The Academy (Part 2 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 17- Preparation

Rosine:

My bag was packed and stowed underneath my bed. I could barely sleep the night before in anticipation, but I wasn't the only one. Nyoka and Daitan were up late with their movies and Phoenix was reading one of her books late into the night, but we all knew that none of it felt normal. There was a certain tension in the air.

I thought Forte might have spent the night with us camped out in Nyoka's room, but understandably, he had stayed in his room to sort through his thing and pack a bag. It was easier for me than my friends- the single possession that I cared about above all else was the ring on my finger that was my mother's. The rest were clothes mostly, thrown into my bag by my sister and Blaise.

For the others, they had to choose which of their worldly possessions they would take with them. None of them were the sentimental types, but I knew that Phoenix was morally conflicted about leaving her books behind. There were no promises that we would ever be able to come back for anything, even if we could later discredit the school and get it shut down, the Academy may have very well destroyed their belongings at that point.

Since it took them much longer to go through their things, understandably, I had a lot more time for hand wringing and worrying. There was no point in stressing over the situation, we had all prepared as much as possible for our individual tasks. Daitan and Nyoka had probably told every single student about the rumored lock-in and party that was supposed to happen tonight, we even heard it from others at breakfast.

One of the girls I had before, I thought her name was Amanda, dropped onto our breakfast bench, "Did you guys hear about the party tonight?"

We all feigned surprise, looking at each other like it was news to us. Daitan was a good actress, "No, what do you mean a party?"

The pretty girl with dark brown hair leaned forwards, "Well, apparently there's supposed to be some sort of party thing here in the hall tonight. You're all coming, right?"

"Of course we're in," Nyoka smiled. "What time?"

Amanda glanced towards the teachers up above us on the balcony, almost as if they could hear us from so far away. "Eight o'clock. I heard from someone that we might even be able to sneak into the kitchen and get some food after hours. It's going to be awesome!"

She gave an excited squeal before jumping up and running to another table nearby. I couldn't help but think that in a school like this, completely shuttered off from the world, this was the closest thing to a high school or college party that they were ever going to get. These kids were all placed here not just for their education, but for complete isolation. And none of them even knew it.

"Did you add that part about breaking into the kitchens?" Phoenix muttered to Nyoka. The quiet girl had been reading all morning like she always did, but I could tell she hadn't been entirely focused on it because her eyes kept drifting over the same pages again and again.

"Nope," Nyoka popped the 'p' with a grin. "I told you, around here, rumors take on a life of their own. Amanda alone has probably told like twenty people. I promised you, this is going to work."

I nodded, having trusted her but definitely feeling more confident now that I had seen the word spreading in person. With a discreet glance up towards the balcony of teachers above us, I made a quick note that I didn't see Forte. He was probably still getting ready this morning. Last night before curfew, even though as a teacher he had more leniency, he had swung by to drop off a duffel bag that we could sneak out the window with our own things. This morning I figured that he was still packing a backpack or something small that would be less noticeable when he snuck out to hotwire the car.