Chapter Three ‘A few weeks went by. Felix, Elvira, Vassily, and Murph were all making good progress on their SAT preparation. ‘A couple of times each week, each of them would come to the school and be greeted by Abe, always in a white shirt and tie: From atop the desk, Jake the Fake Snake would look at them almost welcomingly- They would ‘then each sit in a classroom with Lance or Boyle, working on their course material as organized and clarified according to SHLEP. The place was growing on them; in fact, the four of them were coming to view MacGuffin Academy as their second home. One afternoon, when the students showed up at the school for class, they noticed something strange: The neighborhood in which MacGuffin Academy was located was a quiet one in a well-to-do area of town; you could tell the people who lived there had money, even if their modestly decorated houses did not have the opulence of a Hollywood mansion. Each house, including the one that MacGuffin Academy used, had a small plot of land next to it with trees. That day, though, the trees adjacent to MacGuffin Academy were completely gone; someone had razed them to the ground. ‘Where the trees had been, some workers were constructing 4 small black building a little less than half as big as the main house of the school. yet finished, but it already looked pretty robust, able to. survive an earthquake or worse ‘The outer walls were in place, but from a distance the students could still see an rk of hundreds of tangled wires and metal pipes being installed in the ground near the door. The workers were not the only ones there. A group of tall men in black coats, black hats, and black sunglassés were Tt was not | \23 16 Scanned with CamScannerreste. standing around the edge of the construction site, doing nothing. Felix, Elvira, Murph, and Vassily stood on the sidewalk warched the activities. As the construction workers went 2 he their business, the men in black stood still and silent. pie arms crossed in front of their chests, occasionally glancing eg and right. They had an ominous look about them, an aura of danger, as if getting too close to them could be deleteri to your health. Their presence seemed to be intended as a deterrent to anyone who might want to get any closer to the pbuilding under construction. “This is weird,” said Felix. “Baffling, even,” said Elvira. “Let’s get inside and go to class,” said Vassily. “Forget it, this is interesting,” said Murph. “I’m going to find out what’s going on.” He left his friends and walked over to one of the men in black. ‘The man didn’t move, but he looked. at Murph with disdain, as if a little bug were coming toward him instead of a student. “What's up?” said Murph. The man was silent. “Any reason we're not supposed to get closer?” asked Murph. The man, still silent, looked away. Murph didn’t move, but stayed right where he was, as if to say he wasn’t going to be repelled by the man’s haughtiness. Watching from the sidewalk, Elvira began feel some trepidation, as if Murph were going to regret his actions. She decided it was time to intervene. Trying — her fear, she walked ov where the pair was stant . ; “Hello, ny * au savin with a sweet smile. “My friend here wasn’t trying to harass you; he knows you have a job to ~ ce about who gets tO approach the new do. I'm sure there are rules about building, and you're just making nue 2 econ with those rules, Isn't that right, Murp © i Murph shrugged and walked back to where Felix and apparently 2a i?’ Scanned with CamScannera, RT RTE = REINS EE .d where she was and Vassily were standing. Elvira remaine “So, how do you like tried to keep the conversation going. your job?” she asked. “Well, it’s ... ” the man started to say. But just as he started to speak to Elvira, the other men turned abruptly to look at | him. A split second later, 4 black car came spe down the street and screeched to a halt. The doors oF and two more men in black jumped out. They grabbed was talking to and threw him in the car, then sl doors and sped off. One of the men in black guarding the site tho had just been taken came to take the place of the one W away; he walked over, stopped exactly where the other man had been standing, and crossed his arms in front of his chest without saying 2 word. The whole process had taken. only 4 few seconds. Felix, Elvira, Vassily, and Murph stood staring with their mouths open. After a minute or so; one by one they shook their heads and Jooked at each other. “Like I said — weird,” said Felix. «Let's go inside and ask Abe what this is all about,” said Elvira. “Or Jake,” said Murph. So the four of them turned away from the construction site and went up the stairs into MacGuffin. Academy. 18 La, Scanned with CamScannerNs hs dk td Ld TESTED Wo tds Used in Chapter Three Word Pronunciation Definition Synonym(s) ‘opulence (n) ; incac ee cal a a potdinainewr ~ te wipe out or destroy bombs ‘break robust(adj) ~ a; boalthy ‘fit; So bodiod ine i imtnkat Jy complicated; icate (adj) trikat ving many complenlY coed sophisticated ominous (adj) ‘cine menacing; foreboding bad things to come deleterious (adj) dela" tries Thaving a harmful effect pernicious; deterrent (n) dr'ts:rent ‘something that preventative “ discourages baffling (adj) “beefy ‘confusing disconcerting disdain (n) dis‘dem contempt scorn repel (v) rr'pel to push away ‘oppose; hhaughtiness (n) “hoxtines ‘attitude of superiority aloofness ‘i ses se trepidation (n) trepr'deyn anxiety; fear —— vi between; t arbitrate intervene (v) umter'vi:n t2 come 10 ow hares to bother repeatedly pester oe a ili to conform eability; Compliance @) —‘Kom'elaane wings econo See 26 1g Scanned with CamScanner