The Academy (Part 2 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 11- The Lake

Rosine:

I don't know what Nyoka did to get permission for us to all head to the lake, but it worked. Phoenix was the first one up in the morning, but I wondered if it was because she didn't go to sleep at all and just stayed up reading. She was still in Nyoka's chair by the bed with her candle completely burnt out, and I was starting to wonder where she was getting all of them from. Either way, she was the one that opened the blinds to let light flood the room.

I was already half awake with one of her 'How To Learn Russian' books closed on my fingers and curled up at the foot of the bed, but the other two were practically on top of each other from their horror movie the night before, completely dead to the world. I had to slap Nyoka with the book before she even stirred. It wasn't until Phoenix threatened to get breakfast without them that the two bolted upright.

Once they were coherent, we decided to get dressed for the lake first, and then grab breakfast on the go so that we could eat down by the water. I was close enough in size that I could borrow one of Daitan's, and I had to admit that I loved her sense of style. It was a beautiful one piece, which I opted for because if there was extra time, I wanted to swim a couple of laps. I missed that part of working out at home, and it was good for my lungs.

After we threw our clothes on top, we grabbed backpacks and went to the dining hall. None of us felt like trekking back to the dining hall for lunch either, so unless we started to get sunburned, we were going to sit outside all day. We grabbed food accordingly, putting extra snacks and croissants in our bags to save for later. I didn't see Forte in the room yet, but we were there earlier than we usually are, so I assumed he would meet us down there later when he knew the substitutes wouldn't need him.

Walking out of the building and into the sun after so long inside was a relief. It was almost like I had been slowly suffocating and not realizing it because it had been so gradual. Something lifted off of my shoulders, and I could breathe again.

The air was warming up since the sun had finally come out, and the grass was still green even though the nights were getting cooler. Least to say, it was a beautiful day for spending outside. We laid out our towels next to each other, Daitan and Nyoka already talking about places they wanted to visit someday.

Phoenix didn't open her book for once, instead she laid there quietly, listening to them talk about all of their travel and experiences. It made me realize how badly she wanted out of here. Nyoka had mentioned that her parents were dignitaries that moved around a lot, so I knew she had seen some important parts of the world. I had only been to a couple places outside of the US, mostly France when we were young and my father took us while he had work there. The places they were describing sounded so beautiful.

Even in the wistful and dreamy atmosphere that the conversation had put us in, it was hard to ignore the looking figure of the Academy behind us, a constant reminder that we were really stuck here for a long time. The building itself was a beautiful sight- one of the oldest looking buildings that I had ever been in, sitting atop a hill that rose out of the side of the lake. It was such a big body of water that we couldn't even see it all- there was a portion that wrapped around the side of the hill and disappeared.

I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of Daitan's heavy water bottle slamming into Nyoka's shoulder. I imagined that she had made some joke and Daitan retaliated by throwing one of the only things that she had on hand. Their laughter was warm, it was carefree, and some part of me wondered if Phoenix really wanted to leave all of that behind.

She must have been thinking something similar, pondering our conversation the night before, because Phoenix suddenly spoke. "When do you think you'll leave here to travel? Where do you want to go and what do you want to do?"