Candy tells a secret

As you enter your home, so many questions still ring in your head. Who has been spying on you? What was Ms. Pershing up to? What was the "Road to Graduation?" Was this spy trying to expose them? There are too many questions and no way to get answers. With your parents out of town and Nebula none the wiser, there was no one you could rely on for clues.

Your phone buzzes in your pocket, and you're shocked to see who's calling you. Candy used to be your best friend during childhood, but the two of you eventually drifted apart. She wanted to be with the popular cheerleaders while you made friends with everyone across every social circle. The fact that she still had your number was baffling. "Candy? Is that actually you?"

"Y-Yeah, it's me." She sounds scared, or at least extremely nervous.

"Candy, is everything okay?"

There's a pause on the other line. You wonder if she heard about the website and is worried about a potential stalker. "Listen, Sam, I need to tell you something. Something really important."

Now you have no doubt that this is about the website. "What is it, Candy? I know we haven't talked in a while, but you can tell me anything."

There's another pause. "There's a group of us who have a plan for after graduation."

"...like a party?"

"No. More like what we're going to do. Things like seeing the world, partying, having a good job, being rich...that kind of thing."

This conversation was getting confusing. "Okay. Is this, like, a post-graduation club or something?"

"Um, not exactly. Me and some of the other members were wondering if you'd like to get involved?"

"Maybe. I've been busy, but I'm always down for more friends. How many guys are in this thing?"

"Well, it's really just girls."

This was sounding more and more suspicious by the second. "You want me to join an all-girl graduation club?"

Candy's rude tone suddenly comes back. "So, what, is that a no?"

"No, I'm in!" You weren't really sure if that was true, but you wanted an excuse to see your oldest friend again.

Candy's earlier friendliness comes back. "Oh, sweet! We've got a meeting at school tomorrow. Come on by and we'll include you. On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You cannot bring Nebula, okay? She's been really obsessed with aliens and conspiracy theories, and we want to be serious about our lives."

"Yeah, sure, I can do that." That was another lie. Nebula may have been crazy, but the timing of this phone call was too suspicious.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow! Bye!"

You hang up and immediately dial Nebula. Despite her occasional interruptions and attempts to make her own theories, you manage to tell her the whole story.

"So, let me get this straight," Nebula says. "One of the popular cheerleaders just calls you out of the blue and asks you to join a secret 'life plan' club? And right this website gets out, and we hear about this 'Road to Graduation?'"

"That's what I was thinking!" You agree.

"Oh, this is perfect!" Nebula cheers! "We basically had the answers dropped into our lap! We gotta investigate this club!"

"Yeah, I know, but how?" You ask. "You're the conspiracy expert! Can we still go undercover, like I wanted?"

"Okay, okay, okay!" Nebula says excitedly. "Listen to me: I've never gotten this close to a lead before! I think we may have a way in, but we need to play this very carefully! And tomorrow, we do not deviate from the plan no matter what? Are we clear?"

"Yeah, I'm clear," you say.

"Great! Okay, first things first..."