Prologue

I sighed as I walked into the kitchen through the squeaky back door of the house; it had been a long day of school. I set my backpack on the counter and opened the fridge and got a pickle. I pushed through the swinging white door from the kitchen to the living room open and found my parents sitting on the couch. They were talking to a tall man in a black suit. He had authority written all over him.

I tried to think of what I had done wrong recently. I had picked the lock to a locker and stolen ten bucks out of it, set the science lab on fire, coaxed the guy at Wendy’s into letting my meal be free, but that wasn’t so bad… was it?
“Brooke I think you should listen to what this man has to say.” My mom said to me before I could run up the stairs into my room.

I sat down on the plush loveseat put my feet on the coffee table and continued eating my pickle. “Do tell,” I said sarcastically then took another bite of my pickle.

“Brooke, I’m part of an agency for gifted children—”

I cut in, “You mean a school for Juvenile delinquents?” I had known it would come to this, but it just didn’t seem right.

He didn’t seem to recognize that I had cut in because he kept talking. “The organization I am part of trains and works with anyone who shows promising qualities, people who have the potential to become great leaders, scientists, architects, mayors, and even presidents.” The man said.

“How come I have never heard of it?” I asked getting suspicious. I looked out the window and saw that there were three other men waiting outside, one in the car and two leaning up against it. They could probably come in at any moment and judging by the bulge in their left suit pockets, shoot us all. The one on the right leaning against the car was favoring his left leg in a way that suggested it was prosthetic. And the man on the left kept pulling out a wad of tissues and blowing his nose indicating he was sick and would be easy to overpower.

He smiled his sly little smile then said, “Well we can’t have people knowing we make a big impact on who becomes the president of the United States now can we? We are… How should I say this? The strings that control the system. We look for kids around fourteen with good talents, kids who were born with a natural diplomatic instinct. We take them out of every-day society and train them. From leadership to diplomacy to cooking, our facility offers wonderful classes and courses fit to your needs. You could become a child of the future.” He then handed me a bright blue pamphlet and started talking to my parents about when I could visit them and things that only my parents would be worried about.

The facility seemed amazing! Almost too good to be true. It offered courses that had names such as lock picking, stunt driving, weaponry, and speech skills, whatever that is. It said sometime the classes would take off campus field trips that seemed more like vacations. Skiing in Canada, horseback riding in the Alps, and paragliding off the Grand Canyon. As I read more about the history, amazing classes, and of course, the field trips, my doubts fell away. “When can I leave?” I asked.

The man smiled, clearly glad I had decided to agree. “Now.”

“What should I bring?” I asked. The way the campus was set up, it seemed like I would be practically moving there.

My parents were watching our conversation with stunned faces, probably wondering why I was so eager to go.

“Anything and everything…” answered the man, “Well-- besides furniture, we’ll provide that. I’ll call in Ted, Mike and Frank from outside to help you pack.” He pulled a walky-talky out of his pocket and said “Enter the premises.”

“What was your name again?” My father asked the man.
“James.” He replied. I stifled a laugh, because half expected him to say, James Bonds.
My dad turned to me. “Are you sure about this, honey?” My dad asked me. “You’ll be away from us for a long time.”

I thought to myself, I can live with that. After so many miscarriages when my mom finally had me she was so protective of me. She hadn’t let me out of her sight until I was five and even then it was only so I could go to school. I still love them; I’m just ready for a major change.

Frank and Ted entered the house and sure enough, the way Frank was walking and dragging his leg behind him, meant it was probably a prosthetic one. Ted kept sneezing and coughing as he pulled in three bright orange suitcases. Mike was the one who had been in the car. He had a ‘carrot-top’ head and an orange spray of freckles splashed on his face. He was carrying more suitcases. He smiled at me, then asked where my room was. I led them up to my room, spotlessly clean and organized as usual, then watched as within minutes everything except my furniture was packed up and ready to go.

I walked downstairs and saw my parents wiping away tears. I hugged both of them, then said, “I’ll be back for Christmas.”

My mom nodded smiling with tears in her eyes and said, “You’ll be famous someday.”

“I hope not.” I replied. Before I could say anything else James motioned for me to go into the car.

The sleek black car was one I had never seen before, probably custom made. The inside was what I had always thought a limo might be like. There were two rows of seats that faced each other in addition to the driver and passenger seat.
I sat facing Frank and Ted in awkward silence until James got into the car. “Where are we going?” I asked him. I was hoping maybe somewhere far away. Ireland maybe? Or possibly some secret, off-the-map island?

“We have two bases, one in D.C. and the other in California. You will be studying at the California location.” James told me.

“Sounds good.” I reply.

I saw my parents waving goodbye and I waved back. The car started and left the old cul-de-sac behind. I stared out the window for what seemed like hours and then the car pulled off onto an old dirt road.
We had finally reached our destination, a runway in the middle of the desert with a private jet on it. Lots of official looking men were standing around without talking. I got out of the car. James told me to get into the plane. I started walking up to it but then turned around and gazed at the warm Arizona sunset. Will I ever see this place again? I asked myself, and then I shook my head turned around and walked up into the plane.