Free Among the Imposters by Margaret Peterson Haddix Page B

hissed in his ear. Jackal boy’s. “You go back now, during Indoctrination, and they’ll catch you. They’ll know. And then they’ll come looking for the rest of us.”
    Indoctrination? Luke guessed that jackal boy meant the evening lecture. The name made sense—the lecture was always about how wonderful the Government was. But Luke hadn’t even thought about what he was running toward. He was just running away
    “Who will catch me?” he asked. “The only ones who watch are the hall monitors. And they all report to you, right?”
    “You got it,” jackal boy said. He sounded pleased. “1 worked hard setting up that system. The teachers didn’t like hall duty, anyway. And now—”
    “You can get away with anything, can’t you?” Luke asked. “Unless I tell.”
    He didn’t know what possessed him to make that threat. Maybe it was just habit—after twelve years of being the youngest brother, he knew the power of tattling.
    And he knew how easily it could backfire.
    “Make you a deal,” Luke said quickly. “Let me up, and I won’t go back now. Answer some questions for me, and I won’t tell. I’ll keep your secrets.”
    Jackal boy seemed to be considering. Finally, he said, “Okay.”
    Luke scrambled up and pulled away He rubbed the side of his face. He wasn’t sure if it was sore from hitting the tree or from being slammed against the ground. His hand came away wet.
    “I’m bleeding,” he said accusingly.
    “You’ll have to hide it,” jackal boy said. “Are you good at hiding?”
    Luke shrugged away the question. He knew jackal boy was really asking something else. But Luke wasn’t ready to answer.
    “What’s your name, anyway?” Luke asked.
    “Which one?” jackal boy asked. “If you look at the school records, I’m Scott Renault. Out here, I’m Jason.”
    “One of those names is fake,” Luke said.
    Somewhere in the woods, an owl hooted. Luke waited. Finally, jackal boy answered, softly, “Yes.”
    “Your friends all have fake names, too,” Luke said.
    “Yes.” No hesitation.
    “You’re all third children who have come out of hiding with fake I.D. cards,” Luke said.
    “Exnays,” jackal boy said.
    “Is that what that means?” Luke asked.
    “You didn’t know?” jackal boy asked. “Where have you been all your life?”
    Luke decided not to answer that question, either.
    ‘And fonrols—” he started.
    a—are any third children, hiding or not”
    “Why does everyone at school call each other those names?” Luke asked. “Is everyone here an exnay?”
    In the dark, Luke could barely see jackal boy shaking his head.
    “Haven’t kids called each other exnays and fonrols at the other schools you’ve been to? All the. other places you’ve ever lived? Some say in the beginning the Government paid people to use ‘fonrol’ and ‘exnay’ as swear words. On TV, and stuff Then those words were forbidden in public broadcast, which just meant that people used them more in private. They wanted to make sure that everyone thought of third children as terrible.”
    Luke wondered why Jen had never told him about that.
    “Maybe I’ve never been to any other schools,” Luke said cautiously He’d said “maybe.” He could still deny everything if he wanted.
    Jackal boy laughed, openmouthed. His teeth glinted in the moonlight.
    “Why don’t you just come out and admit it?” he asked. “You’re an exnay, too. I know it”
    Luke dodged the question.
    “Why do you harass me every night?” he asked. “When everyone else ignores me—”
    “It’s the procedure we developed for dealing with new boys,” jackal boy said. “And new girls, over at Harlow School for Girls. We’ve discovered it’s hard for shadow children when they first come out of hiding—they’re
    overwhelmed, traumatized. Think about it. They’ve spent their whole lives thinking it’s death to be seen, and suddenly they’re expected to interact with others all day long, to sit through classes with