Alex Armstrong: Awakening (4 page)

“I hope you’re right,” Nate said, “because my warning flags are going up.”

“Well, whatever happens, you oughtta feel better knowing Philip is on our side.”

“Who?”

“Philip,” Alex said. “The kid playing videogames down there. Last I saw he was buying an attachment for his rifle. He’s ready to shoot some people.”

“The fat dude with the greasy hair?!”

“Well, when you put it
that
way,” Alex said, laughing.

“Yeah, it’s most definitely that way. If I see fat boy holding a gun I’m running. From
him
.”

“Probably a good move,” Alex said, still chuckling. He stood up and shook Nate’s hand. “I gotta get the rest of my stuff from the car. I’ll look for you at dinner.”

“Sounds good, man. See ya there.”

****

Alex walked across the parking lot and into the middle of the green roadway, directly between all four dormitories. Hope Hall and Tiffany Hall were on one side, with the larger Dresden and Agra Halls on the other. A vine-covered seam circled each dorm like a belt, separating the smooth planks of cherry wood from the stone cladding below. Their doors were the only distinctive feature. Hope Hall had blue doors. Tiffany had yellow. Agra had pink and Dresden had green.

Alex looked at the courtyard that separated Hope and Tiffany. It was just large enough to hold two oak trees, a few stone benches, and a rose garden. He watched a butterfly flutter between two bushes and his mind drifted once again to telekinesis. He looked left and right and saw that no one was watching. Still, he edged behind one of the cars. He looked around one more time and took a deep breath and held his tablet in front of his chest with his hands turned upward like a parishioner waiting to receive the sacraments. Nothing happened. Alex closed his eyes as tight as he could and imagined the front cover flipping open. Still nothing. He gave up with a sigh and tucked the tablet under his right arm and crossed the parking lot.

He headed to the left of Hope Hall. As he neared the blue door, it opened, and out came the blonde he saw earlier that day. A huge grin spread across her face and her green eyes sparkled. “You’re taller than I expected,” she said.

“What? Oh, the car seat. No, I uh…‌there was a bug smashed on the windshield. I was taking a closer look.”

“And how’d it look?”

“Dead.”

She laughed and started walking down the steps. Her long legs looked even longer in her designer jeans. There was a light dusting of freckles across her high cheekbones. “I’m Eva.”

“I’m Alex. Nice to meet you.”

“I don’t hear any accent. Where are you from?”

“Florida. Funny you say that, though, cause my dad’s got a pretty thick accent.”

“Well, you didn’t get any of it.”

Alex shook his head. “What about you? Where are you from?”

“Georgia. Not too far from here. I got in around lunchtime.”

Alex could hear the slightest Southern drawl in her voice. “So how do you like the dorm?”

“I like it,” Eva said. “I haven’t been in there very long—I was walking around campus most of the afternoon—but the girls I met seemed mostly nice.”

“Mostly?”

“Well, the one girl who lives next to me…‌I heard her in there with a guy and they were, um…”

“Having fun?”

Eva laughed. “That’s a good way to put it. Anyway, I couldn’t just sit there and listen to them like some creeper, so I took a walk around campus. I’m glad I did, though. It’s pretty. What about you? Make any friends yet?”

“Well, yeah. Actually, I think I did. My neighbor seemed really cool; we talked for a while. And I’m lucky in that our hall’s split into two sections, and I got the smaller, quieter one. Definitely a better fit for me.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. I guess there was one kid that was kinda odd, though. Not real friendly; definitely thought less of me because I’ve never shot a gun. I mean, I’m pretty sure this kid dreams of shooting somebody one day. So we weren’t exactly compatible. And he made a point to call me Al.”

“You don’t look like an Al.”

“That’s because I’ve never been an Al. Oh, and this kid…‌he smelled like Doritos.”

“I always thought my dog’s feet smelled like Doritos.”

“Well, then this kid smelled like your dog’s feet.”

Eva laughed. “You’re funny.”

“I try. Sometimes I get lucky.” The ease of this conversation wasn’t lost on Alex. He didn’t remember ever feeling this comfortable around a girl, especially a pretty one.

“So where were you off to, Alex? You know, before I walked into your life.”

“Well, not that I knew where I was going or anything, but it popped in my head that I wanted to see the valley. Find a quiet spot to read some of this stuff Melissa put on my tablet. So I was on my way over there, to the edge of campus.”

Eva looked over her right shoulder. “I never walked that way. Mind if I join you?”

“Yeah, come on.” Alex led the way past Hope Hall to the hedge about seventy yards in the distance—the eastern edge of campus. He had an idea of what he was looking for and after a quick scan of the hedge, he found it. He turned to make sure Eva was still following.

“I’m right behind you. You know where you’re going?”

“Sort of,” he said. “I’m thinking if we walk through the hedge right there, that dirt path will lead us to a clearing.” They walked down a slope and under a decorative archway. They passed a little garden and walked through one more hedge and then the dirt path ended and they stood in a clearing half the size of a tennis court.

“How’d you know?”

“I didn’t,” Alex said. But it was exactly what he imagined. The hedge walled them in on all sides. Oak trees grew just outside and their branches extended up and over so the spot felt even more secluded. And right in the middle of everything was a park bench facing the valley below. Its wood was grey with age.

“It’s beautiful,” Eva said. She walked around Alex and sat down on the bench with her backpack resting in her lap.

Alex sat to her right and took a deep breath. The air felt cool going into his lungs. He sensed the emptiness beyond the hedge and knew without getting up that there was a steep drop-off on the other side. He widened his view and stared at the valley in its entirety. Only the tops of the foothills to the north and south were green. Everything else had darkened under the long shadow cast by Pal Tech’s mountain. “We’re gonna have to come down here for a sunrise,” he said.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

They sat in comfortable silence. By the time Eva spoke again, it was dark. “I thought you were gonna read your tablet.”

Alex looked at her and shrugged. Even in the absence of sunlight her hair had a golden glow. “There’ll be plenty of time to read all that.”

“Yeah,” she said. “You don’t have time now, anyway. Remember, we have the mandatory dinner tonight.”

Alex sat straight up. He had forgotten all about the dinner. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. Fifteen minutes. He hopped to his feet. “We need to go.”

Eva smiled. “Look at you. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I’m just—I’m usually not late for anything. I’m not saying that it’s your fault. It’s not. It’s mine. But we need to go. We don’t wanna get in trouble. Should we walk over there?”

“Slow down,” she said, still smiling. “It’s not a big deal; we’re not gonna get in trouble. But I don’t think we should go on foot. We’ll never make it.”

“All right, we’ll drive. Your car or mine?”

“Mine drove off. Yours is still here, right?”

“It better be, or else I’m out of underwear and socks.”

“Uh, oh. Commando time.”

“Let’s hope not. For everybody’s sake.”

5 - The Dining Hall

5

The Dining Hall

They left their things in the car and started across the courtyard to the Dining Hall. It was wider than it was long, and although it was constructed from the same cherry wood as the dormitories, its grass-covered gambrel roof gave it a decidedly less modern look.

“Those are pretty,” Eva said. She pointed at the water walls flanking the entrance.

Alex nodded. “I’ve always liked those things. They look fancy. Like you could put one outside a liquor store and the place would instantly look classier.”

“Kinda like adding a violin to a pop song,” Eva said.

“Exactly.” Alex smiled and pulled the door for Eva. As he held it, he couldn’t resist leaning over and touching the cool surface of the wall. His finger tore a rift in the sheet of water.

“You coming?”

“Yeah.” Alex flicked his finger dry and followed her inside.

Despite its size, the Dining Hall felt cozy, like the lobby of a ski resort. A fireplace of rough-hewn stone dominated the center of the room, its firebox large enough to park a car. Tables and chairs fanned out on all sides to form the main seating area. Floor-to-ceiling windows along the back wall overlooked the valley.

“Hey, that guy’s waving at you.”

Alex scanned the tables and saw Patrick and waved back. “That’s the kid I met at registration. He’s cool. Oh, and Nate’s sitting by him. He’s my neighbor, the one I was telling you about. You okay sitting over there?”

“I’m following you.”

They stepped over some backpacks and edged between two tables on their way to the four-topper. Patrick hopped to his feet and went to shake their hands.

“Patrick, good to see you again. This is Eva.”

“Dang, you guys look like you could be brother and sister. Where you from, Eva?”

“Georgia.”

“Uh oh. Bulldog?”

“
Dawgs
is how the real fans say it.”

Patrick made a face. “Yikes. I usually don’t associate with your kind.”

Eva raised an eyebrow.

“Buuuut, in your case, I guess I’ll make an exception. Besides, I like your accent.” He looked up at Eva and flashed a huge grin. She laughed.

“Hey guys,” Nate said.

“And here’s Nate, my black surfer friend!”

Alex and Eva gasped.

“What? Oh, come on, I was just being funny; I didn’t mean anything by it. I have lots of black friends.”

“It’s cool, Alex.” Nate smiled and put his arm around Patrick. “My little friend here just finds it ironic that a
tall
kid like me can actually surf. Isn’t that right, Patrick?”

“Yeah…‌something like that. Wait a minute, though. You guys know each other?”

“Nate lives in the room right next to me. We met this afternoon.”

“You mean we all live on The Stub? Awesome!” Patrick said.

“What’s The Stub?” Eva said. She looked at Alex but he just shrugged.

“It’s our part of the hall,” Patrick said. “There are only eight rooms on our side. The other side has four times that many. Therefore, we live on The Stub.”

“That works,” Alex said.

“Yeah, I thought it had a nice ring to it. Why are we still standing? Come on, let’s sit down.”

Patrick and Nate switched seats and swapped water glasses so that Eva could sit by Alex. She unrolled her napkin and placed it in her lap and separated her knife and fork. The boys followed her lead. And then the small talk started. They learned that Nate had a brother and Eva had a sister and Patrick had one of each, and although no one had a dog they all wanted one when they got older. They were all sixteen but only Patrick and Alex had cars; Nate and Eva would have to wait until summer. Nate had the most stamps in his passport, so he was deemed the most cultured. Patrick had the least. None of them had ever been away from their parents for more than a week.

The talk was fast and it was easy and only started sputtering when their stomachs started growling. “So does anybody know what they’re serving tonight?” Nate said.

“No clue,” Patrick said. “I ran into a senior today who’s here early and he said the menu changes every year. Said the main reason they get us together like this is to meet the president.”

“That’s cool,” Nate said. “I remember seeing his last name. Joyce, I think. Don’t remember his first name, though.”

They all nodded but no one had anything to add and so they sat there in silence. After a while Nate and Eva pulled out their phones. Alex followed suit. It was on the verge of becoming awkward, and Patrick couldn’t stand it. He took a sip of water and set his glass hard on the table and leaned forward with his elbows on either side of his plate and said, “Smokin the donkey.”

Nate lowered his phone and stared.

“What?” Eva said.

“Smokin…‌the…‌donkey.” Patrick leaned back in his chair and folded his arms and smiled.

“What does that even mean?” Alex said.

“It’s slang.”

“Slang for what?”

“Slang for awesome. For being awesome. Maybe even something beyond awesome. Awesomeness in its purest form. As in, Patrick Jones is smokin the donkey.”

“I’ve never heard of it. What movie’s it from?” Alex said.

“Oh, you definitely haven’t heard it. And there is no movie. I made it up. I invented it. I am inventing slang.”

“What do you mean, inventing slang?” Nate said. “You can’t just invent it. That kind of thing grows, man. It’s organic.”

“Well, I just did. Smokin the donkey. Book it. Today is the start of something huge.”

“But it makes no sense,” Nate said.

“So?”

“And there are hardly any people at this school,” Eva said.

“So I start small, who cares? Once this thing goes public it’s gonna spread like wildfire. Smokin the donkey.”

“Smokin the donkey…‌it’s got a nice ring to it,” Alex said.

“That’s what I’m talkin about!” Patrick leaned forward and gave him a fist bump.

“I don’t know, man.”

“Yeah, I can’t see myself saying that,” Eva said.

“Oh, you two just wait. It’ll grow on you. Just give it a try. Smokin the—”

Thump-thump-thump

Melissa tapped the mic behind the podium. “May I have everyone’s attention, please? Thank you. Tonight’s dinner will be served family style, but not until we have at least four students per table.”

There was a collective groan from the students that had to move.

“Oh, come now. You don’t want the food getting cold back there.” Chair legs squeaked and slid across the floor. Melissa left her post and aided in the introductions. She seemed to know everyone’s name.