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“Who’s this?” Kota said before I could finish, looking at Lake.

I blushed as I looked at Lake, who was standing to the side, looking out of place. “Sorry,” I said to her and then looked at Kota. “Kota, this is Lake.”

“Hi,” Lake said to Kota and then glanced at Gabriel. “Do we need camping buddies?”

“No,” Kota said, rolling his eyes. “He’s kidding. Congrats on getting here. I hope you like it.”

Lake nodded but then said nothing more.

Kota handed me two maps and then gave Lake two as well. “Hang onto these.”

“Rule of two?” I asked. “That’s why we get two?”

“Just in case you lose one,” he said. “Or someone loses both of theirs and needs to borrow one of yours. The rule of two is that if you have just one, you have none. So you have two, and you’ll have enough.”

I supposed that made sense. Lake shared a long look with me that I didn’t understand but nodded.

“What are you all going to do?” I asked.

He motioned to Gabriel and then North. “Most of them will be making circles around the camp, joining activities. You’ll see us later today. Except for me, Dr. Green, and Mr. Blackbourne. We’ve got training.”

That was disappointing, but at least I could catch up with the other guys after this hike. “So I won’t see you until tonight?”

“You’re still sleeping in the tent, right?” Kota asked.

I nodded, hopeful that wouldn’t change. Maybe Taylor and April were wrong. Why did it matter where I slept? Besides, most of my stuff would probably already be with Kota if he’d made up a tent already.

Would other campers believe we were a couple sleeping together in our tent?

“I guess we should go,” I said. “I have to keep by Mrs. Rose and still have to get shoes from the tent.”

“Good luck,” Gabriel said. “Don’t let her talk you into any caves.”

There was so much I wanted to ask them about but knew I couldn’t. I was doing exactly what Mr. Blackbourne had asked me to do. I was doing my best.

I tried to be brave, even if I missed them already.

THE HIKE

Lake followed me back to the campsite. She lingered, looking at the cars while I searched the big tent for clothes. When I didn’t see any of mine, I tried going to the next campsite over where my pink tent had been.

There was a new tent set up, green and tan, but it was a slightly bigger size. An air mattress was inside beside a cot, but the cot was covered in bags. One was pink so I opened it, finding clothing and shoes. I pulled out a pair of mostly black shoes with some pink, hoping the girl didn’t mind the colors.

Lake peered into the tent. “You’ve got two tents?” she asked. “Why’d you go in the other one?”

I searched for my phone but didn’t see it. “I was going to be in the tent with the guys but then...” I stopped and then bit my lip, not sure how much I should tell her. “I...Kota and I were going to share this tent.”

“Oh,” Lake said. “I don’t have a tent yet I don’t think.”

Was I supposed to be nice and invite her to stay in ours? “We should...talk with the others, I think,” I said. “The other girls. It sounded like some of them might not have tents, either.”

“I thought it was a private school, not a camp,” she said. “You’ve got room?”

I couldn’t invite her without asking Kota, even though I was sure it’d be okay. I also didn’t know if the Academy had plans to put the girls without tents somewhere. “We’ll figure it out later,” I said, exiting the tent with the shoes, giving up on finding my phone. “I’m sure every tent has an extra bed or two. They’re Academy.” It was weird to say it out loud because I’d never been able to. Now was my chance to discuss everything about the Academy openly and learn as much as possible.

“What does that mean?” she asked. “Like Boy Scouts?”

I shrugged and started toward the road to the latrine. Lake followed. “Let’s get back to Mrs. Rose,” I said. “I don’t want to miss anything.”

We got there a little early. I excused myself to use the restroom and to give myself a breather in the stall alone.

I sat there longer than I needed to, needing a few moments to collect my thoughts.

By the time I returned, Mrs. Rose was there standing with Lake and four of the other girls.

“We’re missing two,” Mrs. Rose signed to me as I approached. She wore a backpack over her shoulders and held a walking stick fashioned out of a branch. She leaned it against her hip while she signed to me. “Do you remember their faces?”

I wasn’t sure. I looked over the other four girls. Two had cinch bags on their backs, and another one had a water bottle in her hand. They were taking turns spraying each other down with bug spray.

I tried to pinpoint who was missing. “One was older,” I signed to her. I don’t know why I was using sign language when I was sure she could hear me. It was more a reflex like when I used sign language with Luke. “My age, I think.”

“What’s she saying?” Lake asked in the middle of my signing.

“We’re missing two girls,” I said after finishing what I was saying to Mrs. Rose.

“The car that they came in with was parked closer to the camper area,” Lake said. “I overheard them talking. They had a long walk to get their gear.”

Mrs. Rose nodded. “That’s the direction we should head in for our hike—we can find them on the way. Let’s go find a bear!”

I told the girls we were heading out and would meet the other two on the way. I avoided talk of the bear, not wanting to scare anyone.

Although I was scared. I tried to tell myself she couldn’t be serious.

We didn’t go far from the latrine before we caught up with the two girls. Mrs. Rose used the map and led the way. I started to fall behind but realized I needed to be in front to see what Mrs. Rose would say.

Mrs. Rose asked me to have everyone share names. They did, but there were a few of them and some spoke quietly and I didn’t really catch them. After the gathering earlier and seeing everyone there, I wondered how many I would meet, and was sure I’d get some names mixed up.

At first, we trailed in a line, but Mrs. Rose asked me to tell the others we should wal

k more in a group. “Make sure they can hear you,” she said.

Mrs. Rose showed the older girl and her friend the map and the direction we were taking. Once they understood, she signaled for them take the lead, putting them in charge of where we were going.

Lake and I were put in the middle, where Mrs. Rose walked. The four other girls fell behind us, close enough to where we could talk as we walked.

From what I could see of the map, we had a good distance to walk even before we hit any trail. Of the trails I had seen last night, those were dirt and gravel. Mrs. Rose touched my arm to get my attention and then signed, “Tell the girls to talk about what they already know about the Academy. I’ll fill in the details.”

“It’s the Fernis Academy,” someone said after I translated.

“The Grayson Academy is what they told my parents,” said another girl.

The older girl in front with the map said, “They tell your parents fake names when they talk to them. But when you get your report cards, it’ll say whatever name they said your school was.”

We would get report cards? That was something I’d never heard before.

“Is this considered a class?” someone asked. “I thought we were just enrolling.”

Mrs. Rose got my attention and signed.

“She wants to start with the rules,” I said once she was done. “Do you all know the rules of the Academy?”

“Family first!” a few of them replied.

“That’s not the first one,” the older one said. “The first one is: trust your family.”

“Oh yeah,” her friend said behind her. “And then it’s...your family is a choice?”

“Family is a choice,” said the older one. “The rules are, in order: Trust your family. Family is a choice. Family first, Academy second. When your family can’t be there for you, the Academy always will be.”

“What does all that even mean?” Lake asked. “Family first? My family sucks.”

“It means your Academy family, or who you choose to let into your family,” the older girl said. She looked back at Mrs. Rose.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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