School of Secrets (The Perkins School for Self Improvement #1)

Chapter 13

Classes are canceled to start off the week, though they're supposed to begin again tomorrow as though nothing ever happened. We'll be out of class again on Wednesday, though, because most of the school is going to the service. A majority of the faculty will be gone, as well as the headmaster and any students who get parental consent.

That's nice, I suppose, though a part of me wonders how many people will go just to get off campus and away from the area for a day.

I'm shocked when Dad actually gives me permission to go, under the condition that I never leave a faculty member's sight.

It's the nicest thing he's done in a while.

It doesn't take long for me to classify this gloomy Monday as a day from hell.

Parents are swarming the place, the lot overflowing with cars. The headgirl holds a permanent position in front of the girls' dorm, a clipboard in her hand. She knows where every resident of the dormitory is, and keeps making a note whenever someone enters or leaves the building. The headboy is doing the same at my building, and I have to recite my name and grade when I head out in the morning.

It's not like Mom and Dad are going to show up here, but the headboy's not letting anybody off without the details.

I'm set on going to the cafeteria for lunch, and I manage to drag myself over there. Derek and I eat our salads in silence, sitting across the table from one another. Amber's empty seat remains a constant reminder next to me, while I note that Creighton's managed to miss every meal since Saturday afternoon.

"It's a mess out there." Derek remarks, finally getting up the courage to speak about halfway through lunch.

I nod.

"I'm surprised my mom didn't try to catch a flight from Tennessee. She's probably worried," he looks down at his salad, playing with his fork idly, "I couldn't tell her. I can't tell any of them. Mom, the headmaster. Who knows what they'd do."

I shrug, words failing me.

"Guess Atwater had to reschedule the exam," Derek continues, picking up his glass of lemonade, "I'll still probably fail it."

"You should study," I finally manage, "I could try and help you out, I guess."

"You're hopeless in that class, too."

"I know." I tell him, remembering Creighton telling me so a few minutes before we went looking for Amber.

"It's multiple choice," Derek persists, "can't be that bad, can it?"

"I don't guess so." I admit, shoving another forkful of salad into my mouth while wondering when conversations with Derek will feel normal again.

~*~

That afternoon, Derek heads back to the dorm while I sit myself on a bench, people watching.

Professor Atwater and my lit professor are directing traffic into and out of the lot, hands flailing this way and that as they try to make order out of chaos. So many parents and relatives are here that there's no fail-proof way to keep them all in line. Some of them have resorted to parking in the grass, finding no more available spaces. Others leave their vehicles on the other side of the gate, getting the code from Atwater and walking in instead.

It's an absolute mess.

"Where," demands one parent, getting in Atwater's personal space, "is the headmaster? I want to talk to him right now!"

She's tall, seeming to tower over Atwater despite only being about five-eight or five-nine. She's gripping the arm of a well-dressed man, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the most expensive car here belongs to her.