The Last Academy by Anne Applegate Read Free Book Online Page B

loft that overlooked the theater. A metal spotlight stood in the corner, with its head tipped down as if it were sleeping. Everything else was painted flat black. The walls sloped at strange angles, making the path cramped. I headed for the control room. Nora pulled me back. She pointed at our feet, to a square opening tucked under a domed bulge in the wall. It looked like an air duct.
    “Follow me.” Nora got down on her knees and crawled into the hole. The space didn’t look big enough to fit her, but she disappeared. I hunched down to take a look.
    The painters hadn’t bothered with black paint very far into the tunnel, which went back about three feet and then made a ninety-degree turn to the left. I didn’t like it, but I crawled in. My shoulders brushed each side. My body cut off the light from outside.
    I was going to get stuck. The thought made my palms go clammy. No one would hear me yelling until Monday morning, most likely. I didn’t know off the top of my headwhat the penalty was for getting caught while sneaking into a secret corridor. But I assumed it wasn’t going to be a pat on the back and a big thumbs-up. When I inhaled, I swear my ribs touched the sides of the walls.
    “When you feel my hands, I want you to stop, OK?” Nora sounded close. I wiggled around the corner and put my hand down on Nora’s hand instead of plywood.
    “OK.” A tiny light came on and I saw Nora’s head and shoulders. Behind her, a small room. “It’s tricky here — the ground is about four feet down,” she said.
    I kind of birthed myself out of the tunnel and onto the floor below.
    “Quiet!” Nora hissed.
    We were in an unfinished space of some sort. The motif was shiny silver and pink cotton-candy insulation. Part of the floor had plywood on it; the rest was just open beams. Nora waved a penlight over a rumpled blanket and a couple of old throw pillows the color of dust.
    “How’d you find this place?” I whispered.
    “I was in the sound room last night and I heard voices. I came back later to explore and found it. I think other kids use it sometimes to hang out or whatever.”
    “What were you doing up here at night?” I asked.Students were allowed to be in classrooms or the theater — anywhere, really — during any part of the day we weren’t confined to our rooms. It wasn’t like she was breaking any rules. It was just … weird.
    “I was making out with Thatch Haskell in the sound room,” Nora replied.
    After a moment I managed to close my mouth. Thatch was a chunky freshman who would tell you how he was named after his infamous pirate great-great-great-something or other, and not after unsightly lawn problems. Then he would laugh and say, “You know, Blackbeard?” But mostly people only gave him a blank stare, because there was no way Thatch was more parts swashbuckler than he was lawn care.
    I could not believe I was actually living in a world where guys like Thatch were making out when I was sitting in my dorm room like a dork. Sadly, the closest I’d ever come to a guy kissing me was on the airplane with Barnaby Charon, with him in the role of Señor El Creepo.
    “Does Thatch know?” I gestured at … whatever this place was.
    “Why would I tell him?” Nora scoffed, apparently insulted by the question. I didn’t have an answer for that.It seemed weird to swap spit with someone but not swap secrets. Maybe Thatch was a bad kisser.
    “It’s a secret room!” Nora giggle-whispered. “I had to tell someone!” She got a weird smile on her face. “I want to put a door on that passageway. With a latch and a lock.”
    Of all the things I guess she could have said, I didn’t expect her to say that. “What about the other kids who use the place — the ones you heard last night?” I asked.
    “What are they gonna do? Tell?” Nora smirked.
    “They’ll be mad.” I was grasping at straws. I knew there was a good reason not to do what Nora was talking about, but I couldn’t quite make my