Dickensen Academy

by Christine Grabowski

  “So I could leave too, if I wanted?”

  She patted my thigh. “Of course, dear. Anytime.”

  Hearing those words was comforting. It made me feel less trapped. Despite the way I’d felt the past few days, I knew deep down I didn’t want to return home. Besides, it would prove to Dad I couldn’t hack it on my own.

  She lifted my chin to meet her gaze. Her gray-blue eyes had lost their warmth. “But if you go home, know there is no coming back.”

  ****

  It didn’t take long to fall asleep since the flood of emotions had left me exhausted. But then I found myself at Memorial Stadium in downtown Seattle. The night was chilly and clear. My cup of hot chocolate warmed my hands, and I took occasional sips of the sweet, frothy liquid.

  The sun had set, and overhead lights blazed down on the football field. I was squished between Hannah and Julia, with Aditi and a girl I didn’t recognize on their other sides. Drew, Ben, and Ryan goofed around on the bleachers in front of us as if they were longtime buddies.

  The Haller Lake football team had the ball. Josh lined up on the field in his green and gold uniform, number eighty-three. The scoreboard displayed 21 to 24 with the opposing team in the lead. It was second down, and the quarterback completed a long pass to Josh near the sideline. As he sprinted down the field, several opponents in navy and white uniforms chased him. One dove at Josh but missed the tackle, allowing him to run into the end zone. I jumped up and down and hugged my friends. Somehow I didn’t spill my drink.

  Soon the crowd noise faded away, and I was vaguely aware of the blankets in my bed. Before long, I drifted back to sleep.

  Chapter: 11

  As soon as I booted my computer Sunday morning, an email from Drew popped up. I smiled. He preferred to text, but without wireless or cell coverage here at Dickensen, he didn’t have many options to reach me.

  Sept 30 at 10:14 a.m.

  Subject: Hi!

  Drew Miller

  To: Autumn Mattison

  ~*~

  Hey Autumn,

  My mom said you called last night. Sorry I missed you. Was at the football game. Great game! We won thanks to Josh. He caught a freaking long pass and made the game-winning touchdown. You should have seen it. Call me.

  Miss you :-)

  Drew

  My mouth dropped open. What the…? I read then reread the email. My brother really did make a touchdown to win the game. That’s what I dreamed!

  I checked the time. Drew’s family would be at church, so I called home instead. Funny, but as I dialed, I realized I was no longer homesick, simply curious about the game. The evening with Mrs. Humphrey combined with a good night’s sleep had made me feel so much better.

  Dad picked up. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Morning. We thought you might call today. Your mother said you phoned as we were leaving for the game.”

  “Yeah. Bad timing.”

  “You should’ve seen Josh last night.” Dad’s rare excitement came through in his voice. “In the fourth quarter when Haller Lake was down, he caught a forty-yard pass and ran it into the end zone. We won twenty-eight to twenty-four!”

  Dad continued to rattle off facts about the game, but my mind raced in circles.

  “Autumn?”

  It was like my mouth was sealed shut with peanut butter.

  “Autumn? Are you there?”

  I found my voice. “Yeah, Dad. Sorry. A little tired is all.”

  “How’s your algebra tutoring going?”

  I faked a yawn. “Pretty good. My tutor is super helpful. I totally get it now.” That was close enough to the truth.

  “I’m glad math is going better this year. Sorry to cut this short, but your mother is anxious to get on. We’ll talk tonight when we do your review.”

  I gritted my teeth but managed to utter an obedient “okay.” A month into school and still the stupid weekly reviews.

  “Oh, and make sure you have all your notebooks when you call. It might be a good idea to review science too.”

  I sighed. It was as if he wanted to relive high school but at my expense.

  A moment later, Mom got on. “Hey, honey. You okay? You didn’t sound like yourself yesterday. Then when your RA left a message, I started to worry.”

  My eyes popped open. “Mrs. Humphrey called you?”

  “She said to call when we got home.”

  Ugh! I hadn’t wanted Mom to know I was homesick. And I sure didn’t want every bit of our conversation to get passed along. “What’d you talk about?”

  “She likes to get to know the families of her girls. We didn’t get much chance to talk the day we dropped you off.”

  I bit my thumbnail. “What did you tell her?”

  “A little about us and the reasons we allowed you to attend Dickensen.” She lowered her voice. “I mentioned your father puts a lot of pressure on you and is already pushing you into medicine.”

  My mouth curled into a tentative smile. “Yeah. And?”

  “I said I just want you to be happy. And the future is your decision. But I do agree a solid education will open doors for you.”

  I was full-on grinning now. “Really?”

  “Yes, really.” I pictured her smiling on her end, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she folded laundry or busied herself around the house with some other task.

  “Thanks, Mom.” Knowing her and Dad’s united front wasn’t so united was a huge deal. “Anything else?”

  “That’s about it. We talked about how we’d missed your call because we were at Josh’s game.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. I should’ve known my RA could keep secrets.

  After I hung up, a warm feeling of contentment came over me, grateful Mom and I still had a relationship where we could be open and honest…well, about most things.

  ****

  I had a ton of homework to do since I bailed on the library yesterday to attend the Drawing Intensive Workshop, and the night had been a total bust. Ben was my favorite study partner. Of course, I’d use any excuse to hang out with him, especially alone. As a bonus, if I ever got stuck on an algebra problem, Ben would explain it to me in terms even I could understand.

  He’d lean over, his blond hair flopping inches from my face. “Here, let me show you.” I’d attempt to focus on his explanation but always had a hard time ignoring my body’s response to his beautiful olive skin and the lean muscles of his arms, smelling of soap and a hint of some citrusy deodorant. For the first time in my life, I was actually enjoying math homework. Nothing beats having a hot guy sitting next to me going through an algebraic equation. Okay, I could imagine more exciting scenarios, but we hadn’t yet made it past friendship—except in my own mind that was.

  But math wasn’t the problem today. After a long period of staring into space, I asked, “Can we take a break?”

  He brushed his hair aside and lifted his gaze. “Now? Don’t you want to wait until three?” Every Sunday afternoon the cooks made up a delicious batch of cookies, brownies, and other sweet treats—our standard study break.

  I shook my head. I needed his opinion now before everyone in the dining hall offered theirs.

  He pushed back his chair from the table. “Let’s go.” Ben never minded a break. He didn’t have to study as hard as me. He had the focus and intellect of an adult crammed into his teenage brain. We left our books in the library. I still had to finish my essay about The Great Gatsby, but if I didn’t spill what was on my mind, I’d waste the entire afternoon debating the possible reasons I was so much happier today.

  As we headed away from the students clustered between the dorms and the library, I poured out the details of my football dream, the email from Drew, and the phone conversation with Dad. “The way it stayed with me reminded me of the photography and hiking dreams. And you know how I’ve been a bit homesick lately?”

  He nodded.

  “When I woke up today, it had vanished. Poof! Homesickness gone.
It’s like I actually visited my friends in Seattle.”

  Ben motioned for me to sit on a bench along the campus path.

  “Do you think Mrs. Humphrey gave it to me? I was with her right before bed. And she knew I was homesick.”

  He slumped down next to me and rubbed his fingers on his forehead as he stared at the grass. He bit his lower lip and nodded methodically. I was dying to read his mind.

  “But how did she know about the score and the catch?” he mumbled. He sat back up after a minute. “What’d Aditi say?”

  I snorted. “She joked that maybe I have ESP.”

  “Maybe you do.” He exhaled while he took in the cloud-covered sky. “Wouldn’t that be cool?” Then he looked back at me, eyes wide. “Maybe Mrs. Humphrey can see the future.”

  “Or into other people’s minds is what I was thinking.” A notion I found more than a little disturbing. I had kind of hoped Ben would tell me that was impossible.

  “Ask her,” Ben urged. “You have time. Go now.” He practically pushed me off the bench.

  I raced back to O’Reilly, praying Mrs. Humphrey was available.

  At her door, I smoothed down my clothes and knocked, hoping she didn’t think I was bothering her too much. I had chewed up her entire Saturday night.

  When she opened the door, her face lit up. “Good afternoon, Autumn. Stopped by for another chat?”

  My uneasiness about interrupting left like heat from an oven. Mrs. Humphrey seemed delighted to see me again, and her voice was warm and welcoming—perhaps why she was so popular.

  I nodded. “If you have time.”

  “I always have time for my girls.”

  I followed her into her apartment and sat on the couch.

  “Tea?”

  “Sure.”

  This time she served a chai tea. It was stronger than the chamomile. Probably a good thing. I didn’t need to grow sleepy.

  After some chitchat, I worked up the courage to say, “I don’t know how all of this dream stuff works…so I have to ask, by any chance did you send me a dream last night? One about a football game?” I hoped she wouldn’t think I was stupid or crazy.

  She gave a guilty grin, like a young girl. “You got me. I hope you enjoyed it.”

  My muscles sagged in relief. I was right. “Oh, I did! I feel so much better. As if I’m meant to be here, and my home and school lives can somehow intertwine.”

  “Wonderful. That’s what I was aiming for.”

  I bit my lip. “But this morning, I received an email from my friend Drew, and he mentioned the football play where my brother scored the winning touchdown. And then later, my dad repeated the same story. Even the score was identical.”

  Mrs. Humphrey didn’t look surprised.

  “How’d you do that? Are you a mind reader, or do you tell the future? I don’t like to say it, but even though all this dream stuff is amazing, it’s also a little creepy. Like someone is watching us.”

  She gave me a reassuring smile. “It’s not like that at all. Dream Management is a respectable talent. I was simply trying to help you overcome your homesickness. Nothing more.”

  “But what about Josh’s touchdown?”

  She sipped her tea. “What about it?”

  “How’d you know?”

  She dismissed my comment with a swat of her hand. “You probably got all these ideas in your head from books and movies. I can’t get into your mind or hear your thoughts. I knew about the game because I spoke with your mother.”

  That’s right. Mom mentioned they’d talked.

  “Getting to know the families of my girls is the best way for me to create realistic dreams. Besides, last night you needed to experience the power of our dreams. In my opinion, the teachers take too long to dive into their Dream Management curriculums.”

  I nodded. Maybe if one of my teachers had conveyed something like that I wouldn’t have been so tense this past week.

  “By speaking with both you and your mother, I gathered enough information to create the dream. In reality, the football play didn’t go exactly as portrayed. I only knew your brother caught a long pass and ran twenty yards for the winning touchdown. I believe I had him on the right side of the field.” Mrs. Humphrey chuckled to herself. “For all I know, he could’ve been running backward and on the opposite side. As for the rest of it, I concentrated on the names of your friends, which allowed your mind to insert their images into the dream. A similar method was used to pull an image of the stadium into the background.”

  “So no two-way communication?”

  “None at all. For me this was an easy dream since most of the images already resided in your brain and your mother supplied a portion of the storyline. I only filled in the blanks.”

  My lower jaw practically fell into my lap.

  “I know. I’m way ahead of you.” She patted my thigh. “Your teachers will show you how to make it happen.”

  As with the other recent revelations, it was impossible to process all at once. I could only shake my head and smile.

  Soon her cuckoo clock chimed three times.

  I must’ve fidgeted because she asked, “Do you need to go?”

  “Well…I have a lot of studying to do.”

  She winked. “Make sure you stop by the dining hall. It’s time for Sunday Snacks.”

  My cheeks warmed.

  She laughed. “They began the tradition back when I was a student.” Mrs. Humphrey leaned over and embraced me. It felt so good, like hugging an old friend—well, maybe more like an elderly aunt. I promised to visit again soon, then raced to the dining hall to tell everyone what I’d learned.

  Chapter: 12

  Aditi shook me awake. “We have to hurry. Mr. Katz said to meet in the quad for the field trip.”

  My clock displayed 1:12 a.m. She had to be kidding. But my body had a mind of its own and crawled out of bed. We threw on some clothes and jackets and entered the hall where we bumped into Hannah. No one else was around, so we quickened our pace down the stairs, hoping we weren’t late.

  We emerged from the dorm into the frigid night air, forcing me wide-awake. Three dark figures stood ahead in the center of the quad. As we approached, I recognized Mr. Katz, Ben, and Ryan. Our science teacher was dressed in a hiking ensemble, complete with heavy boots and khaki pants. I glanced down at my jeans and running shoes and shrugged. My friends wore similar clothes as me.

  Mr. Katz handed us each a half-empty backpack.

  “Where’s the rest of our class?” I asked.

  He smiled. “It’s just us tonight.”

  “Huh?”

  “For your first field trip, I find it’s a better educational experience to have an intimate tour. This way I can cater the learning to your needs. You’ve selected your best friends.” Then he spun around and strode across the quad.

  Wait, what? I raced to catch up. How had I selected my best friends? He’d chosen them, not me. And how would he know the five of us were so tight? We weren’t even in science together. We continued past the far end of the parking lot and down the entrance road. The moon was nearly full, so I could see well enough once my eyes adjusted even without any path lights.

  “I’ve brought you here to study the ecosystems. We’ve done a nice job studying the coniferous forest in daylight, but it’s a distinctive experience at night.” After nearly fifteen years of living in the Pacific Northwest, thanks to my science class I could finally identify the firs, pines, cedar, hemlock, spruce, and larch growing in the Cascades near Dickensen and in most of Washington State.

  Suddenly, a massive bird with a wingspan of at least four feet dove to the pavement in front of us. I stopped short and Hannah shrieked. Then as quickly as it arrived, it disappeared back into the forest.

  “Man! Was that an owl?” Ryan stared at where it had gone.

  “Absolutely,” our teacher confirmed. “Any guesses on the type?”

  We hadn’t studied owls in class, but Grandma Clarke collected owl pictures and figurines, w
hich she displayed throughout her house. My grandparents lived in the suburbs, and sometimes I could hear owls hooting there at night.

  “Maybe a great horned owl?” I ventured.

  “Good guess,” Mr. Katz said. “From its size, it could also have been a barred owl. It was too dark to get a clear view.”

  “How do you tell the difference?” Ryan asked.

  Mr. Katz nodded at me so I answered, “The great horned owl has large ear tufts. I suggested it because it’s the most common owl in the state.” I couldn’t wait to tell Grandma I was the class expert.

  Soon Mr. Katz veered right and entered a path through the woods so narrow we had to proceed single file. The moonlight barely reached us through the trees, but there was just enough to make our way without tripping over roots or running into branches. The trail was soft beneath our feet from layers of needles, and the pine scent was stronger than on campus.

  “Watch your faces,” he warned. He stopped to unlock a steel gate. “Let’s remain silent from this point forward.”

  I clenched my hands. Although I was now convinced the fence’s primary purpose was to keep out unwanted human visitors, there had to be more dangerous animals beyond it.

  We walked on for another five minutes or so until our teacher froze.

  “What are we doing?” Ben whispered.

  “Listen,” Mr. Katz said.

  At first the world was soundless. But then, without my sense of sight, my ears came alive. The forest wasn’t as quiet as I’d suspected.

  Hoo-hoohoo, hoo, hoo.

  After several moments of silence, an echo returned. Hoo-hoohoo, hoo, hoo.

  I jutted out my chin and stood a bit taller. Two great horned owls. I had been right. Their call sounds like who’s awake? Me too!

  We continued to listen.

  Something rustled nearby. My heart skipped a beat. Could it be a bear or a cougar?

  Mr. Katz pulled out a flashlight and methodically shined it around. A few of my friends did the same.

  “Over there,” Ryan whispered.

  I followed his beam of light. A gray opossum scampered up a tree.