Astray (14 page)

“S’up, newbies.” She looks us over. “So, do you guys coordinate your outfits ahead of time or what?” she asks, one eyebrow raised. I look at everyone else. They’re wearing basically the same thing—jeans and T-shirts. I promise
myself that I will make Taylor take me shopping again. This afternoon. Brian glares at her. When no one else answers, she shrugs and starts walking backward so that she can still see us. “Okaaaay. Ready to brave the halls and find your lockers?” She takes off for the door and we follow her.

“All right. This is the main lobby area. To your right is the office and to the left are the guidance offices. We’re gonna start this tour at your lockers and then I’ll walk you by all of the classrooms you’ll need to find.” She pulls out several sheets of folded paper from her pocket. “I have all of your schedules right here and for the most part you’re in the same classes, so this shouldn’t take too long.” She hands out the schedules to each of us. It’s a bunch of squares with times and classes written on it. It reminds me of the assignments board back at the clubhouse in Mandrodage Meadows.

“So, I’m a junior like most of you guys,” Jack says. We stare at her. “You know, I’m in eleventh grade.” When we still just stare, she shrugs. “Basically, I’ll be in the same classes as some of you. Haunting the same hallways. If you have questions, I’m supposed to be at your disposal.” She does a little curtsy as she walks. Somehow I’d thought that she’d be all graceful and light-footed, maybe because of the glitter in her hair and her fine-featured fairy-like face, but she walks with a plodding purpose.

“Hey, I’m glad you got put in my group. I was hoping
to get a chance to talk to you again,” she says, her head close to mine and her voice low. I smile. It seems like she really wants to be my friend. I look back at Will. I could really use a new friend about now, especially since Cody’s already said he probably won’t be in most of my classes. He’s taking advanced classes, and from the way Principal Geddy said the word “gaps,” I’m sure that I won’t be in any of them.

“So, it looks like you’re the only one remotely interested in being here, am I right?”

I nod. “They have to come. Their caseworkers made it a condition of their moving back in with their parents. I mean, I have to too, but I’d come anyway.”

“It’s because you guys aren’t supposed to be around people who aren’t like you, right?” She leans in a little closer. Behind me Will clears his throat. I don’t have to look back to know that he wants me to stop talking to her. “Pretty much, yeah,” I say loudly enough for Will to hear. I’m not going to do what he wants ever again.

Jack looks back at Will and then at me. “You’re consorting with the enemy. Good for you.” She gives me an admiring look. “Rebel.”

I chuckle a little. I hope I’m worrying them back there. They deserve it. Now that Jack’s here and I’m not alone with them, I’m one hundred percent positive that what they’re trying to make me believe about Marie isn’t true. I don’t know why I let them get to me before.

“Okay, I can’t stand it—I have to ask. If I’m overstepping, just tell me to shut up and back off. Is it true that you shot that Pioneer guy? I mean … during the raid?”

I hesitate. I can hear Will suck in a breath. Brian’s at the back of the group, which is a good thing, because if he’d been close enough to hear her, he would probably be freaking out on her right now.

“Yes, I shot him,” I say quietly. I put my hands in my pockets and fight the urge to turn around to see their reactions.

“That’s so tough! Escaping that shelter and shooting the guy who locked you in there. Your story is completely awesome.” She looks at me and grins. “It all sounds very
Resident Evil
 … just without the zombies … or the corporate conspiracy.”

I shrug and she laughs. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

I nod. “You’re talking about that movie with the Umbrella Corporation and the creepy little girl.” I affect a British accent and quote her: “You’re all going to die down here.”

Her eyes widen. “Wow, so you haven’t been as sheltered as I’ve heard.” She does this little head tip that makes me feel like she’s impressed by this.

“Uh, no, I was every bit as sheltered as you heard … Cody’s shown me a bunch of movies every night so I can catch up—especially the ones with monsters and special-effects stuff in them. I’ve been kind of holing up at his
house avoiding reporters and them.” I tip my head back slightly at the others. “If it’s a horror or science fiction movie, chances are I’ve seen it now. Just don’t ask me anything about real life, because I’m at a loss there.”

“So where are we going?” Will asks Jack loudly. His voice is sharp. He doesn’t like her.

“To all the best places, honey. Lockers and classrooms and cafeterias, oh my.” This last reference to
The Wizard of Oz
makes me like her even more. She picks up the pace and we have to hustle to keep up.

We spend the next hour locating all of our lockers and practicing the combinations (2-9-5, pull), walking past the classrooms that we’ll be in, and figuring out where the gym and cafeteria are. The cafeteria is the biggest surprise. There are vending machines on one end with every kind of junk food in them. Cokes and Cheetos! I smile a little. Jack explains in detail how to grab a tray and how much lunch costs, but it’s lost on everyone but me. They’ve all brought their lunches because Pioneer said that most Outsider food is preservative-filled and horrible. I wonder how they’re managing to eat now that our gardens and livestock aren’t available anymore.

During the tour, the bell rings and classes let out. The hallway floods with students. I hate how they stare at us, elbowing each other and whispering. Their laughter bruises. They think that we’re some kind of joke. Most of them don’t seem very nice at all. For an instant I swear I see every last one of them the way I used to when I
was little—when I was convinced that every Outsider I saw was wearing a person mask that hid sharp teeth and green skin.

“So, this tour is supposed to be over now, but I think there’s one more thing that you might be interested in seeing.” She turns down a shadowy hallway that’s close enough to the gym that I can hear the squeak of sneakers from where I’m standing. It seems to lead to a fire exit and nothing else, but near the end of it are a set of narrow double doors. There’s a heavy metal chain woven around them that’s secured with a padlock. Jack glances at the hallway behind us, then works her fingers into the crack where one of the doors meets the doorframe. The door isn’t hanging right, I can see it now. It’s leaning in a little and there aren’t any hinges. She muscles it open, begins to squeeze into the space beyond, and motions us to follow. I look over at Will and he shakes his head. Heather and Julie look at me too and cross their arms. I have a choice: either stay here with them and wait for her to come back or follow. It’s an easy choice. I take a step forward and shove myself into the space Jack disappeared through. Just beyond the door is a set of steps that lead down.

“Look, barely anyone knows about this place. I mean, my dad and an assorted other few, but no students, see? I figured maybe you guys might need an escape hatch to sometimes dive into if your day gets too, you know … rough.” She looks at me and grins. “I mean, being the
center of everyone’s attention can wear on you, trust me. Before you came along, I was the one to avoid.”

She jumps from the third-to-last step into the dark room below. I can see the silhouettes of at least a hundred desks stacked on top of one another. There are old movable chalkboards and stacks of books too. It smells musty and a lot like the supply room in the Silo. It unsettles me, but I don’t want her to know it, so I go down the last few steps and lean against the wall. My throat closes up. I can’t breathe very well. My heart races.
Don’t panic. It’s just a room
.

Jack wanders farther in and flicks a light switch on the far wall. There’s a low-wattage bulb above us set inside a wire cage. It only adds to the feeling that we’re underground. A thundering sound above us makes me look up at the ceiling. I can almost see the walls starting to close in. I start breathing in shorter, shallower bursts. Telling myself to be calm isn’t working. I’m going to need to get out of here very soon.

Jack hasn’t noticed that I’m freaking out. I’m regretting following her now. I watch as she settles onto the top of one of the desks that isn’t stacked and leans against the cinderblock wall behind her. There are three long bulletin boards flanking her, two on one side, one on the other, with photos and Post-its and index cards tacked to them. I can’t make them out very well from where I stand. Beside her is an old typewriter situated on another desk with
a pile of notepads and stacks of clean white paper, and next to that a laptop. Up above there’s the faint sound of squeaking shoes. We must be under the gym.

“I’ve sort of claimed this place. All this stuff’s mine. The typewriter’s crazy, right? I found it down here. I write stuff sometimes, and I love the sound it makes when you hit the keys. Totally old-school, but awesome.” Jack lets her legs dangle every which way. “I moved up here last year when my mom got remarried. Needless to say, Dad is not the coolest. And being the principal’s kid isn’t exactly a pass to popularity. Add to that the fact that this school has seen maybe three new students in the past six years—and that I’m not exactly 4-H material—and you can probably guess how much of a freak they all think that I am. That is, until you guys came along.” She grins. “This is a good place to get away from it all and think.”

I’m staring at her very sharp shoes—they’re covered in spikes around the ankle cuffs. She lifts one up in front of my face. “Like ’em? I got ’em on eBay. Next to impossible to get cool shoes around here.” She laughs at my wide-eyed expression and gives my outfit a once-over. “I’ll help you order a few pairs if you want. ’Cause, wow, you could so use my help.”

I find myself nodding. I wouldn’t mind a pair of shoes like hers. It might be a little like wearing armor, like the acceptable alternative to wearing one of Cody’s monster masks to hide behind. It seems to be working for her.

“So, this is the school’s basement. They keep all of the
extra desks and stuff here, obviously, but the important thing to remember is that no one comes down here regularly and it makes a great place to eavesdrop on the stuff going on up there.” She points to a vent in the ceiling, and when I listen I can hear people talking. “But since you look like you’re waiting for the boogeyman to show up at any moment or something, I’m gonna assume that you probably won’t be interested in hanging out with me here … right?”

I nod.

“It’s because of what happened?” She looks me over closely. I can’t help wondering why she would think bringing me down here was such a good idea if she’s that familiar with my story.

“You know, I’m a pretty good listener if you ever want to talk to somebody.” She says this casually, but even so, I’m starting to feel like the only thing she wants to talk about is what happened in the Silo. She keeps bringing it up. I was hoping we’d talk about other stuff entirely.

“I’m not much of a talker,” I say as I head for the stairs.

“I’m figuring that out. But hey, you gotta know that not asking you about your past is like next to impossible, right? I mean the biggest news around here other than you guys is whether or not the Winter Festival will have sleigh rides this year. You can’t fault a girl for being curious.” She stands up and wipes off her butt with her hands before craning her neck around to check to see that it’s free of dust. “And if you don’t put your story out there, someone
else is liable to make one up for you, one that isn’t anywhere near the truth. Just sayin’.”

She comes closer. “Look, I write for the school paper. I could help you let everyone know what you guys are really like.…”

I don’t let her finish the sentence. I step past her to get a closer look at the bulletin boards. The notes and pictures … they’re all about us. I feel as if I’ve been slapped. She doesn’t want to be my friend at all. She’s just trying to get me to tell her my story so she can scoop all the other reporters out there. Without a word I turn and run back up the stairs and squirm back through the broken door.

Will and the others are sitting on the floor with their backs on the opposite wall, waiting for us. Will stands up when I come through and opens his mouth to say something, but I walk right past him and hurry out into the hallway still teeming with students. He’s only going to say that this serves me right, that I shouldn’t trust Outsiders. But when it comes down to it, I can’t trust him either. So where does that leave me?

The Outsiders claim to have rescued us. Liars! They’ve condemned us to a living hell. That’s the real truth.

—Mr. Brown, member of the Community

We start our classes five minutes later. Jack walks us there. She keeps apologizing and trying to make conversation, but I refuse to even look at her. My first class is with Will, Heather, Julie, and Brian.
So much for getting away from them
.

The other students watch us walk in. I can feel their eyes on us as I lead the way to the last few empty desks. We have to work to avoid backpacks and a dozen or so pairs of legs that stick out into the aisle, tripping more times than actually taking steps, because no one bothers to make room for us. I can hear giggles behind me and my face burns as I finally make my way to the back.

Brian is the last of us to reach the seats. The only one left is the one right next to me.
Perfect
. I perch on the edge of my seat, attempting to make the space between my desk and his appear wider. I can feel him glaring at me. I’m tired of trying to pretend like I don’t see it.

“What?” I say. “If you’ve got something that you want to say to me, just say it already.”

He shakes his head. “So you’re gonna be one of them now, huh?”

“I’m trying to figure that out,” I say in a low voice.

“Trying? You either are or you’re not. If you’re going to wreck everything for the rest of us, shouldn’t you be sure?”