Page 40 of Akarnae

“It’s just like when we pulled you out of the illusion, but the opposite,” Bear said, retrieving three vials from his pocket and distributing them. “Drink this, and when you’re back in position, your illusion will fade away automatically.”

It sounded easy enough, so Alex drank the liquid and gave him back the empty glass tube. It was lime-flavoured this time, and the tangy citrus stung her raw throat.

“What is that stuff?” she asked as the tingling sensation began again.

“Its most common name is Desert Oasis,” Bear said. “It’s named after the illusion people see when they’re lost and hallucinating. When they’re far away it looks real, but up close it’s not.”

“But it’s not foolproof, is it?” Alex said. “I could tell you weren’t real before we left the class. Why didn’t Luranda notice?”

“She was a bit preoccupied with the Lockdown,” Jordan said. “And it probably would have only caught her attention if our illusions did something unusual.”

“Like studying?” Alex asked, smirking.

“Yeah, well, we didn’t have a lot of planning time,” Jordan defended. “And besides, it worked. Luranda thought we were still in class. That’s all that matters.”

Alex bit back her retort and took his offered hand. She felt his gift wash over her as he pulled her through the wall and back into their classroom.

It was a simple enough matter to join with her illusion, just as Bear had said. All she had to do was sit back down and merge into the image of herself. The moment she was in place, Jordan released her hand and she felt herself become visible again. The illusion slowly shrank back into her skin, and when she couldn’t see any trace of her replica, the tingling sensation disappeared.

Alex turned around to look at Bear and Jordan, who grinned back at her, indicating that their illusions were gone as well. She heaved a sigh of relief.

They’d really done it.

Alex could have laughed, but she decided against it. Not only would it aggravate her chest, but her classmates would probably think she was unstable. Instead, she leaned over to see what task Luranda had set in her absence.

“I take it you’re back?” Connor whispered.

Alex quickly nodded. She supposed it would have been weird if Connor hadn’t realised he’d been sitting next to an illusion for almost an hour.

He smiled and handed over a sheet of paper which turned out to be a copy of his notes. “You owe me one,” he whispered. “And I expect to hearallabout it later on.”

Before Alex could reply, a Bubbledoor opened at the front of the room and Professor Luranda appeared in a swirl of colourful light that quickly faded like mist. Her face was alarmingly pale and pinched with anxiety.

“Classes are cancelled for the afternoon,” the professor told them. “In an hour there will be an assembly in the food court where Administrator Jarvis will address today’s events. Attendance is mandatory, but you’re free to do as you please with the rest of the time.”

Luranda walked over to her desk and placed the Communications Globe back onto its holder. When she turned around to discover them all still in their seats, she made a shooing gesture. “Go on then. Class dismissed.”

Still no one moved.

Alex fidgeted in her seat, feeling as uncertain as the rest of her classmates looked. The moment she shifted, a stab of pain spasmed in her chest, reminding her again of all the lake water she’d inhaled earlier that day—and just how hard Finn had thumped on her back to get it all out. She sucked in a sharp, burning breath and immediately felt as if a thousand fire ants were stinging the back of her throat while a herd of elephants played football with her lungs. All she wanted to do was get out of the classroom and find some relief for her pain, but like everyone else, she was hesitant to leave just yet.

One of the girls in the front row—Kelly Gleeson—tentatively raised her hand. “Excuse me, Professor, but you haven’t set any homework.”

Kelly had just verbalised what everyone else was thinking. Lurandaneverfailed to set homework, and that was the reason why no one had moved.

The professor snorted, and Alex thought it was perhaps the most undignified sound that she’d ever heard the strict woman make.

“I’m sure you can manage for one night without it, Miss Gleeson,” Luranda said. “Now, off you all go before I change my mind.”

Her words were enough to motivate them all to hurry out of the classroom.

“How good is this!” Bear said, joining Alex and Connor in the corridor.

“Yeah, not only did we skip classandnot get busted for it, but we’ve got no homework! Plus we get the afternoon off!” Jordan said, doing a happy-jig that should have looked lame but he somehow managed to pull off.

“Skip class?” Mel asked, having just joined the group.

Alex knew that she, Jordan and Bear were in for a long explanation. Unfortunately, all she wanted to do was curl into a ball and hope that her body would stop its re-enactment of the First World War.

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