The Academy

4

Amber felt uneasy. Marian didn't look up from her food. Amber got up and picked up her empty tray. 

"I need to get water," she said and walked away from their table. 

"What was that about??" whispered Irene to Marian. 

Amber hurriedly walked outside the cafeteria. She bumped into a few people as she got out. She reached the edge of the floor. Looking down she could see trees and students laying in the shadow of the trees, studying or just relaxing. The sun shone brightly up in the sky. Amber closed her eyes and took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. Marian stood in front of her. Irene and Claudia stood behind her. There was nobody else around them. Connor and Hayden were there too. 

"Tell us," said Marian. 

"Claudia stepped forward, "We are your friends. It's okay you can talk to us about stuff." 

"No, you are not. You barely know me. We met each other only 3 days ago." retaliated Amber as she took a step back. "Leave me alone."

"Well, there has to be beginning to everything. right?" said Irene with a smile as she moved forward and placed her hand on Amber's shoulder. 

"Let's talk somewhere else," Irene said as she turned around towards the group. 

Everybody walked back to the dorms to go back to Amber and Marian's room. The streets were pretty empty so were the hallways. Irene, Claudia, Connor, and Hayden entered the room behind Marian and Amber.

"Come to think of it none of us actually know each other," said Irene as she grabbed a chair and sat down. "Let's all sit down and share our stories." 

"Sounds good to me. I'll start!" Claudia replied excitedly. 

"Okay so, my dad is Baron Hasselback which has its own perks and downsides," she said. 

"Wait! Baron Hasselback?? You mean you are one of the Hasselbacks????" Irene interrupted with her eyes wide open in amazement. 

Amber looked puzzled. she had no clue of who The Hasselbacks were. 

"Hasselbacks are one of the wealthiest and influential families in the Capital," Connor explained Amber. 

"Anyways, I had a pretty lonely childhood. I was homeschooled so I barely knew anyone my age. But I got a lot of insight on the politics here at the Academy." she giggled. "

"okay next me!" Irene jumped in. "So, I was a straight-A student at my school. Aced everything I did." she continued in a proud tone, crossing her arms. 

"Do you have siblings?" asked Marian. 

"Um... yea .. a sister..... she lives abroad though," Irene said hesitantly. 

"I guess I'll go next," said Hayden. 

"I'm not done yet!" yelled Irene. 

"Sounded like you were," Hayden replied. 

"Since we are going to be friends moving forward, I wanted to share something, I am....  afraid .... of heights," she said in a meek voice. 

Hayden looked at Irene with a pale, serious face. 

"What!" she exclaimed. At that moment Hayden burst out into laughter. Everybody started laughing with him. 

"Moving on," said Hayden. "I'm Hayden. Nice to meet you." he said acting all formal, "I went to the same school as Irene. So if you wanna know secrets about her, I am a walking thesaurus for it." 

"You dare!" Irene said grinding her teeth and giving him a mean side eye. 

"There is nothing much about me. I have an older sister. She works at The Brain. Both my parents work as well. An I will most probably work in the future too." he said. 

"Yea he is pretty boring." said Irene, "What about you Marian?" 

Marian hadn't said much during the entire conversation. Her mind was still fixated on Amber. 

"Huh?  Me?" she looked up at everyone. Amber felt that Marian was uneasy. 

"I- well- I was raised by my mom. She is an elementary school teacher. I used to help her out in class a lot, so I am pretty good with kids." she said, "Since everyone is already wondering, here it is, my dad died in a car accident when I was 5." 

"I'm so sorry," said Claudia. 

It finally hit Amber why Marian was so curious about the car crash this morning. 

"It's okay. I have a few vague memories of him which are all happy memories, so that's good."  she continued. 

"What about you Connor?" asked Marian. 

"Oh, It's my turn already. Um- I grew up just an hour away from here in a suburban town called Kerbsville."   he said, "I don't know who my parents are since I grew up in an orphanage. I have no memories of them so it doesn't matter." he giggled, "on a happier note, I love to draw and read, so if you guys need any help with notes and readings let me know. 

"You'll definitely get calls from me," said Hayden. 

"I guess I am the only one left and the whole reason we are doing this," Amber said. Everybody turned towards her. 

"I grew up in a small mountain town. I would tell you the name but you probably won't know. I lived with my grandmother and my aunt." she said. 

"What about your parents?" asked Connor.

"My parents are the reason I am here at The Academy. Five years ago, my mom and dad were hired as lab scientists here at The Academy. Last year a letter came from the Academy saying that my parents had to go under protection due to confidential content they were working on." she continued after a sigh, "I never heard from them since then." Amber got up from her bed and walked over to the window. 

"But that has nothing to with what happened this morning or last night," she said. 

"What was it?" Irene asked. 

"I don't exactly know. It was the first time it had happened. Last night I heard a scream and a honk. The pain in the scream was excruciating." she said, "And this morning I saw someone slipping and then a pool of blood." 

"And the waiter died in a car accident. And that girl this morning slipped and her head was bleeding." said Marian, "It can't be a coincidence."

"Are you suggesting that... Amber ... saw the future." uttered Claudia hesitantly. 

A chill went down Amber's spine. Did she really see the future?

"Wait does that mean she has death sense?" asked Irene. 

"No! the girl she saw this morning didn't die. Did she?" exclaimed Hayden. 

"I mean ... I don't know ... she was taken by the medics... she didn't look dead." replied Marian. 

"But the waiter died," said Connor. 

"Wait! But for Amber to use the death sense ability, she needs to make physical contact and she had never met the girl," said Claudia. 

"You've made physical contact with us too," said Irene as she stared at Amber. 

Amber stared back at them and bit her lower lip.