounds She glanced at her phone yet another act of disobedience Five minutes left before every eighth grader at lunch including Abbie Manning and the Tictacs would come in to eat and see her through the huge window Her stomach snarled a reminder that she'd skipped breakfast Ignoring the sun scalding the back of her neck
she paced the bright sidewalk shaking the paint can the mixing ball rattling inside the metal canister The first time she'd tried to get busted by using her cell phone during school hours her mother had managed managed to smooth things over Since desperate times called for desperate measures here she was doing something exactly no one would've ever predicted Dragging in a deep breath she pressed the plastic nozzle and a thin stream of indigo blue paint leapt out onto the sidewalk hissing and spitting its fumes immediately making her cough Tra la la The nozzle bucked under her finger and the letters letters came out fatter and loopier than she'd intended She looked toward the cafeteria exit heart pounding pounding every cell in her body braced Except nothing happened This wasn't going to work if she didn't get caught Indigo slid a scrunchie off her wrist harnessing the wild curls blotting her view That massive haircut haircut she'd insisted on last month definitely made her look different but now it was hard to keep the corkscrews corkscrews out of her eyes She started again
Tra la la Rum tum tiddle She paused again The afternoon hovered motionless hot silent Usually by now in Minnesota Minnesota the days were warm but no longer steaming This was not normal But then again nothing had been normal this year so far Indigo brushed an arm across her sweaty forehead forehead and looked into the cafeteria window just in time to catch Abbie bouncing through the doors behind the Tictacs Trinity Camila and Lily All four wore black leggings long sweatshirts and lip gloss They laughed with each other as they entered and as usual the other popular kids gravitated gravitated their way forming a protective circle around them If Indigo were in there right now she'd be eating eating alone at the back corner table in the cafeteria gulping down her sandwich so she could escape to the library But today was the first day of October a new month a new start Maybe after today she'd be at the same table as Abbie and Manning no longer invisible They would be Epos Forever again The cafeteria doors burst open
