Beyond The Fence

Chapter 10:

The colour drained from Clary's face. Fear fogged her mind, making it difficult for her to think logically. She glanced at Austin, who was looking straight at her. Nodding in her direction, he spoke, trying to control the terror in his voice to a degree:

"T-they're from Preston's Academy."

"Preston's Academy? Didn't that shut down last week?"

When Austin's eyes met with Clary's from across the room, she knew it was her turn to speak.

"It did? That's...unbelievable."

Since Mikayla and Xanthos were Austin's cousin, the son of the District's president, the Principal agreed to take an admission test the next day. If they passed the test, they would be enrolled. The Principal also allowed them to take classes that day so they would be aware of the schooling system. Being related to the President's son had its perks.

"How'd you know Preston's Academy shut down last week? Was it a guess?" Nelson asked Austin, once they were outside the Principal's office.

"No. Sometimes all the crap Steph blabs about can be helpful."

"Indeed."
*****
Sitting in class, Clary couldn't help but feel how flawed everything about the school was. Humans have strong hearts and curious minds which drive them to learn and explore. They aren't meant to be compliant. They are not supposed to be told what to think or instructed what to do. They ain't nobody's trained monkeys. They need freedom. The classroom did not provide even an ounce of that. No one in class wanted to be there or to study what they were being taught. Well, everyone besides Nelson. He seemed lost in his notebook, probably writing down the teacher's lecture, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Austin was sitting two seats away from Clary, laughing over something with Stephanie. She scanned the classroom for Jason, who seemed to be looking straight at her. He winked when their eyes met.

Most of the students were relieved when the bell rang, indicating that it was time for lunch break, but not Clary. Lunch break meant hanging out with Stephanie and Jason, and she was not ready for that. Nelson walked over to Clary's seat, holding up his notebook for her to look at.

"Look, I drew a monkey!" he said.

"Honestly, Nelson? I thought you were writing the teacher's lecture."

Before Nelson could respond to that, Austin called out:

"Coming?"

Clary could see Stephanie and Jason behind him, their faces twisted into malicious smiles. She nodded her head in response, as she walked towards Austin with Nelson just behind her.

****

"That's not how you hold it!" Austin muttered through his clenched teeth.

The lunch lady handed them burgers for lunch. Since there were no "burgers" back in Albama, Clary laughed out loud when Austin told her what the lunch lady was serving. She found the word "burgers" to be hilarious for some reason.

"Well I've never had it before, so how am I supposed to know?"

"Can't you just copy me?"

"I'm trying!"

Austin sighed, putting his own burger down to help Clary hold hers. A few students snickered at them as they passed by their table. Austin rolled his eyes at them.

"So, Mikayla, how is life back in District B?" Stephanie asked.

The five of them were all seated at the same table, eating their lunches.

"Without burgers," Clary said with food stuffed in her mouth.

"What?"

"What I mean to say is, that it is extremely boring and that I am glad to be here with you guys."

"So are we Mikayla, so are we."

****

After school, Clary and Nelson sneaked into Austin's room, hiding from his parents. They spent the rest of their day cramming for their admission test.

By one o'clock that night, Nelson was asleep on Austin's bed with a book over his face and a pen in his hand.

Austin was sitting on his study table, engrossed in an English assignment. Sleep was miles away from Clary and she was tired of counting the number of tiles in Austin's room. Boredom forced her to walk up to his desk and before she knew it, she was talking to him.

"Hey."

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Then ask."

"Why did you lie about us belonging from Preston's Academy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not like you want to have us around."

"Yeah."

"And you don't even care if we die or something."

"True."

"Then you could've have told the Principal the truth and gotten rid of us."

"Oh, Clary, Clary, Clary.." Austin said as he stood up from his chair to walk towards her.

"I'm still curious about you guys and your life," he said. Tucking a stray strand of hair from Clary's ponytail, behind her ear, he added:

"In fact, the curiosity has only increased."
                                                                                       *****

A/N: Thank you so much for 1K reads. You guys are the best! I really appreciate your support for this story.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. :)