by C. L. Stone
I’d thought at first Mr. Duncan had called the tall man Mr. Bubble, but then stop shorter than expected. It made me secretly giggle to myself that such a serious man would have a funny name.
Mr. Duncan continued. “Every morning, your team manager will be at a designated spot where you will join them at the appointed time. They’ll interview you to see how you’re doing, and will be available if you have any questions. You can join them for the day’s activity planned with new recruits, or you may go to one of our groups. No matter what, remember your team manager, his or her name.
“He or she will guide you throughout the week. Listen to them. They’ll answer your questions in full. We’ve got scheduled hikes and other times where you’ll be able to get our full attention and ask all the questions you’d like as we explain to you the true Academy way.”
“If the girls will go with Mrs. Rose,” Mr. Buble said.
“Why are we getting split up, too?” one of the guys asked.
Mr. Duncan answered. “We felt it might be more comfortable for you all to have a same sex team and manager. However, if you really wish to go with Mrs. Rose, or if you girls would like to join the boys on the other teams, that’s fine. We just ask that you please wait until tomorrow. We’ve got specific things we need to go over today, and we can’t have you hopping teams right now.”
I pressed my lips together, eager to get started yet worried at the same time. Was I going to be able to handle a week of translation for Mrs. Rose? Also, I wouldn’t be able to switch out teams after I’d promised to stick by her.
I waited as Mr. Buble counted off, almost random, among the boys.
The girls naturally came together, except for one girl who stood alone, looking worried. She appeared younger, smaller, but had to be fourteen since she was here and not with the younger group. Something was different about her though I couldn’t place it.
Mrs. Rose touched my arm to get my attention. She signed to me quickly. “Tell her to join us,” she said and pointed to the girl.
I bit my lip. With Mrs. Rose unable to speak up, I would have to be her voice, and in a way, in charge.
I stepped closer to the girl and caught her attention. She looked at me with imploring eyes. Her sweater was pink with purple hearts, and she had short black hair around her face, cut at the jawline. She wore some makeup, too, lip gloss, eyeliner, and mascara, making her eyes stand out.
There was something else, too. A darkness above her lip. Like she shaved it. I knew some girls developed hair in places that weren't typical, but the closer I got, the more I realized her face resembled a boy’s.
Was she a boy dressing as a girl?
It was easier to address a stranger when it was Mrs. Rose who told me what to do. “Pardon me,” I said quietly, clasping my hands behind my back. “You’re joining us, aren’t you?”
She smirked. “I wasn’t sure.”
“I guess you can pick a team eventually,” I said. “But for now, join us?” I glanced at the group of girls: there were six others. “There’s plenty of room.”
The girl nodded and slid over on the bench until she was sitting next to the other girls.
I returned to Mrs. Rose and looked over the group. While we might have been close in age, there was one in particular who seemed older, maybe seventeen. The girls studied one another carefully. Some were more tomboy, and a few wore makeup.
Mrs. Rose started signing quickly, and I struggled at first to catch up with what she was saying. “Mrs. Rose...wants to thank you all for coming,” I said.
“Louder!” one of the girls called out.
I bit my lip, but Mrs. Rose continued. I watched her hands, focusing on her, and then talking as loud as I could. “Ah, she...wants to know if we’d like to go on a hike.” I paused as Mrs. Rose continued but she got to one I didn’t know, and I had to stop her to ask her to spell what she meant.
She did, but even then, I wasn’t sure she was serious. “She says she’s hoping we’ll spot a bear today?” The question was more for her, but Mrs. Rose nodded enthusiastically and gave me a thumbs up. I had gotten it right.
“I don’t have the right shoes,” one of the girls said. “No one told me we were going camping. My friend just put me in the car and said it was a surprise.”
The boys had almost done similar, except they’d given me Christmas presents to at least warn me I was camping. I assumed she had met someone like the boys, who brought her along as a surprise.
I thought of Kayli getting a lecture about secrecy. I wondered how many people were like me. If my parents knew, they wouldn’t understand why I was here. Maybe they didn’t have nice parents either.
Mrs. Rose signed. I translated. “Does anyone have shoes to share...” I paused and then continued on after Mrs. Rose had stopped, seeking out the girl who had spoken.
“What size?” I asked. She said and then I nodded. “That’s my size,” I said. “I’ve got sneakers. Almost brand new.” I was sure Gabriel had packed more than enough. “You can even keep them if you’d like.”
We were supposed to share, right?
Mrs. Rose had me check with everyone about clothing and shoes. We were directed to go back to our respective camps for now, and would meet at the latrine in a half hour to go on our hike. Mrs. Rose promised we’d be able to join the others after lunch in the normal camp activities, but she had to go over Academy basics and try to answer as many questions as possible.
When I was finished translating for the moment, I swallowed, my mouth dry. I was going to need lots of water if I was going to continue talking so much.
As girls began to drift away from the group, I checked in with Mrs. Rose. “Do you need me now?” I asked. “Otherwise, I’ll go get those shoes.”
She shook her head and waved me off, and then gave me another thumbs up with a smile that I knew meant I’d done a good job.
I breathed out a puff of air, relieved. She was nice but I sensed she’d be hard to keep up with all week.
I checked in with the girl who needed shoes; she was going to follow another girl to her tent for better clothes for hiking and would meet me at the latrine after.
I was finally on my way to check in with my team when I noticed the girl that seemed to be a boy standing alone by herself. She pressed her lips together, looking uncomfortable.
Mrs. Rose asking me for help made me feel like I was her assistant of sorts. I waved to the girl and motioned to her to follow me.
The girl smiled and moved up the slope until she stood beside me. “Sorry,” she said in her husky voice. “I don’t have a tent set up yet anywhere. I was sort of brought along at the last minute.”
I wondered exactly how many of them were at least told they were camping. Did their friends, the teams that brought them, not bring anything for them?
“Do you need better hiking clothes?” I asked, looking at her dark jeans, the pink and purple sweater, and then the black boots. “Are you comfortable in that?”
“I guess,” she said. When she blinked, it revealed very black eyeshadow covering most of her upper eyelid, making her seem dark and dangerous. “What’s your name?”
“Sang.”
She tilted her head and made a curious face. “Sang? Is that your real name?”
I nodded.
“I’m Lake,” she said, brushing her hair back from her face. Her nails were manicured, painted black.
I blinked at her. I had strange name myself, and often got questioned on it, but I wanted to make sure to get it right. “Like...the water? Lake?”
She nodded.
I wanted to ask if that was her real name, too but didn’t want to offend her. Did it matter? As long as that’s what she wanted to be called. “Did a team bring you?”
“It was my psychologist,” she said. “She said there was a school for people with gifted abilities, but without means to afford a private education. She asked if I wanted to come to this.” She motioned to the area around us. “Crazy school enrollment, isn�
��t it?”
She was told this was like a private school?
Didn’t I think it was in the beginning?
I wondered if, by simply being around the guys, I knew more than most new recruits.
Not wanting to let on that I knew anything, and still not sure how much I even understood, I nodded and continued up the steps. “If you want to follow, I just need to go back to my tent.”
She did follow, but I suddenly regretted bringing her when I looked up and found Gabriel, Kota and North standing at the top of the path, waiting for me. I couldn’t see the others. I wondered if they’d left to do camp things.
I cringed, realizing I might not be able to say much now with her beside me, not knowing how much I could say.
When we got close, Kota smiled. The others were smiling, too, but Gabriel shifted on his feet, and North’s smile was tight. Something was bothering them. Were they nervous?
Only Kota seemed at ease. He’d rolled up his sleeves, and was holding a stack of paper maps. “How’d it go?”
“Not bad, I guess,” I said. While I wanted to tell Gabriel and North about Kayli and what she’d said, I knew it would have to wait. “I need to go back to the camp and grab shoes for one of the girls who didn’t bring anything.”
“Sounds good,” Kota said. “You’re staying with the girls today?”
He made it seem like my choice, but I hadn’t been given the option to join my team. “They asked if I could help Mrs. Rose translate,” I said, shifting, looking at North and Gabriel.
Their smiles faltered, just a fraction, but they recovered.
“Aw,” Gabriel said. “Who’s going to be my camping buddy now?”
“It’s just...”
“Who’s this?” Kota said before I could finish, looking at Lake.
I blushed as I looked at Lake, who was standing to the side, looking out of place. “Sorry,” I said to her and then looked at Kota. “Kota, this is Lake.”
“Hi,” Lake said to Kota and then glanced at Gabriel. “Do we need camping buddies?”
“No,” Kota said, rolling his eyes. “He’s kidding. Congrats on getting here. I hope you like it.”
Lake nodded but then said nothing more.
Kota handed me two maps and then gave Lake two as well. “Hang onto these.”
“Rule of two?” I asked. “That’s why we get two?”
“Just in case you lose one,” he said. “Or someone loses both of theirs and needs to borrow one of yours. The rule of two is that if you have just one, you have none. So you have two, and you’ll have enough.”
I supposed that made sense. Lake shared a long look with me that I didn’t understand but nodded.
“What are you all going to do?” I asked.
He motioned to Gabriel and then North. “Most of them will be making circles around the camp, joining activities. You’ll see us later today. Except for me, Dr. Green, and Mr. Blackbourne. We’ve got training.”
That was disappointing, but at least I could catch up with the other guys after this hike. “So I won’t see you until tonight?”
“You’re still sleeping in the tent, right?” Kota asked.
I nodded, hopeful that wouldn’t change. Maybe Taylor and April were wrong. Why did it matter where I slept? Besides, most of my stuff would probably already be with Kota if he’d made up a tent already.
Would other campers believe we were a couple sleeping together in our tent?
“I guess we should go,” I said. “I have to keep by Mrs. Rose and still have to get shoes from the tent.”
“Good luck,” Gabriel said. “Don’t let her talk you into any caves.”
There was so much I wanted to ask them about but knew I couldn’t. I was doing exactly what Mr. Blackbourne had asked me to do. I was doing my best.
I tried to be brave, even if I missed them already.
THE HIKE
Lake followed me back to the campsite. She lingered, looking at the cars while I searched the big tent for clothes. When I didn’t see any of mine, I tried going to the next campsite over where my pink tent had been.
There was a new tent set up, green and tan, but it was a slightly bigger size. An air mattress was inside beside a cot, but the cot was covered in bags. One was pink so I opened it, finding clothing and shoes. I pulled out a pair of mostly black shoes with some pink, hoping the girl didn’t mind the colors.
Lake peered into the tent. “You’ve got two tents?” she asked. “Why’d you go in the other one?”
I searched for my phone but didn’t see it. “I was going to be in the tent with the guys but then...” I stopped and then bit my lip, not sure how much I should tell her. “I...Kota and I were going to share this tent.”
“Oh,” Lake said. “I don’t have a tent yet I don’t think.”
Was I supposed to be nice and invite her to stay in ours? “We should...talk with the others, I think,” I said. “The other girls. It sounded like some of them might not have tents, either.”
“I thought it was a private school, not a camp,” she said. “You’ve got room?”
I couldn’t invite her without asking Kota, even though I was sure it’d be okay. I also didn’t know if the Academy had plans to put the girls without tents somewhere. “We’ll figure it out later,” I said, exiting the tent with the shoes, giving up on finding my phone. “I’m sure every tent has an extra bed or two. They’re Academy.” It was weird to say it out loud because I’d never been able to. Now was my chance to discuss everything about the Academy openly and learn as much as possible.
“What does that mean?” she asked. “Like Boy Scouts?”
I shrugged and started toward the road to the latrine. Lake followed. “Let’s get back to Mrs. Rose,” I said. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
We got there a little early. I excused myself to use the restroom and to give myself a breather in the stall alone.
I sat there longer than I needed to, needing a few moments to collect my thoughts.
By the time I returned, Mrs. Rose was there standing with Lake and four of the other girls.
“We’re missing two,” Mrs. Rose signed to me as I approached. She wore a backpack over her shoulders and held a walking stick fashioned out of a branch. She leaned it against her hip while she signed to me. “Do you remember their faces?”
I wasn’t sure. I looked over the other four girls. Two had cinch bags on their backs, and another one had a water bottle in her hand. They were taking turns spraying each other down with bug spray.
I tried to pinpoint who was missing. “One was older,” I signed to her. I don’t know why I was using sign language when I was sure she could hear me. It was more a reflex like when I used sign language with Luke. “My age, I think.”
“What’s she saying?” Lake asked in the middle of my signing.
“We’re missing two girls,” I said after finishing what I was saying to Mrs. Rose.
“The car that they came in with was parked closer to the camper area,” Lake said. “I overheard them talking. They had a long walk to get their gear.”
Mrs. Rose nodded. “That’s the direction we should head in for our hike—we can find them on the way. Let’s go find a bear!”
I told the girls we were heading out and would meet the other two on the way. I avoided talk of the bear, not wanting to scare anyone.
Although I was scared. I tried to tell myself she couldn’t be serious.
We didn’t go far from the latrine before we caught up with the two girls. Mrs. Rose used the map and led the way. I started to fall behind but realized I needed to be in front to see what Mrs. Rose would say.
Mrs. Rose asked me to have everyone share names. They did, but there were a few of them and some spoke quietly and I didn’t really catch them. After the gathering earlier and seeing everyone there, I wondered how many I would meet, and was sure I’d get some names mixed up.
At first, we trailed in a line, but Mrs. Rose asked me to tell the others we should wal
k more in a group. “Make sure they can hear you,” she said.
Mrs. Rose showed the older girl and her friend the map and the direction we were taking. Once they understood, she signaled for them take the lead, putting them in charge of where we were going.
Lake and I were put in the middle, where Mrs. Rose walked. The four other girls fell behind us, close enough to where we could talk as we walked.
From what I could see of the map, we had a good distance to walk even before we hit any trail. Of the trails I had seen last night, those were dirt and gravel. Mrs. Rose touched my arm to get my attention and then signed, “Tell the girls to talk about what they already know about the Academy. I’ll fill in the details.”
“It’s the Fernis Academy,” someone said after I translated.
“The Grayson Academy is what they told my parents,” said another girl.
The older girl in front with the map said, “They tell your parents fake names when they talk to them. But when you get your report cards, it’ll say whatever name they said your school was.”
We would get report cards? That was something I’d never heard before.
“Is this considered a class?” someone asked. “I thought we were just enrolling.”
Mrs. Rose got my attention and signed.
“She wants to start with the rules,” I said once she was done. “Do you all know the rules of the Academy?”
“Family first!” a few of them replied.
“That’s not the first one,” the older one said. “The first one is: trust your family.”
“Oh yeah,” her friend said behind her. “And then it’s...your family is a choice?”
“Family is a choice,” said the older one. “The rules are, in order: Trust your family. Family is a choice. Family first, Academy second. When your family can’t be there for you, the Academy always will be.”