Agents of the Glass by Michael D. Beil Read Free Book Online

Wellbourne’s enormous, freshly polished bronze doors for the first time. “So, does everyone call you Andover? Here, let me see your schedule.”
    “Andy, usually.” As he handed her the paper, he noticed Winter’s strange pale eyes, but he quickly looked away so she wouldn’t think he was staring.
    “Good. You have Ms. Albemarle for English. She
rocks.
I learned so much from her last year. Oh! And I see you signed up for the BC!”
    “I did?”
    “That’s what it says here. The schedule doesn’t lie.”
    “Huh. What is it?”
    “The Broadcast Club. It used to be a newspaper, but now it’s the school’s TV station. Everyone has to be in at least one club, and it’s the best. You’re going to love it. Ms. Albemarle is the moderator. The only thing is, the older kids usually take all the good jobs and try to hog all the interesting stories, but there’s still lots to do if you’re creative, and willing to work. There’s a meeting today after school. You can come, right? Actually, you
have
to come,” she said, smiling.
    “I guess so. Although I’m still not really sure how I…Yeah, I’ll come.”
    Ten minutes later, Winter took him up the elevator to his homeroom on the seventh floor. “Remember, you can use the elevator on the right before and after school, but not during the day. Don’t worry, most of your classes will be on six and seven. Except PE. And lunch, of course. We have the same lunch period, so look for me when you come down, okay? Any questions so far? I feel like I’ve been doing all the talking and not giving you a chance.”
    “Uh…no, not yet, anyway. Except…um…this whole ‘buddy’ thing. How is it supposed to work?”
    “Oh, that’s easy. For the first few weeks, we’re supposed to meet every day to, you know, make sure that you’re fitting in and understanding your assignments and everything. After that, it’s totally up to you. Who knows, you may decide that you hate me and don’t
ever
want to talk to me,” said Winter, her pale eyes flashing as she laughed.
    ----

    * Mrs. Jellyby is a character in Charles Dickens’s novel
Bleak House.
While she devotes nearly all her time and energy to charitable work for an obscure tribe in Africa, her own family and home suffer from neglect.

Andy’s first day at Wellbourne was much like the first day at any school. The classes were smaller, with most having only fifteen or so students, and teachers, he noted, were especially fond of the word
expectations.
A
very
big deal was made about the school’s honor code. Before turning in any work, all upper school students were required to write the following statement across the top of the paper, followed by their signature:
On my honor as a Wellbourne student, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment or examination.
    As he moved from class to class, Andy wrote the pledge across the front of each of his notebooks. He had never really thought about cheating on a test or copying homework, probably because he had never needed to. School had always been easy for him—too easy, at times—but all that was about to change.
    When the final period ended (there are no bells at Wellbourne, another difference), he went to his locker to drop off his books before heading down to the Broadcast Club meeting in the basement. Winter was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.
    “So…how did the afternoon go? You just came from Ms. Albemarle’s class, right? What did you think? Pretty great, huh?”
    “Yeah, I guess. She seems okay….Gave us a lot of homework, though.” He pointed to his planner, where he had written down the assignment. “I have to read this story online tonight, from some magazine or newspaper. It’s, like, twenty pages, and we have a quiz on it
tomorrow.
”
    “That sounds like her, all right. She doesn’t waste a minute. Don’t freak out about the quiz; it won’t be hard. She just wants to make sure you’re doing the reading.” She peered over