The Classmate by Will McIntosh

Author:Will McIntosh [McIntosh, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Future House Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

I tried the knob on the door for the thousandth time, then flopped back onto the cot. The room wasn’t quite a prison cell, but it did the job just as well. I was starving. I didn’t know what time it was, but it was definitely way past lunch time. Maybe past dinner time as well.

It bugged me that Winn hadn’t let us tell our side of the story. He probably thought we’d convinced Eve to tear a hole in the fence so we could escape.

I kept expecting my mother to show up at the door to take me home. The weird thing was, I didn’t want to go home. If I went home now, I’d never know what Eve was, and I might never see Lorena and Persephone again. Or Eve, for that matter.

The door creaked open. I sat up, thinking maybe it was my lunch being delivered, until I caught a glimpse of Principal Winn’s buzz-cut head. Principal Winn had traded his suit for a military uniform with brass buttons, stars on the shoulders, and a series of colorful commendation patches above the pocket.

He took a seat on a stool by the door and propped one foot on the cot. “You may have forced us into a disastrous situation. But what were we doing relying on a bunch of twelve-year-olds in the first place?”

“I’m thirteen.” I didn’t have an answer for him. I felt sick. “Are you sending me home?”

Winn folded his arms. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Screw everything up, then run home and hide under your bed and play with your Star Wars figures.” The pleasant tone he’d used in our first meeting had completely vanished, replaced by a clipped, authoritarian growl.

“You’re in the military?” It seemed so obvious now that I saw him in a uniform. The buzz cut, the stiff, square-shouldered way he walked.

“I figured we should drop the charade of being school administrators after the Special Forces made their appearance.” He tapped the stars on his shoulder. “General Winn, US Army. Ms. Spain is Colonel Spain. Pierre is still Dr. Pierre. An ivory tower intellectual like him would never cut it in the military.”

“Does this mean you’re going to tell us what’s going on?”

General Winn stabbed a finger in my direction. “What’s going on is classified, and twelve-year-olds don’t possess the security clearance to receive classified information. So stop asking.”

I huffed in frustration. “Okay. I’ll stop asking. And I’m thirteen.” I was so tired and hungry. I wanted to see my friends.

“Here is all you need to know: Eve is refusing to attend class and won’t speak to anyone. All the progress we’ve made has apparently been lost, and time is running out.” I opened my mouth to speak, but Winn raised a finger. “Don’t ask. You don’t want time to run out. None of us wants time to run out.” General Winn let that sink in for a moment. “The only thing Eve will say is that she wants to go to your house and have a movie night and eat popcorn.

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