The Academie Read Free Page B

ones that everyone needs in order
to become a student here.”
    I knew this was going to be the case,
but I had to at least try to get out of it.
    Dr. Beard left and Nurse Blondie
pulled the blood pressure cuff from its holder in the wall. A few
seconds later, it was wrapped around my arm, giving that
uncomfortable sensation that tells you that your hand would really
like its blood back.
    “ A little high,” she said,
not a moment too soon. I thought my hand was going to turn blue if
she’d gone any longer. Did she say it was
high? What did they expect? It was my first day at this place and I
was in a medical office being examined. Of course it’s going to be
high.
    “ Okay Alathea,” she said,
looking over my chart on her tablet again, “it looks like you just
need the one vaccination.”
    “ What’s it
for?”
    “ It’s a combination of
inoculations.”
    “ What’s it protecting me
from?”
    “ Lots of
things.”
    “ Name one.”
    She looked at me harshly, and I could
tell that she wasn’t used to getting this kind of resistance.
“Streptencoholitis.”
    I swear she just made that up.
“What?”
    “ It’s a common, but
serious virus that often spreads in closed environments such as
this.”
    Whatever. Let’s just get
this over with. I pulled up my sleeve,
thankful it was a short one so that my shirt could stay on. This is
one of the few examinations where I’d been able to stay fully
clothed, and I was hoping to keep it that way.
    She walked out of the office and
returned a moment later, syringe in hand. A young man, also in a
white coat, followed her, for what I assumed must be insurance
purposes.
    I turned to look the other way as she
prepared to plunge the needle in. A few rooms down, I imagined Ruby
looking right at it as they administered her vaccine. She seemed so
much braver than me.
    I felt the needle hit my skin. And
then, the sensation of falling.

 
     
     
     
    4. dorm life
     
     
    “ What happened?” I was
groggy, unsure of where I was or how much time had passed. As my
eyes focused, I discovered I was lying on the examining
table.
    “ You fainted,” a young
woman in a lab coat with light brown hair replied.
    “ Where’s Nurse Blond—I
mean, Edwards?”
    “ She’s helping other
students.”
    “ Oh…. I fainted?” I closed
my eyes again. I’d passed out plenty of times before, but never
like this. It had none of the normal signs or signals. And I’d
never fainted from a needle before. I didn’t like them, but they
didn’t make me lose consciousness.
    “ Yes, take your time
getting up.”
    Normally, I’d have grabbed my things
and been out of there in an instant. But I still didn’t feel right.
I wanted to keep my eyes shut—to rest just a while longer, but
strange sensations entered my brain. A feeling of motion, the sound
of voices…. Dreaming…I must be dreaming.
    “ How are you doing,
Alathea?”
    I opened my eyes. My vision was blurry
again, making the room appear different than I remembered. The
walls seemed darker and the extra door...“Where’s the handle?” I
asked slowly. My brain didn’t seem to be processing as quickly as
usual.
    “ What?”
    “ How do you get
out?”
    She looked at me and seemed to follow
my gaze. “We don’t need to.”
     
     
    I met Ruby at the
cafeteria for lunch and learned that Bryan was right—the food
sucks. Since the student population was now massive, they broke us
down into meal times much like high school. As a result, I had yet
to catch a glimpse of my brother, Matt. The way things were divided
and regulated here, I began to wonder if I ever would. All the better, I told
myself.
    After lunch I proceeded to the next
item on my schedule: Dorm Meeting. What were called dorms were
actually huge, separate rooms on the third floor. As I walked into
my assigned dorm, I found “living stations—as I’d heard them
called—consisting of a bunk bed with desks on either side. There
were dozens of these stations spread