Ascension (34 page)

Surprisingly, the way there took longer than expected.  The path was well maintained, and curved down to run by the side of the cliffs overlooking the ocean, so there was no trouble rolling my bags.  But from outside the clinic, the cluster of buildings looked to be maybe ten, fifteen minutes away.  Instead, it took me a good half hour before I reached the main part of campus.

But it wasn’t like I was complaining.  The walk over was lovely, and even if the island seemed a little abandoned (I didn’t see a single person along the way), it was still beautiful.  Every few yards, I would stop to inhale deeply.  The fresh, clean scent of the greenery was tinged slightly by the saltiness of the ocean.  The water today was calm.  But,  once in a while, I could still hear a larger wave crash into the side of the cliffs.  One day soon, I promised myself, I’d get around to exploring the bottom of those cliffs, if for no other reason than to see what was there.  First, of course, I’d have to get settled into life on the habitable part of the island.

I finally reached the cluster of buildings, and for the first time, I saw life on the island.  There weren’t
many
people around, but enough to notice.  Mostly, they were older professors and staff members walking along the streets from one building to the next.  There definitely didn’t seem to be anyone my age around yet.

The path I was on shifted to cobblestone as I came closer.  There were buildings all around me.  Little streets and alleys ran alongside each one.  The odd thing, I noticed, was that the style of nearly every building was completely different from the last.  All were very well maintained and looked sparkling new, but the styles differed so greatly it would have been jarring in any other context.  There was a building to my left built in a Mexican style, and right beside it stood another made of red brick.  Some were Gothic, while others were Georgian, and others still some type of mish-mash in between.  Yet somehow, all of them blended together seamlessly, so that no single building looked out of place.

The path led into the heart of this part of campus where a wide, open area had been left undeveloped.  Various buildings rimmed the empty space, which I took to be a type of town square on the island.  In the middle was a large, flowing fountain with replicas of Greek statues elevated from the base in its center.  I smiled.  This place had a very homey feel to it.

I had to cross behind the main row of buildings and walk for another ten or fifteen minutes before I saw the dormitories.  They were tucked away to one side, in a little space of their own.  And they looked lovely.  A set of four stood around a private courtyard, the windows to the rooms tall and wide.  The four dorms were the only set of matching buildings I’d seen on campus.  Each was built in a Georgian style, with red bricks and tall arches framing the main points of the structures.  Picking up my pace, I hurried over to the second one from the right.  From what I knew, Oliver Academy housed students by their grade level, and if the arrangement went left-to-right, then all the juniors would be in that dorm.

I checked through the papers given to me to figure out which room I had.  Not finding anything about a room assignment in any of the sheets, I frowned in confusion.  Then I remembered the key.  Picking it out of my pocket, I turned it over in my hand and found the inscription on the base: Room 34. 

I hoped my room looked out toward the courtyard.  It looked like the rooms rimmed the outside of each building, meaning that half the rooms would be overlooking the area behind the courtyard.  There didn’t look to be much there except some forested hills.

Well, there was really not much point in wondering about such things when I could find the answer shortly.  Grabbing my two bags, I started toward the third building, excited to finally
really
be starting my new life.

I had a bit of trouble hauling my bags up the six steps that led to the wide stone porch.  Still, after only a little bit of a struggle, I managed to get everything up to the front door.  I looked around, noting again how quiet everything was over here, and put my hand on the main door to pull it open.

It didn’t budge.

I frowned and tried again, pulling with more force.  Nothing happened. 

Maybe it was locked?  I looked around for a keyhole, conscious of the fact that I had only been given the single key, presumably to my room.  But maybe it unlocked the front door to the building as well?  That, at least, would make some sense—if there had been a keyhole anywhere!  I looked up and down the entire face of the door, and the frame as well, and, not finding anything, repeated the examination.  Again, I didn’t spot a keyhole.  An uncomfortable feeling blossomed in the pit of my stomach.  Maybe the dorms weren’t open yet?  I hoped that wasn’t the case.  But, if the other students weren’t due to arrive until tomorrow…

Suddenly, the door burst open, nearly smacking me square in the face.  Only the fact that I had already started turning away saved me from a return trip to the clinic.  In the doorway stood a boy about my age, looking at me in surprise.  I stared back, equally unnerved.  I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here yet.

“Having trouble with the door?” His quick smile erased the look of surprise on his face.

“Uh… yeah,” I managed, trying to regain my composure.  The boy in front of me wasn’t particularly good looking.  A clump of dark hair perched atop his head.  His nose was too small for his slanted face.  But, there was something very disarming about his smile.  It made me feel welcome; at ease, even.  I smiled back at him, and at the same time ran a hand self-consciously through my tousled hair.  “I was trying to figure it out before you burst out of there.”

“I know,” he said, “I saw you through the camera.”

“Camera?  What are you talking about?”

He pointed up to a darkened corner, and I realized there was a small security camera aimed right at the door.  But how did he have access to it?

“The security guard asked me to keep watch while he went off to lunch,” the boy explained as if reading my mind.  “He said he was expecting someone, but I didn’t think it’d be a girl as pretty as you.”  His eyes went wide, and color crept into his cheeks.  He broke eye contact with me and stared at the floor.  “I mean… err… sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” 

“Don’t worry,” I laughed, “that’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me since I got here.”

“Really?” he sneaked a glance up, and then looked back down.  He was still blushing wildly.

“Really,” I said, and laughed.  “Thank you, in fact.  I haven’t heard anyone say something like that for… well, let’s just say it’s been a long time.”  I stuck my hand out.  “My name’s Tracy.”

He looked up again, and, seeing that I was being sincere, quickly smiled and took my hand.  “I’m Chris,” he said.  “I take it you’re new here?”

“How’d you know?” I asked coyly.

“Well, the luggage was a dead giveaway.  Anyone who’s been here before has learned to store most of their things in the basements over the summer.  And, of course, the whole fiasco with the door didn’t help.”

“
Very
observant,” I deadpanned.  He laughed, and instantly the color in his cheeks was gone. 

“That’s okay,” he said. “I was new here once, too.”

“I’d bet.”

“Anyway, the reason you couldn’t open the door was because you didn’t use your student card.”

I frowned “Student card?”

“You mean you don’t have one yet?”

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Hmm.  Well, no worries.  We can fix that later.  Everyone here has a student card.  It’s the only way to get around.  There’s a small chip in the back of it that interfaces with all the buildings on campus.  It’s some type of new technology they put in a few years ago.  Anyway, at the front of every building is a wireless scanner that picks up on the chip in your card, and unlocks the door for you.”

“Automatically?” I asked.

“Yeah.  Exactly,” he said cheerfully. “ It’s pretty cool, actually.  You just walk up to a set of doors and they open for you, each time.  That way, you never have to fumble around for a set of keys or anything like that.  Really helpful when we get into storm season over here.”

“Storm season?  What’s that?” I asked, puzzled.

Chris’s eyes widened again.  But this time, he made no effort to look away.  In fact, he looked to be completely surprised.  “You mean you don’t
know
?”

“Know what?” I asked again.  “About ‘storm season?’  No, I have no idea.  I’ve never even heard of it.”

He whistled through his teeth.  “Wow! You’re a long way from home, aren’t you?”

“It’s not my fault,” I defended stubbornly.  “It’s not like anyone’s given me a tour of the place yet.”

“A tour!  That’s a great idea.  I’d totally be happy to show you around.”  He gave me that disarming smile.

“Well, I’ve got to get unpacked first…” I began, but he quickly broke in.

“Of course!  Here, I’ll help you get your things.”  Running around behind me, he grabbed both of my bags in his hands.  “What floor are you on?”

“My key says 34…”

“Third floor.  Got it.  Follow me.”

Chris went inside the building, and I trailed after him.  As soon as I crossed the doorway, I stared wide-eyed at the lobby.  It was ridiculously extravagant.  Everything I could see was polished marble.  The floor tiles made a crisscross pattern of dark and light colors across the room.  In the middle, a few lounge-like sofas had been arranged, each one of them a rich black leather.  Looking around, I realized I had been right earlier: the actual rooms of the dorm all rimmed the outer wall of the rectangular building.  Which meant that in the middle of the building was a completely open space.  From where I stood, you could look up and see the balusters running along the hallways of each floor, and the doors leading into the individual rooms as well, something like a hotel.  High above me, in the roof of the building, were three spectacular skylights.  They were all made of clear glass, and gave a perfect view into the sky above.

“Are you coming?” Chris called from across the atrium.  Already, he had started lugging my bags up a flight of stairs.  Quickening my pace, I ran up to him and tried to take one of the bags, but he pulled it away.

“I got them,” he told me.

I rolled my eyes.  He was clearly struggling carrying both of them up the stairs at once.  Yet, obviously, he didn’t want me to notice.  “It’ll be faster if I help,” I said.

“No way,” he grunted.  Each step he took up, the suitcases banged loudly against each other.  “I got it.”

“No, you don’t,” I interjected, and before he could protest again, pulled one of the bags out of his hand.  Just for good measure, I took a couple steps up, carrying the heavy bag behind me, to show him I was just fine handling one of them.  Glancing back, I saw that he had started moving faster.  I increased my own pace, and raced to the top.  I heard him moving right behind me, trying to match my speed.  But, I had the advantage of a head start.  I got to the top, and flashed a triumphant smile as he came up beside me.

“Told you,” I said with a wink.  “There’s no point protesting when I’m clearly in the right.”

“We’ll see about that…” Chris said, trailing off before he could finish the empty threat.  He smiled at me again, though.  “You’re tougher than you look.”

“You should have seen what I went through to get here,” I said, thinking back to the disaster with Vlad’s small boat. 

To my surprise, Chris barked a laugh.  “I take it you’ve met Vlad, then.”

“How did you know?”

“That’s the only way you could have gotten to the island this early,” he explained.  “It’s quite a journey with him, isn’t it?”

“You don’t even know half of it,” I replied in a tone that said
I did not want to talk about it
.  “Anyway, I take it we’re only on the first floor, now?”  The first door I could see down the hall was marked with a large
10
right above the peephole.  Chris nodded.  “That means we’ve got two more flights of stairs to go?”  He nodded again.  “Let’s go do it then.  I’m getting anxious to see my room and have a chance to unpack.”  Then, noticing the hopeful way Chris was eyeing the bag I was carrying, quickly added, “Not that I’m complaining about the stairs, of course.”

“Of course,” Chris replied, and tilted his head to the left.  “It’s this way.  Believe it or not, your room is on the same floor as mine.”

“Really?”  For some reason, I had been under the impression that the floors were arranged by gender.

“Yup.  What are the odds, huh?”

“No kidding.  Is it nice?”

“What?”

“The room.”

“Oh… well, you’ll see,” he said mysteriously.  And before I could decode the meaning of that, he jumped forward.  “This time, I’m not letting you beat me to the top.”

“Hey!” I protested, but he was already racing down the hall.  I ran after him, laughing at the pure craziness of it all.  He took the first flight of stairs two at a time.  When I tried to do the same, I nearly fell flat on my face.  Unwavering, I pressed on, but I could already see Chris turning the corner that led to the last flight of stairs.  And so, by the time I got all the way to the third floor, red-faced and huffing, Chris was the one staring triumphantly at me in front of a small door marked
34
.