The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy Read Online Free PDF

the other sixth graders (they needed the space because sixth was the entering class and there were a lot of them). I headed for Wexler Hall, next door.
    A tall man with a clipboard was waiting at the entrance. He checked off my name and pointed out the table of snacks against the far wall. Juice and brownies. Ah, yes—the famous Allbright brownies. I scurried over and took two.
    I didn’t recognize a soul. These kids had all tested in the fall, and though they knew one another from that weekend back in October, theywere complete strangers to me. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to walk up to people I don’t know and strike up a conversation. So I was just standing there alone, feeling awkward and studying my brownies like an idiot, when I spotted Brooklyn, waving and heading in my direction. Relief washed over me.
    â€œFranny!” he said, with a rare big smile. “Some speech, huh? We’re the future of the nation.”
    â€œVery heavy stuff,” I agreed.
    Brooklyn was craning his neck, searching the crowd. “Have you seen Cal yet?”
    â€œNo,” I said. “Do you know for sure she’s here?”
    â€œYeah, I saw her name on the clipboard.”
    People were already moving into the meeting room. “Maybe she’s inside,” I said. “Let’s go look.”
    Brooklyn suddenly grabbed my arm. “Hold on!” he said. “I see your favorite person!” I followed his gaze and saw Prescott, leaning against the wall, wearing his trademark look of sullen disdain.
    I said, very softly, “Ooof! Ooof!” and Brooklyn replied, “Ooof! Ooof!”
    It was our little joke from those two days of testing the previous spring. Brooklyn and Cal and I had formed this cozy little trio—which left Prescott out, of course. And we’d felt kind of guilty about that. Yeah, okay, he’d been arrogant and unpleasant at first, but maybe it was just social anxiety or something, your typical science-nerd awkwardness. So we actually tried to draw him in, to give him a chance to be part of the group. But he wasn’t interested. He kept wandering off to be by himself, and when he was forced to be in the same room with us, he would pull out Moby-Dick or simply turn his back on us. Finally we just stopped trying and left him alone.
    â€œWhat’s with him, anyway?” Cal had asked at one point.
    â€œHe’s very aloof,” Brooklyn had said, drawing out the “oof” in a funny way. He liked the sound of it, apparently, because he said it again, “Ooof…ooof!”
    â€œâ€˜Who let the dogs out?’” I couldn’t resist. “‘Ooof…ooof!’”
    It had sort of taken on a life of its own. Whenever we saw him coming, at least one of us would start oof ing. I know it sounds mean, but trust me, he had definitely asked for it.
    â€œWell, well!” Brooklyn said. “The gang’s all here.” And sure enough, there was Ms. Lollyheart.
    â€œLadies, gentlemen!” she hollered over the din. “Could you please take your seats now so we can get started?” Everyone put down juice glasses, finished their brownies, and made their way inside. Brooklyn and I sat near the back and continued our search for a dark, curly ponytail.
    â€œGood morning!” The buzz quieted. “I’m Evelyn Lollyheart. You may remember me from your delightful two days of testing last year. For those who were too exhausted or too terrified to retain that information, I’m your all-purpose Allbright representative—by day, I’m assistant to the headmistress, by night I’m the girls’ Mum over at Larkspur Cottage. And this week I’ll be your orientation leader.
    â€œI’d like to begin by inviting each of you to come up and introduce yourself to your new classmates. We need you to keep your remarks pretty short so it doesn’t take all day. Just tell us your name, where