I glance around the room at this and none of the Society members looks particularly happy. I fight to keep my military frown in place.
“Also,” he says, leaning forward, “and I tell you this in the strictest confidence.” He pauses, waiting for assurances from me.
“I won’t reveal anything that happens in this meeting, sir. What you do from here on out for the DMA is up to you.”
“Thank you for your discretion in this matter. Next year, a new group of females will enter the Corps and we’d like you to be in command of their training. Since you will be a junior next year, we’d like to offer you a drill sergeant position.”
“I’ll stay.” I hadn’t given a lot of thought to what I was going to do next year, but like I told Drill, if I don’t stay, all this is for nothing. If I’m not here next year, there will be another group of females who have to blaze the way. I can’t let them be alone in this. “But there are conditions.”
Colonel Keene is about to speak but someone at the end of the table interrupts him. “You’re not in a position to be blackmailing the DMA, young lady.”
I turn to look at man who spoke. Matthews’s father, the supreme leader of the Pandora Society. “Actually, after the ‘training incident,’ I am, General Matthews.”
Rev hands me a piece of folded paper like we’d actually scripted this before. I unfold it and glance down. It’s blank.
“If you don’t want the names of the Pandora Society, and I mean all members—not just the ones at the DMA—released to the media, allowing for a full-scale investigation into the cover-ups that have happened here this year, I’m pretty sure I’m allowed a condition or three.” I swallow, hoping he doesn’t call my bluff. Blackmailing a leader of the United States Army isn’t exactly easy.
Thankfully, he sits back down, scowling, arms crossed over his chest.
Colonel Keene clears his throat—he may not be in the Society, but he knows there’s more at stake here than what’s obvious. “What do you want, Ms. McKenna?”
“My brother gets reinstated as cadet colonel. His drumming out is removed from his record and he gets the highest recommendation to West Point for going beyond the call of duty and saving a recruit’s life.”
Colonel Keene nods. “It will happen today.”
Rev puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. I can’t keep the smile off my face.
“Any more conditions?” General Matthews asks.
“Just two.” I swallow around the lump in my throat but have no doubts as to my next request. “My roommate, Rebekah Cross, was a target of the Society as well. No matter what stories came out about her, they were a result of the interference of the Pandora Society. She gets reinstated as well.”
“I’ll see to it.” Colonel Keene writes something down on his notepad. “The last item?”
“The Worms haven’t been Recognized yet. I’m sure it was just a paperwork snafu,” I say, staring at General Matthews. “But we will be Recognized. Tomorrow.”
“I think those are very reasonable demands, Ms. McKenna.” Colonel Keene seems relieved.
“Now, if we could get on with the agenda?” General Matthews slides a paper across the table to me. “This is the list of Pandora Society members at the DMA that your brother so graciously provided, plus Recruit Wilson, who I understand is an initiate into the Society. If you will, please verify that the names on this list are correct?”
I hold the paper gingerly and when I get to the last name, I look over them all again. “There are only eleven names here.”
“Yes,” General Matthews says. “Is there a problem?”
Matthews’s name is missing. It’s not on the list. If he’s not on the list in means he’ll be here next year. Yes, there’s a problem.
I feel Rev tense behind me. Easy, Sam.
Scanning the table, my eyes stop on General Matthews. He sits there, the image of calm, but there’s a dangerous glint to his eye and I have to look away. “Ms. McKenna, is there something wrong? Have we missed someone?” General Matthews’s voice is as oily as his son’s.
I shake my head, pushing the paper away from me as fast as I can. I grip my hands together under the table to keep myself from jumping across it at him. My foot shakes under the table. I need to get out of here.
The Society is letting me think I won, letting the Board, think I won. But it doesn’t matter what I do. The Society will always be in control. General Matthews’s presence here—his ability to keep his son at the DMA despite everything he’s done and all the proof we’ve turned over—is evidence of that.
“Just one more thing,” Colonel Keene says, and I want to scream. I can’t stay under the heavy gaze of General Matthews when he knows I know what he’s doing. “We’d like you to meet the new commandant. You and he will be working very closely together, assimilating the new class of females to the Academy.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, glancing around the table, wondering who will be the next commandant. If he says General Matthews, I will throw up all over their polished conference table.
“He’d like to meet you in his office.”
I nod and stand, grateful for any way to get out from under the general’s gaze. “Thank you, Sir.”
“You did great in there,” Rev says when we’re back in the hallway. “General Matthews is a powerful man and you stood up to him. Eleven gone is better than none.”
I want to believe what he says. “Matthews’ll be alone next year. I’m not scared of him anymore,” I say, hoping the words will be true soon. When I turn toward the commandant’s office, Rev doesn’t move. “You’re coming in with me to meet the commandant, right?”
He smiles, but stays where he is. “I think you can do this on your own.”
“No, please don’t go. Please stay with me. I don’t think . . .” I look down, smoothing down the front of my tunic and playing with the stitching at the ends of the sleeves.
“You are one of the strongest recruits I’ve seen come through Denmark Military Academy. You can do this, Sam.”
I watch him leave and then steel myself before knocking on the door. The first is too timid and I rap my knuckles on the wood again, more confidently this time, determined to show the new commandant how strong I am.
“Enter.”
Standing behind the desk is the new commandant of Denmark Military Academy.
My father.
Slowly I close the door behind me, and when we are alone, I screw all military bearing. I run and throw my arms around him. He grabs me with the one arm he has left, grunting as the weight of my body slams into him.
“Sam. Sammy. God, will you ever forgive me?”
I pull away because it’s the last thing I ever expected to hear from him. His uniform is too big for him now. He’s lost weight in his face and his muscles are soft from lack of use. The sleeve for his left arm, useless now, is pinned up neatly at the shoulder. “Daddy . . . ,” I whisper.
“I’ve made a hell of a lot of mistakes in my life, Sam.” His face looks like it’s crumbling. “After—” He gestures to his missing arm. “After this, I realized what was important. I spent three weeks trying like hell to get back to safety and back to you guys. Maybe if I’d gotten here sooner, we wouldn’t be meeting like this.” He brushes a tear from his face; it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him appear vulnerable and I know I’m not going to be able to keep it together much longer. “But look at you. So strong. So brave. Your mother is so very proud of you. I’m proud, too, Sammy.”
And once again, like so many times before, I dissolve into tears at my father’s words. I cling to him until the tears stop falling, and then I cling to him some more.
After two hours, I finally find the strength to leave Dad’s office. I thought I’d be walking back to the barracks on my own after spending so long with him, but Jonathan’s still there. And Drill. My heart pounds but I don’t care anymore. I’m as good as a cadet now. I run down the stairs and he opens his arms, waiting.
When J
onathan clears his throat, I pull away.
Drill doesn’t smile, his military bearing strong and locked down, even though his eyes are sparkling. “Mac.”
Jonathan smiles. “Like the new commandant?”
I take two steps, throwing my arms around Jonathan. “You knew?”
He nods, talking quietly. “Mom’s in D.C. Walter Reed has a rehab wing.”
“Thank you,” I whisper into his ear. Dad’s home, Mom’s getting help. Maybe things are working out after all. “Thank you, Colonel.”
He pulls away. “What did you call me?”
“Colonel. Getting you your rank back is the least I could do.”
“You mean . . .” And then it’s him reaching for me, pulling me in for a hug.
“Bekah’s being invited back, too. They’re drumming out everyone but Matthews tonight,” I say when we’re done with all the hugging. “General Matthews was in there—it was rigged from the beginning.”
“I’m sorry, Sammy,” Jonathan says.
“I’ll deal with it next year. Tomorrow we get Recognized.”
Drill holds out an envelope to me.
“What’s this?”
“Open it, McKenna. That’s an order.”
“Yes, Drill Sergeant.”
The paper is thick and impressive, the black words scripted across the card invite me to attend the Recognition of Alpha Company recruits into Alpha Company proper. I can’t believe it. My pulse quickens, but this time it’s not from fear. “Is this for real?” I see from the grins on their faces that it is.
“There was never any doubt in Alpha’s mind that you guys would make it through the year. They’ve been printed for weeks. Your recruit buddies are at the top of House Mountain now, but refused to be Recognized until you were able to join them. If you want to go, we’ve got to go now.”
“Back up there? I was just there two days ago,” I whine.
Drill laughs. “Ready?”
I smile, throwing my arms around Jonathan once more.
“That’s one hell of a dare you took on, Sammy.”
“I didn’t complete it, though, not really. I didn’t get Recognized on my own. Didn’t pass the Worm Challenge on my own.”
“As a McKenna, I proclaim the dare passed with flying colors. If anyone has any questions about it, send them to me, okay?” He laughs and spins me around before planting me back on the ground.
Drill parks his car on a fir road and we walk at ease the last mile up House Mountain. When we’re almost at the top, he stops and turns toward me, sighing. “I need to tell you something.”
“Yeah?”
“I talked with your father on the phone yesterday. He told me not to tell,” Drill says, holding his hands out in front of him to ward off an attack. “And your dad is still pretty damn scary.”
“What did he need to talk to you about on the phone?” Could he have found out about us? The thought’s ridiculous, but I can’t help but wonder what he’d think to me crushing on my drill sergeant.
“The normal cadet nomination process is being put aside for next year. He wants me to be cadet colonel.”
“That’s great!” I reach out for his hand and link our fingers together. “I know you didn’t want it, but you’re going to be a great colonel.”
He toes the ground with a combat boot, squeezing my hand before pulling away.
“It isn’t great?”
He won’t meet my eyes. I’ve never seen this unsure Drill before. Confident? Yes. Pissed? Definitely. But this insecurity? It doesn’t suit him at all.
“Sure. It’s great. It’ll look great on my application to West Point and when I become an officer in the Army.”
“But . . . ?”
He reaches his hand toward me, and I reach mine to his, our fingertips grazing each other’s but not connecting, just like everything else with him this year. “But whatever this is . . . whatever we could be . . . it can’t happen now. Not if I’m cadet colonel.”
“You’ll outrank me again.”
“I will.”
I break a little bit as the words tear at my heart. I want him to reach out once more, to feel his arms around me. I want the promise of his lips on me again. But he doesn’t make the move. And neither do I. It doesn’t matter when or where we would try to date, rank and duty would always get in the way.
He nods, knowing I’ve put it together. His eyes are sadder than I’ve ever seen them. “Go on,” he urges. “Your recruit buddies are waiting. I’ve got to meet up with Huff and the rest of the upperclass Alpha to get ready.” He steps onto a side path that heads farther into the woods. He gives me one more sad smile, and it’s all I can take. I have to turn away.
Nix, Ritchie, Kelly, Bekah, and all the others stand around the campfire they’ve built. Kelly smiles and waves me over.
The whole year I thought I had to be strong on my own here, but as I walk toward my company, knowing my Mom’s going to be okay, that Jax is a kick-ass hacker, that Bekah’s back on DMA ground, I realize that being strong can mean a lot of different things.
“How’d you get here so fast?” I ask when I get close enough for my roommate to hear me.
“I was at Kelly’s house, trying to figure out how to tell my parents I was going to go to jail. Your brother called when you started up here and Kelly’s mom drove me up.” Bekah gives me a tentative smile and I put my arm around her shoulders, squeezing.
It takes a second to blink away the tears, to calm myself down, but it feels right, being up on this mountain with Alpha. I deserve this moment. When they see me coming, a cheer goes up from the guys who brought me out of hell, and I smile.
It doesn’t matter what happens next year or even after that. We’re Alpha. We’re family.
And we’ve earned this.
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Acknowledgments
TK
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About the Author
JOY N. HENSLEY is a middle school writing teacher. She spends her twenty-minute lunch breaks hosting author Skype chats for her students. Once upon a time she went to a military school on a dare. She lives in Virginia with her husband and two children, fi nding as many ways as she can never to do another push-up again. Rites of Passage is her debut novel. You can visit her at www.joynhensley.com.
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Copyright
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
RITES OF PASSAGE. Copyright © 2014 by Joy N. Hensley. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
[tk]
ISBN 978-0-06-229519-4
EPub Edition March 2014 ISBN 9780062340962
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