I've never realized how bushy Felix's eyebrows were until now. Looking straight at him, you don't notice how the short, black hairs stick out in every direction. From his side profile, however, the guy is almost... dishevelled - a word I never thought I'd use to describe sir metrosexual himself. Combined with the deep-set eyes, Felix's whole style kind of goes from theatre nerd to mysterious bad boy. The inaccuracy of it all was enough to make me chuckle.

"What?" Felix asks, taking his eyes off the road for a split second to glance at me. "Would you stop staring at me? It's freaky. You never stare at me. You never pay this much attention to me in general."

He says it jokingly, more focused on the highway ahead of us than the actual observation, but it doesn't stop me from scoffing. The second he figures out that I actually do pay attention to him every once in a while will be bad for everyone. I don't think I could handle the embarrassment – the shame. You'd sooner find me living in an underground mole village eating earthworms out of carved rocks.

I pull out a map of Vancouver to figure out where we're going; any excuse to hide my newly red face is appreciated. The hodgepodge of intersecting lines and abstract zigzags makes me miss Felix's GPS rigged car. His mom wouldn't let him borrow it for such a long road trip, so I had to beg Alex to let me borrow his pickup. The discomfort of asking a sibling for a favour when you're planning on secretly betraying him in the near future is unimaginable. Luckily, he didn't put up much of a fight before saying yes. Considering he usually goes out to hang out with his football mates on Tuesday nights, I was a little surprised – but not enough to argue with him. Paying for a tank of gas was well worth the transportation. Felix agreeing to drive so I can laze around in shotgun was just icing on the cake.

"So where are we headed first, navigator? I like aimless driving as much as the next man, but it's starting to get dark and I don't trust myself behind a moonlit wheel. Also, the sooner we get there, the sooner this playlist can stop assaulting my ears."

I lean over to turn the music up louder. "Let's not forget that I originally let you choose the songs, until you started whipping out that Shania Twain anniversary album. Weird thing to carry around in a jacket pocket, by the way. As for our destination, we should be heading towards a small town called Cloverdale. It's only a half-hour drive away. I figured we'd best start with the potential ghost writer who lives the closest. The less time we have to waste cruising between cities, the better.  Not that we can complain. The fact that neither of these girls moved to Florida or something is a miracle all on its own." 

He doesn't ask how I managed to track down the address of two women who I've never spoken to in my life, and I'm thankful. I'd rather not let Felix know just how good my detective skills are. Five minutes on Google and I could tell every detail of these people's lives – the internet is truly a scary place. If I were a little more creepy and a little less allergic to Craigslist, I could be running one hell of a human trafficking ring right now.

But I digress.

"I don't know if I'd call it lucky." Felix says. "The other girl lives all the way in Seattle. That's over two hours of driving. Can't we just put up a Kijiji ad or something? 'Looking for person who wrote this now plagiarized story. Your whole life is a lie. Email us, we know the bastard!'"

Felix's unyielding desire to not spend all day in a car with me is insulting. Sure, my brother's pickup doesn't have heating, and sure, it's so cold outside that your nipples could literally freeze off, but what happened to loyalty? Is he so displeased by my company?

"Would it kill you to have a bit of fun for once? I swear Felix, you act like I force you on these trips by gunpoint. Just sit back, relax and for once in your life, enjoy this awesome mix tape I made for us." I remember suddenly that Felix is the one driving and probably shouldn't be relaxing. "On second thought, maybe ignore me. If you crash this thing, Alex will start wearing my ass as a hat."

He gives me a confused eyebrow-raise. "I don't think that means what you think it means."

"Fuck off." I respond, trying to force the corners of my mouth downward.

A few minutes of silence go by, and then Felix clears his throat softly. "I'm uh... surprised you asked him.... Alex. To borrow his truck."

The remark feels pointed in some way, like he's saying one thing but thinking another. Felix must sense my uncertainty, and decides to elaborate. "I dunno. It's like... you basically found out your brother is living a double life. And if it weren't for this Mr. Caplan plan letting us play detour, we'd be turning Alex in like... today. And he could get expelled, Ali. Doesn't that... doesn't that affect you?"

"Affect me? Of course it does. Fucking hell Felix, of course it affects me! Or what, do you think I'm just some emotionless sociopath?"

"Ali, stop, you know that's not what I meant. But I gave it some thought last night. Exposing the locker operation and writing this journalism story... you're doing exactly what Mr. Caplan wants you to do. And that made sense before, when the only thing you had against him was drug problem and bad manners but... we know this huge secret now. A secret that could explode his entire life. Is throwing Alex under the bus really necessary? If we actually find the ghost writer, we could blackmail Mr. Caplan into writing you that recommendation letter and this whole thing could be over."

I can't believe what I'm hearing. Felix is acting like we're on different teams all of a sudden. The only reason we've made it this far is because we've been united. Why now? Why is he suddenly so against me?

"So what, we're supposed to let Mr. Caplan get away with plagiarism? Cause that's what you're suggesting Felix. You're telling me to pretend this man isn't human scum in exchange for a stupid letter?"

"Stupid letter?" He repeats, his grip on the steering wheel becoming so tight that his knuckles turn white. "Stupid letter? So the past week and a half, the breaking and entering, the interrogating, the endless conversations and fighting about Addie and Zak and Alex – that was all for a stupid letter?" I try to interrupt him, but Felix's tirade won't stop. "No, no, listen to what you're saying, Ali. You're not willing to forget about a man who means absolutely nothing to you, but ruining your own brother's life for a piece of paper is totally worth it? That's what you're saying." His words are flying so fast that they must be ammo in a verbal machine gun. Every time I open my mouth, Felix's own voice gets louder and louder, and he's practically yelling at me. "It's like it's not even about the reference letter for you. Do you even want to go to Ottawa University Ali? Or has this whole investigation just been one big revenge scheme?"

Tears start welling up in my eyes and my hands shake at my sides. "How fucking dare you. You of all people should understand what it feels like to not feel loved in your own fucking home. You don't think I've been counting down the days until I can leave? You don't think getting accepted into this writing program means everything to me? I may not be good at spelling, or grammar or basic fucking sentence structure, but writing is the one thing I don't completely suck at."

"Then look me in the eyes and tell me that getting back at Alex has nothing to do with it."

I look out the window and realize that we're parked on the side of the road. I hadn't even noticed Felix pull off of the highway.

Not that that matters. Not that anything matters right now.

"You can't do it, can you?" He whispers.

My brain feels close to exploding. Even if I wanted to disagree with him, even if I knew what I felt, I couldn't begin to communicate it.

"Did you know it was him?"

His question comes out so quiet I can barely hear it.

"From the very beginning, did you know it was him?"

"Felix, can we please just go back to driving? Can we just forget this conversation? Please?"

He puts the car back into drive and re-enters the highway, keeping his eyes on the pavement ahead of him.

"I'll help you find the girl. And I'll take us back home. But after that, I'm done."

"Done with what?" I ask.

"You."

* * * * *

I should have seen this coming. I've been keeping so many things secret from Felix that it was only a matter of time before it all blew up in my face. But I didn't expect the blow up to be so... explosive. Emotional. Full of icky, gooey vulnerability and crying.

A low tremor starts building up in my stomach, and for a second I'm worried that the stress from our friendship fallout earlier was causing me to have a heart attack.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Felix asks, speaking for the first time since our argument. "I was expecting something more... residential."

I peer out the truck window and the vibrations become even stronger, begging my body to come towards them. Flashing lights bathe my face in the evening darkness. From nearby, I can hear a group of teenagers laughing loudly while one of them pukes in the bushes.

"Yeah, this is definitely it." I respond. "The first girl we're looking for, Mags, works part-time at a Night Club. According to her Twitter spamming, she should be here tonight."

Felix parks on the side of the road and unbuckles his seat belt with an angry flare in his eyes. "Just another detail you decided not to share with me. Ah well, same old Ali, right?"

In all our hanging out, I've never known Felix to be petty. Whatever he thinks I did to him, the guy must be downright pissed – and I wouldn't be surprised if tiny jabs are the only way he talks to me now.

We both get out of the truck and walk towards the hypnotic sound of new wave hip-hop, trudging through snow and slush and still-lit cigarette butts. I take a quick glance of the bouncer. He's a large man, at least six foot three, with a body wide enough to make you wonder whether his house has specially sized doorways. Even if I had managed to find us a couple of fake IDs (which I didn't), I'd rather not risk lying to a human being who could literally eat me. Another option would be to try and seduce him. Looking down at my outfit of choice, I'm suddenly reminded of the five-pound parka covering my entire body, not to mention the fact that I'm an eighteen-year-old who looks like a sixteen-year-old. Unless the bouncer is a pedophile I'm shit out of luck. Finally, there's the bribing option.

"Hey uh, Felix? You wouldn't happen to have a twenty-dollar bill in your pocket, would you?"

He glares at me wordlessly.

"Okay, backdoor it is."

The two of us sneak past the main entrance way to the back of the building, where I spot a small air vent way up on the edge of the club's outer brick wall. Even if I wasn't a mere five-foot-four, there's no way I'll be able to reach that far up. Sighing heavily, I swallow the last of my pride.

"I need you to boost me up."

A scoff leaves his lips. "And how do you expect me to get up there?"

"Whatever." I mutter. Searching for another method of entry, I spot a large dumpster not too far away. The lengths I'm willing to go to...

With all the strength I can muster, I push the heavy metal bin until it's directly underneath the air vent, Felix watching me all the while without a single offering of help. It takes all my willpower not to start another argument with him. By the time I've gotten everything nicely in place, my hands smell like onions and beer.

He continues to play peanut gallery as I climb on top of the dumpster and strain my arms towards the vent. Even with the added height, I still can't quite reach the opening. I give Felix the most pitiful expression.

"Fine." He sighs dramatically. "Anything to get this night to go by faster."

Felix makes his way onto the dumpster, standing next to me, and places his hands near my footing so I can use them as leverage. Hoisting up my body, I'm able to quickly unscrew the vent cover with my handy-dandy portable screwdriver and crawl into the exposed steel tunnel. I can hear Felix jump from the dumpster and grab onto the edge of the hole. By the sounds of his incessant grunting, it must be taking al his strength to pull himself up.

The tunnel is especially tight. My wide hips almost cause me to get stuck during the first few seconds of shimmying, but Felix is kind enough to literally push my fat ass deeper into this darkness. In comparison, his own lanky, hundred-and-thirty-pounds-soaking-wet form seems to have no trouble moving through the foot-and-a-half wide vent.

Ain't karma a bitch?

I'm thankful for the lack of light in this tube of doom. Felix currently has a prime view of my wriggling behind and I'd rather not have to wonder whether or not he's taking advantage. Part of me would be more concerned that he isn't.

A few feet ahead of me, I see strings of lights bouncing across the metal walls. "I think there's a hatch here!" I call back.

"Can you open it?"

Answering Felix's question, the grate creaks noisily as I lift it up and push it off to the side. I angle my legs carefully in the centre of the hole and drop to the floor below us. The instant my feet hit the ground, I can once again feel the pumping bass of the music through the surrounding walls.

"What kind of room are you in?" He asks. "Is there anyone there with you?"

"I'm definitely alone, but I think it's even darker in here than it was in that vent. I could be in a jumbo ball pit for all I know. Hop down and help me look for a light switch, would ya?" I hear him moving around up in the vent for what feels like ages. "Hello, Felix? What's taking you so long?"

"I uh... I think I'm stuck."

For a second I forget how to breathe. For another second I hope that Felix is playing a cruel joke on me. But when another ten seconds go by without a punch line, I know we're totally screwed.

"What do you mean you're stuck? How Felix? How are you stuck?"

"I think the fabric of my sweater got tangled up with a loose nail or something. You need to turn on the lights so I can actually see one inch around me!" He lets out a few cuss words – possibly the first time I've ever heard Felix curse – and proceeds to groan. "This would have never happened if you hadn't forced us to climb through this stupid vent."

Another jab. With my patience running thinner and thinner, the music outside seems to become unbearably loud. It's like the entire room is vibrating. My head begins to hurt, with any focus I had before spilling out of my brain like jelly.

"I uh... I'll just feel around then. Hope that my finger gets caught on a switch." Rubbing my palms against every surface I can reach, I find a panel of switches close by, low enough that I have to bend down to match their level. The whole thing is covered in differently shaped buttons and knobs – there must be at least twenty of them. As my heart rate starts to rise, my face becomes slick with sweat.

I'm not a panicky person. I'm cool. I'm calm. I'm completely collected. But not right now. The combination of Felix's anger and the club's music and the utter lack of eyesight is pushing me over the edge. Forcing myself to do something – anything – to remedy the situation, I choose a button at random and pray for the best.

And just like that, the room goes silent.

No more vibrations.

No more pop songs.

Silence.

"Felix, I think I did something bad." I whisper.

"Why is it so quiet all of a sudden? For God's sake Ali, what did you do?"

A sickening sensation fills my stomach, like a mixture of nausea and lactose-intolerance induced diarrhea. "I almost definitely turned off power to the entire building. Or at least the DJ booth."

My shrill voice is drowned out by chatter just outside the room – shouts of confusion and annoyance grow louder from somewhere nearby, and I'm sure we have only minutes before people come to investigate. Despite how hot the air is around me, goosebumps form up and down my arms.

"Okay, Ali, you need to listen to me. If you don't find a light switch ASAP so I can get out of this cylindrical prison, the two of us are going to get kicked out of this place and probably end up in a police car. I need you to concentrate."

I should have known all this breaking and entering would catch up to me. Considering Felix and I are both underage, his police car guess may not be too far off. Ending up with a criminal record would really fuck with my university chances.

On the off chance that I make it out of here unscathed, I have got to stop doing illegal shit.

I return to my earlier method of touching a bunch of stuff haphazardly – it worked pretty well the first time. A few inches away from the panel, my right hands meets with a lamp-shaped object. A click meets my ears, and a soft ray of finally provides some much-needed illumination.

"Felix! I found a lamp!"

"Is it a lamp made for ants, because I still can't see anything!" He half-yells. "Forget about that. We need to get the music back on. If you can do that quickly enough, we may be able to avoid anyone coming in here. Just find the button you pressed before."

Easier said than done. Even with the upgraded lighting, I still don't understand half the mechanisms on the control board in front of me. A lot of the switches are labelled, but the handwriting is so small and messy that it's difficult to recognize any letters at all, let alone combine them into words.

Certain that the moment couldn't get any worse, I hear footsteps echoing in the adjacent hallway.

Felix must have heard them too, as he calls down to me in a tone filled with pure anxiety. "Not to rush you Ali, but you kind of need to hurry."

"I – I'm sorry, I just... I can't... the names on the labels.. none of them make – I can't read them Felix."

"Can't read them? What, did you not pass first grade? Pick a damn switch already!'

I've never felt this scared before. So out of control. My mind can't think straight, and the harder I stare at the letters, the more jumbled they become. Tears fill my eyes and my vision blurs, and the entire English language seems to leave my head at once.

I'm stupid, I'm so stupid, why did I think I could ever pull this off? I get confused reading Hamlet - I am so out of my element here. Every horrible outcome is laid out in front of me, from a lifelong jail sentence to Felix never speaking to me again.

"Yo Jordy, do you have the utility key? I always forget to carry mine."

The man's voice sounds so close he must be on the other side of the door. I hear the two of them rifle around in the pockets, searching desperately, and I thank the Gods for the couple extra seconds of time.

"Ali," Felix whispers. "hey, Ali, just focus on my voice, okay? I'm sorry. I'm sorry I yelled at you and I'm sorry I'm being a dick and I'm sorry that I called you a first grader. You are the smartest person I've ever met. And even though you lied to me, and you make me do crazy stupid shit, and I'm still super mad at you... I trust you. And I believe in you."

He still trusts me.

I close my eyes and block out everything else except that one fact. No matter what, Felix trusts me.

It's enough to make me ignore about the labels altogether. Instead, I try and think back to when I had originally hit the power button. I remember it being wide and flat, and the surface was a bit bumpy. My hand wasn't far from the lamp, so it must be on the left side of the switch board.

Scanning my options, I spot a small red button that matches the description, cross my fingers and press on it with all my might.

Music erupts from beyond this tiny closet, vibrations once again making their way to the soles of my feet. The far-off dance floor fills with cheers and applause.

"Whoa dude, what did you do?" The man says, still on the other side of the door.

"I didn't do anything you idiot, you're standing right next to me."

"Well whatever you didn't do worked. Should we still go inside to double check?"

"Nah, I got tables to clean. Let's just tell Dwight we fixed the whole thing ourselves. Not like his lazy ass will ever make it up."

The two of them walk away back down the hall. I finally let out a breath I'd been holding in for the entire conversation. Picking up the lamp, I hold it closer towards the opening in the ceiling, allowing Felix to detangle himself and join me on the carpeted floor.

"You missed all the fun." I say, giving him the first real smile in ages.

"Yeah well, looks like you managed fantastically on all your own."

He turns around for the exit, so I reach over and grab his arm to pull him back. "Thanks Felix. For everything. Might not mean much coming from a liar, but I seriously am sorry."

He looks down at me. Really looks. The way he sees me, I can tell it's different now. Maybe forever. But he returns my smile anyways, and I think the smallest bit of the gesture is genuine. 

"I believe you."