The Last Academy Read Online Free PDF

from the dining hall, footsteps echoing on the terra-cotta tiles.
    “Well, hello, fellas!” Brynn sang, turning around fast, like we had been doing something naughty. Four upperclassmen walked by, all of them still in their formal dinner clothes, neckties undone. One of them was Mark Elliott. They slowed down and approached us.
    “Hello, yourself,” one of the guys said. He was tall, dark, and handsome, his teeth flashing when he added, “Brynn, right?”
    She winked in response. “Beau, right?” she answered. “And who are your friends?”
    “Mark, Sloan, and Carlos.” Beau gestured at each guy.
    “Hi,” Mark Elliott said. It was hard to breathe, but I managed to not pass out, based purely on the fact that I wanted to impress the guy.
    Brynn looked ready to get her flirt on, but before she could, Beau’s smile went mischievous. “You ladies know what time it is?” He pointed to the big clock in the hallway. It read 9:59. Jessie gasped and bolted for the doors. We were going to be late for check-in.
     
    We raced back to Kelser as fast as we could. Jessie and I were in the back, and tennis champ Brynn had a good lead on us, but Nora must have had a fifth gear in those legs, because she was way ahead and making it look easy. Out on the lawn, it was dark and everything smelled like mown grass and marine layer. It felt good to run.
    Nora got to the doors of Kelser first. She lay into them without slowing down, arms out to push them open. Her whole body smacked against them and she crumpled like a swatted fly. I made a note to remember that the doors atKelser House opened out instead of in. Nora picked herself up and pulled the door open. We all piled in behind her, desperate to have at least one foot across the threshold, when Miss Andersen, the dorm head, saw us. I don’t know how she could have missed us, though. She was right there.
    Miss Andersen looked pointedly at her watch. “Get to your rooms. Now,” she said, in an irritated tone. We disappeared.
    My room was Tamara-free even though it was past check-in. I paced a small circle, out of breath, wondering where she could be. But half the freshmen were probably missing curfew. First days were tricky. I got changed and slipped into bed.
    In the dark of my room, I let myself think again about the man from the airplane, Barnaby Charon, here at school. I remembered his hand against my collarbone, sliding up to wrap around my throat. I tried to focus instead on classes tomorrow, and what I was going to wear, and when I’d get a chance to see that cute senior guy again.
    A while later, I realized my roommate was in her bed after all. I guess I must have fallen asleep. That seemed a little wonky, because my head had been completely full of thoughts. But Tamara had not been there when I camein, and yet there she was — covers pulled up around her shoulders, flip-flops on the floor in front of the bed.
    “Where were you?” I was surprised to find I sounded half-asleep.
    “Brynn’s,” Tamara said. “She’s afraid of the dark.”
    I said, “Hey, you know anything about Barnaby Charon?”
    I expected her to not know who I was talking about. I mean, he was an obscure school trustee who wasn’t even a teacher. But with each second of silence that went by, I knew Tamara knew exactly who he was. After a long while, she said, “Keep him away from me.” Then she yawned.
    “Yeah.” I felt peaceful when she said that. I could definitely relate. The last bit of stress in my stomach unclenched and I slept.
     
    I woke up in the dark. Someone was sitting on my bed.
    I froze with terror, my eyes shut, and waited for a whiff of clean soap smell so I would know for sure it was Barnaby Charon. I tried to remember all those brilliant one-liners I’d come up with while I’d hid in the airplane bathroom. Get away! You pig! Don’t touch me! I would say all these things. Loudly. Just as soon as I was ready to open my eyes.
    The thing was, nothing smelled like soap. The