Up to No Goode

Chapter Four

In my dreams, I saw Cammie as a young girl. She was walking through this... carnival, holding a mans hand. The strange thing is, I'm there too, with my mom. The man turns around, and I can almost see his face but...

"WAKE UP!" Yelled the voice of Dr. Steve.

I was so close.

There was something familiar about Cammie. I knew I must have seen her that day, back when I was young and thought my mom was the greatest person alive.

Before I knew about the circle.

"Zach, Grant, Jonas" He barked. "You guys are excused from morning drills as I believe you have some packing to do."

We all looked at each other. We were going to the Gallagher academy today? We darted up out of our beds, throwing on our yellow jumpsuits.

"What do you boys think you're doing?" asked Dr. Steve "Do you really think the Gallagher Academy has baggy yellow jumpsuits as their uniform? Much less ones printed 'The Blackthorne institute for Boys.'"

We all stare at each other before I timidly ask "Excuse me sir, but what do we wear?"

"These" He says thrusting a stack of clothes at each of us. "Get changed, then pack the rest. You each get three pairs of uniforms. Try and keep them clean" He walks away rolling his eyes.

The uniforms look nice, I'll give them that. Fitted black slacks, shined black oxfords, black tie, a white dress shirt, black jacket and sweater vests in the colors navy, dark red and gray. But putting them on? A different story.

"Do you know how to tie a tie?" Grant asked me sheepishly. He had no dad either, but unlike him, I had Joe to teach me all of that stuff when I was younger.

"Sure man." I say, taking him through the steps.

"God, it feels like I'm being strangled!" Says Jonas. "There's so much... fabric."

"Where do I put this thing?" I asked holding up the sweater vest

"uhh... I think on top of the shirt, but below the jacket." Says Jonas.

All this for school? What kind of society have us delinquent boys stumbled into?

An hour later we were standing in front of a jet. The Blackthorne institute did not own a jet - to my knowledge at least - and this one was obviously not ours. Gone were the lack of sharp corners, the presence of plastic utensils. We were no longer troubled boys looking for a home. We were now privileged private school boys. And trust me, that made a difference. I could see how differently the boys were carrying themselves. They looked... more confident. Stronger somehow.

Before we knew it, we were at the Gallagher academy gates. The school was a mansion with high stone walls and lush lawns. They had an entire private lake on their grounds.

I saw the boys faces go slack. This place was certainly nicer than Blackthorne. Dr. Steve gave us a pep talk.

"You boys are no longer savages. You are now civilized young men- act like it." His face took on a softer look that none of us have ever seen before. "Let's go then shall we?"

We walked down the main foyer and into the cafeteria. And let me tell you, it smelled amazing.

As we burst through the heavy wooden doors into the atrium a hundred faces looked back at us. Forks stopped midway to mouths, orange juice dribbled down chins. The girls were surprised.

Did they not know we were coming?

Dr. Steve began ushering us to the front of the room where a stunning headmistress stood giving a speech. She looked... familiar somehow.

"The Gallagher Academy of Exceptional Young Women has a proud history..." She began "For more than a hundred years the institution remained secluded, but yesterday, some of your classmates were able to meet another set of exceptional students from another exceptional institution."

I thought about the differences between Blackthorne and the Gallagher Academy. The staff, the grounds, the students. I wondered if exceptional was graded on a fixed scale.

"Members of the Gallagher trustees, along with the board of directors from the Blackthorne institute have long thought that our schools would have to learn from each other." She smiled, a dark strand of hair falling across her face. She looked like... Cammie. "And this year we're going to see it happen."

The girls didn't move, they didn't speak. They were completely blindsided by the news that boys were going to be staying with them. I thought about how I would feel if they came to the Blackthorne institute, if they were made to wear our baggy yellow jumpsuits and run five miles in the rain through a dense forest. If they had to eat our food and stay inside our walls.

I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"When Gillian Gallagher was a girl" Began the headmistress "This hall was home to balls and cotillions, friends and family, but it hasn't had many guests in the last century. I'm so glad that today is an exception."

Dr. Steve looked as if he won a million-dollar jackpot. I'd never seen him so... jolly. He shook hands with the girls he passed and made his way up to the stage.

"It's my pleasure to introduce Dr. Sanders..." Said the headmistress who was interrupted by Dr. Steve.

"Dr. Steve" He said into the microphone

"Excuse me?" said the headmistress. I could tell that she was tough, and could probably kill Dr. Steve with that microphone. But still Dr. Steve leaned over once more and said with a punch to the air

"Call me Dr. Steve!"

"Of course" Said the headmistress turning to face the girls. "Dr. Steve and his students will be spending the remainding semester with us. They will be attending your classes, eating with you at your meals."

A chorus of whispers broke out between the girls but the headmistress continued. "Ladies this is a wonderful opportunity. And I hope you will use this time to forge bonds of friendship you can carry throughout your lives."

I scanned the room, my eyes falling on a girl who just couldn't disappear from my mind.

Cammie.

She looked at me and I smiled.

Breakfast at the Gallagher academy was the best I'd ever eaten. Thick, fluffy waffles with maple syrup and a mountain of butter, the sweetest orange juice you'll ever taste. I don't think any of the Blackthorne boys breathed once during that meal.

After breakfast, instead of class we were to get settled into our suites. There were five suites total, and there were three boys to a suite. It was by class so Jonas, Grant, and I were together.

The room was... well different than the barracks at Blackthorne. For starters, the mattress was more than a stiff piece of foam. The pillows and comforter were thick and warm, and we had our own bathroom in the suite. In place of a shower stall, the was a large claw-foot tub with a shower attachment.

"Do you guys see this computer?" asked Jonas excitedly. At Blackthorne, the only internet access we had was during encryption classes, yet here our suites had the latest model (Only in use by the NSA's top code breakers)

"Look at this bed" said Grant.

"Boys!" called Dr. Steve. "I expect you down here in ten minutes for me to escort you to your classes!"

He popped his red face into the room. "Sophomores, please get your schedules." He handed us three slips of evapopaper. Some of the classes were familar, such as covert operations, but what the heck was P&E? And Culture and assimilation is a class?

Things were about to get interesting.