The Military Academy
No, that wasn’t true. She rested her head on her desk, using her arms as a cushion. The truth was that the study material bored her. Yes, she loved the Way; yes, she loved the Law, but that didn’t mean she wanted to spend her life arguing over the wording of articles, or preparing cases that requested minor amendments to them. She wanted to serve the Way by protecting it against threats. The military was the best place to do that.
Her comm station beeped twice in rapid succession, announcing the arrival of a dispatch. Lesley flicked on the monitor, requested the list of new dispatches, and gulped. Military Academy Entrance Examination Results. Her mind raced. What if she’d passed? What if she’d failed? Because she loved her parents and wanted them to be proud of her, part of her wanted to read We are sorry to inform you. But in her heart, she hoped to read We are pleased to inform you, despite the problems that would cause. Finally telling her parents about her dream to serve the Way in the military would be a relief. Hiding part of her life from them, going along with their plans for her future when she’d rather do something else, was too much of a strain.
She glanced at her closed bedroom door. Stop dithering. Mama could burst in at any moment and see the dispatch list on the screen. Quickly hiding it wouldn’t work. Lesley knew she’d look guilty. She swallowed and opened the dispatch.
Her shoulders slumped as she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She’d passed. She’d passed! But the next phase was the three-day evaluation.
The dispatch provided two prepared replies—one that confirmed her intent to proceed to the next phase and one that essentially said she’d changed her mind and wished to be removed from the evaluation process. Without giving herself time to think, she sent the confirmation dispatch and snapped off her monitor. There, it was done. She couldn’t back out—not that she wanted to.
Now came the hard part. But first she wanted to share her excitement at passing, the excitement that had clawed its way to the surface despite the dread she felt, before telling her parents subdued it. She snatched her comm unit from the desk and opened the bedroom door. Silence greeted her. Mama must still be in the study. Good.
She hurried downstairs and slipped out the front door. Her bike tempted her—she could see Mo, rather than beep her. But she’d only be further avoiding a conversation she’d already delayed too long. Plus she hadn’t heard from Mo, which probably meant Mo hadn’t received her results. She’d stick to her original plan.
It could also mean that Mo had failed, Lesley realized as she walked down the path leading to the entrance to the estate. That wasn’t likely. Mo had studied hard, really applied herself, and had seemed optimistic after the exam.
Lesley stopped as soon as the path curved and hid the house from view. She felt a bit silly—it didn’t matter if anyone saw her. She wasn’t doing anything wrong; all she was doing was beeping Mo. Well, beeping Mo about her exam results, the exam her parents didn’t even know she’d written because she’d lied to them about seeing Karen and had deliberately misled them into thinking she wanted to be an advocate, that’s all.
She punched Mo’s code into her comm unit and smiled when she heard Mo’s voice. “Mo, it’s me. My exam results came. I passed.”
Mo whooped, but then went quiet. “I haven’t received anything,” she finally said.
“They probably haven’t reached your name yet. You’ll get the dispatch soon.”
“Maybe they’re notifying passes first. Maybe I failed.”
“I doubt it. Remember when we talked after the exam? We answered almost every question along the same lines. So if I passed, I’m sure you passed.”
“I hope so.” Mo paused. “You’ll have to tell them now.”
Lesley sighed. “I know. Mama’s home. I thought I’d tell her right after we disconnect, before Papa arrives. Then it won’t be two against one.”
“Too bad it’s not the other way around and your papa was home.”
“I know.”
“Do you want me to come over?”
“No. That could make things worse. They might think you—”
“A dispatch just arrived. Just a sec.” Silence, then Mo screamed, “I passed! Les, I passed!”
Lesley grinned. “Mo, that’s great.”
“Did you confirm?”
“Yes.”
Mo screamed again. “I just did, too. We’re going to the Military Academy. We’re going to the flaming Military Academy!”
“What’s all the commotion?” Lesley heard Susan say.
“I passed the entrance exam, Mama.” Mo’s voice was fainter than before; she must have turned away from her comm station.
“That’s wonderful! We have to celebrate. Michael! Michael, come here,” Susan shouted. “Mo passed her exam.”
“Les, beep me after you’ve—”
Her papa’s voice drowned out the rest of her sentence. “I knew you’d pass,” he said. “Come on, we’ll all go out for supper.”
“Yeah, okay, okay,” Mo said. “Oh, Les passed, too.”
“Lesley?” Susan said. “I thought she was studying for the advocacy exam.”
“She is. She, um, hasn’t decided exactly what she wants to do yet. But she’s glad she passed.”
“She should be. I’ll beep Adelaide. We can all go out together.”
“No!” Mo shouted. “She hasn’t told them. That she passed. Her papa isn’t home yet.”
“I was planning to tell them over supper,” Lesley said, her hand clenched around her comm unit. What was Mo thinking?
“You could tell them as soon as your papa gets home,” Susan suggested.
“Mama, let her do it the way she wants to,” Mo said. “I’m starved. I want to go now.”
“Well, if you want to.”
“I do.”
“Okay. If that’s what you want.”
“I’ll round up the boys,” Michael said.
“Beep me later,” Mo said to Les, then whispered, “Beep me sooner if you need to. Good luck.” She terminated the connection.
Lesley slid her comm unit into its holder and started walking back to the house. Somehow, she doubted her parents would react the way Mo’s had. They definitely would not be going out for a celebratory supper. Perhaps she should beep Karen, ask her if she could visit within the next few days and hold off on telling her parents until then? No. Not only would that be unfair to Karen, but Susan was Mama’s closest friend. It couldn’t wait. Mo had forced the issue by telling her parents. Lesley couldn’t blame her—Mo knew her too well.