Secrecy: Olde Earth Academy: Year One Read online

“But where is this, again, exactly?” Dad asked.

  “Our head facility is located in North America.”

  I let my jaw drop. “That’s it? You can’t even say where?” Why the secrecy?

  He spread his hands out in a gesture of surrender. “We maintain our locations in as much privacy as possible. Understand, we have many students and members of faculty who command and deserve such treatment.”

  Sabine huffed. “What, like royalty?”

  “Among others.”

  Now her jaw dropped.

  “Our students come from a variety of walks of life. Politics, royalty, fine arts—”

  “Hold up.” Sabine thrust her palm up. “Fine arts? What’s that mean? Like, actors?”

  Mr. Suthering nodded and sighed. “Yes. And others of global recognition. We strive to ensure as much campus security and confidentiality as possible.”

  I licked my lips and waited for more. He had to give us a little more than complete vagueness.

  He didn’t disappoint. Kind of. “As I was saying, should you accept, we would need to leave immediately, as our travels will take some time.”

  Okay, so if we were here in Texas, and we had all of North America as a possibility… God, it was just a huge question mark. Most importantly, I couldn’t deny the single most prominent fact he had shared.

  Wherever this ritzy top-secret academy was, it wasn’t here, but a travel-worthy distance away.

  Away.

  Far, far away, perhaps.

  For free.

  I had no clue why the Olde Earth Academy might be interested in me, especially if they were basing my enrollment requirements from a dinky local news clip of me calming down a few dogs and my GPA.

  But Mr. Suthering, in his deep, gentle voice, was offering me a ticket out of here.

  Away from Coltin. A fresh start where no one would know me. I didn’t care exactly who I’d be rubbing elbows with—famous people or not. They wouldn’t know me. I’d be a noob. No one would be able to judge me because I’d insisted on seeing a sea monster when I was six. Or that I—

  I swallowed as I cut my gaze from the coffee table to Mr. Suthering’s face, watching that feline-headed iguana from my peripheral vision.

  No one would be able to judge me because I thought I saw a cat-reptile on someone’s shoulder.

  Because I only thought it. That thing wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.

  As I remained silent, stalling for a reply or answer to Mr. Suthering’s invite, I couldn’t help but replay his teasing question.

  Cat got your tongue?

  It had to be a coincidence.

  Meshed-up animals didn’t exist.

  But what was very real and right there in front of me was a chance out of here. “Seeing” fake animals was a problem I’d probably have no matter where I was. It wasn’t any reason to not leave.

  “Miss Holden?” he asked. “Would you be interested in accompanying me to the Academy? To see if it might be an institution where you could succeed past your current educational options?”

  I glanced at Dad and almost worried for him at the dismayed expression tugging his usually jovial face into a frown. Because he’d miss me? He should have been prepared. It wasn’t like I kept my life goals a secret. He knew I couldn’t wait to strike out on my own. Though, maybe he thought he had time, like, four years before I’d fly from the nest. As sentimental as he could be, there was no reason for him to get clingy now. He’d have one less mouth to feed. Sabine would still be here and they’d have each other, just like they always had.

  Really, there was hardly an argument.

  “Yes. I’d love to.”

  There.

  I did it.

  I said yes, and I was going to be free of this hot, small town of judgment.

  Sabine shot to her feet. “Wait a second!”

  I’d be free of her. I wouldn’t have to watch my once-kinda nice twin sister completely morph into a colossal bitch. I wouldn’t have to tuck my head down and let all my classmates’ taunts go in one ear and out the other. I’d never have to hear Darren complaining at work or threatening trouble.

  No more waiting hours for my sister to get the hell out of the single, miniature bathroom in our trailer. No more scrimping and saving all of my earnings just to help Dad put food on the table. No more…anything Coltin!

  Maybe I was agreeing to this hidden school thing too hastily, naïvely, perhaps. But anywhere else had to be better than staying here.

  “What about me?” Sabine asked, both hands on her hips.

  You? I get to say buh-bye, dear sista.

  “Why can’t I come?” She cocked her head to the side and her hair flipped over her shoulder.

  Before I could fully gloat in my own shot at a new life out of this hellhole of a home, I entertained a sliver of pity for her. Even though Sabine was the queen of her crowd, I bet she’d love to get out and have a brighter future elsewhere too. Maybe she’d be reluctant to leave Darren, but who knew how committed she’d be to her first “real” boyfriend. As much as she crushed on upperclassmen, it seemed her commitment was weak.

  “Well, our committee specifically desired to invite Layla,” Mr. Suthering began.

  Dad stepped closer and wrapped his arm around Sabine’s shoulders. “But…”

  What? What excuse was he going to make? Sabine was always the good one. The right one. The “good” twin. The daughter who could never ever do anything wrong. The sister who didn’t freak him out and cost him high bills for mental health assessments and numerous therapists.

  Of course, he’d feel like his precious Sabine was being slighted.

  Jealousy seeped into me, raising my blood pressure. I clamped my lips shut to silence any harsh words. Feeling my heart beat faster, I tried to keep my cool.

  They want me, Sabine. For once, someone is choosing me, not you. Back. Off.

  The creature on Mr. Suthering’s shoulder reared onto its dinosaur-like legs and let out a hiss at Sabine.

  Whoa. I looked straight at it, as everyone else was focused on my sister at the moment. What the… Blinking, I tore my stare from it.

  Dad sighed and said, “You can’t expect to separate such close sisters.”

  What? I choked on a laugh.

  Close sisters?

  Close-to-strangling-each-other sisters? Sabine and I hadn’t been semi-close since we were six years old.

  “Especially twins.”

  Mr. Suthering stared at Dad and Sabine standing there together. He kept his gaze steady on them far too long for my comfort. Was he actually considering it? Contemplating an invitation to Sabine?

  No.

  He couldn’t.

  Please, no.

  She couldn’t just butt in and ride on my ticket out of here. There was no reason for her to be lumped into my invitation. Her grades were barely above passing!

  He just could not—

  Mr. Suthering nodded. “Okay.”

  I slumped with defeat, my shoulders sagging at his answer. My mouth followed suit as I gawked at him, my face surely falling to pool at my feet on the torn carpet of the floor.

  “So, I can come?” she asked and clapped her hands together. Dad beamed and hugged her to his side.

  Mr. Suthering glanced at me, and I almost did a double-take at the creature on his jacket sleeve. It had slinked down along his upper arm, its scaly green tail wrapping around the dark fabric over his bicep. With one quirked brow, he seemed to assess my reaction.

  All I could do was exhale in one slow drag of fury and stare right back at him. Like I’d give him the chance to see my true feelings on my sister coming along.

  “Really? I can come too?” Sabine emitted a squeal and hopped. The floor vibrated with her jumps. The trailer was never good at handling acrobatics.

  “Yes, Miss Holden.” Mr. Suthering caught the glass of water on the coffee table before it teetered from her movements jostling our home.

  I hoped I wasn’t glaring, but I maintained eye contact
with Mr. Suthering and asked, “Why?”

  This isn’t some sort of BOGO event!

  “Seeing as you’re twins…” He scooted forward as though he intended to stand. With a shrug, he said, “Only seems fair.”

  Chapter Four

  Fair.

  Fairness was a myth.

  Nothing in life was fair. At least, it sure as heck wasn’t in mine.

  Unfair was the only way to describe Sabine coming to Olde Earth Academy. It didn’t matter that she had zero qualifications to attend any prestigious educational institution. All that mattered was that she was related to me.

  Gee, why don’t they throw Dad in and give him a chance to return to school to study Shakespeare again, too? He’s a relative as well.

  I fumed in the living room as Dad and Mr. Suthering discussed logistics and details outside near Mr. Suthering’s car. Something about needing to retrieve a briefcase.

  Sabine paced as I folded myself into the loveseat. Her back-and-forth paths jolted the narrow frame of the trailer. Instead of being lulled by the movement, it ramped up my anger.

  How could she?

  How dare she!

  I crossed my arms over my chest and didn’t relax, even when my nails dug into my flesh.

  It was so unfathomable to her that I could get something. That I could possibly deserve anything just for myself. I was sure that was the only reason she wanted to go.

  I tracked her, glaring at her as she grinned and sashayed from the kitchenette toward the bedrooms. She had no plans for her education and had never mentioned any inclination for college. School was merely a boring pastime for my twin. An opportunity to lord over the inferior students and show off her boobs to all the boys who’d risk flat-out ogling her.

  Newsflash, Sabine. You aren’t the only one with breasts.

  Yet as soon as I got a chance to do something with my life, she just had to be there and burst my bubble.

  Unbridled glee glittered in her eyes on a return trek. “I wonder who goes there…”

  And there it was. Tagging along with me to this academy was just an upgrade. Moving up from watching and instigating the drama of our small-town peers to doing the exact same thing with supposedly famous people.

  Unbelievable. No, actually, it made complete sense. Sabine only thought of herself and how she might benefit.

  Before she could simmer up any more annoying enthusiasm pacing back and forth, Dad returned with Mr. Suthering right behind him. For the first time this evening, it was just Mr. Suthering. No cat-lizard thing on his shoulder.

  See. It wasn’t real. I let out a deep breath, relieved at my…reaffirmation that I wasn’t crazy. I couldn’t be. Olde Earth Academy probably didn’t seek out hallucinating psychos. This hotshot school surely had seen my medical records to know I had some issues in my younger years. Or perhaps those kinds of things would be confidential under a HIPAA law.

  Issues. I’d had some issues. Past tense. Because I did not see some weird animal thing tonight.

  I hoped the more I thought it, the more it’d stick. So far, that conviction had a slippery purchase in my mind. Because even as I took in the absence of that freakish mutant, I knew it was too realistic to have been my imagination. Heck, it had hissed at my sister for me when I’d wanted to.

  “Layla, can I talk to you for a moment?” Dad asked as he entered the living space again. “Sabine, Mr. Suthering is going to begin sharing some expectations and NDAs with you.”

  I rose to my feet to follow Dad. “Sure.”

  Nondisclosure agreements? Well, he did say it is a private academy. Still, a nondisclosure agreement should probably be a document for Dad to check off, not my dim-witted sister. Besides, it was a futile idea to imagine Sabine understanding any principle of confidentiality. If her phone wasn’t off and charging on the kitchenette counter, she probably would have been texting all of her cronies with the exciting news.

  “Of course!” She went with Mr. Suthering to sit at the battered coffee table.

  Of course. Yeah. Right. Like she could keep her mouth shut.

  Dad muted their low voices once he closed the door behind me. In my and Sabine’s room, we were limited on space. Either he and I both sat on my neatly tucked-in twin bed or he’d risk claiming a seat on Sabine’s mattress covered in a haphazard mess of makeup, clothes, shoes, and junk food containers.

  He lowered to sit on my bed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I know you’re probably unhappy that she’s going too…”

  “Understatement of the year.”

  He sighed and stared unseeingly ahead at Sabine’s excuse of a bed. “Humor me, Layla. I… I have no idea what this school’s really about.”

  But you’re cool with letting me—us—go? He wasn’t the sharpest father out there, but he’d never failed to secure our safety.

  “He shows up here with a flimsy brochure and promises some elitist, fancy-schmancy education for you…”

  It’s a chance out of this place. Why couldn’t he see that first and foremost?

  “And if it’s as great as it is, well, you’ll get a better experience there than here.”

  Thank. You.

  “But I’d feel better if I knew you two were together.”

  So we can hate each other a little more? I slanted him a look and he held his hands up. “Look. I know you girls don’t… You tolerate each other. Okay? That’s natural.”

  Bickering was natural. Despising Sabine the way I did had to be a unique force in the universe. And her likewise.

  “But you can stick together. Right? You’re family. So if something were to come up at this school…”

  He truly was worried, not just forcing us together like he used to in joint timeout sessions as he’d been advised on some crunchy parenting blog. Heck, if he was nervous about the safety of us leaving for an academy, why’d he entertain this possibility to begin with?

  “Something like what?”

  I expected him to admit the usual headaches that probably kept most parents up at night. School shootings. Kidnappers. Religious cults. Sexual assault…

  “Something like…your…visions coming back.”

  Ah. Like me seeing fictional animals? Things exactly like the cat-reptile on Mr. Suthering’s shoulder? I nodded, my heart sinking at the realization that Dad still viewed me as something less than. Something damaged and needy. Someone who shouldn’t go off to an advanced school without a family member as backup.

  Regardless of all the years I’d wizened up and pretended I was fine, that I was normal, Dad still saw me as nothing more than the freak he had to send to shrinks. The child he was instructed to pump with drugs that offered no help.

  A bitter laugh escaped before I could catch it. “And what, Sabine is going to help me if I ever needed someone?”

  “Well, she at least is familiar with…”

  Me? Sure didn’t feel like it.

  He couldn’t even coin it. He didn’t know how to explain my freakiness.

  “My insanity?”

  Dad chuckled a couple of times then. Wrapped his arm around my shoulders and tugged me into his side. Only, he was leaning on me, rather than offering any support. “Hell, Layla. Everyone’s a little insane. You girls fighting like you do makes me insane some days.”

  I wiggled out of his embrace and brought my feet up to the edge of the mattress. I hugged my knees instead.

  “Just, be there for each other. Be each other’s supporting cast.”

  I rolled my eyes, not in the mood for a pending playwright lecture riddled with parental advice and requests. Once he got in the mood to act his age, Dad’s only disciplinarian style was shown as inserts in his theater lessons.

  “In this drama we call life, we need many things we might not realize. Characters, props, and now this new scenery, Layla. If you want to go, I won’t stop you. I’ll only ask that you keep an open mind and let Sabine come along.”

  All or nothing. I either stay here with Sabine or go away with her. I didn’t
have to like or even try to sympathize with Dad’s reasoning. He was the parent, and at the end of it, his signature would be the key to unlock the way to the Academy. His word was final.

  Dammit.

  “Fine.”

  I didn’t have time to agonize over my decision to go. Nor did I have the chance to lament and mentally rant that Sabine was tagging along. Such a big change in life, and I—we—were thrust into it. There was no room for any feelings, doubts, or excitements to fester and spiral out of control.

  As soon as Dad finished his little pep talk with me, ensuring he had my cooperation about Sabine coming to the Academy, I was instructed to sit across from Mr. Suthering for the NDA. This wasn’t a sheet of paper with some run-of-the-mill legalese about not sharing photos on social media. Well, that was on there. Absolutely no material to be shared via social media.

  “So, we do get to keep our phones?” Sabine asked, probably for the fifth time as I squinted to read all the details in the itty-bitty font.

  “Not the current device you possess. We will acquire a new one for you once we arrive.”

  “So, we will have the internet?”

  Mr. Suthering’s sigh was deep but still polite. “Yes.”

  “So—”

  I held up my hand. “I’m trying to read.”

  She snorted.

  “Why don’t you start packing, honey?” Dad suggested to her.

  Start packing? Ha. According to the line three-quarters of the way down page four, we weren’t allowed to bring much. Olde Earth would provide everything and anything we could possibly need.

  I stabbed my finger to the section and glanced at the headmaster. “Am I allowed to bring my toothbrush?”

  His smile seemed to be one of amusement. “Sure.”

  Hey, I liked my toothbrush. How could I know if the Academy would have a great variety of essentials? The mystery of it, what I might encounter there, prodded me closer to anxiety and further from eager giddiness.

  We can’t bring anything other than a change of clothes. Few personal mementos. A toothbrush, apparently. And they’d see to the rest? Trust. That was the trigger here. How could I trust I would be able to get whatever I needed there?

  We can’t tell anyone about anything at the Academy. When I first read through the portions pertaining to confidentiality, it struck me as a what-happens-in-Vegas-stays-in-Vegas kind of deal. Rereading it clarified just how strict they were. Phone calls were monitored. Emails were screened. Travel was minimal.