Chosen

by Sarah Swan

  I shivered. It seemed my little paradise had taken on a hidden, malevolent past. It made me uneasy about the place. I knew it was a long time ago, and that the school had been around for ages, but still…

  “So, why would they keep this building?” I asked.

  “When Jacob Oliver bought the land, he created a charter for the school he was about to found. One of the clauses was for a piece of history to always remain. He didn’t want anybody to forget the origins of this place, for whatever reason. So, they elected to keep a single building from that time, and to use it as the main administrative office. Don’t ask me why.”

  “Spooky,” I said, suddenly feeling a lot more uncertain about my assessment of the school.

  “Isn’t it?” Chris offered, shooting me a smile. “Don’t get too unnerved, though. All that stuff was a long time ago. For most of us – and definitely for the people working inside – keeping this building here is a bit of a joke. But,” he shrugged, “the alums who fund the endowment of the school protest like crazy every time there’s talk about tearing the old building down. So it remains here.”

  “Why wouldn’t they want to get rid of it?” I wondered aloud.

  “Beats me. But you’ve got to get going if you want to get your student card today.” He nodded toward the entrance.

  “You mean you aren’t coming?” I wasn’t looking forward to going inside this creepy stone edifice by myself.

  “Nah,” he said dismissively. “I want to grab some food from the caf before it closes down. I’ll meet you there?” Before I could ask him where it was, much less confirm, he was strolling away from me.

  I frowned after him. Maybe what he said about not having many friends was understandable. He did have somewhat of an eccentric manner. I turned back to the administrative building, took a deep breath, and went inside.

  Chapter Five – Exploration

  Finding the cafeteria where Chris was turned out to be relatively easy. However, by the time I got there, at just after two o’clock, the main part of it had closed, meaning that I couldn’t get anything for myself to eat.

  Chris was sitting at a far table by himself, nibbling on half a sandwich. There were only two other people there – both much older than me – sitting with their heads pressed together at a small table off to the side. I came up to Chris, and flashed my new student card at him.

  “You got it?” he beamed. “That’s good. Now, you won’t look so much like a tourist when you’re walking around.”

  “That’s what I’m most looking forward to,” I said drily. In spite of everything Chris had prepared me for, getting the student card turned out to be extremely easy. All I had to do was get my picture taken, and the thing was printed off instantly. In short, it was a much more pleasurable experience than I had been expecting. The inside of the administrative building was completely at odds with the outside. It was full of warm colors and plush furnishings, almost as if the people working there were trying to fight off the dreariness of the outside.

  “Grab a seat, if you want,” Chris said, motioning across from him. “Or keep standing, I don’t know. Whatever suits you, I guess.”

  “Well, are you almost done?” Most of the sandwich was already gone, and there only looked to be a bite or two remaining.

  “Yeah,” he said, mouthing the remaining piece. Then he stood up. “You want to head out, then?”

  “Where to?” I asked. “And there wouldn’t happen to be any other place to get food on campus, would there? I haven’t eaten all day.” Actually, that was an understatement. Back in the clinic, I could barely stomach the disgusting porridge-like food they tried feeding me three times a day. I doubted I gotten more than two spoons of it in my system at each meal. I was ravenous.

  “There’s a small pizza shop on the way back to the dorms,” Chris said thoughtfully, “although, I’m not sure if they’re open yet. And any of the other places are definitely closed until after the first week, at least.”

  “Well, let’s go over there and see, at least,” I suggested.

  “Why not,” he shrugged.

  I turned toward the door, checking once to make sure he followed. Outside, the sun was shining and the day felt toasty. The beautiful, cloudless skies from this morning remained. On a day like this, it was hard to believe that this island had such a twisted past.

  “So what’s storm season?” I asked once we were outside. I remembered Chris mentioning it briefly.

  “Oh!” he exclaimed, appearing strangely energized. “That.”

  “Yes, that,” I mimicked. “What is it? And why were you talking about it so ominously before?”

  The corner of his lip twitched up in a half smile. “Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Storm season. Every fall, the weather here goes crazy. It lasts at least a month. Any day, you could find yourself stuck outside in a flash rainstorm. Waves crash into shore, and even the river starts to flood.”

  “There’s a river?”

  “Yeah. Where do you think we get our fresh water? It’s up north, in the forest. Anyway, two weeks into storm season, every walkway is flooded halfway to your knees. Whenever you’re outside you have to watch for falling branches – or even whole trees. Every year, at least one unlucky kid finds himself under one of those. Surprisingly, there’s never been a casualty. But, it’s been close.”

  “So you mean classes keep going during all this?”

  “Oh, classes never stop here. No matter what. One year, the week before winter break, we had a snowstorm that piled up the powder to your waist, and classes still kept going. A walk that might take ten minutes in normal weather became a forty-minute nightmare.”

  “Yikes.”

  “You’ll see why when it all starts. The teachers here are all very strict.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s a boarding school. What do you expect? They’re stuck right here on the island like the rest of us, except for them, it’s years they’ve been seeing the same thing every day. If the island starts to feel monotonous to the students after only a few months, imagine what they feel like.”

  “I guess,” I said slowly. It was hard for me to see how anybody could grow tired of this place – once they got over its unusual past.

  “So a lot of the time, they take it out on the students,” Chris laughed. “But if you keep your head up, it’s not that bad. You get a little leeway since you get to choose your own classes. I can tell you what teachers to absolutely avoid.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. It’s what friends do. Right?” Before I could answer, he stopped dead in his tracks. “Damn,” he said harshly, “it looks like the pizza place is closed.”

  I looked up, and saw that we were standing in front of a dark storefront. The sign above said Pinocchio’s in large red letters, and there was a small symbol of a pizza slice beside it. I looked down to a note on the door. It said, “Open the Second Week of Class.”

  “Great,” I said humorlessly. “Is there anything else?”

  “Nothing before the cafeteria opens up again,” Chris replied thoughtfully. “That’s actually one of the first things that gets on your nerves about this place. There are so few food options, for anybody.”

  My stomach growled loudly. I felt like I hadn’t eaten in days—which wasn’t far from the truth.

  Chris apparently heard it, because he laughed out loud. “That hungry, huh? Well, there are some vending machines in the basement of our dorm, if you want something before the cafeteria opens up again.”

  “Definitely,” I said. “That sounds a lot better than waiting.”

  We turned and walked briskly toward the dorm. All I could think about was getting some sort of snack to tide me over until the cafeteria opened up for supper.

  I walked ahead of Chris most of the way, spurred on by my hunger. When I got to the front of the dorm, I heard a mechanical click, and a whirring noise. The next thing I knew the door was opening for me.

  “Looks like your stude
nt card works,” Chris said happily. “A good thing, too. I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to chaperoning you all over campus.”

  “Don’t kid yourself,” I retorted. “You’d have loved that.” He laughed. “Which way to the basement?”

  “There’s a door at the end of the hall. I’ll show you.”

  I followed him to an area that definitely hadn’t seen any recent renovations. On the walls, old layers of paint were peeling, and cracks crawled across the cement floor. A row of washing machines stood to one side, and dryers on the other. It was quite a contrast to the condition of the rest of the dorm.

  “It’s just around the corner,” Chris said, looking back to make sure I was following. I was right on his heels. My stomach had started to knot itself in hunger.

  We turned the corner, and right there, just in front of me, stood a freshly-stocked vending machine. I doubted I had ever seen a more beautiful sight. I ran up to it, not caring that Chris saw my eagerness. I was hungry.

  Reaching into my pocket hastily, I pulled out my wallet. And to my horror, I saw that I had absolutely no dollar bills in it.

  “Do you have any money?” I asked Chris cheekily. He frowned at me, but took out his own wallet and handed me a few dollar bills. I fed them into the machine quickly, and selected the two largest bags of chips they had available.

  “Thanks so much,” I said as I reached down to grab my makeshift lunch. Ripping one of the bags open, I stuffed a handful of chips into my mouth. They were delicious, and I swallowed them with great satisfaction.

  “Really hungry, huh?” Chris quipped.

  I nodded. “Like I said, I haven’t eaten all day.”

  He laughed. “You know, I’ve never seen anyone attack a bag of chips with such fervor.”

  “I didn’t eat most of yesterday, either,” I admitted. Now that the food was settling comfortably in my stomach, I could finally think about other things. “I don’t know if you have anything else to do, but I’ve got the entire rest of the day to hang out, if you want.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good,” Chris said.

  “Great. I remember you said you could show me around campus…?”

  “Oh yeah,” he recalled. “Is that what you want to do?”

  “Being inside on a day like this seems like a sin.”

  “Good point. What do you want to see first?”

  I shrugged, and reached into the bag of chips before realizing it was empty. Opening the other one, I grabbed another handful. “Whatever you think I need to know about. I’m pretty much down to explore the whole island.”

  Chris tapped his lips thoughtfully. “Well, you’ve already been to the main yard, and there’s really nothing interesting going on there right now. That’s where all our classes are, so you’ll get plenty of time to look around once school starts, anyway. As for anything else you might find interesting… Hmm. I don’t know. To be honest, the island is kind of dull.”

  “Is there an athletic facility?” I asked. “A pool, maybe?”

  “Uh… oh! There’s a great little beach hidden away along the coast. Of course, there’s also the bigger beach that everybody goes to when the weather’s like this. Not many know about the other one. But I don’t know if that’s something you’d be interested in, though.”

  “Are you kidding? I love the outdoors. What are we waiting for? Let’s get over there!”

  Ten minutes later, I was walking along a beautiful sandy beach, holding a shoe in either hand. The tiny sand pebbles, warmed by the sun, felt absolutely luxurious between my toes.

  “So this is the main beach,” Chris explained. “Everyone tends to hang out here during the day while the weather’s good. Kids do their homework, or play catch, or anything at all. You’ll see tomorrow. When everyone else shows up, this place will be completely packed. But not many people venture past the rocks.” He pointed ahead, where the sand abruptly shifted into large, well-worn boulders. The water lapped around them, and little waves crashed into the sides. “And past there,” he said, climbing up onto the first boulder and offering a hand to help me up, “is where you really want to go.”

  I followed him as he showed the way along the boulders. Some of the rocks slanted unevenly, while others were still slippery from high tide. Some were spaced so far apart that we had to jump to get across. Chris moved with the surefootedness of someone who’d done this many times before, while I had to focus on simply staying up. Once, a large wave came out of absolutely nowhere and smashed against the rocks, spraying us with cool water. I stood in shock for a second, trying to comprehend where the water had come from. Then, after noticing Chris standing there like a wet chicken, I burst out laughing. He took one look at me, and started laughing just as hard.

  “Good thing it’s a sunny day!” he called out.

  “Right,” I echoed. “How far away is this little beach of yours? I wouldn’t mind sitting down and soaking in the rays.”

  “And getting a little drier?” he laughed. “It’s just ahead. Not much farther.”

  ‘Not much farther’ turned out to be nearly a quarter of a mile. But, when we finally got there, I saw why Chris had wanted me to see it.

  The beach was maybe five hundred feet wide. But it was positioned on natural curve of the island so that it jutted out into the water. From the bend, all you could see was the pristine blue ocean all the way to the horizon. Right behind the beach was a dense thicket of woods, completely pure and untouched by humanity. Nobody would have guessed there was a whole community not far away.

  “This is beautiful,” I said in awe. “How’d you find it?”

  “Well, I’ve spent a long time on Traven Island, and had more chances than most to explore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, remember when you asked me why I was here early? And how I said it was a long story?”

  I nodded. “I’ve been wondering about that.”

  “Well, the truth is, I never actually left.”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “For summer break. I never left the island.”

  “How come? I thought you said that everybody has to leave?”

  “Things are slightly different when you’re the son of one of the tenured professors here.”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “One of your parents teaches here?”

  “My dad. I don’t actually know my mom.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “It’s okay,” he shrugged. “She died just after I was born. I never knew her.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said again, more sincerely. “I can’t imagine what that would be like.”

  “Sometimes it’s kind of rough,” Chris admitted, “but I’ve learned to deal with it. What I have trouble dealing with sometimes though is this island.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Well, my dad moved to teach here right after my mom died. I think it was a way for him to get away from the rest of the world. He dedicated himself pretty thoroughly to his work, so much so that he never really had any time to take a break from it and do anything else. So I spent my whole life here. I never went to elementary school, or anything like that, and my dad got some of his colleagues to home-school me during those years. When it came time to go to high school, Oliver Academy was the only choice.”

  “Did you want to go somewhere else?”

  “I never knew anybody my age growing up… because there was nobody my age around. Some of the other professors here looked out for me. Some even feel something like family, but I always yearned to get off the island, to see a regular city, to go to a regular high school.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said, holding up my hands, “do you mean you’ve never been off the island?”

  “My dad took me with him to a conference in Arizona, once, when I was thirteen, but other than that… not really, no.”

  “Wow,” I breathed. I couldn’t imagine spending my whole life somewhere like this. The island was beautiful, yes, but if
I were to be here for more than a few years… well, I imagined it would quickly become completely stifling. “So you spent your whole life here?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Is that how you know about all the history of the island?”

  He shrugged. “I guess. You tend to figure some things out about a place you’ve called home your entire life.”

  “I can’t imagine being in one place for so long,” I said.

  He barked an awkward laugh. “I know! Right? But at the same time, it’s all I’ve ever known.”

  “So you must be pretty excited about graduation, huh?”

  He laughed again. “Like you wouldn’t believe! I’ve been counting down the days since I was ten. The problem with that mindset, I’ve found, is that while everyone else is excited to be here and focused on the current moment, I’m always looking forward to the next step in my life.”

  “I know how that can feel,” I said. Ever since I got my admission letter, the only thing I could think about was coming to Oliver Academy, so much so that nothing that was going on at home really interested me anymore. Even the going away party that my friends hosted for me right before I left felt a little contrived, since I was so excited to be starting a new stage of my life.

  “So I guess that’s why I haven’t really felt the need to make a lot of friends here. Going to Oliver always felt like something so transitory to me, like the last checkmark I needed to fill in before starting the rest of my life.”

  “Well, we can work on that,” I smiled at him. “You do have two years left.”

  “Don’t remind me,” he said laconically, but I could hear a little bit of excitement in his voice. Chris was a good guy, and I wouldn’t mind helping him find a bit more fun here. Assuming, of course, I could make the right friends.

  “The first thing we need to do, then,” I said, settling down into the warm sand, “is change your whole attitude about this place.”

  Chapter Six – An Unexpected Welcome

  When I woke up the next morning, I could already feel the excitement in the air. From outside my window, I heard the bustle of activity. I looked down to find the entire courtyard absolutely swarming with students. There were girls and guys my age everywhere, and they all had wide smiles on their faces. Some were standing in groups talking, while others ran up to embrace friends in exaggerated greetings after a long summer away. Here and there, kids were carrying large moving boxes or assorted pieces of luggage. Others were offering help or just saying hi. Everybody looked happy doing whatever they were doing.