The Academy - First Days (9 page)

His cheeks went red. “I thought it was a bug or something.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “I wouldn’t have touched a bug.”

“Well thanks.”

“Turn around and I’ll fix it.”

He hesitated and he glanced at others in the room. With his face
still red, he turned around. I adjusted the clasp so the chain was secure.

“You’re going to lose it,” I said. “Be more careful.”

His fingertips smoothed over the surface of the medallion. I was
about to ask him what the symbol meant but the teacher walked in.

Mr. Morris was a thin man, with a closely cropped head of dark
hair and small eyes. He stood at the front of the room, his arms crossed over
his chest and as straight as an arrow. “Good morning. I’m Mr. Morris. You can
call me Mr. Morris or sir. I respond to either.” He moved to his desk and
picked up a history book. “You’ll need to pick this up at the book store. You
should always bring it with you to class. We’ll never have a day where we won’t
be using it.”

The volume looked thick, even in his big hands. I sat back in my
chair, my legs sliding a little under Victor’s desk. I sensed North leaning
forward as I could nearly feel his breath on my hair.

Mr. Morris dropped the book on his desk, and the corresponding
slam caused me to jump. “We’re starting with the Agricultural Revolution and
moving quickly into Egypt and then the Persians. As such, I want a one page
essay on my desk tomorrow about the Agricultural Revolution.”

There was a collection of muttering and a few groans.

“I’ll make it two pages. It’s no big deal to me how much you
write.”

The class quieted down quickly. I chewed on my lower lip. Mr.
Morris was going to be tough.

After class was lunch. Everyone surged for the doors. Victor,
North and I lingered back well behind everyone else as we headed to the main
building.

“This being in the trailers is going to get old quick,” North
said. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he walked.

“It might be nice,” I said, readjusting my backpack. “I mean
getting out of the building into some nice weather should be fun.”

“It won’t always be good weather,” Victor said. “What about when
it rains?”

I pushed my finger to my lower lip. “It’s not so bad. I mean with
an umbrella and everything.”

Victor kicked a pebble off of the sidewalk. “We’ll see what you
say in the winter.”

I had to smile at that. Did he not remember that I was from
Illinois? I couldn’t imagine South Carolina getting a few feet of snow or being
any worse in the winter than that.

When we got to the cafeteria, the place was hectic with students
in long lines that stretched out into the hallways. All of the tables were
teeming. People sat against the walls, too.

“I don’t see any of the guys,” I said.

“I found them,” North said, pointing out the window to the outdoor
courtyard in the middle of the building. In one of the corners, I could see
Silas’s head over the crowds.

When we got outside, I was relieved to see they were all there.
They stood around one of the benches, with a collection of book bags piled up
on the concrete bench seat.

“The lines are crazy long,” North said. “I don’t know how they get
everyone fed.”

“I’m hungry,” Gabriel complained, gripping his stomach. “I don’t
want to wait an hour for food. Tell me there’s an open campus policy.”

“Nope,” Kota said. He opened his bag and pulled out a wrapped
sandwich. He split it with Victor. “No going off campus once you’re here.”

“There’s some vending machines in the front hallway,” I said. I
glanced at Gabriel. “I’ll walk over with you if you want.”

Gabriel nodded. “Yeah, I’ll eat anything.”

I dropped my bag on the ground near North’s feet. “Keep an eye on
it?”

“Grab some crackers for me, will you?” North asked. He dipped his
hand into his pocket and found a couple of dollars.

I knew I was beaming and I couldn’t hide it. It made me happy to
be somewhat useful to the group that was constantly doing things for me.

“And get me a candy bar,” Luke said.

“Are you going to give her money for it?” North asked.

“You just did.”

North shook his head. “Get him something a little healthier than
candy, will you?”

Gabriel laughed and then grabbed my arm. “Come on.”

The main hallway was even more crowded than it was that morning.
The cafeteria wasn’t big enough to accommodate over two thousand students at
once. There was a line for the vending. We stood arm to arm at the back of the
line for our turn.

“No wonder everyone here looks grumpy and gets into fights,” I
said. “Everyone’s hungry.”

Gabriel said nothing, seeming distracted by students leaning
against the trophy cases, some sitting down on the floor. I felt their eyes on
us. I realized that Gabriel and I were dressed a little nicer than everyone
else. Most of the other students seemed to be wearing jeans and t-shirts. The
girls wore jeans and low cut tops. Gabriel and I stood out more here without
the others.

The line crept forward. Machines spit back out dollar bills more
often than they accepted them.  

“What are you getting?” Gabriel asked.

“I wasn’t going to,” I said. “I didn’t bring any money.”

His eyebrows shot up. He brushed his fingers through the lock of
blond hanging next to his eyes. “Then why did you say you’d come with me?”

I blinked at him. “So you wouldn’t go alone. I thought that was
what we were doing. Always sticking together like Kota said.”

His crystal eyes lit up. “You dummy. Tell me what you want. I’ll
get it.”

“It’s okay, I don’t...”

“Just pick something.”

I hesitated. I had been so anxious that morning that eating wasn’t
really a concern. My stomach was still rattling from nervousness now.

“Say something or I’ll buy you one of everything,” Gabriel warned.
He poked at my arm with a lean finger. “Pick. Pick. Pick.”

“Maybe some crackers, please,” I said, relenting.

In the end, we returned with two packets of crackers, three
packages of trail mix, a couple candy bars, and three bottles of water.

“What took you guys so long?” Luke said as we approached. He
reached for a candy bar. “We were about send a rescue team.”

“You’re lucky we came back at all with stuff,” Gabriel said,
opening one of the trail mix packages. “Even the vending machines were nearly
empty. I was going to get more but we were taking too long and the line behind
us was grumbling.”

I handed North some crackers and his change. He stuffed the money
back into his pocket, ripping open the crackers.

I opened the crackers Gabriel bought for me. I noticed Silas
eyeballing us. I smiled to him and pointed my package at him.

He started to wave his hand. “It’s okay,” he said.

“Eat one,” I said.

He reached and took a cracker, smiling. “Thanks.”

Gabriel handed some of the trail mix out to Nathan and Victor.
“Welcome to fine dining at this fucking school.”

Kota shook his head and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Look at
us scraping for food. This is ridiculous.” He reached into his bag and pulled
out a package of chips. He opened it and offered it to the others.

“I guess the only answer is to bring stuff every day,” I said.
“We’ll know better tomorrow.”

Between us, we managed to share Kota’s lunch and what we got from
the vending machine and we shared the bottles of water.

As we stood there together, I recognized a few geek groups and a
cluster of hippies sitting on their bookbags in the grass around the courtyard.
Compared to the rest of the crowded halls of the school, the courtyard actually
seemed peaceful. The weather was hot but if it kept the courtyard from being
crowded, I thought it would be nice to sit outside every day. A small corner of
peace from the chaos inside.

“Well,” Kota said, picking up his book bag and standing. “I want
to check out the library. Anyone else going?”

“I will,” I said. I had no idea where the library was and I was
curious about it. “We should probably pick up at least one of those books for
English, right?”

Kota brightened at the suggestion. “Might as well start now.”

“Aw come on, it’s the first day,” Gabriel complained. “Stay here
with us, Sang.”

“You should get one, too,” I said. “Come on. We’ll all get the
same book and then we can compare notes.”

He seemed to like this idea and he picked up his book bag.

“I guess I should go, too,” Luke said. He grabbed the notebook I
had given him earlier. There were doodles on the front cover. At least he used
it for something.

When his head tilted, I recognized my clip. His blond locks were
pulled back and twisted in a similar way that I did mine.

I smirked at him. “Nice hair,” I said.

He looked surprised and reached back, his fingers catching the
curve of the clip. “Like it? It’s a new thing I picked up.”

“He threatened me in the hallway, Sang,” Gabriel whined. “I didn’t
want to give it to him. I was going to give it back. Eventually.”

I sighed. Luke was right. I’d need to bring reserve clips around
Gabriel. Perhaps even additional spares for Luke.

We were headed out of the courtyard when I noticed Silas was
following us. I paused so I could fall back and walk next to him.

“Do you have some required reading, too?”

“No,” he said. “But we’ve got our class coming up. I thought I
should stick with you so we could walk together.”

It was so thoughtful and while I wanted to say so, I couldn’t find
the words. Instead, I smiled as warmly as I could. He dipped his hands into his
pockets as we followed Kota up the main stairwell and through a set of
hallways.

The second floor was empty.

“How come no one hangs out up here?” I asked.

“They probably aren’t supposed to,” Kota said. “There are lockers
up here. I imagine they don’t want to encourage theft or property damage.”

Still, there was no one around to tell us to not be there. I
wondered how well those upper hallways were monitored.

We found the library at the end of one long hallway, as if tucked
away in the most distant corner of the school. Kota held the door open for us
and we all stepped in.

The library appeared to be the same size as my garage at home.
Shelves were lined up around the walls of the room. There were a handful of
older computers in one corner with Windows 2000 screensavers. There was a small
circulation desk, painted in orange and brown and two women with peach-tinted
hair and glasses stood guard behind it.

We were the only students in the library. The librarians’ eyes
followed us as we moved toward the walls of shelves. It was hard to tell if we
were unexpected or if they felt they needed to monitor us so we didn’t damage
or steal anything.

“Hm,” Kota said, looking through the rows of books. “It appears to
be only encyclopedias and all the required reading books. Not a lot of other
options.”

I picked up a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, the cover was
torn in half and the binding was a little loose. “Good thing we came today.
There are only a handful of copies of each.”

Everyone except Silas debated on which book to start with but it
was Kota that decided to start with Dracula. “It’s one of the only ones with
four copies available. We’ll go somewhere else for the next book. I feel guilty
as it is just taking their last copies of this.”

“I’ve read a few of these already,” I said, checking out the
reading list again.

“I know. Me, too,” he said. “Save the ones you’ve already read
just in case things get busy later. If not, we’ll use things we’ve already read
for the last couple of tests and have an easy time before finals.”

That was pretty clever thinking. I was happy that Kota was there
or I would have been tempted to reread something I already knew.

We were at the circulation desk before I realized the others had
pulled out cards.

“Do I need a library card?” I asked. “It hadn’t occurred to me
that there might be one. In my last school, the librarian just typed in your
name.”

“It’s a school ID,” Luke said. “You were supposed to go get one
during study hall... oh wait, that’s right. You didn’t get a study hall.”

I rubbed a fingertip over my eyebrow. “I didn’t realize we needed
one.”

Kota took the book from me. “I’ll get this. Silas, you go with her
to get her ID.”

“Are you sure?” I asked Kota.

He smiled at me and nodded. “Don’t worry. If you forget to turn it
in, I know where you live. I’ll come by and get it.”

My eyes widened and he laughed. He knew how to keep me in line.