Private (Private 1)

desk. A shaft of light from one of the windows illuminated the dis-I did as I was told. The honor code basically stated that I would tinct line between the makeup on her face and the fleshy rolls of her not cheat and that I would report any classmate if I suspected him neck.

or her of cheating. If I failed to meet these standards, I would be

“We expect great things out of each and every one of our stu-

instantly expelled. No second chances at Easton Academy. But

dents here at Easton,” she said. “I hold my own advisees to partic-since I had never had to cheat in my life, and couldn’t fathom that ularly high standards, so I will be keeping a close eye on you, Miss anyone else who had been accepted to this school would have to, Brennan. Don’t let me down.”

I signed it quickly and handed it back. Ms. Naylor inspected my Maybe I was just being paranoid, but somehow this demand

signature.

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“You should get going,” she said. “House meetings begin in fif-

teen minutes. You don’t want to make a bad impression with your house mother on your first day.”

“Thank you,” I said again, and stood.

INTRIGUE

“Oh, and Miss Brennan?” she

said. When I looked at her again,

she had twisted her face into a smile. Or a reasonable facsimile thereof. “Good luck,” she said.

The “you’ll need it” was implied.

Feeling nostalgic for the hopefulness I had felt back in my dad’s car, I grasped the cold, brass doorknob and walked out.

My tendency to walk with my head down has had both benefits and drawbacks in the past. The major drawback was the fact that I had walked into my share of people. The benefit was that I was always finding things. Tons of coins, fallen necklaces and bracelets, secret love notes people thought they’d secured in their binders. Once I even found a wallet full of cash and when I turned it in I got a fifty-dollar reward. But I should have known that walking that way

around Easton would be bad. I was halfway across the quad that

backed the dorms when I heard someone shout, “Heads up!”

Which, of course, made me look when it was supposed to make

me duck.

I dropped my schedule and grabbed the football out of the air

about a tenth of a second before it would have sent me to the infirmary with a broken nose. My heart was in my throat.

“Nice reflexes.”

There was a guy sitting directly in my path. Had the ball not

almost rearranged my face, I would have tripped right over him

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K A T E B R I A N