Wacko Academy (15 page)

“You seem happy,” he commented, glowering at me.

I laughed at his annoyance, which made his scowl deepen.  “That’s because I am happy.  I’m happy that I don’t have that thing anymore and that we’re going to free everyone.”

Dustin wouldn’t quit with the glaring.  “You should’ve told me.”

“I’m just gonna tell you the whole story so that you don’t have to keep asking me questions.”

After I explained the plan we created at boot camp, there was a long silence.  He didn’t look at me.  His eyes met nothing but the dirt path.  We were almost at the meeting place.

“Say something already,” I begged, lightly touching his arm.

Dustin moved away.  He stole a quick glance at me.  “You should’ve trusted me.  If you had told me that you wanted to go home, I would’ve figured out a way to help you.”

“Ha!” I snorted.  “Yeah.  Right.  I’ve been telling you I wanted to leave ever since I got here!  Now I’m supposed to believe that you were willing to help me?  That’s a bunch of crap and you know it.”

He frowned at me.  “Excuse me for thinking that maybe you were starting to like it here.”

My laugh came out angry and sharp.  “Like it here?  Are you serious?  I miss my family, my friends, and even school.  And I mean my real school.  Not this Wacko Academy or whatever it’s called.  You may not have an actual life, but I do.”

OK, maybe I shouldn’t have said that last part, but I was furious.  He had no right to just assume that everything was fine now.  What, was I supposed to spill my guts out for him and tell him how I felt?  I had already cried in front of him, and big surprise, I was still here.

I didn’t bother looking at his expression.  His silence said it all.  He knew I was right.  With a snort of disgust, I ran away from him.  Thank goodness I was wearing sneakers instead of high heels.  It was bad enough I had to lift my long billowing skirts to run.  Now I knew how the girls felt back in the olden days.

It’s funny how fast your mood can change.  When the walk had started, I was as happy as can be, without a care in the world.  Now, as I ran the final distance, there wasn’t an ounce of joy left in me.  Anger had filled its spot.  How dare he upset me before we had to go save everyone?

I could see the parking lot for the skating rink.  My legs slowed to a brisk walk.  To my great irritation, Dustin was not far behind.  He caught up with me once I placed my hand on the door handle.  He grabbed my shoulder to stop me from going inside.

“Look, I’m sorry.  I was just a little surprised that you didn’t trust me a little more.  That’s all.”

I stared at him long enough to make him look away.  “Why?”

He was taken aback by this simple question.  “I just thought…we were, you know, friends.” He said this haltingly, not meeting my gaze.

“Not unless friends lie to each other all the time,” I answered.  

Dustin’s eyes met mine.  “You’re right, again.  How about we agree not to lie anymore.  Not to each other at least.  Sound good?”

I allowed myself a smile.  “Yeah,”

We went inside, the fight officially over.

True, Cattie, Marcus, and the rest of the gang were waiting for us at a booth in Starbucks.  I couldn’t help it.  I searched in vain for the cute employee.  Sighing, I followed Dustin to the table.

They greeted us rather cheerfully for people who were about to perform a risky rescue mission that could end badly.  

Once Dustin had put the bag of gadgets down on the table, it was back to business.  He took out a few tranquilizer guns.

There were enough for each of us to have one.  Next, he took out the same little silver box he had taken out of his pocket the night I was captured.  He explained to everyone that if you pressed the green button on the side, the box would unfold and expand into a ladder.  There was only one of those, and since he was the only one that really knew how to use it, Dustin kept it.  Next were the stink bombs.  He had been able to get his hands on only a few of these, so we couldn’t all have one.  He handed us each security cards to wear around our necks.  They would allow us to get past any scanners.

“Now this,” Dustin began, holding up a small black thing, “is an earpiece that will help us communicate.  Each of us will have one.” He handed them out.

The earpiece felt really weird.  It was really cold against my skin and it felt like I had a plug in my ear, like the ones kids wear for the pool.

Dustin then handed me a walkie-talkie.  He told the group that both he and I would have them as a backup to the earpieces.  After that, he took out a few more gadgets that he thought might help us.  Then came the map.  Everyone seemed surprised that he had been able to get his hands on it.  He spread it out on the table, looking smug.  The greatest thing about it was that every nook and cranny of the building had been marked.  It showed the hidden doors, windows, and rooms.  Everything.

“How in the world did you get this?  I mean, this has all we need.  It must have been really hard to find,” I marveled, studying the detailed map.

He shrugged.  “No big deal.  All it took was some brainpower.”

I shook my head in disbelief.  “After this is all over, you’ve gotta tell me how you got it.”

He grinned mysteriously.  “Deal.”

I turned back to the map.  “Looks like we can enter this way.” I pointed to the spot.  “Then we split up, find all the kids we can, and try to avoid the mad scientists.”

Taking a pen out of my purse, I marked all the escape routes.  Then we assigned hallways to people.  It was decided that we would go in pairs: me and True, Dustin and Marcus, Cattie and some guy named Gilbert, then Kathleen and Carlos (more of Marcus’s friends).  With everything decided, it was time to go.

True slowed to a walk beside me on the trail.  “Do you think we might still use Mission Impossible IV?”

“About that .  .  .” I told her that I’d always known I couldn’t shoot Dustin, and that I’d already shown Dustin the gun, and how Dustin had reacted.

She looked thoughtful for a minute.  “You sure you made the right call?”

“Yes,” I answered simply.  To tell you the truth, it really was as simple as that.  Like I told Dustin, deep down, I knew that I was never really ever going to go through with the plan.

True nudged me playfully.  “You like him, don’t you?”

I raised an eyebrow.  “Excuse me?”

She laughed.  “Stranger things have happened.  Anyway, it sounded like you two had a little somethin’ going on back home.”

“That was back home.  We’re here now…and just friends.  Sort of.”

True nodded slowly, not really believing me.  She took the hint and dropped the subject.  She noticed my dress for the first time, stating that it was one of the prettiest dresses she had ever seen.  Why wear it now?  I explained to her that I had only worn it because I hadn’t wanted to arouse suspicion.  It had to look like I was going on a date with Dustin.

“How did Dustin react when he saw you wearing
that
?”

I shrugged.  “He acted a little goofy, but it’s no big deal.”

True laughed.  “You’re acting like you don’t care, but you know you do.  I know what he was thinking.  He was thinking that you looked totally hot in that dress, which you do, by the way.”

Rolling my eyes, I thanked her, but assured her that Dustin definitely was not thinking that.  Besides, I wasn’t going to break into a building wearing a dress, no matter how good I looked in it.

Up ahead of us, Cattie was talking poor Gilbert’s ear off.  He was being very polite, standing there and nodding his head at whatever came out of her mouth.  The look on the boy’s face was in between confusion and polite interest.  The others watched this ordeal, trying hard not to laugh.  

Finally we arrived at the lab building.  It looked even more uninviting and sinister than it had before.  A dark cloud loomed over the tall, plain building.  This was it.  

This was what all the planning had been for.  Time to take action.  

The group gathered by a couple of bushes.  I began to take off the dress.

“What are you doing?” Dustin asked in alarm.

I told him that I was taking off the annoying dress and not to worry.  I had clothes on under it.

“Oh.” (Did he sound a little disappointed?)

I folded it up and left it behind a bush, straightened out my shirt, smoothed my hair, and casually walked back to the group.

“OK, people.  Let’s get this show on the road,” I said, clipping the walkie-talkie to my shorts pocket.  

Everyone nodded solemnly.  Dustin took out the carefully folded map.  We did a double check to make sure everybody had their gear.  And that was that.  We were off.

Before we could go inside, Marcus had to freeze the security camera.  That way the people watching the video wouldn’t see us.  Once he was done tinkering with the camera, Dustin took out the golden key again.  He searched for the side door, but strangely, couldn’t find it.  Neither of us understood where the utility room could have gone.  It had definitely been there a few days ago.  

While we tried to figure these things out, True wandered around the building.  She searched for the invisible window that had been marked on the map.  She signaled us with a loud clear whistle.  She had found it.  

We quietly made our way to her.  Her hands seemed to be sinking into the wall.  The sight was kind of unsettling.  True felt around the window, trying to find the opening.  Then, with a cry of triumph, she tugged upward.  Suddenly a perfectly square-shaped hole appeared where a wall used to be.  I cautiously glanced inside.  There was a big desk with a few chairs surrounding it.  A chalkboard filled with calculations and scribbles that no one but a genius could understand made up the wall across from the window.  This was likely where the evil scientists had their meetings.

Signaling for the others to follow, I climbed in.  Being the last one in, Carlos closed the window.  It turned back into a brick wall.

“How the heck did they do that?” Kathleen wondered in awe.

Dustin shrugged.  “Some sort of hologram or something.  With all this money, the technology has to be super advanced.” He acted really bored about this, like an invisible window was nothing special.  Was he kidding?!  This stuff was so advanced it was futuristic.

“According to this”—he held up the map—“we’re in the boardroom.  And right out those doors are two hallways.  I guess that’s where we split.  Let’s move.”

We followed him out, praying as we passed through the doorway that no alarms would go off.  Fortunately, our prayers were answered.  Wiping sweat from my brow, I quietly closed the door behind me.  Once at the fork in the hallway, we re-formed into two groups of four rather than pairs.  I ended up being with True, Dustin, and Marcus.  Cattie would be with the other group.  I felt kind of bad for her since she was working with people she barely knew.  My pity wasn’t necessary.  Cattie seemed perfectly at ease with them.  I couldn’t help but feel relieved.  Don’t get me wrong.  She was a good friend.  It was just that she could be kind of annoying at times and I really did not need a distraction.

“Remember, open every door with caution.  Don’t hesitate to use the tranquilizer guns,” Dustin reminded everyone before we split up.  “OK, the earpieces are on.  So if you need anything, just press it to your ear and start talking.  We should be able to hear you.  If you need to turn it off for any reason, just remove it from your ear and it will shut down instantly.”

After the “good luck’s” and “see you later’s,” my group took the left while the other took the right.  Our hallway looked almost exactly like the one we walked the other night, but there was no way to be sure whether it truly was.  Ominous doors lined the walls.  Each one held a secret that I was afraid to find out.  Tranquilizer guns ready, the girls took one side while the boys took the other.  Carefully, True and I opened the first door.  It opened to a rec room.  There was a big flat-screen TV, a few comfy couches, foosball tables, ping-pong, air hockey, and pool tables, plus a video game center.  We checked everywhere, but there was no one.  The guys were the same.  They had walked into a bathroom.  

The rest of the rooms in that hallway were empty too.  However, there were clues that people had been there recently.  In one room was a rack of wrinkled uniforms.  Some were dirtier than others, and a couple were ripped and had a few strands of hair on them.  Every single one had the same fresh grassy smell.  My guess?  The children had been outside a little while ago.  The question was, where were they now?

At the very end of the hallway stood a lone elevator.  That was the only way up.  No stairs.  No nothing.  The elevator was a dead end.  This wasn’t good.  We didn’t know what was up there.  

Even though the alarms in my head were so loud that everybody had to be hearing them, Dustin took a brave step forward.  He glanced expectantly our way.  His strange calm with this whole thing was really starting to bug me.  Just because he had nothing to worry about, being the head honcho’s son, didn’t mean that our lives weren’t on the line here.

I sauntered right into the elevator, mimicking Dustin’s coolness.  Once by Dustin’s side, I turned to the others.  Two pairs of uncertain eyes met my reassuring gaze.

“Come on, guys.  There’s nothing to be afraid of.” OK, even I didn’t believe that.  “We’ve gotten this far, so let’s keep going.  Besides, you know I’ve got your back.”

“That goes for me too,” said Dustin, stepping forward.  “We’re in this together.  It’s not just about us.  There are a whole lot of people counting on us right now, so let’s get up there before it’s too late.”

The others clambered inside after that little speech.  Since there was bound to be a camera inside there, Marcus busied himself by searching for and disabling it.  Kind of his specialty.  While True watched him in plain awe and admiration, I observed Dustin.  His face showed determination and a touch of anger.  I guessed that this was toward his father and the people working there.  Hands clamped in tight fists and shoulders clenched, he stared straight ahead without really looking at anything.  I came to realize that maybe the strange calm was just a front, hiding the fact that he was about to burst.