The Academy by Emmaline Andrews Read Free Book Online Page A

already knows. Although I didn’t think Broward went that way.”
     
    “What do you mean? Went what way?” I asked.
     
    “You know.” North made a side to side motion with one large, well-shaped hand. “Gay.”
     
    I had only heard the word once or twice before but I had a general idea of what it meant. “You think I saw Broward and Hinks…doing something immoral together ?” My voice rose slightly. “But they’re both males. Is that standard at the Academy too?”
     
    North shrugged. “Not really but you do hear about it from time to time. You know how it is—too many horny guys and no girls allowed.”
     
    I had a sudden disturbing thought. “Are you… that way?”
     
    “Gay? Me?” He gave a surprised laugh, as though the very idea was preposterous. “No, absolutely not. There are too many pretty girls in the solar system to waste my time on another guy. But Kinky Hinks definitely is. Don’t tell me he didn’t try the old ‘let’s see how your uniform fits’ routine on you.”
     
    I could feel my cheeks getting hot. “Yes, he did,” I admitted. “I, uh, managed to get away though. Would he really have tried to…to…” I couldn’t finish.
     
    North laughed incredulously. “I can’t believe it, you’re actually blushing .”
     
    “He…I…” I put my hands to my hot cheeks and winced when I touched the injured one. How could I tell him that we didn’t speak of sexual matters of any kind in Victoria? And why did talking about this with him make my heart pound so hard?
     
    “Never mind.” He shook his head, a trace of a smile still lingering on his lips. “Hinks is pretty harmless, actually—he just likes to look. He gets away with it because he has some kind of in with the powers that be around here. So what happened with him and Broward?”
     
    “Nothing like that,” I assured him. “Actually, nothing that had to do with Hinks at all. It was the headmaster.”
     
    His eyebrows shot up. “The headmaster?”
     
    Quickly, before he could get the wrong idea, I filled him in on everything I had seen and heard while waiting in the headmaster’s office. When I was finished, North sat back and gave a long, low whistle.
     
    “And Broward caught you watching him get paddled? No wonder he’s after you, Jameson. He wants everyone to think he’s invincible because his father is on the Board of Trustees. If word got around that he actually got punished, and that he chose the paddle over the cane, his reputation would be shot all to hell.”
     
    “I wasn’t going to tell anyone,” I protested. “And what does it matter which he chose?”
     
    “The paddle’s for cowards.” North waved a hand dismissively. “Doesn’t even break the skin. The cane hurts a lot worse and it can leave permanent scars.”
     
    I shivered at the idea of something worse than the paddling I’d witnessed earlier that day. Though Father spoke roughly to Kristopher and myself, he had never laid a hand to either one of us or allowed anyone else to either. Would Headmaster Chauser cane me if my secret was discovered? I couldn’t let that happen.
     
    “Sounds like you’ll have to be on the lookout for Broward for a good long time,” North said, pulling me out of my dismal thoughts. “What’s your class schedule like? I’ll try and tell you the best way to avoid him.”
     
    “It’s there.” I pointed to the disposable tablet on the desk and he got off the bed to get it.
     
    “Hmm.” He frowned as he paged through the schedule. “Looks like you and I have a lot of the same classes. Inter-dimensional Calculus and Astro Navigation back to back. Unfortunately Broward is in the Calc class too.”
     
    “At least you and I are in it together,” I said, without thinking.
     
    North frowned. “Don’t get any ideas, shrimp. I’m your roommate, not your bodyguard. I don’t have time to come running to the rescue every time you stub your toe.”
     
    “Of course not,” I said stiffly.