The Academie (5 page)

Next I pulled out the clothing pack.
Tonight I had to surrender my civilian garb in favor of the daytime
and nighttime uniforms, which would be my only clothing option for
the duration of my time at The Academie. I unrolled the pack and
found a white, short-sleeved, button down shirt with “The Academie”
written over the pocket, a pair of tan pants, and a navy blue
jacket decorated with The Academie emblem. Tucked between these I
found a pair of white socks, a bra and underwear, and a cotton
shirt and shorts for bedtime. The bedclothes looked moderately
comfortable—though I was now certain I would freeze. Visions of
three years without sleep filled my brain.

In the center of the clothes pack, I
found two bags. One contained a pair of very uncomfortable-looking
dress shoes to go with my uniform. I sighed audibly and opened the
second bag. Inside I found a pair of flip flops, which—since I
hadn’t seen a pool—must be for the community showers.

The clock now read a quarter till ten,
so I reluctantly began the descent from the top bunk, armed with my
sleep clothes and box of toiletries. Under the bed was our only
drawer for clothes and personal items. The problem with this, I had
already realized, was that since it was under my bunkmate’s bed, if
she happened to be resting, I wouldn’t be able to get into it
without disturbing her. Luckily, she appeared to be in the bathroom
at the moment.

I pulled out the small bag
I came with and shoved the personal items box into the drawer.
Thankfully, I wouldn’t need those until the stuff I brought with me
ran out. At least that’s what I thought, until I found that my
toiletries had been confiscated.
Seriously?
I pulled back out the
box, grabbed my bedclothes, and headed to the bathroom.

Inside, I found the room
crammed with girls. With less than fifteen minutes until lights
out, I wondered how I might possibly get to a sink and toilet stall
before the time was up.
Ah, the joys of
community living and an enforced bedtime…

I found a place along the wall and
stared at the ground to wait.

“
You can share with me,” I
heard someone say a moment later.

Looking up, a pair of bright blue eyes
set in fair skin bordered by light blonde curls met my
gaze.

“
Thanks,” I said, moving
forward.

“
I’m Stevie.” She smelled
of shampoo and her curls were still a little damp from the
shower.

“
I’m Allie. Thanks for
sharing. I didn’t realize we’d all make a run for the bathroom at
the same time.”

She combed through her curls as I
pulled out my toothbrush and set to work. “So, are you excited to
begin classes?” she asked, smiling.

Her question surprised me. I wasn’t
excited about anything here. “Well, I’m not excited about all the
testing tomorrow,” I said, trying not to spray her with
toothpaste.

“
Oh yeah, me either,” she
scrunched her face up a bit as she said it, and I couldn’t help but
think that she was nothing less than adorable. If I didn’t have
Bryan, I’d feel a lot of pressure to compete with her for
guys.
Of course, I don’t have
Bryan…
The thought slipped in and I
quickly pushed it away.

I rinsed my mouth and began washing my
face. I hadn’t planned out the shower thing. “You were smart
showering tonight. I wish I’d thought of that.”

“
I didn’t want to have to
worry about it in the morning. The showers were actually empty
too.”

“
I’ll have to remember
that in the future.” Since I was not a morning person, I’d usually
showered at night anyway. The new surroundings seemed to be
throwing me off.

“
Well, I’m finished. Good
night.”

“‘
Night,” I
echoed.

I finished quickly and
found an empty toilet stall. That’s when I realized how difficult
it was going to be to change clothes without dragging them all over
the dirty floor.
How did all the other
girls do it?
I did my best and resolved to
find a better solution for the future.

I was on my way back to my
bunk when the lights went out. The shock to my eyes set me
momentarily blind, and I feared I’d never find my bunk. Slowly my
vision adjusted, and I could make out some forms. But in the dark,
I still couldn’t tell which bed was mine.
Damn! I wish I knew my bunkmate’s name!
But I hadn’t a clue.

I tried to make my way carefully
through the dark. Meanwhile, I could hear someone else moving
around on the other side of the room, and I wondered if they were
in the same position.

What do I do?
There was just a tiny bit of light coming from
the bathroom. They must leave this light on in case someone had to
get up and use the toilet in the middle of the night. But it was
very dim—probably so it wouldn’t keep us awake.

I had no choice.
“I can’t find my bed,”
I
whispered desperately.

“
You’re over here,”
a voice called back. Thankfully, I recognized it
as the slow, drawn out sound of my bunkmate.

I took a few steps toward
where I thought her voice had come from. Then, still uncertain, I
asked again,
“Here?”
It was soo dark…

“
Yes.”

Thank goodness. I had visions of
climbing the ladder and finding someone already in the bed. I laid
my things by the end of the bunk and climbed the ladder, checking
for a body before I pulled myself onto the mattress. Then I slid
onto my stomach and I hung my head over the side.

“
Thanks.”

“
No problem.”

“
I’m Allie, by the
way.”

“
Tina.”

“
Quiet girls!” the voice
came from the side of the room and we obeyed. I felt like my
interaction with Tina was cut short, but what could I
do?

I slid under my sheets. At home my mom
had spoiled me one year by buying a feather comforter with a super
soft, satiny cover. It felt like heaven when I pulled it over me at
night, and along with the heated blanket she’d gotten me years
before, I stayed toasty warm year round. Now void of all the
covering I was used to, I trembled from the cold.

I lay awake for hours, shivering;
thinking. I thought about Bryan and how two hours away, he lay in
his own bunk like this, as he had for the past year. How he’d
counted down the days till he’d regain his freedom, and how
horrible it must have felt to learn that he now had four more years
to go.

And I thought about our night
together, how he held my hand under the stars, how cute he looked
all covered in flour, his smile, his laugh, and how it felt as he
held me close all night long. I’d been warm that night. I’d felt
safe.

It was the complete opposite of
everything I felt now.

I was so incredibly
alone.

7.
zxbfeie

I didn’t sleep at all that night. I
spent the hours thinking, listening to the sounds of The Academie,
the soft snoring of girls around me, and the sound of Sergeant
Garret’s footsteps in the hall. Eventually, the bell went off and
the lights went on, signaling that it was six o’clock.

Great, exams on no sleep.
This should be fun.
On the upside, I was
able to get a shower before the others awoke.

At breakfast, I found Ruby again and
after another rubbery meal, we headed off to our first exams. Mine
was directly around the corner, so I found it easily and slid
myself behind one of the computer desks. That’s when my mind went
blank. All I could think of was Bryan.

We met online, after I came home upset
from my visit with Matt. I was running searches on The Academie—to
find out more, to see if I could figure out what might be going on
with my brother—when I came across a peculiar website.

Click.

The moment I did it, I knew it was a
mistake. With all the danger of computer viruses, I had no business
clicking on a link when I wasn’t familiar with the source—but my
clicking finger sometimes worked faster than my brain.

The site went to nothing. Well, no,
not nothing. It was stupid. Some game site—all dark and ominous.
The only writing appeared to be gibberish.

Great, I’ll probably get a
computer virus.
I clicked away quickly and
sat there for a few moments, contemplated what to do. Then I opened
my anti-virus program, and prompted it to do another
scan.

That’s when my instant messenger
popped up.

zxbfeie: Hi.

Who the heck is
“zxbfeie”?

I just sat there, staring at it,
trying to figure out if I should answer, and if so, how?

zxbfeie: Hello? Don’t you want to talk
to me?

truth: what do you want?

zxbfeie: I just wanted to tell you
that I like your screen name. well, and I wanted to know what your
interest was in the academie.

truth: what are you talking
about?

zxbfeie: the academie. you want to
know about it, don’t you?

truth: what’s it to you?

zxbfeie: i could tell you things about
it

truth: who are you?

zxbfeie: my name is Bryan.

Bryan? Who did I know named
Bryan? I don’t remember meeting any Bryan…

truth: are you in one of my
classes?

zxbfeie: classes? where?

Yeah, okay, I’m going to
take that as a big fat ‘no’.

truth: do I know you?

zxbfeie: you were on my
site.

truth: what site?

zxbfeie: the one that came up when you
searched for the academie.

Oh no.

truth: is this your way of torturing
me before the virus I’ve inadvertently downloaded from your site
shuts down my computer?

zxbfeie: virus? no, is that what you
thought? Hmm…yeah, I can see how you would get that. Nope. no
virus.

truth: sure, this is probably just
your way of keeping me online while it finishes its dirty
work.

zxbfeie: listen, if it was a virus,
then it’d already be too late, trust me.

I sat there for a minute,
contemplating why I had been continuing this conversation with some
nut I didn’t know. When I didn’t respond, he started
again.

zxbfeie: I can tell you about the
academie

truth: of course you can. Everyone
can. the tv and internet’s loaded with ads and
propaganda—

I was still in the middle of typing
when he interrupted me.

zxbfeie: I can tell you
more than what
they
tell you

I hadn’t sent my message yet; it was
like he was reading my mind. Unless he was tapping into my
computer…

truth: wait—how were you able to start
messaging me anyway? All I did was click on your
website.

zxbfeie: you clicked, I traced your IP
address, looked through your files a bit, discovered you are a
college student, tapped into your messenger and viola!

truth: you hacked my
computer?

I suddenly felt incredibly
exposed.
A stranger went through my
things.
I sat there, staring blankly at
the screen.

zxbfeie: are you not talking to me
again?

Of course I’m
not…

I considered logging out and
unplugging the computer, but he’d already been inside. For all I
knew, he had a copy of everything. Besides, he claimed to know
things about The Academie. As much as I wanted to end this right
now, I couldn’t do it.

zxbfeie: look, I know it doesn’t make
it any better, but I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your privacy.
It’s just the only way I knew to find out who you are so that I
know if you’re someone I want to talk to or not.

truth: you could have just
asked.

zxbfeie: but I still would
have had to hack into your messenger to do that, wouldn’t I? and
how would I know if you were telling me the truth? You could be one
of
them
.

truth: oh, yeah, that would be rough,
not knowing if I were telling you the truth. I can’t imagine how
that would feel.

zxbfeie: I’m sorry, I said I was
sorry. And besides, I’ve been completely honest with
you.

I sat there, unsure how to
proceed.

zxbfeie: listen, I didn’t look at any
more than I needed to, and I didn’t invade your
finances.

It’s not like I had tons to lose, but
I had worked the last two years of my life at a stupid ice cream
stand to earn what little savings I had to help put myself through
college.

truth: so what did you see?

zxbfeie: I saw that you’re a college
student.

truth: how did you find that
out?