“TheEvergreen Academy?” Maci squeaked over the phone. “You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not. This is so surreal.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone local being invited there. This is… incredible.” I could practically hear the wheels turning in Maci’s brain over the phone.
“I know. I’m a little nervous but mostly excited. I’ve been pretty interested in the place since we went there for that picture.”
“Have you told your aunt yet? Is she okay with you going?”
I sighed and shook my head, even though Maci couldn’t see me. “Not yet.”
“Your aunt is cool, so she’ll probably say yes.”
“True. I’ll probably wait to tell her until after I go check it out. Then I can dazzle her with either how interesting or how boring the place is.”
“You better take some pictures. I’m dying to see what that place looks like inside.”
“Actually… Professor East said there are no cell phones allowed.” I cringed and braced myself for her response.
Maci gasped loudly. “What?”
“He said the research there is sensitive or something like that.”
“Okay, now I’m even more intrigued.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to concentrate on anything else this weekend.”
“You can come do your homework at my house, if you want. You can try to tackle some calculus with me. That will take your mind off the Evergreen Academy.”
“Yes to your house. No to calculus.”
“I gotta go, B. My mom’s calling me for dinner. Text me.” I pictured Maci’s tiny mother prepping their dinner around the family table. While the Phouthavongs had been in America for a few generations, Maci’s family still observed the Laotian tradition of sitting on the floor and eating from a low table, and I’d joined them many times.
“Bye. Say hi to your mom.”
After hanging up with Maci, I prepped a few things for work the next morning, trying not to obsess about the Evergreen Academy and what it might be like. I was worried that I had built it up too much in my head and had to repeatedly remind myself that I had been invited by Professor East, a prestigious instructor at Siskiyous Community College. If he was involved, it couldn’t be anything too mysterious.
Could it?
My curiosity failing to ebb, I flopped onto my bed, opened my laptop, and began to search.
The online results for Evergreen Academy were mostly things that I had seen or heard about before. There was a short Wiki page describing Evergreen Academy as a private college, with very little information given. There were no pictures provided beyond those of the symbol on the gate attached to the brick wall of the grounds, and I’d already seen that in person.
I zoomed in and studied the logo more closely. It consisted of the curving lettersEAwith curling leaves and vines surrounding it. Pretty nondescript but somehow charming. Did the leaves and vines have any significance, or were they merely objects that looked nice to the eye of the designer?
I switched to an online discussion forum, where a post that was eight years old had received a few replies. The original poster had asked if anyone knew about Evergreen Academy, located in the expanse of forest between Weed and Mount Shasta, California.
There were a few replies but none that I could put any credence in. The theories echoed what my friends had said when we were at the gate.
It was a mystical church.
It was an elite private college for the very rich.
It was a wellness retreat full of hot springs and yoga.
It was a secretive government research site.
It was a second home for the mythical lemurians, when they weren’t living under Mount Shasta.
