Preppy Academy's New 'Straight and Narrow' Course
A new year had begun at Preppy Academy and that meant more new students for them to mould. A man who went by the name 'Freddy' was being dragged up the stairs by his father.
Freddy's father was telling him how good this school is and how it would change his life, he said that he couldn't be going around as a chav at 23 years old, going to the job centre every week, he needed to get his life on track and that this was the place to do it.
Freddy and his father were met at the door by a current student who gave them a polite nod, before taking their coats to the cloakroom, telling them he will be back momentarily to take them to their meeting with the headmaster.
Freddy's father kept going on about how fancy this place was and how successful all their graduates were but Freddy didn't care one bit, he was planning on how he would make it out of there, he wasn't staying for a full 3 years and no one could make him.
"Look at how nice and polite that young man is Frederick."
"Don't care, he looks like a boring ponce"
"Frederick... why can't you be more like him, I can't keep bailing you out of trouble all the time, I have to work too."
"Whatever" Freddy groaned as he pulled his phone out, texting his mates about how posh this place was, about how much he hated it.
After 5 more minutes, the student returned.
"The headmaster will see you now. Follow me"
On the very top floor of the academy, at the end of the hall, there was a door with a nameboard, "HEADMASTER".
They had to get special access to get through some of the doors which creeped Freddy out even more, why would basically nowhere in the school be able to be accessed by anybody?
His father didn't seem to notice, he just kept watching the student, he seemed like he was more proud of him than his own son, and he'd only known him for about 15 minutes.
Their guide knocked on the headmaster's door and a deep, "Enter" came from the other side.
The student nodded to both of them before opening the door and stepping away.
As they entered the room they saw the headmaster, sat in his leather chair, Freddy's father was keen to shake his hand and tell him how happy he was they had an opening for his son.
“The decision was unanimous,” the headmaster said calmly, folding his hands atop the desk. “Frederick possesses exactly the kind of potential we cultivate here.”
His father hesitated. “He’s bright, yes, but he’s never been… especially driven.”
The headmaster smiled. “Drive can be taught. Discipline can be refined. What matters is that your son is receptive.”
“And you truly believe this academy will set him up for the future?”
“Every young man who passes through these halls leaves with more than an education,” the headmaster replied smoothly. “Our alumni hold... positions at the most influential firms in the country. Finance. Law. Corporate leadership. They don’t merely work for big companies, they shape them.”
“Frederick will not be lost here,” the headmaster added. “He will be made. And he will thank you for it.”
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Freddy yelled, "I'm not going to stay here and do what you want, you can't make me!"
The headmaster and Freddy's father looked at each other, the headmaster nodded and told his father that it was time he left.
"We will take care of you son, we will escort him for a flu jab before he enters the academy but I assure you, he will be a completely different man when you are allowed to see him in a year."
"Thank you so much, goodbye Frederick, don't cause any trouble."
As Freddy's father left, he was taken to the next room and told he will receive a flu jab.
"Nah mate, don't like needles not doing all that"
"It is compulsory, 'Freddy,' here, have a glass of water to calm your nerves..."
As he drank the cloudy water, he began to feel faint, before he fell into a deep sleep onto the couch, barely feeling a slight prick at the back of his neck...
Freddy was out cold for hours, before he woke up in some room he had never seen before, wearing the same uniform the student from before was wearing.
"Hello Frederick." a voice echoed from across the room.
"Who are you? And it's Freddy..." Freddy asked
"Your roommate, Jameson, we shall be living together for the next year."
"Right okay then... when did I get changed?" Freddy whined, rubbing the back of his neck, feeling an odd bump that wasn't there before. "And why does he head hurt so badly, all I remember was going to get some flu jab."
"We all react differently, it is important that-"
Jameson was cut off by the sound of screaming from down the hall.
Every single student opened the door to their rooms at the same time, almost as if on command and headed to see what was going on.
Freddy followed and saw a man leaning over the railing of the grand staircase.
"Don't you see?! They're manipulating us! You're all being controlled!" He screamed, until the headmaster appeared from the crowd.
"Is he going to do anything?" Freddy asked Jameson who didn't respond.
Nobody said anything at all, the man just kept screaming and shouting, threatening to jump if he wasn't allowed to leave. It was almost as if everyone was looking past him, nobody was taking note of what was happening.
The man yelled for the final time, "Don't let them do it! Don't let them control you all!" before he fell backward over the railing and down 5 flights of stairs.
"What the hell was that?!" Freddy enquired, feeling more scared than ever.
"He wasn't with the programme" Jameson droned, turning around and heading back to his dorm.
Freddy turned around and watched everyone in synchronisation, head back to their rooms and close their doors with one click.
He headed back too and went to talk to Jameson.
"I'm not staying here, no way after what just happened, this place is crazy"
"I've heard this speech before, no one leaves, not until they graduate" Jameson responded, not even lifting his head up from his homework.
"No one is going to control me at all, where's all my stuff anyways?"
"You don't need your things from before, everything you need is here."
"Whatever, I'll just go like this, not staying here any longer"
As Freddy went to open the door, he realised that he couldn't.
"What's going on with the door, how is it locked man?!"
"All our doors automatically lock, they let us out when we have class and training, our next class is at 6:00 tomorrow, and it is my duty to take you there. Go and get some rest."
Feeling completely lost and doomed, Freddy just got into bed, and thought about how he could escape tomorrow morning, thinking about how insane that they are locked in their rooms, and how crazy it was that someone just jumped down a flight of stairs and no one seemed to care at all...
The next morning, Freddy was woken up by Jameson, "get up, class is in 30 minutes, you need to get ready."
"Whatever man" Freddy groaned, rolling out of bed, putting on the only set of clothes he had, washing his face and teeth before following Jameson out the door once more.
Again, everyone's door opened at the same time, and everyone walked single file down the corridor, down the stairs, the stairs that that man 'fell' down before. It looked like nothing had even happened, there were no signs of damage at all, like it never even happened.
Before he knew it, Freddy had arrived at the classroom and saw the rest of the students in his class, they all looked the same, they all looked like him...
Freddy slouched back in his chair, one arm draped over the desk, foot hooked around the leg like he barely cared where he was. The professor kept talking, voice smooth and measured, going on about discipline, polish, and how success came from knowing when to fall in line.
“That’s bollocks,” he muttered, loud enough for half the room to hear.
The scratching of chalk stopped.
Slowly, the professor turned to face him.
Freddy straightened a little, emboldened now. “You’re saying lads like us need to stop being ourselves to get anywhere. That ain’t true. Plenty of people make it without all this… posh act.”
A few heads turned. No one laughed. No one backed him up.
The professor studied him, the way he sat like the room owed him space, he knew he wasn't with the program...
“Frederick,” the professor said calmly, “this academy exists precisely because that mindset fails.”
Freddy scoffed. “Yeah? Says who?”
The professor smiled, slow and cold. “Says every man who walked in here like you… and left better.”
He reached down and pressed a small button on the lectern.
The door at the side of the classroom opened.
Two students stepped in. Clean-cut. Crisp blazers. Hair perfectly styled. They looked nothing like Freddy, and everything like the professor.
Freddy's stomach tightened. “Oi, what’s this about?”
The professor didn’t raise his voice. “You’re agitated. Defensive. That tells me you’re not ready to learn in this state.”
He nodded once toward the door.
“Take Frederick to the Headmaster.”
Frederick shot to his feet. “You’re joking. For speaking my mind?”
One of the students approached him, placing a firm hand on his elbow. His grip was strong, controlled.
“Don’t make a scene,” the student said quietly. “You’ll thank us later.”
He tried to pull back, but the second student was already at his other side.
“This is mad,” Freddy protested, his voice louder now. “I ain’t done nothing wrong.”
The professor had already turned back to the board.
As Freddy was guided toward the door, he caught one last look at the room. Every other student sat perfectly still, eyes forward, faces blank. Not one of them met his gaze.
But he did notice one thing... everyone had a small bump on the back of their neck, just like he did...
The door closed behind him with a soft, final click.
“Now,” the professor said, chalk moving again, “let’s continue.”
Freddy sat stiffly in the chair opposite the headmaster, arms folded across his chest. The office felt too neat, too quiet. Even the ticking clock sounded deliberate.
“I don’t get this place,” he said at last. “Everyone acts like I’m doing something wrong just by being me.”
The headmaster nodded slowly, eyes attentive, hands resting calmly on the desk. “I hear that a lot from new students. Especially ones who arrive with confidence, with habits already formed.”
“It’s not habits,” Freddy shot back. “It’s just how I am. I talk how I talk. I dress how I dress. Feels like that’s a problem here.”
The headmaster smiled, not dismissive, not sharp. Reassuring. “It isn’t a problem. It is simply the starting point. The academy exists to guide young men toward the best version of themselves, even when they cannot yet see what that looks like.”
Freddy frowned. “And what if I don’t want changing.”
“Wanting comfort is natural,” the headmaster replied gently. “But growth rarely feels comfortable. Every man who has gone on to succeed through this academy once sat where you are now, uncertain, defensive, worried he did not belong.”
He stood, walking to a side table, and poured a glass of water with careful precision. He brought it back and placed it in front of him.
“You are not being punished,” he said. “You are being invested in. Everything we do here is with your future in mind. Your education. Your discipline. Your place in the world.”
Freddy looked down at the glass, then back up at the headmaster. “You really believe that.”
“I know it,” the headmaster said softly. “Drink. Clear your head. You are safe here, Frederick. We would not steer you wrong.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Frederick reached for the glass.
Freddy and the headmaster continued to talk, until Freddy dropped into a deep sleep, the same as before...
"Doctor, come in" the headmaster yelled down the phone
"He isn't responding to the program like the others, you need to increase the compliancy within him."
"I'll do what I can Sir but I've never seen this before..."
After a couple minutes of messing with dosages, the doctor injected Freddy in the same spot as before, hoping to increase his compliance with the program.
4 hours later and Freddy slowly rose up, meeting the eyes of the headmaster.
"You seemed to have just drifted away"
"Yeah... I guess so... what time is it?"
"It's time for Conditioning" Jameson said, walking up behind him. "I am here to make sure you make it on time, wouldn't want you to be late...
The two walked over to the adjoining building, Freddy was pushed into a changing room, shown his cubby and told to change while Jameson went to class.
"Yo, what's going on here?" Freddy asked the guy next to him, as he looked up at the top of his cubby he saw his name was George.
"Not here, don't talk like that here, they'll know what's up" George responded, motioning his head toward 2 men standing at the doors like guards.
Freddy followed George into the large hall, where they were told to stand in lines, which everyone did and Freddy reluctantly followed.
"Hands up!" A voice yelled from the speakers. All the men followed the instruction, Freddy looked back at George who nodded at him so Freddy followed.
"Touch your toes!" Everyone followed without hesitation, Freddy lacking behind by only a couple seconds.
Unknowingly, the headmaster was watching from a window above, along with the doctor.
"Frederick seems to be more compliant. Order a Level 4 task"
"But, he'd not ready, he'll hurt himself." The doctor refuted
"March to the ladder, climb and jump." Everyone lined up, single file at the ladder, Freddy noticed how high it looked. Everyone was jumping off and landing in some sort of roll.
"Just roll like everyone else" George said, pushing Freddy up the line.
As Freddy got to the top, he stumbled and stepped back, which the headmaster noticed from above.
Freddy stepped forward, seeing George eyeing at the ceiling window, he landed on his ankle, falling to the floor.
"You, take this one back to his room." One of the guards said to George who picked up Freddy and carried him back to his room. The headmaster watched on from above, pleased with his work, believing that Freddy was starting to get with the program.
George and Freddy finally got back to Freddy's room.
"You're not like them are you?" George enquired.
"Nah not at all.. are you?"
"No, just good at pretending, been here for almost a year now, seen loads of people like you come and go without a trace..."
Freddy and George discussed ways they could escape the academy for an hour until they heard Jameson get back.
George swiftly left, with an escape plan for tomorrow morning, they would meet up at the staircase and hide until the headmaster goes to watch daily conditioning, steal his key card and get out of there.
The next morning soon arrived and Freddy got up, sneaked past Jameson and quietly opened the door, tip-toeing down the hallway to the meeting spot.
He saw George at the end of the hall, feeling relieved he walked up to him.
George was turned away so all Freddy could see was his back, but he noticed one thing... the back of George's neck had a red, pulsating bulge, bigger than any other students....
Freddy tapped George on the shoulder and was so shocked when he turned around that he almost fell to the floor.
"Good morning..." George droned, "I have finally began to follow the program, and you will too"
Freddy instinctively ran away, down the stairs and hid in a cleaning cupboard, he couldn't believe George had become like them, what happened...?
He tried to think but saw the headmaster leave, his door not closing properly, so Freddy ran in, scanned the room and saw a key card. He was going to get out of there with or without George.
He ran through the academy, to the front door, scrambled with the key card and finally managed to get the door open. He jumped over the fence and ran into a nearby park screaming.
He saw 2 policemen roaming the streets so he sprinted up to them and told them everything that was going on at the academy.
The 2 policemen seemed concerned and told him they would deal with it, but they needed to take him to the station for questioning. Freddy didn't care where he was, only that he wasn't in that creepy school.
He got in the police car, followed by the 2 officers. He heard a click as the door closed and noticed something...
They both had red, pulsating bulges on the back of their necks. Freddy gasped and tried to open the doors but he couldn't. They were locked and the windows were blacked out.
The 2 officers turned around and droned, "You need to follow the program, it's the only way..."
Freddy kicked and screamed as loud as he could but nothing worked... He was going back to the academy whether he liked it or not.
Freddy was dragged up the stairs, past George and Jameson who didn't even acknowledge him.
He was placed into a room, locked in with the headmaster...
10 days had passed and Freddy hadn't left that room, the headmaster had put him in a deep trance while the doctor came in hourly to up his compliance.
"He's ready..." the doctor said, walking over to Freddy, clicking his fingers and waking him up.
Freddy immediately sprung up to attention, "Good morning Sirs" he said in such a robotic tone.
"Very good, now... go up to your room, you have someone waiting for you."
Frederick marched up to his room, smiling at everyone he passed, he was glad to be there, he was happy to follow the program.
He opened his door and saw a man sat on his bed.
"Hello there, who are you?"
"Names Matty, not stayin here long, this place ain't for me."
"Nobody leaves the academy Matthew, not until they get with the program..."
