Free The Academy - First Days by C. L. Stone Page A

cases, some sitting down on the floor. I felt their eyes on
us. I realized that Gabriel and I were dressed a little nicer than everyone
else. Most of the other students seemed to be wearing jeans and t-shirts. The
girls wore jeans and low cut tops. Gabriel and I stood out more here without
the others.
    The line crept forward. Machines spit back out dollar bills more
often than they accepted them.  
    “What are you getting?” Gabriel asked.
    “I wasn’t going to,” I said. “I didn’t bring any money.”
    His eyebrows shot up. He brushed his fingers through the lock of
blond hanging next to his eyes. “Then why did you say you’d come with me?”
    I blinked at him. “So you wouldn’t go alone. I thought that was
what we were doing. Always sticking together like Kota said.”
    His crystal eyes lit up. “You dummy. Tell me what you want. I’ll
get it.”
    “It’s okay, I don’t...”
    “Just pick something.”
    I hesitated. I had been so anxious that morning that eating wasn’t
really a concern. My stomach was still rattling from nervousness now.
    “Say something or I’ll buy you one of everything,” Gabriel warned.
He poked at my arm with a lean finger. “Pick. Pick. Pick.”
    “Maybe some crackers, please,” I said, relenting.
    In the end, we returned with two packets of crackers, three
packages of trail mix, a couple candy bars, and three bottles of water.
    “What took you guys so long?” Luke said as we approached. He
reached for a candy bar. “We were about send a rescue team.”
    “You’re lucky we came back at all with stuff,” Gabriel said,
opening one of the trail mix packages. “Even the vending machines were nearly
empty. I was going to get more but we were taking too long and the line behind
us was grumbling.”
    I handed North some crackers and his change. He stuffed the money
back into his pocket, ripping open the crackers.
    I opened the crackers Gabriel bought for me. I noticed Silas
eyeballing us. I smiled to him and pointed my package at him.
    He started to wave his hand. “It’s okay,” he said.
    “Eat one,” I said.
    He reached and took a cracker, smiling. “Thanks.”
    Gabriel handed some of the trail mix out to Nathan and Victor.
“Welcome to fine dining at this fucking school.”
    Kota shook his head and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Look at
us scraping for food. This is ridiculous.” He reached into his bag and pulled
out a package of chips. He opened it and offered it to the others.
    “I guess the only answer is to bring stuff every day,” I said.
“We’ll know better tomorrow.”
    Between us, we managed to share Kota’s lunch and what we got from
the vending machine and we shared the bottles of water.
    As we stood there together, I recognized a few geek groups and a
cluster of hippies sitting on their bookbags in the grass around the courtyard.
Compared to the rest of the crowded halls of the school, the courtyard actually
seemed peaceful. The weather was hot but if it kept the courtyard from being
crowded, I thought it would be nice to sit outside every day. A small corner of
peace from the chaos inside.
    “Well,” Kota said, picking up his book bag and standing. “I want
to check out the library. Anyone else going?”
    “I will,” I said. I had no idea where the library was and I was
curious about it. “We should probably pick up at least one of those books for
English, right?”
    Kota brightened at the suggestion. “Might as well start now.”
    “Aw come on, it’s the first day,” Gabriel complained. “Stay here
with us, Sang.”
    “You should get one, too,” I said. “Come on. We’ll all get the
same book and then we can compare notes.”
    He seemed to like this idea and he picked up his book bag.
    “I guess I should go, too,” Luke said. He grabbed the notebook I
had given him earlier. There were doodles on the front cover. At least he used
it for something.
    When his head tilted, I recognized my clip. His blond locks were
pulled back