School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari Read Free Book Online Page B

heavily,
     closing for seconds at a time.
    His head bobbed back and forth as he blubbered, “What if you doze off and kill both of us?”
    “Theo, I’m fine.”
    “Do you know how many people die in sleep-related accidents each year?”
    Before Theo could tell his mother that according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving was
     responsible for a minimum of 100,000 accidents each year, he drifted to sleep. This was just one of the oodles upon oodles
     of statistics Theo used to validate his many neuroses.
    Only a couple miles behind Theo and his mother on Route 7 was the Punchalower family, who had hired a black town car to ferry
     them to Farmington. Mrs. Punchalower and Lulu tried to sleep but found it impossible with Mr. Punchalower’s rapid typing on
     his BlackBerry. It was nothing short of a miracle that the man hadn’t developed BBT (BlackBerry thumb), which causes the thumbs
     to freeze in a bent position. According to The Institute of BBT, if the BlackBerry trend continues, opposable thumbs could
     be obsolete within a century. Lulu held her throbbing left eye as she listened to her father type, all the while worrying
     that she would be forced to partake in “exercises” involving small, cramped spaces without windows.
    “How do you know this camp isn’t going to torture me? Lock me in closets?” Lulu asked with an unsteady voice.
    “Lucy Punchalower, I expect rational thinking from my children. Don’t disappoint me,” Mr. Punchalower said sternly without
     looking up from his BlackBerry.
    “Do you guys know anyone who has gone to this strange school?” Lulu demanded.
    “This institution comes highly recommended by Dr. Guinness. It’s extremely
exclusive
,” Mrs. Punchalower said with pride. “Your father and I expect you to do your best. Is that understood, young lady?”
    “Whatever,” Lulu huffed with frustration.
    “What did I tell you about that word?” Mrs. Punchalower asked angrily.
    “Are you saying that I am not allowed to say the words ‘what’ and ‘ever’ or just when they’re together?” Lulu asked sarcastically.
    “Any more lip and I will personally request they lock you in a closet,” Mr. Punchalower said without an ounce of humor.
    Lulu closed her eyes in an attempt to block out her parents. She tuned out her father’s typing and focused on the sound of
     air pounding against the speeding car. While Lulu didn’t have any problem blocking out her parents, her fears were quite another
     story.
    Questions stormed her mind, intensifying the thumping behind her eye. What if the bathroom didn’t have a window? What if her
     bedroom was a converted closet? What if there was an elevator? Lulu longed to be back in her bedroom in Providence. When Lulu
     stayed home, she forgot entirely that she was claustrophobic.
    The Punchalower family drove down Farmington’s idyllic Main Street, a scene akin to a Norman Rockwell painting. The black
     town car stopped in front of the bus station at exactly 8:57 AM . As Lulu exited the car, she noticed a young boy hysterically crying and hugging his mother. It was a desperate, emotion-filled
     hug most often seen in dramatic love stories. Lulu was shocked by the display. As a byproduct of her rigid parents, Lulu never
     cried. In fact, she loathed crying altogether, prompting her to recoil as she passed the blubbering boy.
    “Don’t leave me here!” Theo screamed. “They could be criminals!”
    Lulu paused at the word “criminal,” realizing that the weeping boy had a point: she didn’t have a clue what she was walking
     into.

CHAPTER 7
EVERYONE’S AFRAID OF SOMETHING:
Didaskaleinophobia is the fear of going to school.

     

    A t 9:00 AM , Farmington’s bus station was com pletely vacant except for Madeleine, Lulu, Theo, their respective parents, and Garrison.
     Seated alone on a pew, Garrison quietly read his baseball magazine in an attempt to ignore Madeleine’s ogling. Mr. and Mrs.
     Masterson