Secret

Chapter Four

I have no idea where the Lounge is, but Cole looks busy and I know not to ask him. Ms. Meyer hasn't given me any specific instructions, so I have nothing that I have to do, but the first thing I will do is find the Lounge.

"Hi," I say to Gracie as I walk over to her.

She sets the watering can down and faces me with a bright smile. "Hey, Cassidy, right?"

"Yeah," I reply. "I was wondering if you could tell me where the Lounge is."

"It's right next door," Grace tells me, and I feel like a total idiot.

"Thanks." She smiles and continues watering the plant/

All of the kids seem busy, so there is nothing to do in the room, and I walk next door to the Lounge, which looks exactly like it sounds. It's a big, white room filled with bright colored couches, chairs, desks, tables, and anything and everything that is the definition of perfect, except there is no technology, which I already miss.

Clank! Clank! It sounds like Ms. Meyer's high heels hitting the follow, and I flinch as I turn around, expecting to see her. Instead, Gracie comes into the room wearing tap shoes, which is odd, but everything seems to be.

I sigh in relief. "You scared me."

"Ms. Meyer?" she asks, and I nod. "Yeah, sorry about that. I just wanted to make sure you were finding everything okay so far." I doubt that.

"Uh, I am, thanks," I reply.

"Nothing's strange?" she says.

"No," I lie.

"It will soon," she mumbles, and then quickly recovers. "I'm glad you're enjoying MAD."

"Yeah. How long have you been here?"

"Six months or so."

"Do you like it?"

"As much as one can."

I frown. "What do you mean?"

Gracie shrugs. "Forget what I said. I'm tired, that's all."

A moment of silence passes.

"I heard you're a tech genius," I whisper.

"And I can edit the film," she reminds me. "You don't have to whisper."

"Right," I say. "I guess being a tech genius doesn't really help here, huh?"

"Because Ms. Meyer is afraid we'll complain to our parents and they'll take us away," she explains. "Which would probably happen, so it's smart of her to take away all electronics except for the boards in the classrooms."

"Is there something wrong with this school?" I ask. "Everyone's acting like it's some form of prison."

"We'll explain later," Gracie promises, speaking the three words I've already heard so many times.

"Right," I repeat.

Another moment of silence passes.

"I'm going to go check out the rest of the school," I tell her at the same time she tells me, "I should get back to work." We nod in agreement and part our separate ways, although we both know that I'm not checking out the rest of the school, and she has no work to do, since it's apparently a free period for her, Rebecca, Cole, and the twins.

Instead, I get directions to my room that I'm sharing with Rebecca and Gracie and lay on my bed, lost in the world of being bored.

As ten-o-clock rolls around, a woman knocks on my room and calls, "Lights out in thirty!"

Gracie, Rebecca, and I all mumble, "Yeah," and continue talking.

"The P.E. teacher makes you run five miles every time you have class?" I ask in disbelief.

"Sadly," Rebecca says. "And you're stuck with him until you leave."

"And that's when..." I motion for them to finish the sentence.

"Graduation," she replies, which actually means, "When you leave. Done."

I sigh.

"There's plenty of fun classes, though," Gracie assures. 

"Like?" I ask.

"You'll see," is all she replies, which actually means, "I can't think of any."

"Are you girls getting ready for bed?" the woman calls from the door.

Once again, we all mumble, "Yeah," and continue talking.

"And here I thought I could get away from my annoying mom," I murmur.

"Is that talking I hear?" she demands, and I hear her stop right outside the door.

"No, ma'am," I say.

"But you should listen to her," Rebecca whispers. "She has horns where her ears should be!"

"And you do not want to get detention with her," Gracie warns, and then we all shut up.

An hour and a half later, I crawl out of bed, confirmed that the woman has left and everyone is asleep. I slip on some shoes and slowly open the door, which unfortunately creaks loudly. I close it softly and speed walk over to the Lounge. I had taken my extra time earlier to insure that I know the path by heart.

Thankfully, I don't cross paths with anyone, and hope that Cole doesn't either, but ten minutes later, I'm yawning and fear that he's been caught. I check my watch. 12:03 am. Cole still isn't at the Lounge, and I'm about to leave when he hurries in and locks the door behind him. As soon as he spots the lights turned on, he quickly turns them off.

"It's kinda dark," I comment, as I can't even see the finger I'm raising in front of myself.

"Quiet," he whispers. "No one can know we're here. Sorry I'm late, too. Ms. Meyer was blocking the main hall and I had to go the long way." Just like I thought.

"Why am I here?" I ask. I just want to get this over with.

"I need your help," Cole explains. "I can control objects with my mind. You can fly. It's just what we need to get out of here."

"Why would we leave? I just got here. Sure, I wasn't too pleased, but it seems great now."

"It's not," Cole says. "Ms. Meyer doesn't want us to use our abilities because she wants us to lose them, and then she's going to do something to us...I don't know the full details, because whenever it happens to people, they won't talk about it."

"You're lying," I accuse.

"I'm not," he replies. "Every night, you have to do something with your ability so you don't lose it. You're rooming with Gracie and Rebecca, so they should be able to remind you, but whatever you do, don't listen to Ms. Meyer."

"I'll tell her everything," I threaten.

"Don't, please, Cassidy. Keep using your ability in secret whenever possible, okay? It's for your own safety. You have to believe me. You don't leave here unless you're normal."

"What if I want to be normal?" I shout softly, and then raise my voice. "What if I'm tired of people being scared of me?"

Cole puts a finger to his lips. "Not so loud! But seriously, do you really not want to be able to do what you can do? You can fly, for crying out loud! Why would you want to take it away?"

"I still don't believe you," I say quietly. "And I'm telling Ms. Meyer you're disobeying her."

"You can't. I'm begging you not to."

"Fine," I grumble. "But I still don't believe you."

He sighs. "Your loss."