Secrecy: Olde Earth Academy: Year One

by Amabel Daniels

  “Flynn’s heading to the line,” Sabine said. “He can grab your stuff.”

  I tuned out the lunch orders and resettled my bag behind me. Aura’s stare weighed heavily on me, but I refused to glance her way. God only knew what my sister had told her newest buddy.

  “What do you think of Olde Earth so far?” Ren asked this as he pivoted to face me a little. His straight attention was even more unnerving than his profile’s. What was he searching for? Was this another way of checking out a chick? I resisted a shudder.

  “Uh, I like it.”

  Vague. Try again, loser.

  “I’m super excited about my classes and—”

  Sabine huffed loudly. “There are too many classes. Talk about stress.”

  “I can help tutor you,” Lorcan offered, leaning his arms over the table as though he wanted to physically reach out to her. Another one bites the dust. Yet, that was nice of him. I hadn’t seen any volunteer opportunities posted for tutoring, but it was something I might do if I had the time.

  “That’s sweet, hun,” she said with her sugary smile.

  “But what would be even better—no offense, Lorcan—is a upperclassmen tutor.” Aura elbowed Sabine with her saucy grin. “Ya know?”

  “And we can’t even meet any of the older guys.”

  Poor, poor Sabine.

  “Why is there such a separation between the classes?” This question came from Lorcan, and it was almost as though he’d read my mind. Yeah, why so much distinction between the grades? Were the Academy’s students that different from year to year to warrant such segregation?

  The fact he’d asked Ren told me this boy was knowledgeable. How, I had yet to find out. Or maybe he just liked to speculate.

  “Upperclassmen are privileged,” he said simply.

  “For what?” I asked, borrowing Flynn’s trait for immediate follow up.

  Ren shrugged, a knowing smile on his thin lips. “They’re rewarded for being chosen to stay here. Just like it’s an honor to even be chosen to attend.”

  Wow. Blunt. Was he making a dig at me? Since I was so last-minute? He had to be from one of these “traditional” families Paige had referenced. A boy whose family has attended for generations. That’d explain his cockiness too.

  “Privileges and honor.” Aura snorted. “Spoken like a mini Glorian.”

  Glorian? I frowned at the laminate surface of the table. Glorian. Glorian… I knew that name. Not one of my instructors…

  Oh, my God. He’s the headmistress’s kid? I gulped, instantly fearing anything I said around Ren could be used against me.

  No wonder he acts like he knows everything. Unlike Paige, though, he seemed proud of his insider status, like a rooster strutting the yard. He probably wouldn’t be eager to share intel to his inferiors—more likely to hold it above them.

  Ren didn’t take the bait and plowed on with his haughty tone. “They let too many in for freshman year, if you ask me.”

  We didn’t, thanks.

  “We need to preserve the Academy’s integrity.”

  Integrity…of what? What was he saying, that letting an outsider from nowhere, like me, into the Academy was a threat?

  “Of what?” Flynn asked it as he’d returned. He’d been close enough to at least catch the last of our chat. Without giving Ren a chance to open his mouth, he said, “What’s the big secret around here? Why are we not allowed to go past the hill by the lake?”

  Ren sat up straighter as Flynn dropped the tray to the table. “Not all can handle everything the Academy has to offer.”

  What? This was the first inkling of a threat. An unknown danger. My guard rose, and I volleyed my stare between Flynn and Ren.

  “Uh-oh.” Sabine took her sub from the tray Flynn brought. “I know one person who can’t handle that. A lake? Layla will flip out.”

  Come on. Not now. Please? Can’t you be nice? Ever? That one incident. The pivotal mark in our lives where she’d begun to hate me, unable to even try to understand my trauma. She just had to go there.

  “What do you mean?” Lorcan asked. He followed up with a charming, quick smile my way, probably assuming Sabine was joking and teasing.

  “Layla cannot handle a lake. She’ll freak.” She met my gaze with a snarky wince. “One time, when we were little, we went to this watering hole that was deep enough for swimming after a ton of rain. And we just started swimming when—”

  I stood so quickly, I bumped Flynn’s tray and knocked over Paige’s stainless-steel water bottle—thank God it was closed.

  “I’m leaving.” Screw this. Screw her. Damn her and her big mouth. I didn’t know why she had to goad me. Torment me. What did she have to gain? Really? What was her deal? Why that story?

  Without a look back, I fled. Cowardly? Maybe. I wasn’t going to simply sit there and listen to her tell these new kids that I’d freaked the ever-loving hell out in that watering hole because a sea monster had tried to drown me. And there was no way I could physically silence her without strangulation.

  I didn’t slow my furious pace until I felt the shade of an elm tree outside the Main Hall. At least I’d walked. I hadn’t run like a baby.

  Panting, I held in a growl and fisted my hands.

  Now they’ll all treat me like the weirdo. The nutcase. The lunatic.

  “Hey, wait up.”

  I spun to see the guys following me out. Flynn led the trio. “For a short girl, you’re pretty fast,” he called out.

  “Is that a compliment?”

  He shrugged as they caught up to me.

  Huh. Yeah, he was stating the obvious.

  I looked over his shoulder, as though I could see the cafeteria from way out here. What did they want? To taunt me about Sabine’s little story?

  “You left just in the nick of time.” Lorcan jerked a thumb back toward the Main Hall. “The librarian lady was coming by and noticed the girls’ skirts were too short.”

  I snorted. I could just see it. Paige embarrassed at her mom’s gentle lecture and the others rolling their eyes at the sweet woman’s “discipline.” Ethel wasn’t the firmest staff member here. She was the only one who insisted we call her by her name rather than the formal Mrs. Verlene.

  I leaned against the bark and sighed.

  “What’s here at the school that we can’t handle?” Flynn asked, taking a lazy stance against the tree next to me. His posture suggested ease, but his tone meant business, asking the question right from what we’d been discussing inside. His curiosity must be a fulltime job. The fact he didn’t push and ask what Sabine had been starting to say had me fighting a smile. He just wants my company? My opinions? It was a nice first.

  Ren shrugged. “Time will tell. I imagine you two haven’t had much of a chance to truly learn about this place. You guys were rushed priority invitees. Outsiders at the last minute.”

  I rolled my head along the bark to eye Flynn. It was a bit disconcerting to view him this close. He was right there. His lips were not far from mine. A kiss? His lips— What? Where did that idea come from?

  Oh, my God. Was his cuteness getting to me? A kiss? I was here to learn. Annoyed with myself, I pushed off the tree.

  Priority? What did that mean? I couldn’t see what made Flynn and I unique. Did Flynn have some crazy invitation like I had—due to a weird bout of fame like my animal shelter video? I guessed I’d have to pay attention and get to know him if I wanted answers.

  Or ask Paige…

  “Time and exams, right?” Lorcan exhaled a long breath and ran his hand through his auburn curls. “Kinda nervous about those.”

  “At least there are only four of them in the first year,” Ren said.

  Only? I couldn’t help but notice Flynn’s eyebrows jump at that too.

  Ren waved a dismissive hand as he went on. “They’re more of guidance sessions, anyway. It’s not only the coursework you pass on. It includes whether you follow rules, if you meet standards…”

  “Plus an exam.” Lorcan seemed stuck o
n it. I’d heard of some kids having test anxiety.

  “A quarterly exam. Which is described vaguely in the handbook,” Flynn added.

  Ren nodded. “You’ll learn more later. The Academy lets you in on what you need to know when the time is right.” He checked his watch and smiled. “I’ll catch up you with you all later. I’ve gotta stop by to speak to my mother.”

  As we watched him walk off, I frowned and fiddled with my earlobe.

  “Why are they hiding so much?” Flynn burst out with the question as soon as Ren was out of sight. “When the time is right? What the hell does that mean?”

  Exactly.

  “It’s all about power, maybe?” Lorcan stuck one hand in his pocket and covered a yawn with his other. “Sorry, I’m not used to the time zone change yet.”

  It hadn’t even hit me, really. “Where are you from?”

  “Australia.” Another yawn.

  That was a bigger gap than Texas to British Columbia.

  “Power?” Flynn asked Lorcan. I shared a look with my fellow Green student. Power of what?

  Lorcan shrugged. “I don’t know. Information? Everyone in my family has come here, but even they’ve never said what’s so great about the place. I assumed it was just a family loyalty to the school.”

  Great, he’s not even an “outsider” and is still as clueless as us.

  Another yawn. “But they aren’t telling us everything about this place. Withholding facts is a form of maintaining power.”

  True. Seemed Lorcan was smarter than his easygoing attitude showed. Then what could they be hiding?

  I was fine with keeping my own secrets, but I refused to feel like a hypocrite for wanting to know all of theirs. Disliking the suggestion of danger lurking somewhere on campus, I asked Flynn, “Why do you think something’s hiding behind the hill?”

  “I got a glimpse of it at gym class earlier. When you were talking to Mrs. Possolo.”

  I nodded. After our warm-up jog around the track, I’d asked her if I could run in the mornings before classes began. She’d tried to put me off every day I’d asked so far, claiming I could join the cross-country team once they organized it later in the semester. This was almost a week since I’d run and I hadn’t taken her kind-of no as an answer. Just today she’d relented, saying I could run on the designated bike trails as long as I stayed away from…

  The hill.

  “When you were chatting with her, I strayed. I couldn’t see much. It’s all rocky, like a cliff face, but there was a path back there. It has to lead somewhere.”

  It’s got to be where this Menagerie is. The stables. Kennels. And…whatever else.

  “We’re going to try to check it out, right?” Lorcan asked Flynn, a mischievous smile easing across his lips.

  “What?” I gasped. “How? What about the guard dog at the dorms?”

  Flynn shared a look with his roommate, and they both shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll figure something out.” With an adorable grin, he said, “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve snuck out.”

  Perhaps he was some bona fide bad boy back in London. But Olde Earth seemed awfully strict about security. What if they tried to sneak out and got caught? Then the curfew rules might be extra-reinforced, making it even harder for Paige and me to get out at night.

  Dammit, they might screw up my chance of sneaking out. I doubted I could ask them not to, as they seemed to have made up their minds already. And if I asked them to not break curfew, I’d have to tell them why.

  Or…

  Or…perhaps I could take faith in the fact they’d come to find me, to talk to me instead of staying to hang out with Sabine. I’d never been chosen over her by my peers. And if they were so blasé about breaking rules and going so far to tell me what they had planned, they must trust me to an extent. Could I risk the same?

  A nervous thrill bolstered this smidgen of newfound confidence. “Uh…” I caught myself from reaching for my earlobe. No reason to show my stress so obviously. “Paige and I were…um.” I inhaled a deep breath for courage. “We were planning to sneak out tomorrow night. Maybe we can join forces?”

  Chapter Eleven

  The next day was both exciting and depressing. When I woke, ready to resume my daily morning runs, I found rain pouring from the clouds.

  Nope. Running was important to me, but in a thunderstorm? There was always tomorrow.

  Still, I bounded out of bed with enthusiasm for what awaited that night. Sneaking out—somehow—with Paige. And Flynn. And Lorcan. Jeez, what was I thinking? I hoped she wouldn’t be mad at me for including them, and I only had on impulse. I still didn’t know how we’d bypass the dog at the door, but since my roomie hadn’t returned until close to eleven the night before, I trusted she had a dependable trick up her sleeve.

  I tiptoed through our room, dressing in my uniform, while she still slept in her bed.

  Kinda late to hang out with her mom, maybe? None of my business, though. I went about my routine and left before waking her unnecessarily. She had plenty of time to get to her first class.

  My first classes were uneventful, but I was awarded a pleasant surprise in Botany. Since I’d worked ahead on my reading and assignments, Mr. Alwin gave me permission to finish out the period in the library. He’d explicitly explained that this free time was granted for the purpose of getting some research done for a portion of my first quarterly exam. I was just happy to get out of the classroom and surround myself with innumerable tomes.

  Ethel studied a textbook at her massive podium of a desk. I approached quietly and waved when I was near enough for her to see me. I didn’t want to startle her.

  “Layla! What a nice surprise. What brings you here?” She grinned wide and checked a peek over my shoulder, as though expecting a chaperone or explanation for my presence. After I told her about my impromptu freedom, she expressed glee that I could study in her building. Her prompt and clear directions had me slowly walking along shelves and shelves of books toward the botanical section.

  The further I distanced myself from Ethel’s head help desk, the further back in time I traveled. Spines aged as I headed deeper into the wing. Cracked leather and unraveling threads took over the newer, shinier laminated edges of books closer to the library’s entrance. Musty air grew heavier, and I inhaled as deep as I could, as though the breath of ancient written words could give me sustenance.

  Home. This felt almost like home. Not Coltin. Not the trailer with Sabine and Dad. Not even the animal shelter. With towers of historic wisdom looming over and around me, I was content in the possibilities that lay on the pages.

  Okay, dork. Stop sniffing the air and find the book.

  I pulled out my tablet—which almost felt disrespectful in such an archaic, technology-free setting—and pulled up the call number of the encyclopedia that would most help me. A few more aisles over, and one longer walk along a stretch of shelving, I found the book. It wasn’t quite as old as its neighbors on the wooden structure, but it was the title I sought.

  Mr. Alwin had given me the lily of the valley for my focus. Not quite a report, but a species summarization. Of all the projects my instructors had hinted at for my quarterly exams, Mr. Alwin’s written portion would be a piece of cake.

  “Let’s see.”

  Lily of the valley. I’d already Googled it and searched the Academy’s private resource site and database, but I wanted to see what I could dig up on real pages. I sat at the nearest table. Smirking, I wished I could have more light. Didn’t they know that reading in dim light strains the eye? Well, I could have returned to the more open study areas of the library, but I was too lazy to walk all that way back. Besides, I was alone back here. Always better.

  I set the book on the table, slid my bag to the floor, and pulled the front cover up and over. Tracing my finger down the list, I went through the table of content pages.

  “Lily…”

  No, I’d need the species name. The binomial name.

  “In your place, Linn
aeus.” I smiled, recalling Ethel’s random factoid she’d tossed at us on the tour that first day. Olde Earth was old enough to have schooled Linnaeus. As in, Charles Linnaeus, the inventor of the binomial nomenclature.

  “Convallaria…” I tapped the line that indicated the page I needed.

  With my right hand digging into my bag at the floor for my notebook, I flipped to the lily of the valley’s page with my left. As soon as the sheet of paper settled open, bright green light spread up from the opened spine.

  What…

  I jolted back in my seat, dropping my notebook onto the floor. Rearing away from the book, I blinked. Once. Twice. Then stared openmouthed.

  This can’t be…

  My doubt came out in a hushed breath. “Real?”

  Snaking lines of luminescent green light drew up into the air, forming a frame in the space above the opened text. Within the shape, a drawing of the plant filled in. Not only was the neon-light-like depiction a real-life illusion, but it also moved as though it was alive. Petals floated as though wind was coursing through a meadow. The stalks waved.

  “Are you kidding me?” I whispered the words and leaned over to peer around it. A lily of the valley was before me, in the round.

  Just when I’d been enlightened by the historical coolness of an old school like this, I was baffled by the extremely advanced technology they clearly employed.

  It had to be an interactive virtual hologram. A…something within the book.

  Wow.

  I waved my hand through the light, and it tickled, almost like a grassy blade against my skin.

  Picking up the book slightly, I checked to make sure there wasn’t some kind of state-of-the-art 3D illumination trick within the cover.

  Nothing. Just a book. Board, paper, and ink.

  I let the book down again and watched the plant weaving in the nonexistent wind. Frowning, I hastened to glance around me. Was this normal? Did all the books have some trick of light embedded into it?

  No one was near me, and I exhaled in a whoosh of breath, nearly knocking the plant over.

  I can manipulate it?