Free Boarding School by Clint Adams Page A

campus with his young family, and therefore was AWOL during most of our meals. This particular meal was just such an occasion, so the head proctor took charge of us instead.
    Once the blessing had been said and we had all taken our seats, a couple of things happened which struck me at the time as being sort of strange. For starters, instead of one of us at the table being assigned to be our waiter, and then that boy being saddled with the task of bringing out a tray filled with serving platters and bowls filled with food, and instead of having our dinner portioned onto plates by the head of our table and then passed around family style to the rest of us as usual, the head waiter appeared instead with a tray loaded down with plates which had already been prepared for us in the kitchen. He then made a special effort to give everyone at our table the precise plate which he believed each person was supposed to have.
    The whole business struck me as odd and at one point I asked one of the bigger kids sitting next to me why our table was doing things so differently. The guy responded simply that because the head proctor was in charge of our table, we were sometimes accorded special treatment. Honestly, I thought his answer sounded goofy. But I couldn’t come up with abetter one, so I accepted my plate and began to eat my dinner once everyone else at the table had been served.
    Another thing that I remember about that meal was that instead of being served the usual fried or boiled potatoes, on this night we were given mashed potatoes. Normally, our cook never wanted to go to this much trouble for us. I loved mashed potatoes, especially when they were served with fried chicken as they were on this night, and I found them a real treat. But Matt told me afterwards that he had thought that his had tasted a little funny.
    During study hall that night, I noticed that Matt couldn’t keep himself from yawning. For some reason he seemed overly tired all evening and by the time the bell had gone off for lights out, he was already in his bed and nearly asleep. Within, perhaps, two minutes after I had turned out our lights and gotten under my own covers, I could hear Matt breathing deeply. It amazed me to see how quickly that kid could fall asleep.
    In bed, I remember being keyed up over my day, plus I was still reliving my date with Ellen. So it took me some time that night to fall asleep. In a while, though, I did manage to drift off. Another day was finished, and another week had begun, and I was beginning to believe that things for me at the Academy were going to work out all right after all.
    I didn’t hear them enter our room a few hours later. I don’t know if they first spent some time going through our things or if they just watched us sleep for a while. But the next thing I knew, I was feeling impressed to wake myself and open my eyes. When I did, I saw two tall figures standing over me in the moonlight with Halloween masks covering their faces. I must have been startled to see them because immediately one of them placed his hand over my mouth to silence me. Then, I saw him raise his index finger to his mouth hole.
    “Shshsh!” he said. “Don’t worry. It’s all right, we’re just upperclassmen,” the first one whispered to me.
    I then calmed down and the guy removed his hand from my mouth. “What’s going on?” I asked nervously. “How did you get in here?” These guys were full grown and it made no sense to me to have them there in our room.
    “It’s all right,” the second one then whispered as well. “We used a pass key. Sit up for a minute and we’ll explain it to ya.”
    I did as they asked. Once I was upright, things didn’t seem so overwhelming to me. “All right. I’m up,” I acknowledged. “Now what?”
    The first one then continued. “We’ve come to get you for a little… initiation we give to a few special first-year guys every year. It’s like.. .a special honor.”
    “Oh?” I replied.