Electracademy

Chapter 12

 The four of us walk around the grounds of the school gardens. Isa, Alice, and Vandailia have decided to give me a tour of the school during free time today. Alice is still hyper from EC (which is what they call Electra Competition). I don't know how she can be, though. By the time she and Owen had finished with their dummy it had been nothing more than a pile of stuffing.
  
EC was very fun. It had been chaotic the whole time. I remember Isa sitting in the middle like she was in a field of flowers. I had fun as well. I had made Alice hug Owen. I convinced her that she wanted to. Owen had this shocked expression the whole time. Grayson had used almost 8 dummies in class. The only thing wrong is that Vandailia wasn't anywhere. I'm not sure what she was doing the whole time.
  
We walk along a cobbled path. Alice keeps pointing out things. Apparently she spends a lot of time outside. "Over there is the pool." She says pointing to a large hedge wall with a doorway.
  
"They have a pool here?" I ask.
  
"Yeah, but it's only open in the spring." She says.
  
We continue along the path. Eventually we come to a different path. "This is my favorite place." Alice says. We turn to go down the path. The path leads us through the woods. Large poplar and maple trees line the path. The cool autumn breeze blows the multicolored leaves through the air.
  
The forest is lined with thick undergrowth. Flowers and wild berry bushes grow here and there. I notice animal tracks in lines on the ground.
  
"Showing Carly the woods,are you?" A voice says. I look around to try to find the speaker but I don't see anybody.
  
"I had a feeling you were here." Alice says, shaking her head slightly. That's when I notice Owen sitting in a tree to my right. He jumps down off the branch. Jumping off that would have given me jitters, but he seems casual. I notice a book in his hand. I'm surprised to see its White Fang.
  
"I'm not suprised to see you either, sister." He says.
   
"Of course I'm outside. Full is tommorow." Alice says to him.
  
At that Owen gets a weird look in his eyes and stares off. "Don't think I didn't notice." He mutters with a sigh.
  
For a moment there is slightly awkward silence. Then Alice speaks up. "Well, gotta go show Carly the rest of the woods." Then we start walking off again.
  
"What was that about?" I ask once we are out of earshot.
  
Alice sighs. "Owen gets homesick easily. You should have seen his first year at this school." She pauses for a bit. "He also gets worried alot."
  
"Worried about what?" I ask.
  
"He's second-in-command. He worries that they will need him while he's at school." Alice says.
 
"Second-in-command of what?"
 
"Our pack." That's all she says.
  
We continue through the woods. I notice Vandailia looks really relaxed in here. She notices me looking at her. She smiles at the ground. "There are woods like this where I live. This place reminds me of home." She says. "Me and my father travel a lot for his work. That's why I like this place a lot."
  
"Yeah, it is very...comfortable here. Away from crowds." Isa puts in. "And I don't like crowds." I could imagine why. The thoughts of lots of people drilling into your mind constantly must be awful.
 
Isa shrugs. "I've gotten used to it now." She says. "Oh, and someone is coming down the path."
  
"Who?" I ask.
  
Isa pauses for a moment. "Grayson."
   
"You sure, Isa?" Alice asks.
   
"Oh yeah."
    
Sure enough, a few moments later, Grayson comes jogging around the path. He appears to be on an evening run. He has on a  tank top that shows off his arms. He definitely fits the "hot jock" description. "Hello, ladies." Grayson says when he sees us. "I was just heading to dinner. Would you like to come with me?" I look up at the sky and see that it is darkening. I didn't realize how long we have been out here.
   
"Ya, we'll let you tag along." Isa says. The five of us walk back to dinner through the autumn woods with the sun starting to set above the school.