Wacko Academy (12 page)

“Anyway, then I went to the carnival and got a cool keychain.  Wanna see?” she was saying.

When she turned to get it out of her pocket, the girl fled the scene.  Cattie noticed that she was gone, shrugged, and moved on to another person.  I laughed, shaking my head.

I spotted my dancing partner and walked over to him.  I leaned on the wall next to him.  “Hey.”

“Hey, what’s up?” he said in a friendly manner.

“Nothin’ much.” I replied, nonchalantly sipping my punch.  “ I was just wondering what your name was.”

“Marcus,” he said.  Then he sized me up.  “Aren’t you Dustin’s girlfriend?”

“No, I’m not Dustin’s girlfriend.  I will never be his girlfriend and don’t you forget it,” I snapped.

Marcus raised his arms.  “Whoa.  No need to get mad.  I was just askin’ since I’ve seen you around and Dustin told me about you.”

“Really?  Are you guys, like, friends or something?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets.  Guess you can.  He took me off the streets and brought me here.  We’ve been kinda like brothers ever since.”

“So, you like it here?”

He shrugged.  “At least I don’t have to worry about food and stuff like that.  It’s cool.”

I had nothing to say to that.  We were silent for a while until Marcus asked me if I liked it there.

“Not really.  I just wanna go home.”

“Too bad you feel that way.  I actually never met anyone who didn’t wanna be here.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you learn to dance like that?” I inquired.

He explained that his brother had taught him.  That’s how they made money.  People would pay to see them dance and do acrobatics.  Then he asked me the same question.

“Taught myself.  So, where’s your brother now?”

Oh no.  I had asked the wrong question.  He looked down at his shoes, digging his hands even deeper into his pockets.  “He’s dead.”

“Oh.  I’m so sorry,” I said, wishing that I hadn’t been so nosy.

“Naw, it’s cool,” he assured me with a halfhearted shrug.  “Happened a long time ago.”

Before I could say anything else, the horn sounded, saving us from an inevitable awkwardness.  After saying goodbye to Marcus, I gladly followed the crowd out the door.

Cool air hit my face as I entered the outside world, and it looked like it was about to rain.  I sniffy air, holding out my arms with a happy smile.  No more drills and horrible obstacle courses.  No longer would my body ache every night and every minute of the day.  And best of all, no more grown-ups screaming in my ear or telling me to drop and give them fifty.  The thought made me so giddy that I could’ve shouted.

Before I could do just that, True appeared beside me.

“Remember the plan,” was all she said before running off somewhere.

I nodded to myself, all giddiness gone.  I would never forget the plan.  That was the only chance of my escape.  When I remembered what I was supposed to do to make it all work, I felt nauseous.  I wanted nothing more than to take that thing out of my bag and fling it somewhere.  I didn’t, of course, though I wished I could.

I began to walk in the direction of the school, deciding to take my time.  The other kids whizzed past me while I kept a slow pace.  Soon it was just me and the trees.  I sighed, completely content.  

Once near the school, I saw someone jogging toward me.  I squinted to see who it was.  Why, it was my good old pal Dustin.  Well, there went my peaceful state of mind.  I stopped walking and turned, heading the other way.  Too late.  I could sense him next to me.  I kept going, keeping my head down.  He shuffled his feet and cleared his throat.  Still, I insisted on not starting the inevitable conversation.

“Uh…hey,” he mumbled.

I stole a glance at him.  Was it me, or had he grown taller?  He was also in dire need of a haircut. I noticed that he was staring at me, so I quickly flicked my eyes back down.  When I decided to look up again, he caught me, smiling shyly.

“What are you doing here?” I grumbled.

My question caught him off guard.  He began to stutter.  “I-I…Umm…I came to…to say hi.”

I pursed my lips.  “Well, you said it, so you can go away now.”

He fell into stunned silence for a minute.  Then he spoke yet again.  “I was thinking that maybe we could go for a walk.  You know, since we kind of already are?”

I sighed.  We soon passed the boot camp.  I have to say, I wasn’t going to miss it at all.  Not one bit.  Only a crazy person would want to go there a second time.  Even though I had gotten used to the pain, I was still sore.  And if I moved a certain way, my leg muscles hurt like crazy.  So no, I wouldn’t go back if you paid me.

The silence was killing me, reminding me way too much of that horrible dream.

“Aren’t you going to ask me a whole bunch of questions?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah,” he said.

Then he unloaded all of these questions on me.  I answered them without looking up, talking to my shoes the whole time.  Some of them were stupid and others were reasonable.  I answered them as best as I could, happy to be making noise.  Finally they ceased.  Again there was an uneasy silence between us.  I longed to end it, but I couldn’t thinkhing to say.  I didn’t have to.

“Will you just look up at me?!” Dustin yelled in exasperation.

Jumping, I quickly looked up.  He had stopped in his tracks to glare at me, nostrils flaring.  If this was supposed to scare me, then it wasn’t working.  
Comical
would be the better word for it.  I couldn’t help but laugh.  For some reason, I found his frustration really funny.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded, still glaring.

I didn’t answer, unable to quit laughing.  He asked me if I was OK, anger gone.  In its place was an expression of bewilderment.  He took a step toward me.

The fit of giggles abruptly stopped.  Without thinking, I gazed directly into his eyes.  I was reminded of that look of pain and fear I had seen in those same eyes.  That lifeless heap in my arms.  No, that wasn’t the real Dustin.  That had been the dream Dustin.  But if it had just been a dream, then why did it bother me so much?  I turned away.  

“Are you OK?” he repeated, taking another step.

I stepped back, snapping out of it.  “What?  Oh, yeah, I’m fine.  Let’s keep moving.” I began to walk briskly down the path, hoping that he wouldn’t follow, but he did.

Trying to keep the conversation light, I mentioned that I had met his friend Marcus.

“Really?  Cool guy, isn’t he?  I think he loves to dance almost as much as you do.”

“I know.  I danced with him,” I said gloatingly.

“You did?” he gasped, taken aback.

“What, are you jealous?”

He brushed this off with a flick of his hand.  “No.  What’s there to be jealous about?”

I grinned.  For a while, nothing could be heard except for the crunching of the gravel under our feet.  I studied our surroundings.  Where were we, anyway?  There was nothing but trees and more trees.  They were leafing out now, and some of them were flowering.  Buds covered the ground.  It was all very beautiful, but my shoulder had started to ache from the pressure of the bag I was carrying.  All I wanted to do right now was go back to my room and get some rest.  Maybe, if I was lucky, I wouldn’t have that dream again.  

“We should probably be heading back,” I said, beginning to turn around.

Dustin reached out to stop me.  “Wait.  Just a little farther.  I want to show you something.”

With a sigh, I put my hands on my hips, eyes in slits.  “What is it this time?” I tried to emphasize my annoyance.  Here he was, keeping me from getting some rest after a very hard few weeks.  Honestly, I didn’t think I had any patience for this at the moment.

He noticed this and laughed.  It was a loud playful sound.  I couldn’t help but crack a smile.  

“Don’t worry.  You won’t be disappointed,” he promised, speeding up with me right on his heels.

We came to a stop at a square building.  The words
The Hang Out
flashed in big bright red letters.  Next to the building was a parking lot that appeared to be empty at the moment.  Dustin sauntered right double doors.  

He beckoned for me to follow.  While going in, I noticed a sign stating that the area was closed.  I pointed this out to him.  He told me that it just meant the place was reserved.

“For who?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“For us, of course,” he replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

He traipsed over to the switch panel.  With a flick of the switch, all was transformed.  My eyes were seriously bugging out.  To our left was a huge arcade.  To our right there stood a restaurant.  We faced a skating rink.  It must have had at least a mile-long perimeter.  Dustin headed for the stairs.  I hurried to follow.  

He walked on up to the skate booth.  He climbed over the counter and disappeared between the rows and rows of skates.  

“What’s your size?” I heard his muffled voice ask.

“Size 6,” I answered, too stunned to say anything else.

He soon returned with two pairs of skates, one for me and one for him.  “You have small feet.”

Ignoring him altogether, I went back downstairs.  We sat on little benches in the middle of the room and put the skates on.  Then we entered the rink.  I shivered, wishing that I had a coat.  It was freezing cold in there, like we had gone back in time.  Goosebumps had already appeared on my skin.  Dustin handed me a scarf, gloves, and jacket as if he had read my mind.

“So, do you know how to skate?” he asked as I gratefully slipped the winter garments on.  

“I’ve skated before, but be forewarned.  I’m not very good.”

He shrugged.  “Neither am I, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like to skate.  Come on!”

I let him lead me out onto the ice, watching my footing.  Dustin skated really fast compared to me.  He practically melted the ice with his speed.  I rolled my eyes.  What a show-off.  Keeping a steady pace, I scowled at him as he zipped past.  The whiz boy jumped and twirled around the ice.  He reminded me of those professional skaters I used to watch on TV with my mom.  Every leap and turn was perfect and beautiful, like watching a dancer, only in colder climates.  For a moment I stood mesmerized by the skater in front of me.  When he noticed me staring, he grinned, starting to skate over.  I abruptly turned away, wobbled a little, and focused on skating.  Slow and steady.  Side to side.

Dustin was soon beside me, matching my slow and steady pace.  Neither of us talked for a few minutes.  There was just the sound of our skates scraping the ice.  

“You like my skating,” he commented.

“I thought you said you weren’t good.  Are you kidding me?  You’re awesome!  Have you thought of trying out for the Olympic team?”

He blushed.  “Thanks, but I think I’m too young to try out, anyway.”

I snorted.  “Young shmung.  Once they see you skate, you’re so in.”

“Thanks,” he said again.

I shrugged.  “It’s the truth.”

Suddenly Dustin took my hand and had begun pulling me toward the middle of the rink.  

I quickly grabbed hold of the railing, stopping him in his tracks.  “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I think I’m about to teach you a few tricks, if you don’t mind,” he calmly replied.

Shaking my head, I told him that I could barely skate, much less do tricks.  I would fall flat on my face.

A smile tugged at the side of his mouth.  “That’s not going to happen.  I won’t let it.  Now, let go.”

Taking a deep, exasperated breath, I reluctantly did as he asked and allowed myself to be pulled away.  Once we were in the middle of the rink, he dropped my hand and skated around me in a tight circle.

“I’m going to teach you how to spin,” he explained.  “Keep one foot on the ground and use your other leg for momentum.  Try to keep your body facing me, no matter what.”

I nodded, concentrating on what he said.  After a while of slow spinning, Dustin sped up a bit.  He kept getting faster and faster until he had turned into a blur.  I twirled and twirled, gathering speed along with him.  Wait a second; I was going way too fast!  There seemed to be no way to stop myself.  In a panic, my eyes darted around the rink.  Worst thing I ever could have done.  This only made me really dizzy.  I closed my eyes, attempting to stop the dizziness, but I was caught off balance.  Before I knew it, I was flailing my arms, trying not to fall.  However, the force of gravity prevailed.  I was going down.

Just when I was about to crack my head open on the hard ice, strong hands stopped my descent.  I opened my very tightly closed eyelids.  They rested on a boy’s foolishly grinning face looming over me.  Dustin.

“You all right?” he asked, laughter in his voice.

I glared up at him.  “Yeah, sure.  A few more seconds and I so would not have been all right.”

He rolled his eyes.  “You were never going to fall.  As I’ve told you before, I wouldn’t let that happen.”

Like I could totally trust him.  I stood up, pushing his hands from around my waist.  “After everything that’s happened, you of all people shouldn’t expect me to just trust you.”

He backed up away from me, looking hurt.  “I know.  Sorry.”

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Dustin resumed skating.

I stayed where I was.  Although I felt guilty for snapping at him like that, my words were true.  I skated over to the benches and took off my skates, stripping off the winter wear.

I headed upstairs with the skates slung over my shoulder.  During all this, Dustin kept skating, not even noticing my absence.  This didn’t surprise or upset me.  I didn’t really feel like speaking to him, anyway.

Once upstairs, I put the skates back and took a look around.  Directly next to the skate shack was a big Starbucks.  It had to be one of the nicest ones I had ever seen.  Waves of the wonderful, intoxicating smells of coffee beans and pastries floated from the restaurant.  Next to that stood a seriously creepy-looking laser-tag maze, which I so wanted to explore.  Since I had no intention of asking Dustin, I let myself in.

The place was pitch black except for the neon lights.  Laser guns and glow-in-the-dark vests hung from hooks at the entrance.