Kleinfeld Academy
Chapter 1 I never really wanted to go to Kleinfeld Academy. I didn’t see the appeal in moving away from my family and friends to live with a bunch of strangers. I understood that it was an honor to be chosen, but I would rather have gone to a normal high school with normal kids… normal and familiar kids. I didn’t know anyone at Kleinfeld, and it’s so far away. I still don’t understand why my parents were so enthusiastic about it, why they pushed me so hard to accept the offer. They’d deny it if you ask them about it, and I suppose they wouldn’t really be lying. I made the decision to go, but it was because I didn’t feel I had a choice. So now I’m stuck here without cell phone service and without cable… September 2 Hey mom and dad! I am completely unpacked now. It’s already beginning to feel more like home. My roommate arrived today. She’s nice. I think we will get along great. She’s from Nebraska. Classes start tomorrow. I’ll try to keep writing every day. I miss you! Love you, D September 3 Classes started today. Most of my professors are very nice. The students here are friendly. Most of the people I talked to don’t know anyone else here either. I met a few new friends today and I ate lunch with them. I have a lot of homework for only being the first day. Sorry I couldn’t write more. Love you, D September 5 We are so glad you are having a good time! Your mom and I knew things would work out great! We are very proud of you. Keep up the good work! Don’t worry about writing every day. Just keep us updated. We miss you too! XOXO Mom & Dad I lie to my parents because I don’t want them to worry about me or feel guilty even though they should feel terrible for sending me to this wretched place. The only honest thing I wrote in those letters was that my roommate is from Nebraska. If I told them what it was really like, they would probably think I was exaggerating or I wasn’t giving it a chance. My roommate, Alisha, is one of the strangest people I’ve ever encountered. She wears too much eye makeup and her stubby finger nails always have black polish, but it’s usually chipped. Her hair is an unnatural blonde with streaks of purple and pink. Her appearance isn’t the weirdest part about her though. I never met her parents. They didn’t help her move in. She arrived alone, and when I do try to make conversation, she avoids talking about family. In fact, she usually changes the subject anytime it steers towards something personal. I don’t even know what part of Nebraska she’s from. We’ve just about stopped talking to each other all together, which is fine with me. Every class is painful. Not as painful as meals, but I’ll get to that later. The professors are all quite strange as well. None of them have any personality whatsoever. It seems like the same person stands in the front of each of my classes. Most of them are thinner than average. All have grey hair or are probably grey underneath the dye jobs. They speak in monotone, yet seem very high strung, snapping their heads in the direction of the slightest noises. They watch us with almost a look of fear in their eyes. There have been many lessons of which I cannot recall a word because I am so intrigued by the professor’s quarks and flat-out strangeness. I haven’t talked to many students. No one is exactly inviting or outgoing around here. Most people keep to themselves and avoid the common room, which is the only community area for first year students. It seemed strange when I first heard about it. Why did they only give us a single room to socialize? I guess this behavior is normal for this school. The first year students don’t even need the one room allotted to us. Everyone spends most of their time in the dorm rooms. I’ve adopted this lifestyle as well. When I’m not in class or in the cafeteria, I’m in that dark, cramped room. I suppose it’s a basic dorm room. Alisha and I both have a desk and a bed with drawers underneath. There’s a microwave and mini-fridge, but nothing more. The drapes are ugly; so are the tile floor and the blank walls. This room makes my entire stay at Kleinfeld that much more lonely and depressing. Every day I wonder if this is how it’s going to be for the next few years. I’ve yet to see any upperclassmen. They even keep us separate at meals. Oh meals – the worst parts of the day. This is our moment to socialize. The cafeteria should be loud like any other school. Well it’s not, of course. It’s awkward… so awkward. I sit by myself now after getting strange looks day after day, table after table, when I start to sit down or ask if the seat is saved. I look like a freak in a school full of freaks. I’m outcasted by a bunch of people, who in a normal school probably would be sitting by themselves. Chapter 2 October 17 Good job on that Math test. We are glad to hear you are doing well. We knew you would though! We just wanted to let you know that your father booked a job in New York and we will be staying there for a few weeks. I’ll send you the address when we find out where we will be staying. Keep up the good work! XOXO, Mom & Dad I’ve always wanted to go to New York. Of course he would book a job there as soon as I was gone. Things hadn’t gotten better at school. In fact, if it was even possible they got worse. I’m a good student… well really good hence why I was offered admittance at Kleinfeld, but I can’t focus at this place. I’ve been getting good grades (The math test was not a lie to make my parents happy), but it’s because of a mix of luck and last minute cramming skills. I scribble in answers on my homework without trying and I skim through any reading assignments. There’s something strange about this place and it’s all I can think about, though I have no idea what it is. This obsession has consumed my brain. I’m becoming forgetful and I can’t concentrate on much of anything. For example, I stayed up until three o’clock one morning trying to fight my distracting mind and finish a paper. The next morning on my way to class I realized I had forgotten my paper in the printer. I had crawled into bed as soon as I hit print, relieved to be finished. I hurried back to my room, praying I would have time to make it to class before the bell. The paper wasn’t in the printer. I panicked. I turned on the computer, which seemed to take longer than usual to start up. Start Menu…My Documents…Science… Where was it? I checked recent documents. It wasn’t there either. I wrote it didn’t I? Yes, I definitely wrote it. I was awake until three o’clock writing that stupid thing. The bell announcing the beginning of first period rang. I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to show up to class late, especially without the paper that was due. I decided to fake sick. I changed out of my jeans and put sweat pants on. I messed up my hair a little and tied it back into a pony tail, but I wasn’t sure what the procedure was at this school when you were sick. My parents used to call the office when I stayed home from my other schools. Maybe I should find the nurse and let her know, maybe ask for some medication or something to make it believable. I started to walk out the door until I realized I still had on all the makeup I put on that morning. I washed my face and looked in the mirror. I looked sick, at least I thought so. I reconsidered leaving my room like this. I don’t like to be seen without makeup, but I had to be convincing. Hopefully I didn’t see anyone besides the nurse. Well then again what did I care? The people here probably wouldn’t even notice whether I had makeup on or not. I wasn’t sure exactly where the nurse’s office was, but I headed in the general direction. “Where are you headed?” I hadn’t even heard other footsteps in the nearly silent hallway. I turned around slowly. This was my first encounter with an upperclassman. “I’m looking for the nurse’s office.” He smiled, revealing straight gleaming white teeth. His smile was gorgeous. He wasn’t bad looking either – a little paler than I was used to, being from California, but so were the majority of people here it seemed. He was attractively tall, but borderline lanky. He could use some routine visits to the gym. His face was nice, though, with deep, dark brown eyes and his hair was dark brown too, almost black. He dressed differently than I was used to too. I could never picture this guy in a polo shirt. His clothes weren’t bad by any means, just different, more edgy. “Are you a first year?” I nodded. “A first year is cutting class?” “I’m sick. That’s why I’m looking for the nurse.” He didn’t say anything. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. He was thinking, planning, considering something. Wheels were turning; I could see it in his eyes. I had a feeling that somehow he knew I wasn’t really sick. “Could you point me in the right direction please?” “I could… or you could just hang out with me for a while.” “No thank you. I just want to see the nurse and get back to bed.” I began to walk away. “Suit yourself, Delanie.” I spun back around. “How do you know my name?” “You told me.” “No I didn’t.” “Maybe you are sick. I thought you were faking. I’ll get you to the nurse.” “No. I never told you my name. How do you know me?” I heard a door open behind me and I turned to look. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class, miss?” a teacher asked me. I was the only one he wanted an explanation from? What about… I looked over my shoulder. The boy was gone. I was alone in the hallway. “I don’t feel well. I’m going to the nurse.” “I’ll have a student assist you. You don’t look so good.” Chapter 3 It turns out, I was sick. I about fell out of my chair when the nurse announced that I had an extremely high fever. She made me lay down in her office and told me that she’d let my teachers know I would be missing class today. After she left, I pressed the back of my hand to my forehead. I was on fire. I didn’t feel that sick though. Apparently I looked it because the nurse also commented on my appearance. No, I definitely did not feel sick enough to have such a high fever. I needed to find a mirror. I didn’t think I looked that bad, at least not bad enough to worry a teacher and the nurse. I will never show my face without makeup again! I flicked on the light in the bathroom and a hideous face stared back at me. I was so pale! I touched my face as if that would bring the color back. What was happening to me? I still could not get over the fact that I did not feel sick, but now I did feel like I needed to lay down. The nurse returned a short while later. “I’ll bring you back to your room now if you are feeling up to it,” she offered. I nodded and thanked her. We didn’t talk as she walked me back to my room. She came inside to make sure I had everything I needed. “I’ll have someone bring you lunch later and check on you. I can have someone pick up your homework as well if you would like.” “That would be great. Thanks.” “Oh and Mr. Gordon asked if you were ready to turn in your report… Is that what this is?” She motioned to a small stack of papers on my desk. They were stapled and sitting right next to my printer. Besides my computer, printer, and report, there was nothing else on my desk. How could I have missed that? I picked it up and flipped through it. It was the report. I had written it and printed it… And stapled it? “Yeah I think it’s ready.” I handed it to her and she left. I replayed this morning’s fiasco over and over in my head. Those papers had not been there. I was sure of it. Actually I was almost positive that I had left them in the printer and I don’t even know where my stapler is. I had to get out of this place. I was losing my mind. That was the only explanation I could fathom. October 20 Hey Aunt Renee! I think I might take you up on that offer about taking a break and staying with you for a weekend. I’ll tell you all about Kleinfeld. It’s going good, but I think I’m ready to get away for a while. Let me know! Love you, Delanie I fell asleep for a little while before waking up to a knock on the door. “I brought you some lunch.” I opened the door for my visitor, and didn’t recognize her. She smiled sweetly and handed me the tray. “Thanks, I appreciate it.” “No problem. Are you feeling better?” I nodded. “Yeah I think so.” “Good to hear. I’ll pass it on to Ms. Jamison.” With that she left. I ate before resuming my spot on the bed. I stared at the ceiling for a long time as if the answer to my craziness would appear there. When my roommate returned from class, I sat up so fast that the room began to spin. “Chill. It’s just me.” I lay back down. “So what’s wrong with you?” “I’m just not feeling well.” “People are saying that you’re hallucinating and talking to yourself in the hallway.” I laughed uncomfortably. “Where’d they get that?” She shrugged. Great. That’s wonderful. Now everyone knows I’m crazy. I really needed to get away from this place. I jumped again when someone knocked on the door a few minutes later. Alisha gave me a strange look, but didn’t say anything. It was only my homework, which I began working on immediately, hoping to distract myself. Alisha turned some music on and we both finished our homework before dinner. Even though we both went down to dinner at the same time, we didn’t walk together or stand in line together. I scanned the cafeteria as I waited, which was a long time because the line moves so slowly. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I nearly had a heart attack. “What do you want?” I asked when I saw him. He smiled his gorgeous smile despite my rudeness. “I didn’t think anyone but first-years were supposed to be down here during this time.” Chapter 4 He shrugged and continued showing off his dazzling teeth. “I wanted to talk to you, see how you were feeling.” “I’m fine thanks.” I didn’t return the smile. “Don’t tell me you’re angry about earlier.” “Well yeah… a little.” “I’m really sorry, but I would’ve gotten in major trouble if I was caught there.” He paused, but I didn’t respond right away. “Come on, you can’t stay mad at me over that.” He was right. I was having a difficult time staying angry with him. Probably because he was the most normal person I’ve met here. At this point I was just glad that I hadn’t imagined him. “How did you get out of there so fast anyway?” “What do you mean?” “I looked away for a second and you were gone.” “It was a little longer than a second, Delanie.” “No it wasn’t. You were…” I realized he had called me by my name again. “You never did tell me how you know my name.” He tried to look apologetic. “I might’ve glanced through your file.” I didn’t say anything. Again, this was a good explanation, a little weird, but better than what I had been coming up with. “Why?... Did it creep you out?” His dark eyes twinkled with mischief. I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. “Maybe,” I told him before thanking the cafeteria lady. I walked with my tray to my normal table and he followed. We sat across from each other and neither of us said anything for a moment. “The administration’s got their eye on you.” “What?” I asked, my mouth partially full of food. I began to panic. My mind was racing. What had I done? He must’ve seen the shock on my face. “That’s a good thing. You’re a very promising candidate.” “For what?” “For continuing on at Kleinfeld.” My heart sank. I thought it was going to be something more exciting than that. “Oh.” Was all I said. “It gets better. I promise.” “Sure it does.” “You don’t like it here?” “Not really. People here are kind of strange.” “Yeah.” He sounded as if he wanted to say more. I took another bite of the macaroni. We ate in silence for a couple minutes. I couldn’t come up with anything to say to this guy. Why was this so difficult? There are so many things two strangers can talk about. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked, breaking the silence. “Yes.” “You have to promise you won’t tell a soul.” He leaned in closer. “I won’t tell,” I promised, leaning in too. “People here, well first-years, are so strange because…” He looked around to make sure no one seemed to be listening. “…because they’re under a spell.” I sat back in my chair and laughed out loud. He laughed too. “I can’t believe I fell for that. How would you know the reason, assuming there is one?” “No, but seriously, the administration does it. They call it a spell, but I’m pretty sure they use some kind of drug.” He still had a hint of a smile on his face. “You’re a terrible liar.” “I’m telling the truth though. It’s just so funny.” “So you’re saying I’m on drugs right now?” “Well actually it seems like you’re resisting pretty well. You still seem normal to me. The fever’s probably got something to do with the drugs.” He sounded so convincing, but this was ridiculous. I decided to test his lying abilities further. “So why would a school drug their students?” “To find the strong ones… like you.” “Since when was school about anything but academics?” He rolled his eyes at me. “This is Kleinfeld,” he said as if that meant something. “This isn’t a normal school.” “Yeah, I got that much.” “Were you the smartest kid in your class?” I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion, but he continued anyway. “I wasn’t either, but why didn’t those smarter kids get a letter from Kleinfeld?” “I have no idea where you’re going with this.” “This place is much more than academics, much more than a school. It’s a selection process.” “Selection for what?” “I really want to tell you, Delanie.” “Then tell me. You’ve already told me this much.” “Which is way more than I should’ve told you.” “Well it’s too late for that isn’t it?” The bell rang. He stood up. “No. You need to tell me or it will drive me insane!” “You’ll find out soon. I promise. Like I said, the administration’s got their eye on you.” He blended into the crowd and disappeared. I dumped my tray and tossed it angrily on the stack. I hated him for that. Why did he have to be so mysterious about everything? I felt more confused now than I did before I talked to him. I think I rather just be crazy. That was easier to understand. Could I really be on drugs though? I smiled to myself. True or not, that was an amusing explanation – drugs that turn people into zombies. I almost started laughing, but refrained myself. Assuming I was proving myself worthy by resisting their drugs and remaining myself and not turning into a zombie, what was I worthy of? I couldn’t come up with anything. If it was anything exciting or prestigious, I would’ve heard of people graduating from Kleinfeld. This whole thing was stupid. Why did it have to be so secretive? With that thought, something clicked. Just as everything about Kleinfeld is secretive, so must be whatever its preparing us for… Chapter 5 October 24 I would LOVE to have you over for the weekend! I can’t wait to hear about Kleinfeld! Let me know about the procedure for taking you out of school and I’ll be there. I miss you! Aunt Renee Now I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be away from Kleinfeld. I had to find out what’s going on. I felt as if I was getting ever so slightly closer each day. Besides, I didn’t even know what the procedure was for taking me out of school and I didn’t feel like finding out. October 27 I’m sorry Aunt Renee. I’m swamped with homework! I’ll write you again in a couple weeks and let you know what to do about taking me out of school for the weekend. I miss you too and I’m really looking forward to it! Love you, Delanie I felt bad for lying to my aunt, but what was I supposed to tell her? This school is totally not normal and it’s preparing me for something top secret? That probably wouldn’t have gone over well, and I’m not even supposed to know that yet. The homework load has actually gone down a lot since that first week of school. I’ve fallen into the routine here, and I’m managing my time better too. Homework isn’t as much of a pain as it was during the beginning of the year. Yes, I’m getting used to living at Kleinfeld. I’m adapting. It’s improving. Some of the improvement, of course, is due to my new mysterious friend. I still haven’t asked him his name. I was always so occupied with other things when I spoke with him. I look for him at every meal and in the hallways between classes, but I haven’t seen him for an entire week now. It’s extremely frustrating. I have no way of contacting him. All I can do is wait and hope he will drop in again as he has done twice before. October 28 Hey baby! We made it to New York okay. The address of the hotel is on the card inside the envelope. We’ll be here until November 13. The city is amazing! We will have to come back here as a family sometime. Renee called me about your plans. That’s a great idea! Call me when you get there. I can’t wait to talk to you! XOXO Mom & Dad I dropped the letter when I heard a knock on the door. Alisha wasn’t in, but she wouldn’t knock. I jumped up and ran to the door, expecting to see the mystery boy, but the hallway was empty. I stood there a moment longer, hoping he would appear out of nowhere and have a good laugh when he scared me, but it didn’t happen. I slowly and reluctantly backed into my room. My heart leapt when I saw a folded piece of paper on the floor. I grabbed it, quickly shut the door, and sat on my bed to open it. “Meet me in the common room in an hour– Holden” the note said in messy handwriting. I looked at myself in the mirror and fixed my hair, hardly realizing what I was doing. I laughed at myself when I considered changing my clothes. I didn’t even like this guy, at least not like that. I just wanted to talk to him. I needed to find out more. Obviously he liked me enough to tell me the things I wanted to hear, and that was enough… enough for now. At least I knew his name now. That could have been awkward, having already met him twice. Holden. It’s a different name, kind of interesting. I suppose it suits him then. He’s not exactly normal. That was the longest hour of my life. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I attempted to get a head start on some of my homework to be assigned later that week, but failed miserably. I arrived in the common room early. He was right on time. I don’t know why that bothered me - He did say “an hour” in his note. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.” Did I sound too eager? I’m pretty sure I did. His smile grew and it was as beautiful as ever. “Did you miss me?” “I missed the stories and information about this place. I have so many questions.” “But you know I can’t answer them.” I didn’t respond. I had to find out more, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. “Is that the only reason you met me here tonight?” “Maybe not the only reason.” “But a big part of it?” “It’s been driving me crazy. I promise I won’t tell anyone anything.” He was thinking about it. He was definitely thinking about it! “You are going to get me in a ton of trouble one day.” “You started this.” We both smiled. I hadn’t asked him to stop me in the hall and visit me later that night at dinner. He got himself into this. “Alright,” he sighed. “You’re not going to believe me though.” “I’ll try really hard.” I wanted so badly to get answers that I would attempt to believe anything at this point. “I don’t have much time to explain the details, so I’ll just throw it out there, and you can ask questions afterwards.” I realized I was holding my breath and let it out slowly so he wouldn’t notice. “There are different worlds out there.” He waited for my reaction. I was obviously confused. I promised I’d try to believe him, so I just went along with it. “Like planets? Galexies? I don’t understand.” “No. Those are all part of our world. I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.” “I believe you… I guess… I’m just having a difficult time grasping what you are saying.” That was an understatement. I was having an impossible time grasping this. “It’s like the idea of a parallel universe.” “Ooookay.” I still didn’t get it, but I could tell he was getting frustrated, which wasn’t good for me. “Please keep going. I understand… kind of.” “Well, there are seven of those that we have good relations with. These are peaceful and running smoothly and people from Kleinfeld helped accomplish that. Now we have ambassadors to those places and a staff of people that… well I’m not sure what they do, but they work with the ambassadors and people from the particular world they are affiliated with.” “So what are we being prepared for? Some office job?” His smile faded and he became serious. “No. There’s at least four other worlds that are not running as smoothly.” “Oh.” This wasn’t fun or exciting anymore. This was terrifying. An office job didn’t sound so bad now. “During your second year at Kleinfeld, they begin explaining this stuff to you. You continue most of the normal subjects, but they also begin teaching you about the other worlds. When you finish your second year, you chose one world as a focus and spend the next few years learning the language and customs and stuff.” I struggled to come up with something to say. This wasn’t possible, but he was so serious and he wouldn’t make all this up… would he? “What’s the place like that you chose?” “I haven’t yet. I’m in my second year now.” “Wow. This is crazy.” I couldn’t come up with anything else to say. “Yeah, but isn’t it amazing? Other worlds, Delanie!” “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet.” At that point I didn’t think it ever would, but I didn’t tell him that. “I’ve only seen pictures, but they look awesome… even the dangerous ones.” I was completely at a loss for words now. He touched my arm as if to comfort me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you. That was stupid.” “No, I’m glad you did. I practically begged you to. It’s not your fault.” “Yeah I guess you kind of did.” I smiled weakly at his attempt to cheer me up. “I think I just need some time. This is a lot to comprehend.” Another huge understatement. “Well I should probably get back. I can walk you to your room.” We didn’t say anymore until we reached my door. It was a short walk though, so it never really got awkward. “When will I see you again?” I asked as I got my key out. He shrugged. “I’ve told you just about everything I know.” I suddenly felt bad for earlier. “That’s okay. I still like talking to you. You’re the most normal person I’ve met here.” “I’ll see what I can do. Good night Delanie.” “Good night Holden.”
Copyright © 2013 Erynn A Louviaite |