Crowbarland Prep

By Cassandra Morphy

Marissa Gorning has been going to Crowbarland Preparatory School since first grade. Its unique curriculum has given her skills beyond the norm for a teen her age. She didn't think much about it until the new girl came to school. Now, Mare and Ellie have to solve the disappearance of Ellie's father and, in the process, stumble upon the mysteries of their world beyond anything they had considered.

This stand alone book takes place in the Crowbarland Chronicles universe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cassandra Morphy
• Release date: May 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781505300284

Cassandra Morphy

Cassandra Morphy is a Business Data Analyst, working with numbers by day, but words by night. She grew up escaping the world, into the other realities of books, TV shows, and movies, and now she writes about those same worlds. Her only hope in life is to reach one person with her work, the way so many others had reached her. As a TV addict and avid movie goer, her entire life is just one big research project, focused on generating innovative ideas for worlds that don’t exist anywhere other than in her sick, twisted mind.

Book preview

Chapter One

Just another day for you and me in high school

We were surrounded.  There were too many of them to count and they all had submachine guns.  There was no way we were getting out of this. I turned to the person next to me, wondering how this person could have brought so much into my life, and yet brought it to an end so quickly.

I turned back to the gunmen, taking in a deep breath that would be my last.

#

Mare, wake up.  The call was punctuated by a blow to my head.

Ow! What did you do that for?  Oh, right, sorry. I said as I turned off my alarm, which must have been blaring for a while now.  My alarm never wakes me up. It always wakes up my roommate, Sarah, who promptly hits me over the head to return the favor.  It's usually the only way I can get up in time for class.

Come on, big day today, Sarah said.

What's so big about today again? I asked while climbing out of bed and stumbling towards my closet.

Grades are being posted, duh.

Oh, right.  My roommate is a bit of a nerd.  To her, there's no day like report card day.  I never get why you care so much, you already know you're getting A's in everything.

Not this semester, I just KNOW I'm getting a B in ninja class.  I might even get a C.

Oh, please, you go through this every semester.  They don't grade on skill, just determination and participation, both of which you excel at.  Don't worry about it. It's me that should be worrying. Ugh, I'm going back to bed.

Oh, no you don't.  You know the rule. Once that alarm goes off, you're not allowed to go back to bed.

Whose dumb ass rule is that again?

Yours.

Oh, right.  Groggily I look at the clock.  Oh, crap, it's late. Why didn't you wake me earlier?

I tried.  You said you were awake.  Then you went back to sleep.

Well, obviously I was lying.  I don't even remember that.

I quickly got dressed and got my stuff together.  By the time I was ready, we would only just barely have enough time to grab breakfast on the way to class.  Sarah and I rushed down to the cafeteria and got bagels, the most portable food item. Most of the school had gotten there before us, so there were only the least popular flavors left.  I ended up with a blueberry while Sarah got multigrain. The dull slicer squashed them both flat and we just managed to get butter on them before the bell rang.

One of these days, Sarah is going to ditch me for a decent breakfast and I'll get kicked out of school for missing class.

We managed to get into first period English before Mrs. Welsh locked the door.  No eating in class, she said almost automatically, knowing full well we would still be eating our breakfast behind our textbooks.

Most of our teachers had learned a long time ago to keep the two of us as far apart as possible, so I headed to my seat in the back of the class while the brain sat front row center.  I would have preferred front row side, right by the door so I could escape as soon as the bell rang, but the back was a better place to catch up on the sleep I missed out on by the inconsiderate person who scheduled school to start before noon.  If I ever meet this person, we would have words.

I caught a quick power nap while Mrs. Welsh started talking about the spy ring that was alluded to in the Crucible.  I swear she could find a conspiracy in the bible; actually I think she had covered that in a few classes, but I slept through those.  I woke up to a paper football hitting me in the head.

You were snoring, my boyfriend, Scott, said with a slight grin.  I smiled back and, instead of returning to sleep, decided to start in on my bagel.  It would have been better toasted, or at least slightly warm. The butter wasn't even melted on it and was in clumps in a few places.  This didn't quite hide the taste of the bagel. I miss the bagels I'd got back home in Jersey. Those had actual flavor to them. I'm not talking flavor as in cinnamon raisin or poppy.  I mean flavor as in eating it fresh without any spread and loving every bite of it. The bagels here, if you didn't bury them in butter and cream cheese, tasted like cardboard, and were almost as hard unless you toast them.  Somehow, toasting the bagels made them softer. Go figure.

After finishing my breakfast, I was left with another twenty minutes of class to suffer through.  Mrs. Walsh was going on about spreading misinformation and propaganda that lead to the deaths of half the characters in the book.  Instead of paying attention, I leaned over to Scott. So, what are we doing tomorrow?

Are we doing something?

Hello, it's Saturday.  Of course we're doing something.

What did you have planned?

Why would I have something planned?  You're the guy.

Maybe you should try planning something for a change.  You might actually like it.

Naw, it's too much like work, I said with a snicker.  Jenny Heffington, two rows up, turned around to shush us.  Jenny is one of the cool kids of this school. She and her clique were somewhere between the nerds, like my friend Sarah, and the slackers, like me and Scott.  A few of them were even on student council. There were rumors going around that they were all members of a secret society that had started a few years back, but the whole school seemed like enough of a closely guarded secret; a secret society here would seem almost redundant.

Fine, I said to Scott.  We'll have a picnic out by the creak.  Easy.

Great, now you just need to get a hold of a picnic basket, a blanket, and some decent food.  Plus a bottle of wine, 'cause according to you, a picnic just isn't a picnic without wine.

Jenny turned around to give us the stink eye.  This only made me laugh.

Maybe you should bring Greg.

Why would I do that?

So I can bring Sarah, obviously.

Mare, you're the only one who thinks those two would make a good couple.

You'd be surprised.  I'm telling you, they were meant for each other.

Except for the fact that they have nothing in common.

Exactly.  Commonality breeds boredom.  Just look at us. Sure, we're both slackers and we both like the outdoors, but what else do we have in common?

How about the fact that we're both failing, the fact that neither of us ever pay attention in class.

Both of those fall under the slacker category.  This was an old argument we tend to have quite often.

Do the two of you have something to contribute? Mrs. Welsh asked us.

Looking forward, I saw the whole class turn in my direction.  Normally, I'd just duck behind my book, trying to get the attention off me, but something about the dream I was having less than an hour ago, the one that the need to get up to go to school interrupted, that got me in a weird mood today.  Actually, yes, I do, I began.

This ought to be good, Jenny snickered.

Enlighten us, Miss Gorning.

Standing up, I began the longest string of dialog I ever contributed to any class, ever.  You keep talking as if the spreading of the lies was malicious in nature, that the girls were lying to get people in trouble.  It seemed rather obvious that they were actually just trying to get themselves out of trouble. The townsfolk weren't going to believe their innocence without a proper scapegoat.  So, they kept accusing other people until the mob was satisfied. Yes, the propaganda of the church was a leading factor of this, but it was a sign of the times that it was so readily taken to heart by the town.  This, of course, was part of the church's original intentions when they first put in the bible that whole part about burning witches. They wanted the good Christians to burn all the pagans where they found them. There are similar pieces in the Quran about killing Christians and Jews.  The bible couldn't put anything straight against Jews, because that was where they were recruiting from and they had too many ties to the Jewish communities, but that didn't stop them from putting that part about a limited number of Jews getting into heaven, and only during the rapture.

Everyone in the class was staring at me with the biggest surprised looks on their faces, even Sarah and Scott.  I sat back down and the class remained quiet until the bell rang. On my way out, Sarah grabbed me and pulled me aside.  Why is it that you're failing again?

Because everyone expects me to fail.  I can't disappoint my public.

Then what was all that.

Just keeping them on their toes.

Sarah just shook her head as we separated for our next classes.

Truth is, I don't really know why I'm failing most of my classes.  I know the material better than I should, considering that I sleep through half my classes.  Just, once I get the test, my head goes blank. I might actually do something about it someday, but as long as I can cruise along with D's, I'm good.

Chapter Two

Lunch, the second most important meal of the day

When Ellie had come home on her last day of public school, she didn't know it was her last day.  It had seemed like any other day. Her teachers piled on just enough homework that she could manage to do it in the time between classes.  Her classmates complained about the amount of homework instead of actually doing it. Her ex tried to avoid her as much as possible.

It wasn't until she walked into her house that she knew anything was wrong.  Normally, she came home to an empty house. Out of habit, she used her key to unlock the door and turned towards the alarm panel.  She was halfway through entering the code before realizing that the alarm wasn't even on.

She knew she should run to the neighbor's house and call the cops, but it looked like the police were already there, standing sentry around the door to the living room.  Instead she headed towards them and the room beyond, where she already saw the legs of a woman in a skirt suit sitting in her father's chair.

Hello, Ellie, the woman said.  Let me introduce myself.

#

I have ninja class with Sarah right before lunch.  We usually spend an extra ten minutes in the showers afterwards, so we would often be the last to enter the cafeteria.  As always, we're both starving. Ninja class takes a lot out of us, and we need to pack in the calories as quickly as we can.  By the time we get through the line, we only have about ten minutes to inhale the food.

Scott and Greg are at our usual table by the door.  It's one of the least favored tables as far as the rest of the school was concerned, mostly because if someone comes into the room in a hurry and doesn't watch where they're going, the door tends to slam whoever is sitting in the seat nearest the door.  That's why we leave that seat vacant most of the time. It's a small price to pay to have our own table.

Jenny's clique dominates the center table.  Jenny is the ringleader of almost a dozen other extremely attractive girls and their boyfriends.  They are made up of most of the richest students at the school. There were a couple, maybe two or three, that managed to get in the clique without the required a black AmEx, but they're mostly scholarship students, as the group referred to them.  There's a long form to fill out when applying for those few coveted spots and the waiting list is 5 years long. Seriously, I actually saw the waiting list once. Jenny was working on it in hacking class when I hacked her system. I tried to copy it so I could spread it around school (it might have taken the group down a peg or two) but Jenny spotted the hack too quickly and kicked me out.  Since then, I've been on her hate list. Yes, I've seen that one too, but only over her shoulder on the way out of class.

Next to the center table were what I like to call the satellite tables, all the tables bordering the central one.  They were all populated by the wannabes. Everyone who's on the waiting list sat at one of those tables, plus a few people who didn't even qualify for the scholarship positions; too poor to get in on their own merit, too rich to apply.  Other than that, there were four other tables in the cafeteria, made up of the nerds (I rescued Sarah from them on her first day, she's been grateful ever since), the geeks (yes, they are different from the nerds), the bad boys and girl (only one girl, and she scares even me), and the slackers (us).  Everyone knows their place in the hierarchy of the school, so color me surprised as I noticed someone off to the side of the cafeteria looking hopelessly lost.

Who's that? I asked Scott as Sarah and I took our seats. 

Scott always knows the best gossip.  Today was no different. New girl, he answered simply.

Obviously, but who is she?

I think her name is Edith or something.

And? I prompted.

And there's not much we know about her, other than she's new and her name is Edith…

Or something.  Wow, I think this is a first for you.

I know.  I'd think I was losing my touch, but this is me so she must not be opening up.

It's her first day.  Look at those designer jeans.  The clique will eat her up soon enough.

Yup, Sarah agreed.  She doesn't know it yet, but she's doomed.

They'll probably have her sponsor a new scholarship, too.  Anything to keep the applications flowing.

I think the application fee is up this year, Greg added.

Three favors?

Four.

Ouch.  I heard the last one they called in almost got Susie expelled.

Yea, Sarah confirmed.  I was in the office when the headmistress laid into her.

What were you doing in the office? I asked.

Uh… well… Sarah hesitated.

Oh, you wanted a sneak peak of your grades.

Guilty.

Sure enough, the new girl started walking in the direction of the clique.  I knew it was just a matter of time, but at least she was approaching her doom willingly.  I just hoped she knew what she was getting herself into.

Then again, maybe not.  She just kept on walking right past the center table.  Jenny had her mouth half open in greeting as Edith or something kept walking.  The look on Jenny's face was priceless, I just wished I had a camera on me.

For a second there, I was thinking Edith or something was going to try sitting with us, but instead she just headed for the door.  As the door started to close, I could just see her clutching her tray as she made a mad dash down the hall. I almost went after her, but I only had another five minutes to eat what was left of my food, and my stomach was already yelling at me.

Well, she's safe enough for now, I said with my mouth half full.  Sarah gave me a look as I went back to eating. As Sarah and I turned our attention back to the necessary, I saw Greg staring at Sarah again.  I'm rather surprised that Scott and Sarah hadn't picked up on the fact that Greg was completely in love with her. I wasn't even sure if Greg knew.

When the bell rang, I shoved what was left of my lunch into my mouth.  My little chipmunk, Scott joked as he pinched my puffed out cheeks. I tried not to choke as I laughed.

Chapter Three

Edith or something

 What's the status? the boss yelled into the phone.

The man with the Van Dyke pulled the phone away from his ear, trying to preserve what was left of his hearing, and spoke into the earpiece.  Everything is set. You don't have to check up on us every hour, Ma'am.

Seeing as how I found you in a bar, too drunk to stay on your stool, I think a certain level of concern is in order.

Yes, Ma'am, the man said into the phone, as the call ended tone sounded.  What have I gotten myself into this time? he asked himself.

#

Dinner is my favorite meal of the day.  During the week, it's the only meal that I get to take my time eating.  The cafeteria opens up again right after last period at 3PM and I'm often tempted to just go straight there.  Then there are days when I just think of everything I eat in a day and think I'm going to get fat. Those days, I have to hit the mirror first.

You're not getting fat, Sarah said automatically as she came into the room.

Are you sure? I asked.

You have the best metabolism in the school.  And that's saying something. Ninja class kicks ass… and belly, and thighs.  All kinds of fat. Relax. Just go to dinner.

Are you coming with?

Can't, I got a test on Monday.

So?  It's Friday.  Worry about the test Monday.

And you wonder why you're failing.

Ok, fine, Sunday.  You're not studying the whole weekend, I'm not letting you.  Besides, wasn't there something you were talking about this morning?  Something about grades?

They're not posting them until 6.  I have to wait a whole three hours.

No, it's only two and a half now.

Still, I can't eat.

Fine, then at least keep me company while I do.

Why don't you grab your boy toy?

He's doing a guys' night with Greg.  Speaking of which….

No, she interrupted me.  You are not still trying to set me up with Greg, are you?

Oh, come on.  You really need to give him a chance.

No, I don't.

But he's sweet.

Yea, ok, he's sweet, she allowed.

And cute.

Very.

Then why not?

I just think that if we actually date, I'll bore him to death and he'll stop wanting to hang around with me.  And that means that Scott will stop hanging around with me, and you'll abandon me soon after. Then I'm back with the nerds.

Ok, but that's kind of a worst case scenario, don't you think?  Besides, don't you want to be with your own kind? I kind of feel like I have you in a zoo cage or something, keeping you in captivity to prevent the extinction of nerd kind.

What's the best case scenario? Sarah asked, not even dignifying my other comments with a response.

Wedding bells.  Duh. Sarah rolled her eyes at that idea and started opening her books.  Fine. I'll leave you to your… what are you studying this time?

Hacking.

Oh, please, just do what I do and hack yourself an A.

You hack the grades?

Of course, isn't that what you're supposed to do in hacking?  It's not like I hack the grades in my other classes. I earn my hacked A.

Does Mr. Wentworth know you're hacking your grades? she asked.

If he doesn't, he shouldn't be teaching hacking, I answered as I headed out.

Eating dinner alone is always boring, but at least I won't have to wolf down my food.  I took my time getting down there, the good food doesn't get set out until at least 5, but there's some halfway decent snack food I can eat to tide me over.

As I was about to exit the stairwell, I heard something behind me.  Figuring the food would still be there if I was a few minutes late, I decided to snoop.  Hiding in a corner under the stairs, someone was crying. With most of the people at this school, if you butted in on one of their sob fests, you'd be hearing about it for weeks.  The school does tend to get on a few people's nerves. The campus is in the middle of nowhere, taking hours to get to the nearest town. The isolation can get to anyone.

I was about to leave when the door to the stairwell opened.  A beam of light reflected off the window in the door and I could see that it was the new girl.  Figuring it was just first day jitters, and not the usual bite-your-head-off-if-you-snoop snot fest of some people, I decided to introduce myself.

Hi, I said simply, standing in the gap between the stairs and the wall.

Hi, she sniffled after jumping a bit.  I often forget how quiet I can be until after I accidentally sneak up on people.

My name's Marissa, people call me Mare.

My name's Elenora.  I think people have been calling me Edith, but I prefer Ellie.

Yea, I've been hearing your name was Edith or something.  Ellie's much better.

She laughed a bit at that, I always thought so.

First days are always hard, or at least that's what I've heard.  We don't get a lot of new people here, not in the middle of a semester anyway.

Yea, my coming here was a bit on the weird side.  I didn't even know I was changing schools until like two days ago.

Why? What happened?

That's the thing, she said as she started another crying jag.  I don't even know what happened.

Oh, hey, it's going to be ok, I said as I tried to hug her.  It was a bit awkward under the stairs and against the wall like she was.  This school really isn't all that bad, once you get used to it. That elicited a snot filled snort.

I have to admit I didn't give it much of a chance yet.  I've been under here since lunch.

Wow, and you've been crying the whole time?  You must be thirsty as hell. Come on, let's go to dinner.

It's time for dinner already?  Wow, I must be worse off than I thought.  She began to cry again.

No, no.  It's only 4.  The cafeteria is open for dinner right after class.  It's easier to do that than to open for a snack for a couple hours then close to get dinner ready.  They just get both set up after lunch and wait on the big items.

Oh, that kind of makes sense.  But, still, I've been crying for 4 hours?  I managed to get her to start moving out from under the stairs.  Once the light hit her properly, it really did look like she had been crying for 4 hours.

Funny, you only look like you've been crying for 3, I said in a poor attempt at humor.  I was a bit afraid this would put her into another crying jag, but she smiled instead. Come on, let's hit the bathroom and get you squared away.  It's not even out of our way. Which is good, because I don't like having things between me and food. This elicited a proper chuckle as we headed off to the lady's.

Chapter Four

The Mysteries of Admissions

Hank was halfway across the world, hanging from a ceiling overlooking an exchange, when his sat phone rang.  Cursing himself for forgetting to turn off the ringer, he quickly grabbed for his phone, trying to silence it.

Think they heard it? he asked himself when the silence of the room returned.  With four angry individuals looking up at him around guns, it was pretty clear they had.  He started getting himself swinging as they started opening fire at him. His flak jacket took a few bullets, but he managed to get out of the tight spot and into the large vents that hung from the ceiling before anything serious happened.  Crawling through the vents over the formerly abandoned warehouse, he