Legends of Mirandis Academy

Chapter 60: Barriers

Everybody in Mirandis Academy knew about the senior prank, which meant that it was going exactly according to plan.

Luna had learned it from an early age: people needed to know things. They had to know if a baby was a boy or a girl, even before it was born. They had to know things like age and height and occupation; they took down names like the world was a goddamn police station. They whispered about who was dating whom, about enemies and friends, drawing by voice the invisible borders within a population. It was human instinct. If a person believed that there was a secret to be uncovered, they would stop at nothing to satisfy their curiosity.

It was such a basic thing to circumvent, Luna reflected, while daydreaming in history class. It was the day before the prank. Just beneath the quiet surface of Mr. Saphiro's classroom, surreptitious communication seethed. Murmurs and hissed conversations passed through the classroom like mice in a field of grass, and the occasional word spoken too loudly caused Luna's ear to twitch. Earnest speculation. Furious debate. Some of it wrong. Some of it even more wrong.

"I thought it was the parking lot," said a sophomore next to Luna.

She was speaking to the boy in front of her, who did not turn to acknowledge her, but who delivered a confident, muttered reply: "It's the forest. They're going to do it in the forest."

"Do what?"

Luna restrained a snicker. It would be hilarious if the prophecy fulfilled itself and something did happen in the forest. Then again, who would pull it off? Who among the senior class truly had the passion, the panache? The dedication to such a specific brand of art? No, it had to be her. Luna would never tell Adrian, but it was this prank that was her true performance of the year. Sitting quietly in her classes, letting everyone hoodwink themselves.

Was she just a little bit smug? She was entitled to it.

"Ah, Luna." Mr. Saphiro singled her out, peering at her shrewdly over a pair of reading glasses. "If you would care to join the class again?"

"Sorry," said Luna breezily. "I must have missed your question."

"We are discussing Benjamin Franklin—"

Luna nodded. "Yes, I was there for that part."

"Most people are aware of his role in the American Revolution, but we are discussing some of his other pursuits. As an inventor, scientist, and writer; there is much in American vernacular that we owe to Mr. Franklin."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Isn't Benjamin Franklin the one who messed up electric charge? It's thanks to him that circuit diagrams are wrong."

Mr. Saphiro stared at her for a few seconds. His eyes narrowed. "That's correct," he said—which was something he had never said before to Luna. It was clear that he was caught off guard. "And... how exactly... did you learn this?"

The truth was that Luna sometimes picked up stray facts about circuitry from Iridia, and Iridia cursed Benjamin Franklin's legacy at least once a month. But Luna wasn't in the mood for straightforward answers. Instead, she leaned forwards at her desk and gave Mr. Saphiro a sweet smile.

"Consider this, Mr. Saphiro: three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead."

It was almost like being a celebrity in the hallways. Not that the crowd parted for her—they never had, they barely saw her—but the wash of rumor around her sounded like words she had already spoken, and more than once she heard her own name.

"It's gonna be in the forest."

"—y'know, by the track."

"—know what's happening?"