Galdoni (7 page)

She made a face. “Just wait until they make
you dissect a frog.” She went into the classroom and I followed her
to the back row. An older lady with short, gray-streaked black hair
set copies of books on the desks. She wore a red shirt and gray
skirt with a black sash around her waist.

The teacher gave me a kind
smile as she handed me one of the books. “Welcome. You’re fortunate
to join us in time for
Macbeth
.” She leaned closer and said
in a loud whisper, “Just don’t think you can watch Mel Gibson and
get the gist of it. Several of your peers tried that with
To Kill a Mockingbird
and
didn’t fare very well.”

“
Hey,” the boy in front of
me said indignantly.

The teacher shrugged. “I warned you, Ryan.
I’ve watched the movies, too.”

The student next to him elbowed him when the
teacher walked away; they both started laughing.

I ran my fingers through the worn pages of
the book, amazed at how easily they were handed out. Ryan grabbed
his copy and shoved it into his backpack without noticing how the
pages bent. I cringed, thinking of how difficult it was to get
books at the Academy. We had been forced to hide them with great
care. If any were found, it meant beatings and confinement for the
student, and the teacher was never seen again. I lifted the pages
to my nose and inhaled the dusty, worn scent of faded ink on old
paper. Brie glanced at me. Embarrassed, I set the book back on my
desk, but she smiled and smelled her book, too.

“
The last student who read
this either had a smoking habit or lived with smokers,” she said,
setting it quickly down. I laughed and the teacher threw us a
warning glance. We fell silent as she began to read the first
chapter of the book aloud.

“
Does she say it out loud
because some of the other students don’t know how to read?” I asked
after class. We met up with Jayce and Nikko at the end of the hall
and walked together to the next class we shared.

Brie laughed. “They can
read, but so many failed the test on
To
Kill a Mockingbird
that she’s convinced
reading it in class is the only way anyone’ll get through it.” She
glanced at Jayce. “And she might have a point.”

“
I read it,” he exclaimed.
At her look, he shrugged. “Well, the first page, a couple in the
middle, and then the end. But,” he said with a triumphant grin. “It
was enough to get me a C minus!”

Brie shook her head. “How on earth do you
expect to pass your sophomore year settling for a C minus?”

“
That’s all you need,”
Jayce replied. “Besides, I’m acing history and economics, so it’ll
even out.”

Brie and Nikko exchanged an exasperated look
as Nikko held open the door to our history class. The teacher, a
short, bald man with glasses, was busy writing facts on the
whiteboard in various colors of markers. I was surprised to see
that he wrote everything without referring to a textbook or
notes.

There were designated desks, so Brie and
Jayce sat near the front while I took an empty seat by Nikko at the
back. I heard a humming sound and realized it was coming from the
teacher as he finished the last of the notes and swiftly dotted a
few i’s that he had missed. He then turned with a flourish and
waved at the board.

“
Copy this down. It will be
on the test next Friday. Also, read Chapter Seventeen and it
wouldn’t hurt to brush up on some weapons of World War I while
you’re at it.” He wiped his hands on the front of his vest, then
sat down at the big wooden desk and pulled out a paperback book
that didn’t look at all history related.

I glanced at Nikko. He gave me a thumbs-up
and proceeded to copy down the notes. I fought back a wry smile and
did the same.

***

By the time the bell rang and we broke for
lunch, I felt like I had truly accomplished something. I was
surprised at what the students were learning. I would be hard
pressed to catch up, but it was a good feeling, like I had an
interesting challenge to complete that wouldn’t result in mastering
a new way to kill someone.

I followed the others through the lunch line
and was amazed at how much noise a lunchroom full of students could
make. We carried trays loaded with foods I had never seen before to
a circle of grass outside. I leaned back against one of the trees
and breathed in the fresh, rain-washed air that chased around us. I
propped my injured leg on my crutch and poked at the food on the
tray.

“
So how’d your first
official day of school start?” Jayce asked, biting into a pile of
gray and brown gravy-covered noodles.

“
Very interesting. I feel
like an undercover spy learning national secrets or something. It’s
weird.”

Brie grinned at me over her salad. “Don’t
worry; you’ll get bored of it soon enough, especially with Mr.
Derby’s art class.”

They all groaned and Jayce kicked Nikko’s
foot. “What’d you put him in that for?”

“
Dad thought art would be a
good outlet, and Kale said he was interested in broadening his
horizons.”

“
Mr. Derby’ll broaden them,
that’s for sure,” Jayce replied with a wince.

I shrugged. “Bring it on. The more I can
learn while I’m here, the better.” I finished my tray of
questionably smelling French fries, apples covered in cinnamon
syrup, and peas which actually tasted quite wonderful. We dumped
our waste in the garbage can near the doors and handed the trays to
a lady with a hairnet and an expression on her face that said she
would hit someone over the head with the said tray if they forgot
to throw their plastic ware into the recycle bin.

We turned down a side hall and Nikko held
open the door to economics. We settled on the back row, a theme I
noticed they followed in any classroom without assigned seating. I
was starting to feel confident that we had actually pulled it off
when I caught a look Nikko threw Jayce.

“
What?” Jayce
whispered.

Nikko sighed and gestured to the
whiteboard.

‘
The Galdoni Impact on Our
Economy’ was written across the top in red marker. Bullet points
and a graph showing the jump in tax money collected since gambling
was legalized for the show fifteen years ago were drawn in blue and
green. I glanced at Brie and saw her reading the bullet points, her
lips a tight crease.

“
Alright students,” began
the teacher, a woman with tightly-curled, short blond hair and blue
eyes hidden behind cat-eye glasses. She smoothed the front of her
calf-length brown dress. “We have a new student in class. Some of
you may have met him already, but please say hello to Kale
Matthews.”

She motioned to me and a few boys said
disinterested hellos while several girls turned to look at me; I
felt for a moment like a bug under inspection. Three girls gave shy
smiles with little waves while a pair in the front corner turned
back and started giggling.

The teacher ignored them and jumped into her
lecture. “As we began to discuss yesterday, the Galdoni impact has
been more markedly felt in the past month and a half since the
program was discontinued. Because of this and the government’s
steps to take care of those individuals that misused the funds set
aside for the program, the Arena is being reopened. There are some
who feel that closing the Arena for this short stint of time was
planned. Does anyone have an answer as to why that might be?”

A boy with short black hair and stars buzzed
into the sides of his head raised his hand. “Supply and demand,” he
said.

“
That’s right,” she
continued. “As the supply runs out, the demand increases. I expect
that when the Arena airs again, twice as many people will be
inclined to gamble on the outcomes.”

A girl with chin-length brunette hair raised
her hand. “Isn’t it illegal for the government to hold a monopoly
on the program?”

The teacher shook her head and began a
discussion on needs versus wants and their places in the economy. I
zoned out her high voice, lost in the mind-numbing thought that the
Arena was reopening. Reason dictated that it was only a matter of
time, but the time had come quicker than I imagined. I didn’t hear
the bell ring and Nikko had to nudge me when the class was
over.

***

The intermediate algebra class I shared with
Brie went quickly. Math had always come easily to me; it was taught
at the Academy to calculate variables, increase attack efficiency,
and for better energy management and preservation during a fight. I
was actually able to show Brie a few shortcuts on the problems and
it felt good to at least know something in one of my classes.

Jayce and Brie held back smiles when they
left Nikko and I at Mr. Derby’s Art class. I took a seat at one of
the long white tables next to Nikko and promptly found out why.

“
A new student!” the
teacher said. He was a skinny man with wild brown hair and red
glasses. He adjusted a white apron covered in paint splatters, then
held out a hand. “Mr. Derby, at your service.”

“
Uh, Kale,” I said,
glancing at Nikko. He just grinned and sat back to
watch.

“
Kale, you are welcome to
our class!” He waved an arm to indicate the entire classroom which
was very slowly filling with students who only seemed to perk up
when they noticed the teacher with a new student. “Here we learn
how art and color coincide to create magic.” I lifted an eyebrow
and he laughed. “Exactly, my boy!” He turned to the rest of the
class and clapped his hands. “Places, places. Let the magic
begin!”

Nikko pulled out a rough charcoal sketch he
was working on of an old barn next to a magnificent oak tree.

“
You did that?” I asked,
amazed.

He nodded, sliding a plain sheet of paper
toward me. “Make whatever you want. Mr. Derby isn’t specific. He
just says to make it magical.” He rolled his eyes with a barely
suppressed smile as Mr. Derby came back to our table.

“
Exactly, Mr. Ray! Exactly.
Make it magical. I couldn’t have put it better myself.” He beamed
at Nikko and glanced at his picture. “Ah, I simply love that tree.
Love it! It will look beautiful on our wall!” He waved his hand
with a flourish.

I turned to see a wall filled from top to
bottom with pictures from students. Not a single inch of the wall
showed through, and the pictures were several layers deep as though
instead of removing one to put up another, they were just placed on
top. He glanced at me over his glasses. “I’m hoping Mr. Matthews
will have something to add as well.”

I studied the blank white paper; it matched
the current state of my mind given the task at hand. “I’ll try,” I
said uncertainly. I had never made anything creative in my life.
The Academy frowned on individualism, and any sign of wavering from
the strict studies was swiftly punished. I picked up the charcoal
with the feeling of breaking some unspoken rule.

“
Don’t try, do,” Mr. Derby
said. His enthusiasm was catching and several students around us
grinned. “Do your best and your best is what you will do.” He left
with a nod as though satisfied by his words.

I glanced at Nikko. “Do my best?”

He grinned. “And your best is what you will
do.”

I laughed and twirled the charcoal between
my fingers. The blank paper stared up at me as though daring me to
smudge its perfect whiteness.

I was still staring at it a few minutes
later when Mr. Derby wandered back. “Haven’t found your muse?” he
asked.

I shook my head.

He gave a thoughtful frown and pulled at his
lower lip. “Whenever I have trouble thinking of what to make, I
look through my past for an image that stands out above the rest,
something that defines me even though I may not know why.”

I glanced at him in surprise and he smiled.
“Even art teachers have a serious side.” He winked and walked
away.

I found Nikko staring at me with a confused
look. “I didn’t know he had a serious side,” he whispered.

I stifled a smile and stared down at the
paper. The white purity faded and I saw the Academy gates as I left
them, the silhouetted forms of Galdoni flying over the top,
picketers ringing the fence, and the hulking gray form of the
Academy building standing empty and menacing behind them.

It would be a dead give-away, but perhaps I
could draw something similar. I took a deep breath and began to
sketch an outline of wings. The charcoal glided over the paper
leaving long, stark lines; a faint whisper of satisfaction rose in
my chest.

***

Dr. Ray met us at home that night. “A
successful first day, I gather?” he asked with a glance at all the
books I had spread out on the card table.

I nodded and turned back to my work. He took
the chair opposite me and studied the books thoughtfully. “You
know, I didn’t think you’d actually go through with it. The type of
social situation you’re in at the Academy doesn’t exactly lead to
experience in a normal classroom setting.”

“
In other words, you
thought I’d chicken out?” I surmised.

He nodded with a twinkle in his eyes. “Your
nonchalance in my classroom was either really good acting or a very
quick adaptation to unusual situations, both of which are rare for
someone your age.”

I grinned at him. “Just good acting. I
thought my heart would beat out of my chest. And I had to keep
reminding myself that I couldn’t fly away if things went terribly
wrong.” I rubbed my forehead and tried to put my feelings into
words. “I found myself actually missing the mapped out days at the
Academy; a tight schedule with high security and barely a breath of
free time. The freedom feels almost too good to be true. It makes
me feel scattered, if that makes any sense.”