The Last Academy by Anne Applegate

Author:Anne Applegate [Applegate, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2013-06-12T04:00:00+00:00

The “we” who had “some talking to do” turned out to be something of a faculty party. Dr. Falzone called in the headmistress, Miss Andersen, and Mrs. Sibley’s secretary, Jude, who took notes like a court reporter. We all sat in the headmistress’s office. They drank coffee. I sat in a chair with no arms.

“Well, Camden. Let’s begin,” Dr. Falzone said.

I told them half the story, as if what happened involved only Jessie sneaking out with the Ouija board and me feeling left out enough to sneak after her. I didn’t name a single other person. Each of the adults scowled at me, sighed, and asked questions. I probably should have been scared of getting expelled, but I wasn’t. I guess it felt like free fall.

“If it was just you and Jessie who snuck out, how’d Alan and Shane find out?” Mrs. Sibley asked. The bell rang like it was punctuating her question. A moment later, I watched students flood out of their classrooms. In an alternate reality, I was going to lunch.

Miss Andersen gave me an encouraging smile. “Maybe you went with your roommate, Tamara, and she told Alan and Shane.” She shrugged. “Is that how they knew? Or did all four of you sneak out together?”

Dr. Falzone tried, “You shouldn’t have to take all the blame if you weren’t the ringleader,” and “Shane and Alan are already getting five points. They’re going to assume you told us their part in it, anyway.” He tapped a pencil on his notebook, drawing out the silence I was supposed to step into. “Maybe when you tell us what happened, we’ll see they don’t need the points.”

They didn’t know about the sweaty ball of money for the dinosaur, or how I didn’t owe them anything. I looked out the window and waited for it to be over. It felt good not to tell.

In the end, they gave me eighteen hours of weekend work crew. Ten for sneaking out of my room. Five for commenting during announcements after Dr. Falzone had promised five points for anyone commenting. Three for being unhelpful during my own disciplinary meeting.

“You realize you are two points away from expulsion?” Dr. Falzone asked me, as we cleared the office. That was when the meeting was finally, finally over. I nodded.

“That means you can’t be late to a single class. Don’t forget,” he said. And then something weird happened. He squeezed my shoulder. Like he cared about me. It almost made me cry out of nowhere. I glanced up to see if he meant it, but he was already walking away.

Later I found out Shane and Alan didn’t get any points at all.

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