Chapter 3

I wandered down to breakfast Friday morning into a sea of complete chaos. Apparently, a large number of students had sneaked out last night to go to an underground rave, and had gotten caught. The school had cancelled morning classes in order to call an emergency school-wide assembly to address the issue. Looking around the cafeteria, I noticed that Cara seemed to have made it back from her date, but eleven of my classmates were missing.

After looking over (and dismissing) the cereal choices, I ran into Jenna by the milk dispenser. "Morning," she said. "Heard anything?"

"Enough to make me think that anyone who got caught is out of here."

"That's not the worst part," she said, lowering her voice. "I heard that the paramedics were called to the scene."

"Overdoses?"

"At least three, though I'm not sure if any of them were from here."

"You'd think they'd know better."

"Hell of a way to learn about drugs."

"Yeah."

She motioned toward her table. "Wanna come sit with us?"

"Too much of a crowd for me, I'm afraid. See you at assembly?"

"Kay. See you then."

I had a leisurely breakfast, then went up to my room before heading over to the auditorium. Anya waved me over as soon as I came in--she had saved me a seat between her and Cara.

The principal got straight to the point after all the stragglers--me included--had all found a seat. "Last night," she boomed, "Thirty-four students violated curfew to attend an off-campus party. Police and paramedics were alerted to the scene by a 911 call, where they found seven individuals who had overdosed on various pharmaceutical products."

"She isn't soft-pedaling anything at all, is she?" whispered Cara.

"First time I've ever heard the admin people pit it all on the line, even in disguised terms. Did you get in okay last night?"

"Actually, I came in before you guys finished. Everyone's saying that you're a pretty good bridge player."

Anya shushed the two of us as the principal continued. "All of the students involved have been suspended for the semester, and reinstatement for the spring semester will be determined on a case-to-case basis. However, no changes will be made to the current curfew system. It is not the place of the school and this administration to serve as your jailers. We will continue to place our trust in you, though this is fair warning that abuse of our trust will be punished severely.

The suspended students will be removing their belongings from now till noon. Please stay away from the residential hall areas until then. Afternoon classes will be held at their normal times. That is all. You are dismissed."

As we shuffled out of the auditorium, I commented to Jenna, "Interesting mix of severity and mercy, don't you think?"

"Tossing them out for a whole semester, but keeping the gawking eyes away. That's Principal Richter for you."

"I wonder how the OD cases are doing," said Anya.

"You guys noticed how Richter didn't say if anyone here was one of the seven?" added Natalie.

"That might be why we got cleared out, so that we can't see if anyone didn't make it back," I replied. We walked in silence for a bit before Cara said, "So, what do we do for the rest of the morning?"

I took this chance to attempt a discreet exit. "I'll see you guys at lunch," I said as I started to walk away.

"Where are you running off to in such a hurry?" demanded Anya.

Damn. Didn't think this through. Okay, improvise. "I was thinking of heading over to Dartmouth."

"Isn't the bus stop the other way?"

"I wanted to walk over there. You know, get some fresh air and some exercise."

"But it's thirty minutes away by foot!"

"As I said, I could use the exercise."

"Well," interrupted Jenna, "I'm up for a stroll. How about you guys?" Everyone else assented quickly, and we headed toward Dartmouth.

The campus was pretty much deserted when we got there (it was Friday morning, after all), and the girls opted to shoot some pool at the student center. I played a rack or two to demonstrate my complete ineptness, then watched for a few minutes before wandering outside. A few minutes later, I had made my way to the Memorial Garden on the other side of campus, by the arts building.

Anya found me an hour later, sitting on a bench in the middle of the Garden, looking intently at a sea of pink asters, just starting to bloom. "At least you're not reading this time," she said as she sat down.

"It'd be a waste, wouldn't it?" I replied absently.

"Hel-lo, flower-obsessed person. Earth to Alex."

I came out of my semi-reverie with a slight start. "Sorry. Where's everyone else?"

"Still inside, playing. I came out for some fresh air. Hope I'm not bothering you."

I started to say, "Not at all," but bit it back, replacing it with, "Anya, please."