Free Wacko Academy by Faith Wilkins Page B

surprise.  “No, not at all.”
    Then he offered to carry my bag for me.  Defiantly I refused, assuring him that I could carry my own bag, thank you very much.  Dustin grinned and backed off.  He didn’t ask me again.
    Unfortunately, the luggage turned out to be extremely heavy, especially since we were walking the whole way there.  I had too much pride to admit this, though.  While we trudged toward camp, his eyes were on me.  I could sense his amusement watching me plow along without a complaint.  How very typical.  
    Just when I thought my knees were about to buckle, there it stood.  It looked like a lodge.  The words Boot Camp glittered in big letters on a sign posted by the front entrance.  How original.  My former teacher led me to the door.  Standing there was the fat-headed bald man that I had seen yelling at those kids when I’d first arrived.  He introduced himself as Sergeant Buck.  Something told me that this wasn’t his real name at all.  The sergeant took my bag without even asking and went inside, evidently expecting me to follow.  
    I turned to Dustin.  He shrugged.  “Guess this is where we say goodbye for now.”
    “How long am I supposed to stay here, anyway?” I asked, trying not to panic.  
    “Oh, just a month or two,” he assured me.
    I took in a sharp breath.  That wasn’t exactly what I had wanted to hear.  The thought of staying there for a month was downright scary.  My face must have given away my fear, because Dustin scrambled to assure me that it wasn’t so bad.
    According to him, the food was great and the bunks were squeaky clean.  All I had to do was stay on the sergeant’s good side, do what I was told, and I’d be fine.  I wasn’t so sure.
    With a lump in my throat and a knot in my stomach, I hurried inside before my legs decided to run the other direction.  Then I took one last look behind me through the glass double doors.  Dustin had already started to trudge back down the hill.  With shoulders slumped, hands in his pockets, and head down, he looked kind of…I don’t know, sad.  How could that be, though?  He had nothing to be sad about.  He finally had me out of his hair for a while.  No, he must have been sorry that he didn’t have anyone to teach how to fight anymore.  I could see how much he loved doing it.  His father should have given him that job instead of having him recruit people.
    The lobby was wide and spacious.  There was a desk and a few chairs.  Honestly, I didn’t really see a reason for a lobby in a boot camp.  Army green was the color theme.  Of course.  Everything seemed to blend into each other.  
    Sergeant Buck popped his head in.  He told me to stop dawdling and get my sorry fanny moving.  I jumped to follow him.  Dustin had been right.  I really did not want to get on his bad side.  
    The sergeant led me to a small room that had eight bunk beds.  Most of the bunks were already occupied.  I picked a lower one by the window.
    “Be in the gym at 0800 hours.  One of your fellow bunkers will tell you where to go,” he shouted in my ear before he left.  Really.  I don’t see why all these sergeants like to shout so much.  We’re standing right there.  Seriously.
    Five sets of eyes burned a hole through my back as I unpacked my stuff.  When they least expected it, I whirled around to see if they really were staring at me or if I was just being paranoid.  They all hurried to go back to what they’d been doing.  
    Reading seemed to be just about the only thing I could do at the moment, so I sat back on the bunk bed and got started.  Turns out that books are good for both reading and spying.  The girl across from me had long curly blonde hair.  She absentmindedly twirled her hair with her finger and stared into space.  The girl in the bunk behind her listened to her iPod.  The two top bunkers chatted away.  Both had frizzy red hair and freckles.  All of them wore a set of a sweatshirt,