The Academy

A group of friends at a boarding school must uncover the dark secret at the center of their seemingly idyllic school life.

My favorite part of any day is always the beginning. You have the entire day ahead of you; anything can happen. You might make a new friend, or have your favorite food served in the cafeteria, or the entire school could burn to the ground with you and everyone you care about inside of it. Really, the possibilities are endless. That’s the mindset I try to begin every day with. Other people, however, seem to have a different approach.

“Hey, G-12, wake up,” I said, shaking him an appropriate amount. “I know you’re awake. I heard you crying a few minutes ago.” He groaned, rolled over and fell out of the top bunk and onto the floor. I laughed and playfully kicked him in the stomach. “Come on, breakfast is going to start soon. You know what happens when you miss breakfast.” A slight moan emanated from G-12. “Screw you, B-16.” I sighed. Some people simply can’t be reasoned with.

A few minutes later I made it into the dining hall. It was filled with the murmurings of people who had spent an hour or two too long staring out the window the night before. I got into line and starting putting food onto my tray. Scrambled eggs, mini pancakes, a carton of milk. It was about what you would expect. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Salutations, B-16.” I didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. “Good morning to you too, J-02.”

J-02 towered over me, grinning like a statue that had just heard the funniest joke of its life. My eyes traveled upwards to the top of her head, and I sighed. “You’re still wearing that dumb hat?” I asked. “You’re going to get in trouble for breaking dress code.” The hat was a baseball cap with Nonsensical Text on it. J-02 huffed. “I’ve had this hat in storage for months now. If they want to get rid of it, they can rip it off my cold, dead body.” I wasn’t going to argue with her. J-02 was impossible to deal with when she got like this, so I just sat down and started eating. Soon, however, I could tell that G-12 was finally making his way over. I could tell by the impending sense of existential dread.

“Well, look who finally decided to use their legs,” I said with exactly the right amount of humor. G-12 rolled his eyes.

“Not everyone can be super chipper first thing in the morning. If they were, the Caffeination Club would probably be disbanded.” I shrugged.

“Y’know, you shouldn’t talk about stuff like that. It’s bad luck,” J-02 said between mouthfuls of food. Truly, a master of words. Suddenly, a pleasant tone played over the intercom.

“Good morning, everyone. This is the Principal with a few announcements. First, remember that the Social Dance Event is just one week away. All students are expected to make an appearance, so let’s all put the ‘dance’ in ‘mandatory attendance!’” Everyone groaned.

“Second, I would also like to congratulate the students who will be participating in their Ending at the Social Dance Event.” A small tingle went down my spine at the mention of Ending, and I glanced over at J-02, who had suddenly taken great interest in some dust on the floor. “Just remember: don’t question an Ending for any reason. Ever.” Total silence. “Also, break a leg on finals or whatever. Who cares.” The speaker clicked as it turned off. J-02 was still inspecting the dust. G-12 had joined in. I laughed.

After breakfast, we went our separate ways and headed off to our respective classes. My first class was History. I entered the classroom and sat down at my usual spot at the front of the room just as History Teacher made an appearance, taller and lankier than anyone else I’d ever met.

“Okay, let’s get started,” History Teacher said in his usual uninterested tone. “Finals are coming up, so we’re going to be focusing on review. Everyone, split into groups based on your Designation.” He waved his hand and the classroom became a flurry of motion. I got into a group with the other B-types. It was a sea of blonde haired guys wearing the school designated dark blue jumpsuits. There was an audible murmur of excitement among the group. After all, we were all B-types and all together. What was there to complain about? Who were we, G-types?

After a few minutes, everyone had gotten together into groups and History Teacher started loudly tapping his foot, which was odd because nothing rhythmic was happening. People noticed and stopped talking, though, so that was convenient.

“All right, everyone, let’s hop to it,” History Teacher said. “Let’s start with a few simple review questions.” His eyes scanned the room and landed on the J-types.

“J-types, why don’t we kick things off with you?” History Teacher asked. The J-type closest to the front of the room, complete with the standard messy black hair and permanent smirk spoke up.

“Well, sure, I guess I can start. Everyone else is going to seem pretty dumb in comparison, but hey, that’s their problem, not mine.” I hope that this J-type dies in a fire. I mean, I hope they die quickly so they don’t suffer too much, but still.

“Right, then, first question,” History Teacher opened. “When was our Academy founded, and by who?” The J-type guffawed.

“Easy,” they chuckled. “The Academy has been in existence since the beginning of time, and it was created by our immortal Principal.”

“And anyone who says otherwise…?” History Teacher prompted. “...is a liar unworthy of the Principal’s kindness.” History Teacher nodded. “Next question. Let’s go with the G-types this time.” The G-types, peering through their bangs, eyes barely visible, let out a defeated sigh in unison. One of them threw up a little. I laughed at that, too.

“Who was Z-01?” I could feel a wave of nervous energy make its way through the classroom as History Teacher asked the question. “Um, Z-01 was t-the only Z-type in history,” the typically petite G-type stammered. “They were the only student to ever be Expelled by the Principal.”

“And anyone who asks why is…?”

“A h-heretic, sir.” History Teacher nodded in approval.

“And now it’s time for the B-types,” History Teacher said, locking eyes with me. “Why was the annual School Dance Event made a tradition?” I took a deep breath. 

“Well, way back when when someone got their Conclusion their friends would do all sorts of silly stuff like not eating their food or not talking to anyone or wearing their shoelaces around their neck. The Principal decided that having a Social Dance Event at the end of each year would make people not do that stuff, and obviously it worked.” I smiled. History is my favorite class.

Soon enough History class came to an end. Everyone had finished their class for the day, so we all funneled into the Social Hall. It was a huge space packed to the brim with people of all types. I couldn’t wait for the next four hours of conversation and fun, but before I could get a single word out, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw J-02 with a facial expression that I usually only saw on G-12 after suggesting that he wake up before noon on Saturdays. 

“Hey, what’s going on? It’s Social Time! If you keep that scowl on your face, nobody’ll talk to you and you won’t hit your quota.” 

“Listen, B-16, I really need to talk to you about something important.”

“You mean something fun, right?”

“No, I mean something important.” I shrugged.

“Well, I’m sure it can wait, then.” I tried to saunter my way towards a group of other B-types when suddenly J-02 grabbed my arm and pulled me into the hallway.

“J-02, what’s going on? We won’t be able to eat dinner tonight if we don’t our quotas, and I for one really look forward to pizza nights.”

“That doesn’t matter!” she yelled, louder than I’d ever heard her be before. “None of this matters…” J-02 looked away from me, but I saw a flash of an emotion I’d never seen from her before: fear. 

“B-16, I… I think something really bad happens to us when we get our Conclusion.” I was completely at a loss.

“What? Why would you even say something like that? The Principal says that when we get our Conclusion, we get to be Super Students in the Other Realm beyond the Fence around the school.” Suddenly, J-02 took of her hat with the Nonsensical Text on and pointed to the inside. There was a patch of… something, a red substance I had never seen before in real life.

“A while back, I was out in the Outside Forest, just going on a hike when I found this hat. It was under a pile of leaves, like someone wanted to hide it but they didn’t have the time. I saw that it had text on it, but I couldn’t read it for some reason. It just…blurred. But I tried reading day after day after day, and you know what’s scrawled on there?”

I shook my head no.

“‘Don’t trust the Principal’s Conclusions.’ And I don’t know for sure what that means, but I’m just so scared that I don’t know what to do.”

“J-02, I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything. It’s probably just nonsense,” I said, trying to smile.

“Of course it is. Astute deduction, B-16.”

We both whirled around, and right before was none other than the Principal. This was the first time I’d actually seen her in the flesh, and I almost couldn’t process how magnificent she was. Long purple hair, piercing blue eyes and a general aura of superiority that almost made me want to get down on my knees.

“J-02, I’d like you to accompany me to my office. There are… matters we need to discuss.” J-02’s face was completely devoid of expression.

“How much did you hear?” she asked.

“That’s irrelevant,” the Principal responded with the slightest edge in her voice. “Like I said, I just want to talk with you for a short while. Or is there some reason you’d rather not?”

That was the end of the conversation. The two of them walked off without another word being exchanged.

After the two of them left, I hurried back to the Social Hall and tried desperately to make up for lost time. I talked to as many other students as I could, and I even sent out a few insults since those tend to get a lot of words out of people, but I still missed my quota, meaning no dinner that evening. J-02 would have to find some way to make it up to me the next time we saw each other. I went back to my room early, where I found G-12 laying in bed, reviewing notes. He saw me and gave his usual half-hearted greeting.

“What happened?” G-12 mumbled. “This isn’t usually the time that you get back.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” I responded. “It was kind of strange. J-02 got called into the Principal’s office is all.” Suddenly, G-12 sat bolt upright and looked directly at me.

“The Principal?” he asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever even seen her in person. What the heck did J-02 do to make that happen?”

“She was spouting some nonsense about how something bad happens to Students after their Conclusion all because of that dumb hat she’s been wearing,” I replied. “But hey, we both got to see the Principal in person, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.” I laughed, but G-12 continued giving me a weird look.

“Oh, come on now,” I said, giving G-12 a bit of a nudge. “Don’t tell me you think J-02’s actually right. You’re smarter than that.”

“I just don’t think J-02’s the kind of person to say something that she doesn’t have good reason to believe in,” G-12 said before turning back to his notes. I got into bed and buried myself under the covers.

“Good night, and screw you.” It was an honest way to end the exchange.

The rest of the week went by relatively uneventfully. Finals came and went without much to say about them. Really, the only thing worth noting was how everyone else was acting. I hadn’t seen J-02 since her talk with the Principal and G-12 was being even more reclusive than usual. Still, time passed and eventually it was the evening of the Social Dance Event. 

Clad in an Academy provided tuxedo, I entered the Social Hall, which was even more crowded than usual due to the mandatory attendance policy. Streamers were strung along the walls, balloons were strewn about, and tables were covered with snacks and refreshments, with music playing in the background. Through the entangled mass of bodies, I managed to spot someone familiar.

“J-02!” I shouted to the figure in the red blouse and skirt. J-02 turned around and smiled at me. Something about it was… off, though. I couldn’t quite place it, but she seemed… lopsided, maybe?

“Hey, B-16, how’s it hanging?” she slurred.

“Uh, good, good,” I said, still feeling a bit uncertain for some reason. “Where have you been all this time? I was starting to worry about you.”

“Oh, y’know, I was just hanging around with the Principal for a bit, y’know? Nothin’ big.”

“For an entire week?”

“Yup.”

“Okay.”

“...”

“Man, this music sucks, doesn’t it?”

Suddenly, History Teacher walked up onto the stage at the end of the Social Hall and tapped the microphone. Everyone turned to face him.

“So, another year here at the Academy has come and gone,” he said. “And with it, another group of students will be receiving their Conclusion. Would those lucky individuals care to come up on stage?” J-02 and a number of others all made their way on stage. Everybody clapped.

“Would any of you like to say anything to your classmates?” asked History Teacher. Everyone on stage giggled for some indeterminate reason.

“Okay, I guess not,” History Teacher said. He cleared his throat. “In that case, why don’t you all make your way to the Outside Forest? The Principal will be there and she’ll get your Conclusion underway.” Everyone made their way off the stage and out the back door of the Social Hall. I smiled, and a sense of sudden relief washed over me as I made my way over to the refreshments, grabbed some food and started making my way back into the crowd. Suddenly, I spotted G-12 in the crowd and gallivanted on over to him.

“Hey, fancy seeing you here in the thick of things,” I said. “You usually fill your quota off in the corners with other G-types.”

“Yeah, I figured I would shake things up a bit this time,” he answered. “So, J-02 and the others already headed off to their Conclusion, right?”

“Yeah, they did, just a few minutes ago.” I sighed. “You know, I’m so happy for J-02. She was so stressed about this at first, but it seems like she’s really come around.” G-12 nodded a bit.

“Hey, maybe we should try to catch up to them and congratulate J-02. We might even get lucky and catch a glimpse of the Principal.” G-12 nudged me slightly, a coy smile on his face.

“Oh, be quiet,” I said, nudging him back. I cleared my throat. “But yeah, that’s a good idea. Let’s head over.”

The two of us made our way towards the Outside Forest. It was dark, though, so I was having trouble spotting anyone.

“Let’s try going a bit further into the Forest,” G-12 suggested. “They’ve got to be around here somewhere.” The two of us made our way deeper into the Forest, and after a few more minutes of wandering, I started to think that we had missed our window of opportunity. I turned towards G-12.

“Hey, I think we should head ba-” Suddenly, I heard a sound, someone…screaming? Without thinking, the two of us ran towards the sound. All of sudden, though, I felt something that I had never felt before. I struggled to breathe, I felt like I was about to vomit up everything I’d ever eaten, and my body felt so heavy that I could barely move. I was ready to give up when I heard a familiar voice.

“Get away from me, you freak!” It was J-02! I felt a burst of adrenaline, and G-12 and I made our way through the trees. Nothing could have prepared me for what we were about to witness.

We saw the Principal and History Teacher standing over the students about to receive their Conclusion. The students were all on the ground, their limbs stiff and their eyes wide and unblinking. Beyond them, however, was… nothing. The ground just stopped and there was nothing else but an inky black void. At the edge of that void was… the Principal… dangling J-02 over the precipice? No, that couldn’t possibly be right. I opened my mouth, but before I could say a word, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and everything went dark.

-

After a while I came to, my vision still blurry and my head still throbbing. I slowly came to my feet when suddenly my memory of what had just happened suddenly returned and I found myself wishing that I could black out again. Before I was able to locate the nearest blunt object, however, I heard the sound of G-12 stirring. He got to his feet, blinked several times, and then suddenly got a look on his face usually reserved for people who had just discovered that they had forgotten about an essay due in 24 hours.

“What happened!? Where are we?” he exclaimed as he spun around violently. I took the opportunity to take a good look at my surroundings while G-12 had a panic attack. The room was oddly barren, even more so than the dorm. There was a bed, a small table and an open closet with clothes spilling out, but that was just about it. Suddenly, it all clicked in my head, and I swiftly punched myself in the gut.

“Uh, what was that?” G-12 asked, seeming a bit confused and concerned.

“Ah, well,” I stammered, gasping for air. “I kind of figured that this was some kind of dream, hence the lack of detail,” I said, gesturing around us. “But I guess that was not a correct assumption. So I guess that just the forest part was a dream, right? I mean, the Principal would never act like that right?” Suddenly, the door creaked open.

“Speak of the devil,” G-12 muttered.

The Principal entered the room, her regal presence overtaking the room. She looked at me, then at G-12 before gesturing for us to join her in the other room. It was apparently her office given the desk and the various chairs around the room. The words that followed from the Principal will remain etched in my mind until the day that I die.

“Holy crap, this is a freaking nightmare.” I blinked.

“Sorry, what?” I asked, more than a little confused. The Principal buried her face in her hands and then began to pace.

“I mean, I make it all this time, all this time, with nothing going wrong. Year after year, the Conclusions went off without a hitch. Then you guys come prancing along and it goes up in smoke just like that,” she said, snapping her fingers in my face. “What the hell am I going to do? I can’t just let you go on your merry way and tell everyone what happened. This place would fall apart. Maybe I should just murder you? I mean, that would be the sensible thing to do, right?”

I tried to come up with a response, when suddenly a familiar voice came from the door apparently leading back into the Academy. “You know, you probably shouldn’t tell murder candidates that they’re murder candidates.” History Teacher entered the fray, a smug look on his face. “Just a thought.” 

“Oh, screw you, Bradley,” the Principal spat back. I could feel my brain beginning to short circuit.

“Wait, are you part of this too?” G-12 asked, seemingly only now coming out of his daze. “Also, what kind of name is Bradley? That doesn’t make any sense.” The Principal sighed and scratched her head.

“Okay, even if I’m still undecided on the whole murder thing, I guess I owe you a bit of an explanation. You, uh, might want to sit down for this.” She pointed towards two chairs off in the corner.

“Shouldn’t we get to other one in here, too?” History Teacher (?) suggested.

“Oh shoot, right.” the Principal said. She went over to a closet on the other side of the room and opened it. Out came J-02, tied up with rope and duct tape over her mouth, which the Principal tore off.

“GUYS, HELP, SHE’S FREAKING C-”

“Aaand, the duct tape goes right back on.”

A moment later, G-12 and I were sat down, with J-02 propped into a sitting position next to us. The Principal was at her desk with History Teacher standing beside her.

“Okay, so I’m just going to rip the band-aid off: Your entire existence is a lie.” She then shook her head. “Well, no, that’s not quite right. More like a fabrication, I guess?”

“Maybe we should start from the beginning,” began History Teacher. “My name is Bradley, and this is Amy,” he said, nodding towards the Principal. “This world - this Academy - is basically a pocket dimension that was created by Amy.” G-12 furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

“But if that’s true, then where did the Princi- I mean, where did Amy come from?”

“She’s a high school student from another world, a much larger, more complex world than this one. Something greater than any of us could possibly comprehend.”

“Try me,” G-12 stated, clearly not appreciating the implication. Bradley (ugh, that feels weird) closed his eyes for a moment, presumably thinking of an explanation.

“Amy explained it to me like this,” he said. “Back in her world, there used to be an author called H.P. Lovecraft, and he wrote a kind of story called ‘cosmic horror’. It was about godlike monsters so massive that even Amy’s entire world was like a grain of sand. The Academy is even smaller than that. That’s the best way I can explain it.”

After that, we all sat in silence, which wasn’t terribly surprising. This wasn’t the kind of thing you get told every day, after all. Bradley sighed.

“I’m sorry. I really am. If it wasn’t for me, none of this would’ve ever happened. If I hadn’t left that hat lying around all those years ago…” I was about to ask if he was saying what I thought he was, when J-02 started talking and wiggling around. Bradley went over and removed the duct tape.

“That hat that I found, the one with the warning on it, that was yours?” Bradley nodded.

“From years ago, yeah. Shortly after Amy created me.”

“You went to the trouble of writing on a hat, even as you were apparently bleeding? All to keep people from finding out about her?”

“She can be a real pain in the a*s.” 

“That’s one point we agree on,” J-02 muttered. I saw the look in the Principal’s eyes in that moment and became more certain than ever that she was indeed capable of murder. Justified murder, but still.

“Why didn’t you go back?” J-02 asked the Principal.

“Well, it’s… complicated,” she said. “The thing is, I’m still not 100 percent sure how I got here, how I made this place to begin with. I can’t even begin to imagine how I would go back.”

“But would you want to if you could?” The Principal - I mean, Amy, paused for a moment before answering.

“Yes, I would.”

“Then I think we should figure out a way,” J-02 said.

“Ah, falling for your captor already, I see,” Bradley crooned.

“Hardly,” J-02 spat. “I just want to do whatever puts as much space as possible between me and Amy, and I can’t think of anything greater than a transdimensional void. Plus, I don’t want to be murdered.”

Silence.

“Alright, then, it’s a deal,” Amy said. She glanced at her watch “It’s getting late. We can start brainstorming in the morning. The three of you can sleep in the room you were in before. Bradley, guard them. No screwing up.” He nodded solemnly. J-02 coughed.

“Could someone finally untie me, please?”

There weren’t enough beds, so J-02, G-12 and I were all in sleeping bags on the floor of the room we woke up in. I found myself staring at the ceiling for a while, lost in thought.

“My brain won’t shut up,” I said, to noone in particular. J-02 snorted.

“Oh, really? That’s the first time it’s said anything in…” she trailed off, pretending to count. “Gosh, I think ever.”

“Oh, be quiet,” I snapped, swatting in J-02’s general direction.

“Hey, or maybe you’re just used to having G-12’s gentle cries of despair to soothe you to sleep,” she suggested.

“You told her about that!?” G-12 borderline yelled. I shrugged.

“I tell you guys everything.” 

“To be fair,” J-02 said “you have been significantly less mopey than usual recently. Maybe you were just designed for a life of high stakes and adventure.” Silence.

“Hey, do you guys smell something weird?” J-02 suddenly asked, nose twitching. We both shook our heads. J-02 got up and cracked the open just enough to peer into the next room. She looked for just a second and then closed the door.

“What was it?” I asked.

“Nothing. I think we were just imagining things.”

G-12 and I exchanged a look, but didn’t press the topic. A new topic suddenly came to mind.

“Hey, so, when we make it to the other world, what do you guys want to do? I mean, from the sounds of it, we’re going to have a lot of options at our disposal.”

“I don’t know,” G-12 mused. “Maybe we should just explore for a while? If it’s as enormous as Amy and Bradley made it out be, there’s a good chance we’ll find something just by searching around enough.”

“Maybe,” I said. “What about you, J-02?”

“Me? Oh, no, I’m staying here.”

“Wait, what? You’re not coming with us?”

“I’m not sure if you forgot, B-16, but the whole point of all of this is get that piece of s**t Amy as far away from us as possible. So no, I’m not going anywhere.”

The rest of the night was spent in uneasy silence.

Eventually, morning came and everyone gathered in the office. Bradley went to the front of the room.

“So, today marks the beginning of our effort to find a way to the other world.” He coughed. “Well, that’s all I’ve got. Ideas, anyone?”

“Maybe it’s a time based thing?” G-12 suggested. “Like, you can only do it once within a certain timeframe?” Amy shook her head.

“It’s been years since I made the jump at this point. Or at least, it feels like it. Either way, it’s had plenty of time to recharge. And I mean, it’s not like I’ve never tried to do it again. I just… couldn’t. Even the first time, it wasn’t really on purpose. It just sort of happened.” J-02 rolled her eyes.

“Oh, please. You really expect us to buy that? What, you just accidentally created an entire school and a whole bunch of people?” Amy’s position stiffened.

“Well, not quite. I kind of made everyone in waves, one type at a time, so-”

“Oh, that makes much more sense. I totally believe you now.”

“Don’t be a dick, J-02. We’re all in this mess together.”

“She’s the one who dragged us into this, in case you’ve forgotten. In fact, I think I’ve been way too lenient with our friend Amy here.” J-02 rolled back her sleeve and before we knew it she was in Amy’s face. I realized what was about to happen, but I couldn’t do anything. I closed my eyes, bracing for what was about to happen.

“Kathy!”

It was Bradley. Everyone turned to face him, stunned into silence.

“You never told them about Kathy,” Bradley said, looking directly at Amy. She looked back at him, eyes stony.

“I don’t think I really need to tell them about that. She hardly seems relevant.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Bradley replied with a shrug. “But we’re not getting anywhere, and my gut feeling is that she’s tied to your arriving here based on what you’ve told me.” Amy let out an exasperated sigh, and then cleared her throat.

“Well, this may seem hard to believe, but back in the other world, before the Academy, I wasn’t great with people.” She went silent. “I’m waiting for someone to disagree.”

“I don’t think anyone’s going to. Stop stalling,” Bradley said.

“Right, anyways,” she continued. “When I was still in the other world I was constantly struggling to make friends. I would always be consuming stories about friend groups and found myself wishing that I could be like the characters in those stories. Then, one day, I met Kathy. Kathy was…” she trailed off, her eyes watering slightly.

“Kathy was my first and only friend. It wasn’t like the stories I had been consuming, not the kind of friendship they portrayed, but it was something. And for me, something was more than enough.”

“But…” Bradley wheedled.

“But eventually, something happened: our time at the school came to a close, and we just… stopped being friends. She didn’t do anything, we just weren’t around each other anymore, and the friendship kind of just dissolved.”

“But couldn’t you have just tried to make friends with someone else?” G-12 asked, seeming genuinely confused. Amy let out a hollow laugh.

“Not likely,” she said. “Considering how long it took to find even one friend, I can safely say that the odds were stacked against me.” She sighed. “Then, one day it hit me: I had no place in that world. Nobody cared about me. Then, all of a sudden, I couldn’t breathe, my heart started racing, and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was here, in the Academy. I didn’t know how, but somehow I had made.”

“So that’s how the Academy was really created?” I asked. Amy nodded.

“That’s right. I was so scared and lonely that I didn’t know what to do. But then, out of that fear, I manifested Bradley, or as I would name him shortly thereafter, Z-01.” All of a sudden, I felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured on my head.

“Wait, Bradley’s Z-01!?,” I sputtered. “The one who got Expelled? That Z-01?”

“Yeah, I never actually got Expelled,” he admitted. “But Amy and I figured that having a myth about a student who got banished into the unknown would be a good way to keep everyone in line.”

“It worked for a while too,” Amy interjected. “I created more and more student of different types over time: The B-types were energetic, the G-types were low energy, and the J-types were…” she glanced over at J-02. “...spirited,” she finished. “I just imagined the characters from the stories I loved so much, day in and day out. Eventually, I was able to manifest enough to populate the Academy. Finally, I had a world that I could control, one with a never ending status quo. I never had to go back to the other world ever again.”

“Wait, but you said that you would go back to the other world if you could,” I pointed out. “Was that a lie?”

“Not really,” Amy said, shaking her head. “I mean, I do want to go back to the other world and find that happiness I described earlier. I just.. don’t think that I can. Every time I’ve thought about going back, I feel so hopeless that I just get swallowed up by the darkness in my head. I don’t know how I’d ever be able to find a place in that world.”

Silence.

“Maybe we can help you,” I said. Everyone looked my way. “Maybe if we can help you get better at making friends you can get rid of the darkness in your head and we can all go to the other world.” Bradley nodded.

“It’s a bit of a long shot, but we don’t really have any other leads right now,” he said. “Amy, do you still have that book?” She nodded and started digging through the desk before pulling out a hardcover book coated in dust. It had the title “Figuring Out Friendship for Troubled Teens” written in brightly colored letters on the cover.

“I had this on me when I left the other world,” she explained. “It’s one of the few objects that was able to make the jump with me.”

“You really bought a book about making friends?” asked J-02.

“It’s harder than it seems, okay? Plus I was getting pretty desperate at that point.”

“Were you able to do any of the stuff in the book?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I never tried. The book always seemed dumb to me.”

This was going to be difficult.

-

We all relocated to the side room and Bradley started paging through the book. After a moment had passed, he cleared his throat.

“Okay! So,” he began. “I think we should just work our way through a few of the suggestions in the book. It suggests practicing in pairs at first, so we’ll start there. G-12, do you want to practice with Amy first?” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Sure, why not?”

“The first piece of advice in the book is to identify potential shared interests,” Bradley read. “G-12, want to give it a go?”

“Okay,um…” he murmured, clearly uncomfortable. He turned to face Amy. “Do you like sleeping?”

“It’s alright, I guess. I mean, I do it every night, so, you know…” she trailed off.

“Oh, me too,” G-12 responded. “I guess that counts as a shared interest?”

“Maybe. But I mean, I can’t really imagine striking up a friendship with someone because we both sleep. What else are we going to talk about, breathing?”

“Amy,” Bradley snapped.

“Right, sorry, fine,” she snapped back. “So, uh… what’s your favorite thing to do before falling asleep?” she asked, clearly reaching. All of a sudden, G-12 looked away, almost as if he was embarrassed.

“What? What is it?” Amy asked.

“Nothing,” G-12 responded. “You’d think it’s stupid.”

“Try me.” G-12 took a deep breath.

“Well, every night, when I’m sure that B-16 isn’t watching I’ll sneak over to the window and just look at the stars. Sometimes it’s just for a few, or a half hour or even a full hour. There’s just something reassuring about, knowing that the same stars will be there every night.”

“I know what you mean,” Amy said, a sudden passion in her voice.

“Y-you do?” G-12 asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

“I do,” she confirmed. “I’ve always found stargazing kind of reassuring, just like you said.” She laughed. “Boy, I really should’ve introduced an astronomy class or a stargazing club to the Academy.”

“This is still pointless, though,” she said, suddenly remembering to be frustrated. “So we have one thing in common. So what? There’s no way that’s enough to keep a friendship going.”

“You know, Amy,” Bradley suddenly interjected. “I think you’ve been going about this all wrong.” Her brow furrowed.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be looking for the next Kathy. Maybe the best place to start is finding someone you just have one thing in common with and go from there.”

“Maybe,” she conceded, though still seeming a bit unsure. Bradley then started flipping through pages again.

“Let’s see. The next piece of advice is to try sharing something about yourself with another person.” I stepped forward.

“I’ll help with this one,” I said, walking up to Amy. I stood there silently, waiting for her to speak up.

“Y’know, B-16,” she began. “I’m pretty great.” I could hear J-02 snort, but chose to ignore her. “I mean, I created you and all of your classmates and friends that you wound up bonding with. I made sure that none of you would ever be alone.” 

Another pause.

“Do you remember when we were talking about Lovecraft and cosmic horror before?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said cautiously, not entirely sure where this was headed.

“Well, when you’re surrounded by the right people - or person - sometimes you don’t feel so tiny and insignificant. Sometimes you feel like you can take on even the most grueling, arduous, task that the universe can throw at you. So I’m pretty great, giving you a chance to feel like that.” I smiled just a little bit.

“Is that how Kathy made you feel?” I asked.

“Maybe,” Amy responded, suddenly refusing to make eye contact. Bradley chuckled to himself, just loud enough to be audible.

“Well, isn’t this going well,” he said, looking through the book. “This one seems pretty simple. Amy, try saying something nice to…” he scanned the room. “J-02!” he declared. Both of them seemed momentarily taken aback, but Amy took a deep breath and slowly approached J-02. The tension in the room was palpable. I braced myself, preparing for the worst.

“So,” J-02 said. “What nice things do you have to say about me?” Amy looked her dead in the eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Are you now?” J-02 asked, her voice quiet. Amy nodded.

“What I’ve done has been beyond despicable, even if my reasons were good. But I promise to try and make amends. I’m sure if we keep up with the exercises from the book for long enough I’ll eventually be able to take us all to the other world. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.” The whole room was stunned into silence.

“Do you know what would get me to forgive you?” asked J-02.

“What?”

“If you actually took us there instead of taking up all of our time with this charade.”

“It’s not a charade,” Amy responded, suddenly shaking a bit. “Like I said, I’ll get there soon. I just need to keep practicing for a while.”

“No, you don’t,” J-02 responded, her voice filled with the last thing I expected: sympathy. “I’ve been with you guys this whole time, and I can tell that you know what you’re doing. You turned a conversation about sleeping into an emotional bonding moment. That’s not something that someone who sucks at talking to people could pull off.” J-02 put her hands on Amy’s shoulders. “You’ve got all of the tools you need. You just have to rip the bandage off and do what I know you’re capable of.” Amy shook her head vigorously.

“No, I can’t,” she choked. “If I try, it’ll just be like with Kathy all over again.”

“It won’t!” J-02 shouted. “You have to believe that!” At that moment, Amy began to cry in earnest and sank to the floor, completely inconsolable. J-02 stormed out of the room.

“Y’know, up until J-02 you were doing pretty well,” I offered, trying to stop the tears. “Two out of three isn’t bad at all, especially considering we just started.”

“But I won’t have that leniency in the other world,” Amy mumbled. “I need to keep practicing. I need to be better.”

“Okay,” Bradley said. “Why don’t we stop for today and practice some more tomorrow? We can do this for as long as you want.” All of us agreed, and after a few minutes she regained her composure. As we were all about to leave the room, J-02 walked in, seeming much calmer.

“Hey, I know what you said,” I told J-02. “But we’re going to keep practicing for a while.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Look, J-02, you don’t have to participate, but…” Amy started, but trailed off. A look of confusion and alarm came across her face. “Did you light one of my cigarettes!?”

“Oh, that’s what they’re called,” J-02 said placidly. “Yeah, I saw you puffing on one earlier. A memento from the other world, I guess? Hope you don’t mind.”

We flung the door open and saw the entire office practically engulfed in flames and the desk blocking the door.

“So, here’s what you’re going to do,” J-02 said. “You’re going to stop this time wasting charade and take us all to the other world right now, or we burn to death. It’s time to do what we all know you’re capable of.”

Amy squeezed her eyes shut, and strangely, suddenly, the world began to fade, and as it did, one emotion filled me: hope.

The bandage came off.

 

Author's Note

Please focus on general impressions and dialogue.