by KB Anne
Curious about my competition, I studied the back of the guy in front of me:
Striped navy blue golf shirt
Broad shoulders with defined back muscles
Blond hair
Crew cut
HYPOTHESIS: Sami would love this guy.
Shifting in my seat, I searched the classroom for Sami to give her the “hot guy” head tilt and found her in the middle row, second to last seat, surrounded by a sea of males. She was much too preoccupied with her male neighbors to notice me.
Jovie was in the first seat of the second row with her head bent down. Her fingers wrapped in and out of themselves. No chance getting her attention.
I surveyed the room:
All Male
Broad shoulders
Overall athletic appearance
Golf Shirts
Khaki Pants
Hands folded on desk
Stiff seating position
HYPOTHESIS: Army recruits/Military Academy wannabes beefing up resume with leadership programs.
There was not one pimply-faced, scraggily- haired brainiac in the room and Sami, Jovie, and I were the only girls. Turning back to Sami, I mouthed, “What’s up with this?” Flashing a wide smile my way, her eyes sparkled with mischief. I smirked back at her as the classroom door opened. A tall, tan man in his mid-twenties marched in. He wasn’t wearing camouflage, but his button down shirt and belted pants reminded me of Jovie’s brother’s army fatigues, and if his black lugged boots weren’t military issued combat boots, they should be. Those suckers looked like they could kick some serious butt then walk across molten lava.
The males in the classes straightened in their seats. For a minute, I thought they might stand at attention.
“Good morning,” he said in a loud decisive voice. “I am your test proctor today. The exam will take three hours. It will begin promptly at 10:00 a.m. and will end at 1:00 p.m. Are there any questions?”
Not one hand went up. I wasn’t surprised. I was sure no one asked him questions.
“At this time, you may fill out the first page. Do not continue further until I instruct you to do so.”
I considered reminding him the exam was for a summer fellowship not top security clearance to the CIA, but I didn’t think he would appreciate my sarcasm. It was an acquired taste.
At precisely 9:59:59 a.m., he announced, “You may begin.”
Opening the exam packet, I skimmed through the first few questions:
What activities do you participate in your spare time? That’s an easy one.
Have you ever worn something from the laundry pile? Why? Ewww, why is that even a question and do I have to answer it honestly because I have.
You are on a sinking ship with five of your closest friends. You can only save one person. Who would you save and why? Uhhh, how do I even begin to answer that one?
I quickly skimmed some more questions to see if they got any easier.
If you had to choose between saving your own life or your family’s, what would you decide? What if it was a friend instead of a family member?
What would you do if an adult was trapped in a burning building? Would your answer change if a child was trapped? If so, why?
If you were in charge of a group of individuals, how would you maintain control? If you began to lose control, how would you restore it?
What beliefs do you hold dear? Why?
When you believe in something strongly, how do you make that belief known?
And they didn’t.
My work was certainly cut out for me.
After hours of struggling with the answers and jotting down outlines on spare paper—thank goodness I kept it under my test packet—the test proctor finally announced, “Pencils down!”
I wanted to break my pencil in half and fling it across the room, but I didn’t think that would go over well with the test proctor either. If he was in charge of the summer fellowship interns, I was screwed.
After collecting the exams, he returned to the front of the room. “My colleagues and I will score these tests promptly. Wait here. Feel free to walk around the classroom but do not leave the room. I will return shortly.” Without another word, he turned on his lug-sole heel and marched out the door.
Before it even closed, I snuck over to Jovie’s desk. Sami took her time, sauntering down the aisle. Her skirt swished back and forth between the desks, brushing against guys’ arms and legs, but no one so much as looked in her direction. That was surprising. She was certainly showing enough cleavage and guys tended to find her long, lush black hair sexy.
“How about that test?”
Ignoring my question, Sami turned to Jovie. “What unit do you think our proctor is in?”
“I don’t know, but I’d like to see him in his uniform,” said Jovie.
“I’d like to see him without it,” Sami replied.
“Can you keep your mind out of the gutter?” I hissed. My head whipped back and forth to make sure no one heard her.
“Gutter? I just said I’d like to see him without his uniform. You’re the one who took his clothes off.”
The three of us burst out laughing. In the large cavernous classroom, it sounded unnatural, curling around the desks, bouncing off the male test takers, who continued to sit with their hands folded on their desks and their legs tucked beneath their chairs.
I stepped back from Jovie and Sami and reached my arms behind my back to stretch. “Have you noticed we’re the only girls?”
“And you act like that’s a bad thing?” Sami said.
“Well no, not bad, but strange. You’re telling me we’re the only females who qualified to take the exam?”
Jovie snapped her pink jewel compact mirror shut. “Who cares? We’re here, aren’t we?”
“Yeah,” Sami said. “Are you saying that you’re not one of the top students at Webster, Madame President, and we aren’t up there too?”
“No, no. You girls rock. I just think it’s bizarre there are no other girls here. And I don’t have these guys in any of my classes.”
“Damn straight! I’ll take GQ over Geeksville any day!” Sami said and high-fived Jovie.
I crossed my arms. “I don’t know. Something doesn’t seem right here.”
“Would you stop worrying Starr?” Sami took hold of my shoulders. Her red dagger nails dug into my shoulder points, as she spun me around to face the classroom. “Enjoy the view.”
Chapter Seven
About a half hour later, the proctor returned. Sami and I scrambled back to our seats. His boots tapped against the hard tile floor, echoing through the room. As soon as my butt slid into the chair, he cleared his throat and said, “Thank you all for coming today and taking the Center for Leadership exam. Listen for your name.”
His eyes locked with mine for one brief moment before turning his attention to the list. “Michael Arnold. Starr Bishop…”
My heart jumped at the mention of my name. I took a deep breath to calm down. I made it. Summer fellowship July and August. Georgetown application end of August. Acceptance by September.
“Matthew Dickerson, James Lamont, Joseph Michaels….” He skipped right over Sami’s name. Oh no, she didn’t get in.
I listened closely for Jovie’s, willing him to call out “Jovie Turner.”
“…, Jude Smith, and Robert Van Dursen.” He shut the metal clipboard and folded it under his arm. His cold grey eyes looked up. “Thank you again for coming. If you did not hear your name, you are free to go. The fellowship candidates must remain seated. I need to go over a few things.”
He waited as a handful of people including Sami and Jovie left the room. My excitement wavered as the door shut behind Jovie, until she peeked her face into the small square window near the top of the door and stuck her tongue out at me. I mini-snorted and felt heat creep into my cheeks. I turned back to the proctor. His eyes locked with mine again. A hard knot of dread formed in the pit of my stomach.
“Ladies and gentlemen…
,”
More like lady and gentlemen. I couldn’t believe neither one of them made the cut, and it still bothered me that there weren’t any other girls taking the test.
“You will take physical exams this afternoon at our headquarters. We will leave via helicopters in about an hour.” Without another word, he pulled out a chair from the desk and sat down.
Physical? Helicopters? Headquarters? What type of leadership exam was this? Something didn’t add up. I certainly didn’t have parental permission for that, and I didn’t read anything about taking a physical exam in the first place.
I tapped my left foot. I switched to my right. Then tapped both. I crossed and uncrossed my legs. I played with my pencils on the desk, rolling them up and down, side to side. I looked out the window and watched a sea gull fly across the cloudless sky. The sun’s rays reflected off the water. It was a beautiful day outside, and I was stuck in this classroom waiting for I didn’t know what. My feet tapped again. My fingers took up the beat. My only consolation was that the body flickering thing wasn’t happening, but then maybe it should—at least then I would be distracted. At my current level of annoyance, I might implode instead. I couldn’t just sit here. I needed answers.
I got up from my desk and walked up the aisle to the proctor. “Excuse me, sir.”
He frowned at me. “Yes?”
“First, why do we need to take a physical for a leadership fellowship and second, why do we need to fly to headquarters to take it?” I tried to keep my tone light and airy.
“The organization I represent is very precise. They prefer to conduct at much as possible in house.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. “Your organization? I thought we took a leadership exam for Trevnor University. What organization are you referring to?”
He waved me away. “That is all you need to know at the moment.”
I recalled the acceptance letter, that I read so many times, it folded in on itself.
Leadership Academy
Trevnor University
Rochester, NY 20001
March 11,
Dear Miss Starr Bishop;
Congratulations! You have qualified to take the exam for the Summer Leadership Academy. The exam will be held at the Randolph Building on Trevnor University’s Chamber Island on Saturday, April 28th at 10:00 am. Please be prompt.
Please bring a photo ID with you, along with several #2 pencils and a calculator. No highlighters, dictionaries, or electronic devices including phones will be permitted in the classroom. If you have any questions, please call our office during regular business hours, M-F, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sincerely,
Margaret Hahn
Not one mention of an organization. Not even a hint that the letter wasn’t real. If only I kept the envelope or a copy of the original application. I’d have to ask Sami where she found out about the test. She never mentioned an organization.
If I had my phone, I could find out what was going on in about five seconds, but of course, I had to follow the rules, and my phone was powered off and tucked under Jovie’s car seat, so no one would break into the car and steal it.
Sami was right. I was a goodie goodie. I needed to act fast before the helicopter got here. “Can I at least call my parents and let them know what’s going on?”
“No.”
“No phone call? Even prisoners get one phone call. Am I being held against my will?” I didn’t even try to hide the edge in my voice.
The proctor ground his back molars. He pushed up from the chair and crossed his arms. “You are not being held prisoner.”
“Really? Then why can’t I call my parents? They’ll worry if I’m not home this afternoon.”
“No,” he said and marched out of the room.
Rooted to the spot, I stared at the door trying to figure out what just happened. I couldn’t make any sense of the conversation. Shaking my head in disbelief, I turned to face the remaining test takers. Not one guy so much as glanced in my direction. I wasn’t a runway model, but no one seemed the least bit curious about the one girl asked to stay.
Where did they find these guys anyway? They were all six-feet-something with muscles much too defined for a high school junior…even in Hollywood.
I didn’t know if I should wait to find out what was going on or march out the door and not look back. Given my present circumstances, the decision was an easy one. I headed back to my seat to gather my things. In the second row, third seat, one guy glanced up at me:
Brown eyes
Tan
Brown hair with golden highlights
Salmon color golf shirt
Khaki pants
HYPOTHESIS: Swimmer or lifeguard
He gave me a tight smile but said nothing. I nodded at him before grabbing my backpack. As I passed the front desk, a man with a salt-and-pepper flattop dressed exactly like the test proctor marched into the room. “People, we fly to headquarters for six months of training. We leave in approximately thirty minutes.”
Six months? What the hell?
He smiled at me. “Yes, Starr?”
My body tensed as my heart jumped into my throat. “How… how do you know my name?”
“It’s my job to know your name, and you may address me as General.”
“Is it your job to hold people against their will?”
He stepped closer. I resisted the urge to back up. “It’s my job to keep the Organization strong by any means necessary, and that means recruiting you.”
The tone of his voice scared me. It was deep and strong and controlling. Without meaning to, I took two steps backward. “Me? Why me?” I hitched my backpack tighter.
“Your test scores were extremely high.”
“Yes, but I just took the exam today, and my friends took it as well.”
A cruel smile crossed his face. Uneasiness almost dropped me to my knees. “We had to get you here somehow.”
Oh gods. That didn’t sound good. The edges of my carefully arranged mask of confidence began to splinter.
“Get me here? I don’t understand. What about these guys?” I indicated the crowd of testosterone.
He scanned the room with a smug expression. “They or most of them will become part of your team.”
“My team? I took an exam for a summer fellowship at Trevnor University.”
He walked out into the hallway. “Did you?”
I followed behind him. It was only when the door closed with the swift sound of permanence that I realized I had left a classroom of witnesses. My brain erupted into a flurry of emotions. My body started to do that flickering thing again. I still didn’t know if people could see it happening or if it was just a feeling I had. I also didn’t know what the General would do to me if he discovered his top recruit was... What was wrong with me anyway?
I took deep breaths to settle down as I tried to process what he was telling me. “But…,” I kept getting hung up on the basics, “but the building…it’s Trevnor University’s Leadership Academy.”
He gestured to another classroom. “Is it?”
I peeked into window. The room was empty. Not one desk, not one chair, not even a pencil. Refusing to believe him, I checked several more classrooms and soon discovered they were all empty.
I stopped and stared at him. My shoulders drooped, and I didn’t have the nerve to pull them back. “Why me?”
“We’ve been monitoring you since you came up on our radar five years ago. We have access to every standardized test you’ve ever taken in addition to remotely accessing your ELA and Regent Exam scores. We deduced that you were exactly the type of being the Organization wanted. Besides, your swimming and running accomplishments are hardly private. Very impressive Starr,” he said, though he didn’t sound impressed at all. He rubbed his hands back and forth. The calluses on his palms scratched against each other, like nails on a chalkboard. “You possess superior skills in a variety of areas we look for in a recruit, including loyalty, courage, physical
strength, endurance, intelligence, leadership, problem solving, and to be honest, your looks don’t hurt either. ”
I crossed my arms. “My looks? What does that have to do with anything?”
“Blond hair. Blue eyes. Do the math. We did want final confirmation you were indeed Organization material.”
A single drop of sweat trickled down the middle of my back. “And?”
“You’ve surpassed our already high levels of expectation. Even now, with the additional stress placed upon you by my disclosure, you’re able to keep your true nature hidden. I am really looking forward to your training,” he added with a touch of excitement that didn’t soften the hard lines of his face. “After six months of training, you’ll lead your team on target specific operations.”
“I don’t understand.” Dread paralyzed my body. My control of the situation slipped away from me, and I was petrified I wouldn’t get it back. What did he mean by my true nature?
“You will participate in an elite training course I developed for superior beings such as yourself.”
Beings? What in the... I tried to swallow the lump in my throat.
“In addition to using the natural abilities our race is blessed with, you will learn martial arts and other forms of hand to hand combat. You will learn to throw a knife, shoot a gun, and subtle techniques of threat elimination.”
My mind skipped over the natural abilities of our race comment because I didn’t know where to begin with that one and focused instead on what he meant by threat elimination.
Threat elimination…
Threat elimination…
He couldn’t possibly mean I’d kill people. There must be some mistake.
“Yeah right,” I said and waited for the punch line. I was at the point that I was figuring this entire situation was an elaborate scheme by Sami and Jovie, and soon they’d run out of a room with my other friends, along with my parents, and they’d all shout, “Gotcha!”