The Boarding School Experiment (16 page)

I heard footsteps and giggles as people made their way out, but I couldn’t tell which way to go. I sank to the bench, patting the surface.
I’m in the amphitheater, not in a cavern.

Darkness.

In my mind, I was back in the cave with Dad before the accident. The straps went taut between my fingers as Dad swung out. The weight of his body pulled at the rope. He muttered as he tried to gain a hold on the rock surface he couldn’t see. The anchor popped free under my right hand. His weight pulled me. The rope severed with a snap. The nightmarish second I realized what was happening. The brush of air as Dad fell. I screamed until my voice grew hoarse, but my panicked pleas were met only by silence.

When Dad came to, he said, “Climb. Get help. Higher.”

The darkness made my ascent almost impossible. Clouds covered the moon and the stars. My fingers clawed at the wall in the dark pit. I could barely find the anchors. I couldn’t gauge my progress, and I couldn’t stop. My movements were accompanied by the sounds of Dad’s cries of pain echoing through the darkness. The task felt impossible, and probably was, until the clouds shifted. After that, the brilliant glow of the moon lit my way, showing me how to get out.

A weightless sensation lifted my body and brought me back to the present. Thane was carrying me. When we reached his dorm, he bent his knees and maneuvered the door open without letting me go. He lowered me to his bed, murmuring apologetic, comforting words.

I shifted, breathing in, feeling weak, feeling heat enter my face at the knowledge that I’d just gone catatonic in public. Then I didn’t care. I let my head sink into his pillow and breathed in his cologne.
I’m in Alaska. I’m above ground. I’m safe.

Thane touched my cheek with light fingers. “I’m sorry about what happened to you and your dad.” His hand dropped away. “And about the juice.”

I blinked, but didn’t say anything.

“On the way to school that day, Mom had me drop a check at the bank. The cashier recognized my name and took a really long time on the transaction. People do that now, give my family these passive-aggressive insults.” Thane’s mouth tightened with the memory. “She made me late, and I missed breakfast. I know it’s not an excuse, but I got there, and the breakfast line had closed. You were headed to dump your tray, and you looked good and smelled good, and I was mad at myself for noticing, angry at the situation, and I bumped into you on purpose.

“I knew you did.” My voice sounded rusty.

“I know.” His gaze searched mine for something. “I’m sorry.”

“Okay.” I paused for a moment then said the words I thought would explain everything. “Piper’s pregnant.”

“Shit.”

“She didn’t want to come to Alaska and her parents would make her. She’s smart, so I thought the government would pick her. I switched my test with hers so she wouldn’t have to come here.”

“That’s why you didn’t say anything?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.” My gaze flew around the room, this trap I’d put him in. I couldn’t speak for a moment and choked back regret to finish. “Not for helping Piper, I had to. She wanted me to, and you don’t have to understand that. But I shouldn’t have done this to you. I wouldn’t have, if I’d known how it would fall out. I swear.” I pleaded up at him with my eyes, trying to convey my sincerity. “And I would take it back, or speak up now, or switch place with you if I could. I just don’t know how to fix this without making everything worse.”

He drew me closer to his warmth, close to him in a way I never thought we’d be again and I hugged him tight, not wanting to let go. “I’m sorry.”

“Okay,” Thane murmured. He leaned back, tilted my chin and his mouth met mine, soft and warm. He tasted like all the best parts of home and all the excitement of a forbidden mystery. He was all I could wish for from the past and all I could hope for in the future, and his kiss said he’d forgiven me.

Chapter Ten

“No. No. No.” Kaitlin crumpled the paper in her hand, making the page smaller with each word. She pointed to an envelope on my bed. “Read yours.”

We’re reshuffling room assignments. Expect notification soon in regards to your extra bed.

I sank down on the mattress, staring at the empty twin separating Kaitlin and me. “We don’t have an extra. That’s Geneva’s.”

“I know.”

I could still smell Geneva’s mango lotion in our room. Her orange nail polish sat on the nightstand. “Her stuff’s still here. She’s coming back.”

Kaitlin didn’t say anything, just rolled onto her back, and clutched her pillow to her chest.

“Kaitlin, there’s something I have to tell you.”

She wiped a hand over her face and turned back to me, wetness traced her cheeks.

I breathed out and didn’t want to do this, but I had to tell her. I spilled the secret of my being here, everything: my best friend Piper being pregnant, switching the tests, trying to contact Rhys and failing, stealing Rhys’s spot, telling Thane.

Her mouth gaped open, but she didn’t interrupt me. When my explanation slowed, her legs straightened and she flopped back, staring at the ceiling.

“Say something.”

“So that’s why I didn’t connect with Thane. He’s not my 98%.”

I rolled up. “Forget their stupid soul mate game.”

“Maybe compatibility’s important to me, maybe you could just ask why instead of mocking me.” Kaitlin got out of bed to leave.

“Wait, please.” I caught her before she got to the door. “Why do you believe in their tests?”

Kaitlin swallowed and didn’t meet my eyes, her bravado replaced by embarrassment. “My parents aren’t compatible. They have work in common and me. But that’s not enough. So they work a lot, and avoid each other, and are stilted when they’re together. It makes for a big empty house around a big empty life.” She sank onto the edge of her bed and twisted her hands together. “When they announced the soul mate project, I thought maybe I’d have a chance at being with a guy who fit me. One who’d never stare out the window to avoid my gaze or rush out before I got up so he didn’t have to talk to me.”

I didn’t know what to say, but let her talk about her family and then told her about my own.

***

Thane and I sat together by the koi pond, my back against his chest, him leaning on the fake spruce. Most places were so public here, but we had a brief moment of privacy in this small corner.

“I don’t understand Kaitlin’s reaction. She straight out told me what was wrong and opened up. She didn’t leave, throw anything, threaten me. I would be so pissed. Like you were.” I tightened my arms around my bent knees. “Now that the whole story’s out, I feel this weird combination of bad about everything and better.”

Thane brushed a hand over my hair. “I’m not mad anymore, and Kaitlin’s a whole lot sweeter than both of us.” He paused and laughter rumbled in his chest. “Can you see her with Rhys?”

I laughed with him. “No.”

Thane drew my hand to his knee, threading and unthreading our fingers. “Are you going to tell her about our hike to the airfield?”

“Maybe. No. I don’t want to be responsible for her getting in trouble.” I adjusted my head on his shoulder, breathing in, blocking out the world. “Yes. I will. I don’t want any more secrets.”

“Okay.”

Flashes of orange peeped through the water as the koi splashed around their small habitat. In the distance, larger splashes sounded from the swimmers in the human pool. “No one else seems to have a problem with this place. They don’t see the weirdness. They’re frolicking in their pond like the koi, like nothing’s wrong.”

“No one knew what to expect or had a sense of what would be normal. And we haven’t even been here two months.”

Heat rushed my face and my fingers flexed. “I know, but something’s off here, like the vitamins, like the messages.”

His hand tightened on mine, warm and secure. He kept his gaze straight ahead, but something flickered in his eyes, some recognition, and I knew he felt the same way. I’d long known it.

I said, “Your family has money and resources. Why aren’t they doing something more to see you? How is email enough for them?”

“I guess it’s like we went off to college. People go back to living their lives.”

“Maybe my worries are stupid—cabin-fever. But I have to talk to my family real time. Not through a delayed email.”

Thane nodded and gazed down at he me. So close, I could see the flecks of grey in his blue eyes. “The clouds have been getting worse.”

“So we go soon. If we’re outside when the storm hits, we can wait the weather out before hiking back.”

“A storm here could last days. If there’s a blizzard, even one this early in the season, the snow may not melt until spring.”

My heart jumped. I couldn’t begin to take in that kind of cold, but if it was true, I knew one thing. “We have to go soon, or we may not get another chance.”

“Not until our team wins.”

All the coordinators’ talk of two easy trips home hadn’t factored in the weather or the communication problems here. And while I’d given up my dream of a concert in Texas on my birthday, I still had to talk to my family, if only by a phone call. Without the keycard, and without the grate, I could only think of one exit: me, the atrium wall, and a free climb. I turned in Thane’s hold and slid my arm over his shoulders. I whispered in his ear, “So, tonight? We go tonight?”

“Okay,” he said, and kissed me.

***

No plan this half-assed should succeed, but I lay successfully on top of the 20 foot wall, flat on my belly. I rested there a moment, with my cheek pressed to the rough granite, catching my breath and scoping out the view. I don’t know what I thought I’d see on the other side, but it seemed normal, beautiful even: mountains, lakes, blue skies—Alaska.

I dropped my supply pack on the other side of the wall. Then, I ran my hand over the rough granite, searching for a way to anchor the rope. I didn’t find any of the grooves I’d normally find with natural stone. I sucked in a breath of fresh crisp air and tried to think. The rope wouldn’t support Thane without leverage, and without equipment, Thane couldn’t make the climb.

A sound I hadn’t heard in weeks filled the air. An engine. Airbrakes. My heart thumped, and I blinked twice to make sure I was seeing correctly. A bus was pulling up to the school. The door opened with a whoosh, and teenagers got out. New students?

When the new room assignments had come out, students had run with all kinds of theories. One was that new arrivals were due, but I hadn’t believed it. I watched each face avidly. My breath quickened as I recognized one of the guys: Rhys Zukowski. If Rhys was here, Piper could be here.

I swung around, dangling my legs over the habitat side of the wall. The granite scraped against my sweats, tearing at the fabric.

“What are you doing?” Thane asked in a loud whisper.

The skin of my palms burned under the climbing gloves with the speed of my descent, but I didn’t answer him until my feet thumped to the ground. My voice held enthusiasm and shock. “Rhys is here. There are more kids, a whole busload.” I removed my gloves and dragged the rope to the corner. I took a risk to leave it, but behind the shelter of the small trees, it might be okay. “Come on.”

I ran toward the amphitheater, and Thane followed, almost slamming into me when I stopped. A realization had hit me. “Rhys is here. They must know I switched your tests.”

“You said there’s a bunch of kids. You don’t know what they know.” Thane grabbed my arm, and we started forward again at a slower pace. “Calm down. Don’t give anything away.”

Blue lights flashed above doors and the other students joined us. Curious murmurs accompanied their steps as they speculated on the reason for the call.

“Elena, Thane, wait up,” Kaitlin said. “What’s going on?”

I tucked her arm in mine. “New arrivals, I saw them. Kids from our old schools. Rhys Zukowski is here.”

“
My
Rhys?” Kaitlin’s voice held surprised excitement.

“Yeah.” My own enthusiasm dimmed at the thought of having to apologize to Rhys in person. I hadn’t told him everything in the note, and I hoped the details would be enough to make him forgive me. I didn’t want to end up as charred bits on my mattress.

Kaitlin, Thane and I took a spot by the main entrance. I balanced on my tiptoes, trying to peer backwards, looking for Rhys and Piper.

The director appeared on the stage. The microphone whined in preparation for his mouth. “We are privileged to announce a surprise. New arrivals. New students who also tested in the top percent of their classes.”

Murmurs rose and everyone peered around, looking for the new people, thrilled by the news.

“As we said in the beginning, we always anticipated a larger number of students, but we wanted to start with caution. Your successes here have allowed us to broaden the population. In fact, we have been so pleased by the immersion, we plan to continue in that vein. New students will also wear the school uniforms.”