The Academy by Katie Sise

Author:Katie Sise
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-03-27T04:00:00+00:00

Eleven

I FLING OPEN THE DOOR to my dorm room, praying Joni’s there so I can tell her what Sturtevant just told me, but she’s not!

I plunk down on my bed and text SOS to Julia and Andrea, and a second later they FaceTime me from Andrea’s bedroom. When they pop onto my screen, the sight of them floods me with relief.

“You look awful,” Julia says.

Andrea elbows her. “You have no filter. Right, Frankie? She needs a filter.”

“I miss you guys,” I say, feeling so scattered I hardly know where to start. “And even supermodels look worse on FaceTime. It’s been proven.”

“We miss you,” Andrea says.

“I had to mop the mess hall tonight,” I say, already feeling a lump in my throat. “Because I got in trouble with my TAC, and then she talked to me tonight about how I have to be better here and stop getting into trouble or I could get expelled, and . . .”

“Who’s Zack?” Andrea asks.

“Not Zack. TAC. Tactical officer.”

“Expelled?” Julia repeats. “What did you get in trouble for?”

“Um, well, a few things,” I say, making myself tell them no matter how embarrassed I am. “I answered my phone in PT one morning, and then I snuck out with that cute guy Jack I told you about, and I got caught. Someone—I think this girl Amanda—sent a picture of me out at night to Lt. Sturtevant, who’s like this scary headmaster lady in charge of me.” I picture Jack giving me his number that day in Military Strategy, and the way his dark eyes crinkled at the corners, and how concerned he looked when I had to leave class for the lieutenant’s office. “Today I wore stiletto boots instead of my uniform shoes, and . . .”

“Wait, you snuck out with a guy?” Andrea asks

“Well, not just any guy: Jack.”

She still looks shocked, and I get it, because I’ve never done anything like that before, unless you count my kiss with Josh, which she doesn’t even know about. And it’s not like I was trying to keep what happened with Jack from them, and I’m sure I would have already told them if I were still there, but FaceTime is different, because what if Andrea’s parents (or, worse, her witch-tastic older sister) are right outside the room and can hear our conversation?

Julia doesn’t seem that surprised. This year she told me: Adolescence is a time of vital brain development, Frankie. We have to lay down the proper neural pathway for our future. I wasn’t concerned about my neural development, but now I’m second-guessing myself.

Jesus. And now I’m crying.

“Don’t cry,” Andrea says, sniffling. She always gets weepy when someone else cries. It’s her only soft spot, really. Last year one of her competitors got wind of it and used it against her during a tennis match by pretending to sob while playing.

“I can’t seem to stop doing stuff I’m not supposed to,” I say. I also kissed Josh. I also cheated on a test. “My parents would freak out if they knew.

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