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He pulled to a stop, waiting for a red light to change. “Let’s wait to talk about the rest when we’re with the others.”
Mr. Blackbourne and I remained quiet for the rest of the drive to Ashley Waters.
It was difficult to put out of my mind the family issues I was facing, with Marie knowing about my real mother, with Danielle possibly knowing the same information and using her to get what she wanted. I think that bothered me more than learning the possibility of who my mother really was.
That Marie wouldn’t come tell me when she figured it out. That she went to Nathan, not me. Maybe it was all Danielle. Maybe it was a trick. That’s what had me concerned. Thinking how they could manipulate us by withholding information showed me we needed to protect them from learning anything else about what the Academy could really do.
Ashley Waters High School’s drab brown brick building hadn’t changed much since a few weeks ago. The bushes along one side appeared dead mid-winter, blending in with the brickwork.
Mr. Blackbourne parked where the student lot and the teacher lot met, split only by a drab grass-covered divide one could easily drive over. Students were already arriving, parking in prime positions to escape easily during the after-school rush.
When he parked, he rushed around, opening my door for me before I had to chance to even release the seatbelt. I appreciated the nicety, something I was getting used to as part of the culture in the South.
“Should we be concerned about...what people think?” I asked. “I mean with me arriving with you?”
“Not today,” he said simply. “When we walk in, stay by my side. You’re officially one of us now.”
One of them.
I swallowed and smoothed my hands across the outfit once, making sure everything was neat. Nerves electrified inside me. I’d already been gone a week since winter break ended and school started again. Unfortunately, I wasn’t invisible any more, and I thought of a few people who might ask questions.
And everyone would notice the uniform. The boys being in uniform was one thing. Adding in a girl was another.
And I’d be the only one.
I trusted this was part of a plan of some sort. There was nothing they did that wasn’t part of a plan. I had a feeling this wasn’t for students, though. Our focus was Mr. Hendricks. This was meant as some sort of intimidation. Some sort of shake up.
I didn’t carry a book bag, but Mr. Blackbourne collected a messenger bag from the trunk of the car. Once he had it strapped to his shoulder, he and I walked toward the entrance of Ashley Waters High School.
The closer we got, the more I felt the need to walk behind Mr. Blackbourne, to appear more like a student.
When I tried to slow down, he slowed as well. He kept his head high, focused on the doors. “Chin up, Miss Sorenson,” he said with a little more power behind his tone. “By my side...”
I matched his pace and kept my head up, but my eyes flitted everywhere, never staying on anything very long. I wanted to appear confident, but I felt like an outsider returning where I wasn’t wanted. Maybe it was the jitteriness I was feeling from the coffee and sugar rush, but I was more nervous than I realized I would be.
Mr. Blackbourne chose an entryway that cut through the very center of the hallway where students often collected before school. I didn’t look at most of them but sensed eyes on us as Mr. Blackbourne turned toward the main offices.
My eyes blurred a bit as we moved. I sucked in a breath, holding it for as long as I could. Mr. Blackbourne opened the door to the office for me, and I went in.
Mr. Blackbourne approached the front desk, pausing there for the woman sitting behind it. I recognized her, although I didn’t know her name.
She nodded once to Mr. Blackbourne, acknowledging him. “I left a packet for you on your desk in your office,” she said. She handed him a clipboard she had ready beside her. “And I also need your autograph.”
He took it up, signed and gave it back to her. There was a pause for just a split moment before he turned from the desk, heading toward the right side hallway.
I followed. I sensed the woman behind the desk following me with her eyes.
I was definitely being noticed. When he paused, I considered he was possibly waiting for others in the office to notice as well. As I’d thought, this wasn’t really for other students. This was to shake up staff.
The hallway was narrow, but we were soon at the door of the office Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green shared.
Mr. Blackbourne opened the door for me. Once I was in, he closed it. He remained near the door, his back to it. He slipped his hands into his pockets and waited.
I waited with him, anticipating we would leave in a minute.
The room only had a few subtle differences since the last time I was here. Dr. Green had added an origami lion on top his desktop monitor, next to frogs and bears he’d placed there before.
The radio that had been on top of the cabinet was gone, replaced by a Bluetooth speaker. Next to it was a vase with a few stemmed roses.
I waited in the silence with Mr. Blackbourne. When he checked in with me, I raised an eyebrow, asking silently how long we were waiting.
He showed me his hand, quietly counting down seconds.
Not long.
His desk held the packet that had been left on top of one of his organizers. “Did you need to look at it?” I asked quietly.
“This afternoon,” he said.
Must not be that important. I breathed slowly, allowing my nerves to settle and for him to let me know when to make the next move.
After a few more moments, he opened the door and held it. “Shall we?” he asked.
He was waiting for something here in the office. Or someone. I had a gut feeling I knew who it was.
I stepped out into the hallway. He closed the door behind himself and then, at a pace a little slower than I expected, guided me back toward the entryway of the office.
I followed close to his arm, keeping my hands to my sides and minding to keep my head raised.
We walked slowly out of the hall just as Mr. Hendricks was crossing to the front desk. He wore a brown suit, matching his thick pair of glasses. His bald head reflected the light from yellowed fluorescent bulbs over us.
And Ms. Wright was at the desk as well, signing the same clipboard document Mr. Black
bourne had signed. She wore a turtleneck, making her head appear to hover over her wide-framed body. She looked up shortly at Mr. Blackbourne and then at me.
Mr. Blackbourne did a very short acknowledgement of Mr. Hendricks and Ms. Wright before moving on past him toward the main door.
That moment stretched for me, feeling Mr. Hendricks’s gaze shift from Mr. Blackbourne to myself.
This was what it was all about. I was back. I was wearing the uniform. I was beside Mr. Blackbourne.
I was with them.
I was one of them.
This confirmed everything he suspected about me from the beginning but could never prove.
I kept my head up, my focus returning immediately to Mr. Blackbourne. I was here because Mr. Blackbourne and others wanted me to be here, but I was with them, under their protection.
They couldn’t hurt me. The moment Mr. Hendricks retreated, I knew he couldn’t do a thing about what I was wearing, where I was going or what I was doing. He couldn’t affect my grades or call my parents. There was nothing left for him to threaten me with.
I floated out of the office alongside Mr. Blackbourne. My confidence grew with every step. No longer was I his shadow, hoping to go unnoticed. It wasn’t just about wearing the uniform. It was about being with him, directly. There was no question now.
He took a long route around the school, at a steady pace. Mr. Blackbourne passed through hallways starting to become populated with students, and through the cafeteria. My eyes blurred, unseeing the reaction, but feeling it as we moved. The number of eyes that focused on me increased as we passed through more populated areas. Voices rose behind us. Questions. Curious comments.
He was making sure everyone knew.
One of Us
Music Room B’s chairs were precariously stacked high on one side of the room, enough so that some of those stacks leaned over. I wasn’t sure if anyone else actually used the room besides us if they were still stacked after a week of school being back in session. The linoleum floor’s corners were layered with dust. The chalkboard still had dusty chalk outlines from months ago.
