The Academy

Chapter 4

The rest of my weekend was pretty boring. My mom and James returned home, but not before spending more time trying to make me fall for their dumb prank. I did get my homework done but a lot my time spent "doing work" was actually spent procrastinating. By Monday, I had stopped caring about the fiasco that had occurred on Saturday. I didn't have time to hold grudges about stupid stuff.

On my way to class, I run into Pepper, my suite mate. She's rarely up early like this, but unfortunately, her one 8 am class is on Monday.

"Hey girl hey. How was your class?"

The only response she dignifies me with is her middle finger as she passes me on the way back to our dorm. I sounded much too chipper for her which is a purposeful choice I make when I see her early in the morning. The purpose: teasing her about having to be up earlier than me.

My 9 am class is a Law class, so it can be pretty boring, but I love it. My professor knows how we're all feeling so early on Mondays and tries to keep the mood as upbeat as possible with weird shit to help us stay awake.

I'm in the dining hall for breakfast by 10:30. It smells a bit smoky still, but everything except one section of the kitchen seems to be operating well. Surprisingly, Mac is here, eating breakfast. He lives in an apartment off campus, so he could just eat at home. I decide to go sit with him. "Hey man! What are you doing here? You could be eating a bowl of cereal at home instead of wasting a swipe on one."

"My roommates got high as fuck last night, ate all of the groceries, and rearranged all of our furniture, including in my room. I mean I like it but they were obviously on more than just weed."

"Damn. Your roommates are fucking crazy man. Are they recovering alright? They must feel like shit coming down from a high like that."

Apparently Mac left before any of his roommates regained consciousness, so left to go back and make sure they are still alive... and ready to clean up the mess they made/ buy more groceries. I don't blame him. They're losing their fucking shit and wast out way too often.

When I get back to my room, I notice the door is open. Leda must have forgotten to shut it all the way when she left for class. I hope no one stole my laptop or anything.

When I walk through the door, there's a woman in a suit looking directly at me. She smiles and says "Hello Ms. Roberts. It is time for your entrance exam. Please leave your belongings here and come with me."

"How did you get in my room? And what entrance exam? Did my mom pay you to do this? What an elaborate prank to pull, especially considering I didn't fall for it in the first place."

"I can assure you Ms. Roberts that this is not a prank. And even if it were, don't you want to see the end of it?"

"Not particularly, but whatever. Let's go to this 'entrance exam' or whatever. What lot are you parked in?"

"That's not exactly how I like to travel."

The crazy Men-in-Black-looking lady grabs my hand and my room dissipates as a new one begins to appear. It looks like a locker room. And there are other people here.

Maybe my mom wasn't fucking with me after all. I mean how could that have been fabricated right before my eyes? Especially within a budget my mom could afford. Especially for a prank. "Where are we?"

"We are at a student training facility. This is where your exam is to take place. But first you need to find the locker that has a tag with your name and change into the clothes inside."

Locker 0017 appears to be mine, considering it has my name on it. I guess some basic shorts and a t-shirt is what they're providing me with. Not like I could have worn my own and been more comfortable. In the bottom of the locker is a pair of tennis shoes.. in my size? Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe psychics are real too, though I've only ever seen teleportation.

If this whole thing is real, then I really don't know anything about it. Let alone why they want me to take an entrance exam. I don't have any powers. I can't teleport or move things with my mind. They must have mistaken me for someone else.

As I'm tying the shoes, a voice comes over the speakers "Proceed to the blue exit door. The exam is about to begin."

So, I do as I'm told, walking out the door with the other exam takers. We walk into an arena, divided into different sections with people standing with clipboards. The sections are all labelled with different letters of the alphabet. Closest to us is a man in a tracksuit with a clipboard. He booms, "Listen up for your exam section because I'm not going to repeat myself. When you hear your assignment walk over to that section."

The man straight up sounds like the gym teacher from Sky High. Maybe all super schools have a guy like that. I wonder if he has a similar ability. I wonder if that's even a possible ability. I really don't know anything about this.