Class Is Not Dismissed! (22 page)

Not long after 8:00
PM
, comets of fireflies began to whip past the students. The realization that even if Abernathy returned they wouldn’t be able
to see him forced the foursome into the SVT to return empty-handed to Summerstone. They were greeted by Macaroni and Schmidty
at the front door. Schmidty didn’t ask if the mission was successful, for he knew it wasn’t. In fact he had known from the
beginning that it wouldn’t be, that it was truly a mission impossible.

“Children, I have supper waiting in the dining room,”
Schmidty said sweetly. “Macaroni has already eaten—you know how fussy he can be when hungry—but I’ve waited, as has Miss Hyacinth
and Celery.”

“Oh, great,” Lulu moaned. “Just what we need: Hyacinth.” Stony-faced, she walked into the foyer, where she leaned on the table
and waited for the others to filter in.

“Now, we mustn’t be rude, Miss Lulu.”

“Fine,” Lulu acquiesced, emotionally exhausted by her day.

“Schmidty, will Mrs. Wellington be joining us?” Madeleine asked hopefully as she closed the front door behind her. “I would
very much like to tell her how much I respect her and that even though I’ve had a bit of a setback due in part to the double
and triple
B
’s, she gave me such a gift this past year. While not cured, I lived an awfully normal existence. No one referred to me as
the Veiled Wonder or Spraying Silly. I was simply Madeleine.”

“Oh, what lovely words. I shall pass them on to Mrs. Wellington, or if you would like, you may leave her a note. She’s taken
to her bed and will not be able to say her goodbyes tomorrow when the sheriff comes for you.”

“What?” Theo asked. “That’s it? We’re going home? But we’re not ready! Maddie is seriously not ready—she’s wearing a shower
cap!”

“I know, Mister Theo, but Madame is unable to teach anyone. Why, she’s currently unable even to leave her bed, and I am afraid
I haven’t the skills or stamina to teach you all. But not to worry, your parents will be getting full refunds along with letters
explaining the situation, so none of you will be blamed for a lack of progress.”

“I don’t even know what to say,” Garrison said despondently. “I’m really bummed out. I was hoping that one day I might actually
be a surfer who surfed.”

“Yes, well, sometimes things don’t end as we want them to, but that mustn’t stop you from moving forward, charging toward
life,” Schmidty said as he turned toward the Great Hall. “Let’s have a nice meal and talk of happy times to come.”

“We really can’t say goodbye to Mrs. Wellington?” Theo asked with tears in his eyes. “I don’t care if she’s bald and yellow
and scary-looking…”

“I’m afraid not.”

Hyacinth was seated at the dining room table with
Celery perched on her left shoulder. She nodded as Madeleine, Lulu, Garrison, Theo, and Schmidty entered and took their seats.
As calm as she appeared on the surface, the young girl was utterly euphoric to be in the presence of people again, even if
they were mad at her.

Schmidty had prepared a delicious dinner of salad, baked ziti, and garlic cauliflower, yet no one seemed able to do more than
push the food around their plates.

“Dinner is most scrumptious, Schmidty,” Madeleine said politely as she forced a small bite of pasta into her mouth. “Absolutely
delicious.”

“Yes, Celery and I find it very tasty,” Hyacinth said meekly, an opening that was immediately met by an angry glare from Lulu.
It was simply too difficult for Lulu to hear Hyacinth’s voice without remembering what the little girl had done.

Theo put down his fork and started to cry. It wasn’t his usual dramatic fare, with gasps of air and rampant nose-blowing.
This was a much more dignified and honest cry. In fact it wasn’t even a cry at all, more of a soft weep.

“I don’t feel right leaving you and Mrs. Wellington up here alone, rotting away until death finally drags you
from this earth. That is not how you are supposed to spend your golden years, or platinum years, or whatever years you guys
are in. Why don’t you come and live with me? Joaquin wants to get his own place anyway. You and Macaroni could bunk with me,
and we’ll give Mrs. Wellington her own room. I swear my parents won’t even notice, there are already so many of us in the
apartment.”

“You are such a sweet boy, Theo, and we appreciate the offer, especially Macaroni, as he longs to live near street vendors
who drop bits of meat on the ground. But unfortunately we must decline. This is where Madame is most comfortable, and this
is where we shall stay.”

“But what will you do without having a school to run and students to care for?” Lulu asked.

“I’m planning to take up knitting, perhaps make Macaroni some sweaters for the winter; you know how much Madame loves an animal
in clothes.”

“That’s it? You’re just going to sit up here and knit dog sweaters?” Garrison asked in disbelief.

“I should think I’ll also make the cats some sweaters or scarves, and then a sweater for Madame, and finally a sweater or
two for myself. After winter passes, I shall
plant some vegetables, maybe try painting a portrait of Madame—in soft focus, of course.”

“But what about Mrs. Wellington? What will she do all day?” Madeleine asked.

“At first I suppose she’ll do nothing. She will remain a recluse in her room, but with time I expect she’ll venture out, try
on her crowns, and attempt to relive her glory days with a few extra afternoon nips.”

“Will we at least be able to visit?” Theo asked hopefully.

“I should think not. I would prefer you to remember us as we’ve been, not as we’ll be,” Schmidty said forlornly. “But not
to worry; should anything happen, the sheriff will keep you all informed.”

“So this is it? The last supper?” Theo said.

“Maybe the four of us could at least meet once a summer,” Madeleine suggested. “We could go to a nice dinner or a movie, or
maybe even find a new school or camp to attend.”

Hyacinth stared at her plate, awkwardly aware of being left out of future plans. Of course, she really couldn’t blame them,
after what she had done.

“Yeah, I guess,” Lulu said in response to Madeleine’s
suggestion. “But it won’t be the same. It’s weird, because I never even thought I liked this place, and now all I want to
do is stay.”

“I know,” Garrison agreed. “I’m really going to miss all of it. Mrs. Wellington, Schmidty, Mac, the cats, the house, and you
guys. No one else will ever get what we did here… no matter how much I explain it… and I kind of don’t want to explain it,
you know?”

“I completely know,” Madeleine said with a smile. “And Garrison…”

“Yeah, Maddie?”

“Well,” Madeleine said with cheeks as red as a beet, “since we’re leaving tomorrow, since it’s all ending, and we may not
be in touch again, or at least not as often… I want to tell you… that I think you’re…” Madeleine suddenly stopped. She couldn’t
quite bring herself to say what she wanted to, what she needed to. Instead she simply stared at Garrison, her heart aflutter
and her palms sweating. In her mind she was screaming it, but her lips just wouldn’t move.

“I think you’re… too…” Garrison said with a wink.

Lulu, Theo, and Schmidty all smiled the kind of smiles that only friends can share. Hyacinth and Celery
looked on curiously, with a mixture of shame, embarrassment, and unbridled envy. These were exactly the types of relationships,
of friendships, Hyacinth had always tried to achieve. It was only as she looked at her classmates and the trust that existed
among them that she realized they had all been right the night before. She really didn’t know a thing about friendship. Not
one single thing.

M
adeleine, Lulu, Garrison, and Theo didn’t sleep a wink. Sure, they all lay in bed silently, but none of them slept. They were
far too busy absorbing every last ounce of Summerstone and School of Fear before it evaporated. They would never again see
Mrs. Wellington, Schmidty, Macaroni, the cats, or the inside of this colossal and bizarre mansion. This was the end of an
era, and an important one at that, and they didn’t want to sleep away a single second of it.

Nearby, Hyacinth too lay awake. The little girl simply couldn’t shake the sense of panic that was pulsing through her veins.
She longed to sleep again on the floor of Madeleine and Lulu’s room, but she knew that was not to be. Aside from the others
being outrageously angry at her, the one thing they all had in common was about to disappear. This strange school she had
only just started to know was to fade away, and Hyacinth for her part would return to her life in Kansas City with her family.
But she would return with her same problem. And her poor brothers, sisters, and parents would suffer. Hyacinth couldn’t bear
the idea of her family not wanting to be with her but doing it out of obligation. No, Hyacinth thought, that isn’t the kind
of relationship she wanted to have anymore.

By breakfast time Theo, Madeleine, Lulu, and Garrison were bleary-eyed and gloomy, dreading the final goodbye that was fast
approaching. As the foursome sat exhausted at the dining room table, Hyacinth slipped out the front door of Summerstone in
an orange pantsuit. With Celery firmly seated on her left shoulder, the young girl forced herself across Summerstone’s grounds.
Twice she stopped and turned back. The idea of going
down to the road alone made her vision blur with fear. But she knew it was the only hope of correcting what she had done.

Hyacinth began to whimper as the SVT rocked down the mountain. Time suddenly slowed to the speed of molasses as she felt her
chest tighten. Drawing shallow and labored breaths, she stepped off the tram. Here she was, alone at the edge of a forest,
just she and her ferret. Again Hyacinth turned and stepped back on the SVT. It was simply too hard. She couldn’t do it. She
stood on the tram for thirty seconds. What to do? There was a battle raging in her mind, and she didn’t know who was going
to win. Would her desire to change and right her wrong push past her wish to escape this overwhelming sense of panic? But
would this feeling of panic, this force telling her to flee, actually stop if she returned to Summerstone? No, she would return
as an outsider. Then she would go home as a burden. Hyacinth couldn’t allow that to happen.

“Hello!” Hyacinth whispered at the edge of the forest. “Hello, Abernathy?”

Nothing.

“
I’m just a girl with a ferret on her shoulder. Don’t be afraid that you’re a little bit older. Just ’cause you live
with the squirrels and the trees doesn’t mean I think that you have fleas. I’m not afraid that you may be weird. I just need
you so I can be cleared. So what do you say? Will you join me today?”
Hyacinth sang off-key.

While deciding what to try next, Hyacinth heard the unmistakable sound of leaves crackling.

“I wish you wouldn’t stop singing,” Abernathy said in the lightest, softest of voices from the edge of the forest.

“You like my singing?” Hyacinth asked with utter shock.

“Oh, it’s so lovely… like angels singing.”

“You are the first person in my entire life to compliment my singing. Thank you.”

“Thank
you
. Music is the one thing the forest lacks. I listen to the birds tweet and the wind move, but it’s not the same as a voice
carrying those beautiful melodies into my mind.”

“I wish I had my harmonica! I’ve never had such a great audience before! You won’t believe how much better I am with a harmonica.
Next year I’m asking for a guitar for my birthday. I’m going to start a one-woman band.”

“Oh, I do hope you come and serenade me.”

“Yes! That would be so awesome! Maybe we could
even record it? Hyhy live from the forest!” Hyacinth said excitedly before she remembered the situation at hand. “Unfortunately,
that won’t be possible. We’re all leaving. School of Fear is closing. Unless, of course, you agree to come back and give the
school one more chance…”

“No,” Abernathy said unemotionally. “I can’t… I won’t…”

“You know, we’re not that different, you and I. You’re afraid to be with people, and I’m afraid to be without them. But in
the end I think it has more to do with us than with them. Do you know what I mean?”

Abernathy didn’t say anything. He simply stared at the young girl.

“I promise, if you come back we can sing together every day. I may even let you into my band.”

“Do you have a record player? Those Knapps promised me a record player if I’d help them, but they never came through. I knew
I shouldn’t trust people in matching sweaters.”

“If you come to the school and give it a try, I’ll do even better than a record player; I’ll get you an iPod.”

“A what?”

“You really have been in the forest
way
too long.”