A/N Banner on the side shows Faith, her brothers, Joshua (Skandar Keynes), and Duke (played by Alex Pettyfer) - I still have to add who plays them. - I also thought you might like to hear Switchfoot's Only Hope - which has been featured on the movie A Walk to Remember. :)
Forgive me if the chapter is a bit short, I had to cut most of it out because it almost had nothing to do with the plot.

Chapter Nine

The school board building was much bigger than I remembered. However, there had been some remodeling done, and it had a new paint job. Instead of the usual brick-red color, it was a lovely shade of peach with greenish-blue trimming. Almost all of the school had arrived the same moment Mr. Clarkson and I did.

As instructed, I stuck to Duke’s side as we made our way to our reserved seats. Duke spoke in a low voice, so that only I could hear, as he explained whom each of the school board members were.

“That is Mr. Thompson,” he said, motioning to the man that sat in the last seat on the stage. “He is headmaster at Group A. He makes an effort to be acquainted with all the students that participate in the Assembly, and he always tries to give another chance to anyone who fails an event.”

“So,” I said, as I sat in the chair Duke pointed to. “I should also make the effort to become acquainted with Mr. Thompson.”

“Yes,” Duke replied, “because if you do receive a bad mark, you are allowed to seek counsel from a member of the school board. Mr. Thompson is a man of his word.”

I nodded and pinned my name tag to my dress. It felt to be on the participants’ side of the auditorium. What was even stranger was to be the only participant from Group D. I looked at the rows in front of me. Group A was in the first row; Group B was behind them, and Group C was the row right in front of me. The only way I could recognize this was because they wore their group colors. The girl in green, from Group C, turned around and smiled at me.

“You must be Faith,” she said, reaching to shake my hand. “I’m Darcy Styles, and this is Marcus. In addition, yes, before you ask, I am related to the dude from the long ago popular boy-band. I am his great-great granddaughter.”

“You are the only participant from Group D?” Marcus asked, turning around at the sound of his name.

“Sadly,” I replied, nodding. “My partner, Joshua, was needed somewhere else.”

“Well,” Darcy said, “never fear. You can stick with us, and the other participants. We will not steer you wrong.”

I smiled back. I had no idea the participants were allowed to interact with each other during the Assembly.  

“Welcome!” said Mr. Sanders, the one teacher I still recognized, as he stood at the microphone. “Welcome all students and teachers of Kennedy Academy. Please rise for the anthem.”

Duke and I stood, placing our hands over our hearts. Since Kennedy Academy was founded by an American, but was on British territory, we sang a medley of both national anthems.

When we were finished singing, we sat down again.

“Now,” Mr. Clarkson said, stepping to the mike. “I would like to present to you the participants for this year’s Royal Assembly. From Group A, Miss Mary and Master Peter.”

The two participants in the front row stood, whom were wearing red, and went to the platform, accompanied by two masked guards.

“From Group B, Master James and Miss Lola.”

The two participants that wore blue also stood and went to the platform.

“Group C, Miss Darcy and Master Marcus.”

They stood and went with their guards.

“Last, but certainly not the least, from Group D, Miss Faith.”

I, ignoring my nerves the best I could, stood and went with Duke to the platform. We were followed by the two guards we picked up at the cemetery. The other students and teachers applauded. I looked over to where the section for Group D would be. I could see Cassie, jumping up and down with the other children. I felt a surge of pride in them, happy to know they supported me through all this. Mr. Clarkson motioned for the participants to sit in the chairs on the platform. The masked guards stood behind us while waiting for the end of the opening ceremony. Towards the end, Mr. Clarkson began to go over a brief review of the rules.

“All participants must complete each event accordingly,” he explained, reading out of the academy manual. “Whosoever should fail to complete an event, that participant shall be disqualified from that event, but shall proceed to the next.”

“Faith,” Darcy whispered, “let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” I whispered back.

“Oh, and this year, the Assembly is not going to have problems with final grades. The headmistress who used to count the grades was voted off. I believe that is the reason why Group D participants never pass.”

“Which headmistress would grade the participants?”

“Miss Bertrum.”

I gasped softly; my eyes grew wide. Miss Bertrum was dishonest, all those years of grading the participants, and she would not grade them fairly? She was the reason Group D never succeeded. She was the reason my brothers did not pass. I exhaled; I had to remember not to get angry with her, I had forgiven her and I was not going to be all worked up. Miss Bertrum would soon have the spotlight.

The opening ceremony finally ended, and I was so glad. I needed to get away from there for a while. I was the last to leave the platform, behind the rest of the participant. Duke was the only guard following me; he had sent the others to go find Mr. Crowley.

“You know what I heard?” Lola was saying to Mary as we left. “There are new masked guards.”

“”Do you know how many?” Mary asked.

“Four,” was the reply. “But the color they are wearing is undisclosed.”

The group, along with the guards, started heading towards a back entrance to the building. A staircase went under the ground. It was the coolest staircase I had ever seen.

“Excuse me.”

Coming down the stairs behind me were the guards that had gone searching for Mr. Crowley.

“We have not been properly introduced,” one said. “I am Lou, and this is Milo.”

“We are at your command, milady,” Milo said, smiling under the purple mask. “Duke, have you seen Jay at all?”

Duke shrugged and motioned for me to keep going. At first, the staircase grew dark, as the door became further high up from us. It was a bit difficult to see, but then we emerged into a large, bright room. It was basically an arcade room.

“Wow!” I said, “So this is where everyone goes in between ceremonies.”

“Pretty cool, huh?” Darcy asked, coming towards me with a guitar game-control slung over her shoulder. “Come on, let me show you around.”

Darcy took me by the elbow and led me around the room, naming each of the games and other sources of entertainment. My favorite one was the game Darcy was playing. It was called Guitar Hero.

“Joshua would love this game,” I said to myself, smiling at the thought.

I played each of the games once, but it must have been much longer. The Guitar Hero game became my favorite. It had a multiplayer setting and it was as if it was an entire band playing a concert. I did not enjoy most of the songs we played, but I was definitely enjoying myself. Now and then Duke would let me alone, but he stuck to me like glue.

“I am guessing you have all become acquainted with one another.”

I turned around. Entering the room was Jeremiah, and two teachers from Group A, accompanied by another masked guard. He wore a purple mask; therefore, I assumed he was meant for my protection as well.

I stared long and hard at the new guard. I recognized the jaw line; Joshua. The two teachers were grown men, and they were identical twins. I did not know why they were here, but it was obvious they were mentors. After exchanging brief conversation amongst them; they caught sight of me, and they were trying so hard to keep straight faces. Yet they were failing miserably.

“Well,” said the first teacher as he pulled something out of his pocket. “It seems that have got a lively lot of participants this years. I know they announced your names your names in the ceremony, but I would appreciate it if you repeated them, along with your age.”

He took the pencil from behind his ear and prepared to write on a little notepad, the one he pulled from his pockets. He looked at Darcy.

“Darcy,” she said, “seventeen.”

Down the line the teacher went, writing the names and ages of all the participants. All eyes were on me when it was my turn.

“Faith,” I said in a small voice. “Nineteen.”

I caught a glimpse of Joshua grinning. I didn’t understand why, but it was good to see it again. Jeremiah had this goofy grin on his face, which I could not decipher. The twin teachers wore similar grins.

“She is going to freak out,” Jeremiah said to the two teachers as the other participants went back to their games. “Faith, come here a moment.”

I stood slowly; Duke, Milo and Lou followed, but stayed a few feet behind. For some reason, I was wondering if I was in trouble or something. I caught Milo and Lou sniggering with each other like a couple of girls. I recognized the behavior in girls at prior Assemblies. I waited as Jeremiah exchanged silent conversation with the twin teachers. I could not understand why they were so familiar to me. Then I knew.