Wacko Academy (6 page)

He stopped for a second.  “Many of them are not here against their will, you know.”

I scowled.  “You mean like me.”

He pretended not to hear.  He looked thoughtful for a minute and continued to walk.  “Some of their parents are almost as rich as Dad.  They heard of Dad’s plan and wanted their kids to be a part of it.  On the other hand, some of these kids came here from the streets.  If they stay here, they get clothing, food, and shelter.  All they have to do is work for him.”

I was speechless.  There really was nothing to say after that.  What kind of parents would give up their kids like that?  Did they even know what this so-called “plan” was?

We entered the lobby.  The receptionist was just so thrilled to see us, she nearly hopped right out of her chair in excitement.  Not.

“Whaddya want?” she asked, chewing her gum and reading a magazine.  I swear, she was just like all the stereotypes.

“I’m signing out one of the occupants,” Dustin said nonchalantly.

She eyed me, sizing me up.  I guessed she didn’t find anything particularly interesting about me, since her expression remained indifferent and bored.  I stared right back at her—mostly because one of her fake eyelashes had begun to slide off.  I wondered why she didn’t just use mascara.  I had a strong urge to pull it off myself, but decided against it.

Dustin finished signing me out and took my arm, gently pulling me along.

I yanked my arm out of his grasp.  “Just how long am I going to be an ‘occupant’ here?”

He refused to meet my annoyed gaze.  “I’m not exactly sure.  Usually kids are let go when they turn eighteen.  You might be a different story.”

I folded my arms, glaring at him until he looked at me.  “Oh, that’s right.  I’m special.  What exactly does that mean, anyway?”

He shifted uncomfortably.  “Like I said, you’re the first girl that I brought here.  My father said that he has certain plans for you.”

“I’ll bet you any amount of money that his plans have something to do with me becoming your girlfriend.  Your partner in crime,” I said flatly.

He looked away.  “I dunno.  Maybe.”

Exasperated with him, I started trotting ahead of him, not caring if he followed me or not.

“Lily, wait,” he called.

There was no need to call me, because I had already stopped in my tracks.  I stared at the scene before me with my mouth wide open.  We were standing on a balcony facing a mega huge room.  The walls seemed to be made of metal.  I could see everything from where we stood.

There was some kind of martial arts class going on in the south side of the room.  In the meantime, kids of all ages were climbing a tall rock wall located on the west side.  However, it wasn’t a normal rock wall.  Some of the rocks fell away once they had been touched.  And was it me, or did the whole thing shake?  This was definitely unlike any rock wall I had ever seen.  A big obstacle course with hurdles, ladders, ropes, poles, and many other things had been set up in the middle of the room.  Many of the boys did push-ups and sit-ups while the girls did rope climbing.  

“This is one of the training facilities.  Some are more fun than others.”

I swept my eyes over the room.  “What about the other facilities?”

“Come on and I’ll show you.” Dustin answered, leading me down the stairs and into the crowd.

About a billion eyes locked on me as we passed by.  I stared down at the hard floor, hurrying to catch up with him.  

“Cover your ears,” he warned as he opened a big door.

Suspiciously I obeyed.  We had stepped into a shooting range.  There were rows and rows of slots to shoot in.  Most of them were occupied.

“So this is how you learned to use a gun,” I shouted over the noise.

“Yeah, I started learning at about eight.  Didn’t get the hang of it until a year later.”

I shook my head in wonder.  

We entered yet another room.  A gym.  Treadmills lined the walls, a mini flat screen on each.  A basketball game was in session, guys versus girls.  Dustin cut in to shoot some hoops.

I watched him laugh and goof off with the others.  What really struck me was that they seemed happy.  It was as if they were right where they wanted to be.  I couldn’t understand why they didn’t stop and look around.  They were being held prisoner.  Sure, it was with their friends, and yeah, it was fun, but there was no escape.  They couldn’t leave even if they wanted to.  Had they given up hope?  Did the thought ever cross their minds?  Maybe, like Dustin, they had been brainwashed into thinking they were all a part of something bigger and greater than them.  Didn’t anyone see that this was wrong?  

My supposed tour guide finally got out of the sweaty group and joined me, breathing hard.  

“Sorry about that,” he apologized with a smile.  “The rest of the tour is outside, so come on.” Taking my hand, he led me through yet another door.  Once we were out, I pulled my hand out of his.

We continued along a stone walkway through what looked like a park.  The climate was slightly warmer here.  Bare-limbed trees lined our path.  Frost replaced snow.  I removed my gloves, stuffing them into my pocket.  Other kids were taking a short stroll as well, holding books and chatting with their friends.  The real bookworms sat on benches, reading and catching up on homework.  You’d think it was a normal day at a normal park.  

As we rounded a corner, we came upon a totally different scene.  

Some sort of boot camp was in full swing as we passed.  The children looked strange in their camouflage outfits and big Timberland boots.  A bulky man yelled and yelled at them until he was red in the face.  Spittle as well as orders spewed from his big fat mouth.  I wondered how he could possibly be so hard on them.  Some couldn’t have been older than six, just a year older than my youngest brother.  My arms ached from just watching them do push-up after push-up without any sign of stopping.  I could only imagine how grueling that must have felt.  The thought that I would soon be there right alongside them made me shudder.

I looked up at Dustin, sudden anger blazing through my veins.  “Your dad is a terrible man.”

“It’s not as bad as you think,” he mumbled as some kind of weak excuse.  

Staring down at the ground, I quickened my steps, forcing him to lag behind.  I purposely turned my whole body away from the camp.  My dumb tour guide sped up to catch up with me.  Suddenly I was looking down at his shiny white sneakers.  Not a speck of dirt on them.  Did a maid, like, clean them with a toothbrush every day?  More likely he had a new pair for each day.  

“Look, I know it seems bad, but these guys were given time to practice and get into shape before they were allowed to go to boot camp, and so will you.  Then you’ll have a fitness test to be sure you’re ready.  Don’t worry.  I’ll be there to help you train every step of the way,” he assured me.

Was that supposed to make me feel better?  Because it didn’t.  Not at all.

He touched me lightly on my shoulder.  “Try to make it work.  I mean, it’s not like you have a choice.  So why not make the best of it?  Here you have access to all this great stuff.  The food’s awesome and you can pretty much learn anything you want.”

I shrugged him off and glared at him, hands balled into fists.  “You don’t get it, do you?  I don’t care if this place has great stuff, and I
don’t
want to make the best of it.  I was doing just fine before I met you.  So no, I don’t need you or this funny farm.  What I want is my life back.  And since you’re obviously not going to help me get it back, I’ll have to find a way to do it on my own.  This place means nothing to me.  You hear me?  NOTHING!”

By this time I was screaming, tears running down my cheeks.  My vision was blurry, but I could see Dustin’s shocked expression.  I could feel the people staring, but I didn’t care.  Let them stare.  I had bigger fish to fry.  

Dustin began to say something, but I didn’t hear, because I had already taken flight.  Not in any particular direction either.  I simply had to get away from him.

After a while I grew tired of running and dropped to the ground right where I was.  Luckily, my feet had carried me to a clearing.  So I lay down on the hard blanket of frozen grass and stared up at the sky.  The sky was a light shade of blue and large white puffballs of clouds drifted by.

One cloud looked almost exactly like an ice cream cone.  It reminded me of the time I had gone to Mr. Freeze with Ella.  Some little kid dropped his ice cream cone on her brand new eighty-dollar boots.  We bought him a new one and cleaned off her boots as best as we could.  Ella complained about how her mom would kill her when she found out.  I laughed the whole time.

Instead of making me sad, the memory made me smile.  It hadn’t happened that long ago.  I could still taste the sweet mint chocolate chip.  Mmm.  My favorite.  Mr. Freeze had the best ice cream ever.  It was one of the biggest hangouts in all of Kindred Valley.

The quiet made me want to lie dozing forever.  Then I wouldn’t have to think about anything.  Just live in the memories.  I heard movement.  My whole body tensed.  So much for dozing.  The intruder stood above me.

“There you are,” he said, sounding relieved.

My eyes remained fixated on the clouds.  “Why did you choose me?”

“Huh?” was his only response.

“Why me?  Your father could have picked anyone he wanted, but he had to have me.  Why?”

Dustin lay down beside me without being invited.  “I’m not sure.  He usually picks kids through hacking into school records.  He checks out the highest grades.  The teachers’ comments.  Stuff like that.  Then, once he finds someone he likes, he sends me to check him out.” I could hear the smile in his voice.  He really was clueless.

“I ran away just now.  But no guards hunted me down or anything.  Why not?”

“The property is extensive,” he said.  “There’s a…barrier you wouldn’t have been able to cross.  I would have stopped you before anything bad happened.”

We both didn’t say anything for a few minutes, lost in thought.  I wondered if he would ever snap out of it and have any grasp of what was going on here.  Didn’t he ever question why they would need a barrier in the first place?  And just what would have happened if I had found the barrier?  

“You called me cute,” Dustin said suddenly.  Well, wasn’t that completely out of the blue?

I turned my head to look at him.  “Excuse me?”

“When we were in your room.  You called me a cute rich guy,” he explained, grinning like an idiot.

Was he nuts?  “Why are you thinking about that now?”

He shrugged.  “I dunno.  It just popped into my head.”

I pulled my glasses down my nose and gave him the annoyed-librarian look.  “Just because I called you cute doesn’t mean I like you.  Anyway, I was talking about before I really knew you.”

He flashed me a smile that put the sun to shame.  “Admit it, though.  You still think I’m cute.”

I rolled my eyes.  “As if you’re totally unaware of your good looks.  You are the most arrogant, trickiest twit of a boy I’ve ever met.”

“That was cold,” he said after a stunned pause.

“So was tricking me into being captured and brought here against my will.  Kidnapping someone and transporting her across state lines is a felony for a reason!”

“You’ve got a point there.”

There was yet another awkward silence between us.  Winter birds chattered happily, not a care in the world.  I wished that I could be like them.  I wished I could just spread my wings and fly away.  I never thought I’d see the day where I’d miss my rowdy brothers, but I did.  I missed everyone.

Tears pooled up at the rims of my eyes and escaped down the sides of my cheeks.  I was immediately angry with myself for crying.  Bawling my eyes out wouldn’t help anything.  Too much of it had been going on with me lately and it needed to stop.  To make matters worse, Dustin saw the tears.

“Hey, are you OK?”

I sat up and turned my back to him, furiously wiping away at my cheeks.  No use.  The waterworks kept on coming and wouldn’t stop.  Eventually I just let the tears fall.  My whole body shook with the sobs that came from deep within my chest.  A painful lump clogged my throat and I had to gasp the air in big gulps to breathe.  I hugged myself in a useless attempt to stop the shaking.

Dustin moved closer.  He awkwardly put an arm around my shoulders, trying to comfort me.  I automatically leaned into him.  At this moment I really did not care.  He stiffened, like he wasn’t sure what to do.  Then he slowly relaxed and let me wet up his shirt.  We sat like that for what felt like an eternity.

When my tears finally subsided, the sun was going down.  I removed my glasses, wiped them on my shirt, and put them back on.  I felt a little better.

My now-drenched tour guide looked me over warily.  “Are you feeling any better?”

He really did sound concerned.  Maybe I had been wrong about him.

“Yeah, I’m OK.  Sorry for soaking you.”

He smiled.  “It’s fine.  At least now I don’t have to take a shower.”

I scooted away from him.  “Gross!”

We both laughed a little.

Dustin stood up and stretched.  “So, do you want to finish the tour or head back?”

I considered.  “Finish the tour.” I would need all the information I could get to plot my eventual escape—although I was still expecting the cavalry any day now.  

He helped me up and we silently left the clearing.  He had his arm draped around my shoulders again.  There was no need, since I wasn’t crying anymore.  Rolling my eyes, I shrugged his arm off.  Not unkindly, though.  He just blushed and kept on walking.

We came across a hospital, which seemed odd.

“This is for if someone gets injured after a mission or during training,” he explained.

I shook my head in disbelief.  A whole hospital!  There must have been a whole lot of injuries, then.  A sudden shiver went down my back.  What injuries did they have?  Obviously it wasn’t just cuts and bruises.  Then there’d be no need for a hospital, and a big one at that.  And what were these so-called missions?  Would I be going on one?

Next we stopped at a very tall building.  It had to have been at least five stories high.