Secrets Are For Keeping

Chapter Twelve

There was a soft chorus of yes's mixed with more than enough no's.

"Good," Mrs. Hunting replied completely ignoring all the no's that had come from the students. "There's a sign-up sheet right here with times listed. They begin at three o' clock sharp, and end whenever is needed to fit everyone in. Please avoid being late for any inspections."

After she was done talking, a line quickly formed right in front of the spot where she'd placed a clipboard with a sheet of paper on it and a pencil. Everyone wanted to be first in line. We already had no control over the situation, but at least this sheet of paper would make it feel like we had some say. I glanced back and forth between Pepper and Zander and raised an eyebrow.

"We should probably sign up....," I suggested, staring as the line quickly got bigger. That wasn't really saying much though, since with the combined schools, our grade still consisted of what looked like only thirty-five people.

I stood up from the desk, stretching out my leg muscles as I jumped over to the other side of my desk and got in line, right behind Pepper, with Zander right behind me.

In the end, I was able to sign up for the time slot of 5:15, and Pepper and Zander managed to get time slots in the 5:00 range with me. At least we were somewhat together. It was kind of funny how I'd only just met Pepper and I already was considering her as one of my closer friends. It said something about how social I was.

"Now, then." Mrs. Hunting had her hands folded together in front of her thighs and was looking around the room passively. Everyone quieted down, sensing that she was about to announce something else that would be important for us to know. She seemed to be the only one in our class who actually knew anything about what was going on.

"I have just received an email...."

At this point, nobody was even moving.

"It contains a listing for which rooms you all will be sleeping in. There isn't really any order for it." There was a general sigh of relief as everyone had been expecting something probably worse than that.

"But..."

Again, the tension rose in the matter of seconds and I looked around the room to see faces of worry, all thinking the same thing. What are they going to put us through next? Can there be anything worse than a full week of school?

"It also contained instructions...for the inspection. It's not just the daily inspections that will occur, there will also be a series of different activities to take place allowing everyone's personalities to shine...the purpose is to help the inspectors really get to know you." She looked around the room, meeting random students' eyes as she did so.

"So, today...actually right now......the inspection will begin. It is necessary for all of you to be in the gym in five minutes to start the activities."

There were groans from everyone in the room.

"Okaaayyyyy...well once again they seem to enjoy suspense and keeping us curious about what we're walking into," Pepper muttered in response. Her eyes still shone with joy, though, and I suspected she secretly liked the fact that instead of doing boring work like we were supposed to in school, we were now doing "personality-showing" activities.

The gym was probably the biggest room in the entire school, even bigger than the auditorium. Which was a good thing, since now the school population had almost doubled in size with the additional students from other schools. I could immediately point out who didn't belong in the crowd, since I'd memorized everyone who already did. Just standing in the mass of people I was able to count maybe five students from other schools in my vicinity.