Wacko Academy

by Faith Wilkins

  Frustrated now, I began to trot down the street. Maybe I was going crazy. Maybe not. Either way, I had to get home. Now.

  By the time I finally reached the front door of my house, I was out of breath. I had broken into a sprint once I caught sight of the house. I turned one last time, but I still didn’t see anything. With a relieved sigh, I took my copy of our house key out of my pocket, unlocked the door, and went inside.

  An Unexpected Visitor

  The next day, Saturday, I was still a little shaken by what had happened at the bus stop. Had my instincts been right, or was I just being paranoid? I decided to shake it off and listen to some music in my bedroom before even looking at my homework. I kicked off my worn sneakers and cranked up the tunes. I started to dance. There was no one to see me make a fool out of myself, so why not? Besides, I love to dance. I kept time with the beat, moving my hips to the music.

  Suddenly it came again. The strange feeling that I was being watched. Oh no. From behind me, someone laughed. I jumped nearly three feet off the ground. Slowly I turned to face the source of laughter.

  There, on the windowsill looking comfortable and amused, sat Dustin. I stared at him with wide eyes, utterly speechless.

  He smirked. “Don’t stop on my account. You’re an awesome dancer.”

  I felt my face get hot. He had seen me dance. However, that wasn’t the big issue at the moment.

  “H-how did you get in here?” I was finally able to stammer, after a full minute of simply staring in bewilderment.

  Dustin shrugged. “It was easy. You really shouldn’t leave your window open.”

  Excuse me? I was sure the window had been closed, and I told him so. Again I received a nonchalant shrug, which was beginning to seriously tick me off. The pity I had been feeling for him the day before was gone. All I felt now was annoyance that was quickly turning into anger.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked as calmly as I could. My fingers curled into tight fists behind my back. If he shrugged again, I was sure I would slug him.

  “I was bored, so I decided to come over to see what you were doing.” He paused to tilt his head and smile. “I’m glad I did.”

  That beatific grin wasn’t going to distract me. Not this time. “And how did you get up here?” I raised an eyebrow. “You’re not some kind of vampire or anything freaky like that, are you? ‘Cause I really do not need you bringing the whole Cullen clan into my bedroom.”

  “Nope. Completely human, I promise.”

  “In that case, you could have rung the doorbell like a normal human being.”

  “Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” he countered.

  “How did you even get my address?”

  “You gave it to me.”

  I glared at him. This boy was impossible. First he breaks into my room and now he was insisting that I gave him my address. Which I totally didn’t. Though something distracted me from being angry with him. If he could just appear on my windowsill, who’s to say he couldn’t follow me without my knowing? Maybe there had been someone there the other day. Maybe it was him. I stared at him, incredulous.

  “What?” he demanded.

  I mimicked his annoying shrug. “Nothing.”

  He cocked his head, trying to figure me out. “You know, you’re kind of weird.”

  This brought the anger back. “I’m weird? I’m not the one sneaking into people’s rooms. I should be calling the police right now, or at least telling my mom that you’re here.” I was so mad, my whole body had started to lightly shake.

  Dustin just stared at me like a parent waiting for their child to get tired of having a temper tantrum. “But you’re not going to,” he told me calmly.

  “Oh yeah? And how do you know that?” I snapped.

  “I know you,” he said simply.

  What? That was a laugh. “Oh, please. You barely know me. It’s been what? A few weeks?”

  He didn’t answer. He just stared at me with a smugness that made me want to scream.

  I plopped down on my bed with my arms crossed, glowering at him. The staring contest went on for several seconds. Neither of us blinked.

  “So when are you going to leave?” I asked finally.

  Dustin leaned against the windowpane. “When you want me to.”

  “I want you to.”

  He shook his head. “No, you don’t.”

  “Ugh! You are insufferable!” I exclaimed.

  I was so frustrated my head would surely explode if I didn’t calm down soon. His eyes gleamed with amusement. He was totally enjoying pushing my buttons.

  “Couldn’t you have picked some other girl to bother?”

  He shrugged. “I’m interested in you.”

  Oh, good grief! Where had he gotten that line?

  “Fine, you win. I give up. Stay as long as you want. I’m going downstairs for something to eat anyway. Have fun by yourself,” I told him, heading for the door.

  Dustin’s facial expression turned from amusement to disappointment. He actually pouted. “Aw, come on, Lil. Don’t be like that. If you want me to leave, I’ll leave.”

  I froze. “Really?”

  He nodded, beginning to maneuver so that he could climb down.

  Then I realized that I didn’t want him to go. This was the first time a boy had pursued me like this, and I was kind of flattered. Stupid, I know. Besides, he was my friend. He was annoying, not threatening.

  “Dustin, wait. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you can stay if you want to. I’ll get a snack for us, OK?”

  He looked at me a little uncertainly. “OK.” I don’t think he trusted that I would really come back.

  When I returned, I was half expecting him not to be there. Maybe I had dreamed the whole thing. But there he was, sitting in the same exact position. He was staring intently out the window, his expression sad.

  “I’m back. As promised.”

  He looked up, all sadness erased. A wide grin spread across his face. How did he do that? Completely change his facial expressions in an instant, leaving me to think that maybe I had imagined his sadness. I tossed him a bag of pretzels as I sat down. He opened it, immediately beginning to munch.

  This whole time, the music had been playing. I considered turning it off, but decided to keep it on. Why not?

  Dustin finished the bag in record time. I tossed him another one. My aim was off. It went flying for the open window. However, he caught it out of midair without even blinking. Whoa.

  “Nice reflexes,” I commented, impressed.

  “Thanks.”

  He opened the new bag and popped a pretzel in his mouth.

  “So, what’s your story?” he asked after eating a few more.

  “Come again?” I asked, eyebrows furrowed.

  “Well, I told you stuff about myself, so now it’s your turn,” he explained.

  I sighed, figuring it was only fair. “Well, my mom is a secretary at the Times Herald Record newspaper. My dad fixes computers. Not very interesting jobs. Trust me. I’ve visited both.” I pretended to yawn, emphasizing how boring they were.

  Dustin laughed. “Any brothers or sisters?”

  “Two brothers and one sister. I’m the oldest. Aaron’s seven, Eric’s five, and Rose is eleven.”

  “Wow. Big family,” he commented.

  I nodded. That was true, although I had seen bigger. My friend Asialie has five brothers and sisters. Whenever I go to her house, there’s always shouting and the sound of something crashing to the floor.

  There was silence, except for the music. I guessed that Dustin had either run out of questions or got tired of hearing about my dull life. Who could blame him? I was an ordinary girl with an ordinary life. On the other hand, just the fact that he was sitting on my windowsill showed that he wasn’t just your average Joe.

  My fingers eventually started thrumming on my knee to the beat. Soon my whole body was moving a little. Of course, I didn’t dance, since Dustin was sitting right there, making me feel even mo
re self-conscious than usual.

  Dustin picked up on this. “You have to show me some of those moves you were doing when I came in.”

  I shook my head. No way. He had already seen enough. I wasn’t going to make a total fool of myself with him right there to laugh at me.

  “Please, please, please,” he whined. “Look, I don’t even know how to dance.”

  He abruptly stood up and started to dance. Or at least he tried to. He sort of flopped his arms around and moved his hips in the most awkward way I had ever seen. He kind of looked like he had to go to the bathroom. I watched in horror as he continued on to do the Cabbage Patch and the Shopping Cart. It was the last straw when he attempted—emphasis on attempted—to do the Chicken Noodle Soup.

  “Fine, I give up! I’ll show you some of my dance moves. I can’t promise anything, though. I’m not exactly a trained dancer.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Does it look like I care? Just come on already!”

  He grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet. “Lay it on me.”

  I danced a little. He observed, then tried to mimic what I had just done. We did this over and over again, almost like a real dance lesson. He tripped a lot. I found it odd that he could climb up the side of my house and in through my window, quiet as a cat—or a cat burglar. Yet he was so clumsy with something as easy as dancing.

  When he finally got a combination down, I wanted to laugh so badly, I thought I was going to burst. On the last part, he tripped and grabbed my arm. He ended up pulling me down with him.

  He asked if I was all right. I tried to answer, but I couldn’t stop laughing.

  “Hey, what’s so funny?”

  “You’re a terrible dancer,” I gasped through a fit of giggles.

  He pretended to be mad. “ Oh, really?”

  I continued to laugh uncontrollably. Then he began to tickle me. Oh no. I laughed even harder, grabbing a pillow and whacking him with it. Dustin fell back with an “Oof!” This time it was his turn to start laughing.

  We didn’t stop for a few minutes. Finally, Dustin helped me up. I turned the music off.

  “Guess I should go now. Dad’s gonna be wondering where I am.”

  “OK. See you later.”

  He climbed out the window. Then he leaned back in. “I had fun. Maybe I’ll come back sometime.”

  He gave me a big smile. I smiled back. Then he was gone.

  My smile faded. I couldn’t believe that I had let him into my bedroom. Sighing at my stupidity, I went downstairs.

  That night, as I lay in bed, I thought about the surprise visitor I had found on my windowsill. My thoughts lingered on the way he had been staring out the window. It was almost like he was wishing for something. Something that he knew was impossible to wish for. Maybe he had been thinking about his mom. Then I began to wonder if he would climb in through my window again. I realized that I wanted him to. This both frightened and confused me. I decided to sleep on it.

  The Phone Call

  The days passed quickly and, in a snap, the day of the Harvest Dance had arrived. Everyone was excited. The Harvest Dance was a costume party and one of the biggest dances of the whole entire school year. Only eighth graders were allowed to go, so we were psyched. My friends and I had been waiting for this since fifth grade.

  The sixth and seventh graders were the only ones unhappy. They had to wait a whole year—or two—before they could go. Tough break. So, while most people chattered happily, they moped around the school. Some even looked kind of angry. To them, October was one of the worst months of the year.

  My friends and I arrived at the party ten minutes after it started. Asialie and I had been over at Malerie’s house an hour before to get ready. My grandmother, a well-known seamstress, had sewn us the most awesome costumes. I helped with the designs, of course. I have to say, my friends and I were knockouts.

  Once we had entered the gym, our jaws all dropped at the same time. There were giant spiderwebs and orange and black balloons. Freakishly large spiders crawled up the walls. The lights had been dimmed, casting a creepy shadow across the whole room. Jack-o-lanterns along with a huge disco ball hung from the ceiling. A big group of people stood and occasionally danced around the DJ booth.

  I scanned the room for people I knew. It took some doing to recognize anyone. But soon I spotted Louis.

  “Hey, you!” I hollered as I made my way toward him.

  He turned to see who had called him. Fangs protruded from his mouth. His hair been gelled back. He wore a long black cape with the collar popped. His features were paler than usual. Spray-on blood trickled down the sides of his mouth. Classic vampire.

  “Lily,” he said slowly. “Wow, you look awesome.”

  I smiled. Well, I couldn’t argue with him there. I had decided to dress up as a Gothic princess. My dress was made of black silk, the waist woven with faux maroon lilies. Black lace made up the sleeves, which came down to my elbows. The neckline was perfect. Not too low and not too high. Though black was the main color, slits in the fabric showed lavender underneath. The skirt billowed out from below the waist. It went all the way down to the floor.

  I wore black eyeliner and mascara, my eye shadow a glittery purple. My cheeks shone dark red, and my lips were blood red and glossy. To top it off, my thick curly black hair was pulled up into a tight bun, crowned with a headband of black withered lilies.

  I had just begun to compliment him on his own attire when Mal and Asialie came over. Louis’s face suddenly turned kind of red. His eyes were on Malerie. “Whoa.”

  She stunned in a skillfully frayed baby blue prom dress. Her mother had really worked wonders with her makeup, making it look like the blood had been drained from her body. Dark shimmering circles under her eyes contrasted beautifully with her pale skin. A corsage of withered flowers had been wrapped around her wrist. A knife covered in blood stuck out of her side as if someone had just stabbed her.

  The undead Prom Queen blushed. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  Asialie, the Egyptian goddess, saw one of her friends and took off. My two remaining friends continued to stare at each other. I cleared my throat.

  “I’m going to get some punch. Anybody want some?”

  They seemed to have not heard me. I rolled my eyes and started for the snack table. As I crossed the room, I found very little breathing space, due to the dancing eighth graders.

  The very second I went outside to get some air, someone’s hands covered my eyes.

  “You look great,” a voice whispered in my ear.

  I whirled around and caught my breath when I saw who was standing in front of me. The Phantom of the Opera. His black cape, white gloves, and half mask made him look sinister, maybe even dangerous. In the play, he’s supposed to be ugly, but this one was the cutest phantom I had ever seen.

  He grinned and took off his mask.

  “Dustin,” I gasped. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

  He laughed. “Sorry about that, but I couldn’t resist.”

  I playfully punched his arm. “Yeah, well, you got me.”

  He cocked his head. “Hey, why aren’t you inside?”

  I shrugged.

  “Well, come on!”

  He put the mask back on and pulled me back into the gym.

  When we entered the room, the party was in full swing, pop music assaulting our ears. I dragged Dustin on the dance floor with me, evaluating his improvements. Thanks to me, he had gotten slightly better, but he occasionally still looked like he had to go to the bathroom.

  At some point he took a break, claiming that he wanted to get a drink. I let him leave, pitying the boy for his sorry dancing skills. I assumed he simply wanted to avoid any further embarrassment. So I continued to dance with the rest of my friends while he slipped through the crowd. So far, the night had been everything I’d hoped for. Everything we’d pictured since fifth grade, and more.

  Dustin did not reappear. By the time we all decided to get a drink at the snack table,
nearly twenty minutes had gone by since I’d last seen him. I searched the crowd in puzzlement, wondering where he could have gone.

  As if on cue, a flash of a black cape and dark curly hair caught my eye. I spotted Dustin sneaking out the back door. Where had he been all this time?

  The minute I opened the door, a gust of air hit my face. With a slight shiver, I tugged my thin sweater tighter around me. Dustin stood with his back to me. His shoulders were tense and he held something sleek, shiny, and blue to his ear.

  A cell phone.

  “I’m not ready yet,” I heard him say. “Just give me more time and I swear I won’t let you down.”

  I stood completely still, not even taking a breath.

  He sighed as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. “Yes, I understand. I know what I’m doing. Just give me a few more weeks. Please.”

  He stopped talking to listen to whoever was on the other line. From the way he flinched a little, I could guess that the person had some harsh words to say in return. I could hear them yelling from where I stood.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Dustin said quickly, voice strained. “I-I have to go. Lily and the others will come looking for me. See you later.”

  I jumped at the sound of my name. So he had told this person about me. Another sudden gust of wind pulled at my hair. My headband went sliding to the ground. Dustin whirled around, but by then I had escaped back into the gym, running at full speed. I didn’t stop running until I was safely submerged into the big blob of people in the middle of the dance floor.

  A few minutes after I had found my friends, Dustin approached, cool as a cucumber. He began chatting with Louis as if nothing had happened. So I turned to Malerie and did the same. I avoided him for the rest of the night. Whenever he tried to pull me aside to talk to me, I made up an excuse like having to go to the bathroom or complaining about how cold it would be outside. He soon got the hint and left me alone.

  By the end of the dance I was a mess. I couldn’t help but wonder who he was talking to and what they could possibly be talking about. I wanted to ask Dustin, but I was afraid he would accuse me of eavesdropping. Then what would I say?