Ars Goetia - Chapter Two
Never eat leftover Chinese food. (Previously titled - Currently Untitled)
I finished off the rest of my Capri-Sun and began opening the next one. "Wait. I knew something was off. Where's Xavier?" I asked while looking around. It was weird that I was able to eat all of my breakfast without him there to steal it.
"God, don't even get me started on him!" Bethany suddenly snapped scaring the crap out of me and sending the librarian into a blind rage of shushing. They must be fighting again. Over what? I don't think I even want to know. How many times can a non-couple couple even fight? It was exhausting trying to keep up. Beth gave another quiet apology before turning back to me.
"Don't change the subject anyway. Let's talk about how we're going to off that bitch."
"That bitch?"
"Yeah. His girlfriend. Come on Em. Why do I get the feeling that I'm the only one here who's pissed off about this?"
"Oh. No. Believe me I'm pissed off. It's just... I don't think she's worth killing." I said in a bored tone. I finished off the Capri-Sun making sure to suck it bone dry to the point that the pouch collapsed and made that weird gurgle sound it does when you're just sucking up air. The librarian called out to us. I turned and looked with Beth. She pointed to the 'No Food or Drink' sign that was taped to the side of one of the bookcases. I smiled, showed her my garbage, and tossed it into a nearby trash can. Beth and I turned in our seats and faced each other once more. "I'm beginning to think that I don't even want his child support. He can keep his stupid money. I don't want anything from him. Not if he's going to kick us out and treat us like some burden."
"Mmhm. Mmhm. True. But trust me. You want child support. It's more for your mom than anything else. She's doing it all on her own now. That kind of thing takes its toll financial wise. And believe me you don't want her doing double shifts. I lived that nightmare. Not cool."
"Oh yeah." I sighed.
Beth's parents had been separated for seven years now. She's like the divorce kid veteran. It's nothing to brag about and it's definitely not something I wanted to have in common with her but it was a fact. I now officially joined the club for kids with a broken home.
"So how's your mom holding up? Should I come visit with some of mom's home cooked dinner tonight? Maybe I could stay and help unpack some boxes. You know, help lighten the load." Beth offered.
Her attempts were transparent.
"For the umpteenth time Beth you are not coming to see this house."
"What? I don't care about the house. I really want to see if your mom is okay."
She was a horrible liar.
"Trust me. She's fine. We had a good cry about all this and everything. Even some group hugs followed suit. We're golden." I said just as the bell sounded for first period. I stood from my seat and started collecting my things.
"How do you know for sure? You may be fine but she could be a total mess. She could just be pretending so you won't have to worry. I'm good at seeing if that's the case. Let me-"
"Beth." Beth stopped in the middle of rising out of the seat of her chair. She met eyes with me. "No." I finished.
"But-!"
"Ladies!" Xavier announced as he materialized between us wearing a goofy grin and striking a ridiculous pose that was kind of mix between the sculpture of the Thinker and a superhero stance. His sudden presence caused us to scream. The librarian hissed at us with a few snaps in our direction. We apologized quickly and returned to getting our things.
I smacked Xavier on the arm. "Where the hell did you come from?"
"Ah. Where did I come from? Such a complex question Em-"
"Oh." I cut him off. "Shut up."
"Em!" Bethany kind of growled giving me a 'what- the-hell-do-you-think-you're-doing' look.
"Oh. Right. I guess I'm not supposed to be talking to you." I said while slinging my book bag over my shoulder.
"What?" Xavier exclaimed.
"Sorry. Ask her." I gestured to Beth who gave me another look. I flattened my lips shut.
"What the hell did I do this time?" He asked turning to Beth not sparing the volume. It was like the idiot didn't know we were in the library.
"It's your fault! Get away from me!" The scream erupted in my ears. It was like putting in headphones and pressing play not knowing that your iPod was set to maximum volume. To make things worse the force of the cry seemed to have a life of its own. It was filled with so much loathing and disgust that it nearly doubled me over like a sucker punch to the gut. I clutched onto my ears and stumbled back. Geez! Whatever Xavier did pissed Beth off majorly. The librarian was going to have a field day kicking us out.
"Holy crap Beth. Could you be any louder? What the heck did he do to you?" I spat. A high-pitched ringing started vibrating against my eardrums. With every word I spoke I thought I would vomit.
Beth scoffed. "Now you're taking his side? I barely even screamed." She hurled back at me.
"See? What did I just finish telling you? Nobody wants to listen to your banshee shrieks anymore than I do." He folded his arms and threw her one of his signature cocky smirks.
"And what did I say? Don't talk to me unless you apologize." She snarled.
"Why would I do that?" He shrugged nonchalantly and lazily slipped his hands into his pockets. "It would be stupid because I have absolutely no idea why I should be apologizing."
"It's not stupid you jerk! And you know what you did!" She hissed.
"I have no business with you!" He threw up his hand in front of her face to silence her. It was done in a more comical manner than a mean one. The fool could never take anything seriously. "I want to speak to Em."
Okay. Obviously I missed something. This was not the conversation I heard before Beth nearly made my ears bleed. Nobody else seemed to stop and take notice to her psychotic outburst either. The librarian didn't even turn to do a deranged fit of shushing. There wasn't a peep. Everyone else in the library kept to their note passing, flirting, and restricted internet searching like nothing happened. Fantastic. Now I was beginning to feel like I was the crazy one.
And that's exactly how I stood, dumbfounded and lost as I watched Beth scoff and nearly trample over some guy's feet when she stepped back like she had been served the greatest insult in her life. She didn't even take notice of the poor guy. I had to apologize for her. All I could do was sigh. Xavier knew how to push her buttons and I knew that wasn't the response she was looking for. I knew she wanted Xavier to cater to her right then and there till she was satisfied but who was she kidding? Xavier wasn't that kind of guy. The guy was a total goof ball. He was the type of person who didn't have time to sit and play guessing games. Beating around the bush didn't do much for him either. You either pointed out whatever it was that was bothering you or just sucked it up and kept it to yourself.
I don't even understand why Beth wanted to be with him so much if all he did was frustrate her to the point of growing tumors. And it's not like they clashed on the lines of interests. If they did manage to get together they would actually be cute. They both had the same taste in indie/rock music. They both loved the arts-Beth painting, drawing, sculpting, things like that and Xavier playing in a band on guitar and the cello in the school symphony. They liked the same movies and even had their own unique style-Beth rocking the latest Harajuku styles and Xavier doing it up punk rock style. My theory, they've grown tired of each other. The two practically shared the same life. If it were me I know it would be enough to make me want to jump into oncoming traffic.
"Too bad. Unlike you Em's a good friend and good friends don't speak to the people their friends hate. Right Em?"
I sighed. I was a good friend to both of them so technically if her logic was correct I shouldn't be speaking to either of them. I kept this to myself. Instead my response came out more like a sound you would make if your mom tried on something you knew was horrendous but you didn't want to hurt her feelings because you could tell she really liked it. Apparently it only works in that sort of situation. Beth glared at me.
"Uhn? Uhn? After all we've been through all you're going to give me is an uhn?"
I rolled my eyes and sighed. Here it comes.
"Eighth grade. It was the first period in Mrs. Kelso's room. We were supposed to be doing our first dissection on frogs except we couldn't. Because at 12 midnight sharp you had me sneak out of the house with you, break into the school, 'rescue'" she accented with air quotes, "all the dead frogs, and run them down to the local pond for a proper burial because you felt that all living things needed to be put to rest after they died." She rattled off.
"Shhh." I tried to quiet her down. It was a miracle that we never got caught. There was no need to mess that up now.
"Don't shush me. There's more. Eighth grade. Fourth period. Mr. Cartwright's room-!"
I zoned her out. There's no need to recount every single thing we... happened into. By now I'm sure everyone in the library knew how close we were. Ever since the last year of Middle School Beth had always been my right hand. We had been through so much together that it was getting hard to keep track. She was always there when I needed her. And even when I didn't want her she was always there. She knew almost everything about me, even things that I couldn't remember. And I knew next to everything about her. We've had our share of fights, mishaps, embarrassments, close to criminal adventures that I don't think smart to recount, and your basic golden moments. So I think all in all it is safe to say that we have your pretty standard companionship. To be honest I see her as a spare Nathan if not better at times. I can't really picture us being apart. We even planned ongoing to the same college. Yale-she going for fine art and me for... well I don't know yet but Beth assured it was a great place to be completely and utterly lost. I look forward to it.
"And now I totally just listened to you whine about-!"
"Hey." I bit back. I stopped her before she could do anything else detrimental, to my feelings now more than anything else. I knew that she didn't mean anything by it but it still stung. "Look. Don't take your frustrations out on me just because you chose to fall in love with the weakest link. No offense Xavier." I stormed out of the library's double doors.
I heard Beth gasp over my shoulder. "I'm not in love with him! I'm not in love with you!"
I bounded through the hallway trying to the best of my ability to maneuver through the chaotic mess. I only had three minutes now to get from one side of the school to the other. And it's just my luck that I get stuck behind the pack of friends that walk as if they have a whole century to get to class and the couples that form a human chain that block the entire, the entire, hall as if they're the only ones in the world.
"I said get away from me!" The words clapped like thunder. I couldn't breathe. It felt like my lungs were filling up with water. Something sharp pressed against my chest, pushing and pushing like I would be sliced wide open. Was this the revenge of the Chinese man's egg roll? I knew we shouldn't have ordered from General Tso's Hibachi Panda Café attached to the Pizza Hut/ Taco Bell/ KFC combo behind the Quick Trip.
I stumbled back and turned to find Beth. She seriously needed to calm down. My vision swam over the crowd for only a moment before Xavier threw himself over me locking his arm around my neck.
"Finally you stopped. I've been calling your name like crazy." His words poured in like waves. A pressure pushed behind my eyes. I thought I was going to collapse. "Hurry up or we'll be late for class." He pulled me forward to move but my legs locked. I just couldn't bring myself to go on any further. For some reason I was too terrified. "Em. You okay?" He asked out of confusion more than concern.
"Y-yeah." I lied. But as soon as the word left my lips everything faded back to normal. The pressure lifted from my head and the stabbing disappeared. I was definitely throwing out the chicken lo mein once I got back to the hotel room.
"Then let's go." He urged. He pulled me forward once more. I followed. Reluctantly.
We turned down the 1000 hall and I could hear Beth behind us calling my name while defending the fact that she wasn't in love with Xavier. As much as I enjoyed her suffering for some reason I couldn't focus. I was too anxious. My heart was racing at a million miles per hour. When we began to scale the stairs Xavier squeezed my shoulders and pulled me in closer to his body. Surprisingly it was comforting. I looked up into his playful brown eyes.
"Don't let her upset you. I'm here. I don't think you whine." He beamed down at me with a cute boyish smile. I shook my head and sighed. It was all I could manage as my stomach twisted into knots. "Would you like me to push her down the stairs?" He asked in one of those pacifying tones used to appease five-year olds. I stifled a smile. It was hard to remain serious around this dope. He poked his lip out at me and rubbed my arm. "Okay. I'll push her down the stairs." Before I knew it the idiot actually turned to go to Beth.
"No! Don't!" I protested. I snatched him back by his shirt. I couldn't help laughing. I pulled him close and wrapped my arms around his waist.
"And she laughs ladies and gentlemen!" He announced over the crowd.
"Idiot." I giggled.
His arms slipped around my shoulders. I could feel his body shake as he laughed. It was amazing how he could make all my worries fade. Thank God for friends.
He led me to our homeroom. Well, correction, he led me to the door of our homeroom.
"Whoa. What the hell?" Xavier gawked.
For some reason a huge crowd of girls had formed. People in our class and people I'd never seen before were packed together like sardines. I didn't know why they decided to cram together and I didn't care to find out. All I wanted to do was get to my freakin' seat on time so I wouldn't be counted as absent.
"Excuse me!" I projected over them. It didn't work and I didn't expect it to. That was just my heads up so that when I started forcing my way in by any means necessary they couldn't complain. I gave them fair warning.
I grabbed Xavier's sleeve and shoved the first girl out-of-the-way. Yes, shoved. If I did it any other way they would probably think that I was one of them and force me back outside so I wouldn't take their spot in whatever stupid thing that attracted them here. I shoved my way through, dragging Xavier behind while ignoring all the 'heys!', 'watch its!', and foul language that I don't care to repeat. When we almost made it through some chick decided to back up against us as if we weren't there. The already tight space grew tighter like we were being crammed in a trash compactor and her fat ass was the freakin compressor. Everyone started shifting and complaining. My thing was, why cram yourselves in at the door when you know people have to come that way? Of course you're going to be pushed around. It's called common sense people! I actually felt like opening up my mouth to scream this at them. I did, as a matter of fact, open my mouth to start but I was suddenly rammed from behind. The next thing I knew I was knocked flat on my face and someone had landed on top of me. I freaked. Not only had my face touched the nasty classroom floor but now my new Pea Coat was collecting the layers of dust that I knew was on the floor. How I knew? Because when I landed and opened my eyes a large dust ball was staring me in the face. Gross!
I sat up as fast as I could knock off whoever it was that was on top of me.
"I'm sorry Emeline." I heard a soft, girly, voice say. "Are you okay?"
When I looked over I saw Erika pushing herself up and flipping her thick, black, tousled, super model looking hair out of her face. Her hazel nut eyes flashed nothing but apology my way. There was no way that I could be mad at her. She was too freakin' cute. She was one of our many foreign exchange students. She haled from Bali so every word she spoke sounded like sex. Then those big eyes of hers had a magic all their own and it didn't help that coupled with those eyes was a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her button nose. Now don't misunderstand. It's not like I was attracted to her. It's just that she was adorable. And there's nowhere that says you can't appreciate the beauty of your fellow sisters. Besides, it was more like I was comparing myself to her. There was no way that my plain brown eyes had any magic whatsoever. My hair was black, yes, but it would never have the potential of billowing in the wind or flipping flirtatiously over my shoulder as it just only hung there in lack luster waves-I mostly wear it up in a cute doo. Then my skin looked cocoa dark against her sun-kissed complexion and my voice had no capability of summoning a soundtrack of Marvin Gaye or any ability of luring men to my island of death.
"Hey. Sorry about that. Are you okay?" I heard Xavier ask more than concerned.
I sighed and prepared for him to help me up. "Yeah I'm-"
"Oh! No! It's fine! I'm fine!" I was cut off by Erika's flustered voice. When I looked over Xavier was offering his hand to her. The jerk didn't even look over my way!
"With all this confusion someone's bound to get hurt. I just hate that I was the one to knock down such a beautiful girl."
Erika took his hand. Her cheeks lit up like a freakin' red light bulb on a Christmas tree. The idiot was actually trying to hit on her and the sad thing was she was falling for his pathetic lines. All I could do was sit and watch with my mouth hanging open. There's no way that such a pretty girl could be swayed by his attempts.
"Th-thank you. And don't worry about it. It was an accident. I'll forgive you." She flirted back. She actually flirted back.
Xavier's face dropped into something I really couldn't read. It kind of was a mix between a god-awful, fake, sadness tinged with a hint of hope... or was it confidence. "I'll let you get back to the crowd." His voice sounded pathetically pathetic. "I wouldn't want to lose your place in the line-"
"Oh no! I wasn't in line-"
"You weren't?"
She shook her head, resembling something like a playful child as her hair bounced from side to side. "No." she replied sheepishly.
I threw up a little in my mouth. Okay, not really, but I felt like I would. Their conversation had now dropped into flirtatious gazing.
"I was waiting for you." She boldly admitted.
"Oh." Xavier feigned surprise. His boyish smile returned but now it seemed more impish than cute. He was such a sleaze. "Well, let me not disappoint the lady." He stepped close to her and wrapped her arm around his. "Em get up. You're blocking the way." He said to me nonchalantly. He actually instructed me to stand. Erika was fooled. He wasn't a gentleman at all. And to top it off he stepped over my stuff like it was a puddle in the street. I thought he was joking. I waited for him to turn around and do that goofy laugh that he does whenever he does something stupid. I waited in vain. The idiot really walked off and left me!
I staggered to my feet and dusted off my clothes. I knew it didn't change the fact that I had been on the nasty floor but I still had to try. If I had the funds to buy another $128 Pea Coat I'd be all over it. I'd burn this rag and be on my way. The more I thought about it the more the thought began to appeal to me. I was going to do it. I was going to take my so-called father's precious doe and spend it all. That'll give that worthless slut of his something to piss herself about... oh god. It's coming back up. I thought I had fixed all of this last night. If I wasn't careful my true colors would show. I didn't need Beth and Xavier all over me. Their concern would only make it worse. I had to breathe. I needed to breathe. I closed my eyes and sighed. Maybe this was going to take some getting used to.
When I finally opened my eyes and reached for my book bag I was knocked over again from behind. But this time instead of falling I careened into one of the black-top science desks. My hip smashed right into the corner and I swear it was like someone had taken a knife to my side. I couldn't take it anymore. These girls had pushed the wrong one today and it was about time that somebody told them that they needed to take this mosh pit someplace else. My courage ignited when some idiot crashed into me. I wheeled on them, summoning all the rage I could muster.
"Sorry Emeline."
My rage faltered.
"I didn't mean to ram you like that. I actually tried to swerve in the other direction but I guess that didn't work." Dante chuckled his smooth, heart throbbing chuckle. "Are you alright?" He asked while gently grabbing my elbow to help steady me.
I smiled. Like a brainless moron I just stood there and smiled. But I couldn't help it. I was blissing out. He had a certain way of charming me. Maybe it was his eyes, those dangerously, enticing, grey-green eyes that beckoned me every time they locked on me. Or maybe it was his skin, so warm and rich with a creamy, tan, tone like a warm cup of mocha. And his lips! We can't forget those flirtatious lips that cocked up into that playful grin of his. Oh! And his hands! We can't forget those warm, inviting, and big-You know what? Let's just go with all of it. It's all of it.
"Yeah. I'm fine." I nervously fixed my clothes. "I'm smelling the high of heaven. I'm fit as a fiddle. I'm walking on sunshine. Heck I'm even singing in the rain and whatever other expression that means happy and good, that's me." Note to self. Stop babbling.
He gave me another one of his killer smiles. I swear my poor little heart was going to catapult out of my chest. I dropped my eyes. I just couldn't take looking at him dead on any more. I would most definitely pass out from nerves. "Good. Be careful. I wouldn't want anything else happening to you." He waved and disappeared into the classroom.
"Uh huh." I waved back. Like an idiot I just stood there and waved until he left my line of vision. Did I hear him right? Did he say he wouldn't want anything to happen to me? That means he cares right? He cares about me. That's one step closer to love -
A loud squeal awakened me from my daydream. The crowd was getting more hysterical by the minute. I eased away from the madness and made my way to my desk. I plopped down on the metal stool flinching as Xavier suddenly dove onto the stool next to me.
"Man, I hate coming in here all nice and warm just to have it sucked out my butt in these stools." The idiot spoke as he slid his butt back and forth against the seat. All I could do was glare. Some friend he was. He stepped right over me and now here he was talking about how warm his ass was. He must have felt the daggers in his side because he threw on an innocent face and said, "What? You actually like the cold stools?"
"Now you can see me?" I snapped.
"What?" He played dumb.
"You literally, literally, step over me for some chick, told me to get up so I can get out-of-the-way, shared googly eyes with her, and now you have the audacity to come talk to me like everything's all good in the neighborhood."
"Oh. You're mad. I'm sorry. But I have good news." He said as if it would lighten the mood.
"I don't care. I shouldn't even be talking to you. Beth's rule."
"She said yes." He continued as if I hadn't said a word.
"What? Who said yes?"
"Erika." He popped his collar and tugged on his jacket.
"To what?"
"Coming to this year's Halloween Ball with me."
"Okay, first of all, you don't even know if we're having a ball this year and second of all-"
"But we always have a ball." He cut me off not helping to calm my frustrations in the least bit.
"And second of all..." I growled, staring him down with menace. He smiled and held up his hands in defense. "I thought this was the year you said you wanted to get with Beth?"
"It is. And I am. Why do you think I asked out Erika?" He asked as if he had answered my question.
I narrowed my eyes. None of it made sense. And he was looking at me with a 'duh' expression like I just asked what 2+2 equals and he said 4. "Say what? That doesn't even begin to make..." I trailed off and sighed, rubbing my forehead to relieve my now growing headache.
"Think about it Em."
"Oh, believe me. I'm trying."
"Erika's hot. It drives Beth insane when she sees me talking to her."
"Is that what all that was about?"
"Yeah. I was talking to Erika in front of Beth's locker. We lost track of time and made Beth late for class." I couldn't say anything. All I could do was shake my head. "But it's all going according to plan."
"Plan? There's a plan?"
"Yeah. Beth hates it when she sees me with another girl let alone talking to one. Just think of what she would do if she saw me with Erika at the ball. She'd flip her lid. So if I get her jealous enough she'll come and confess her feelings for me and then we'll live happily ever after."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The guy who hated playing games, the same guy who was blunter than anyone I know had concocted an idiotic, round-the-way, plan. The saying was right. Love does make fools of us. "Or... you could just tell Beth how you feel... there's that option too." I provided.
"Yeah I could but I like making her squirm." He beamed.
"Your plan is half-baked." I dismissed. Sure it seemed all fine and dandy but there was a problem that was overlooked.
"How so?"
"What about Erika? Does she know that she's a part of a plan?" I'd be happy if Xavier and Beth finally did get together and rid me of my headache but not at the price of someone else's feelings. Especially someone I know and like.
"It's all good. She's not that invested." He dismissed.
"Says you. And what if Beth doesn't fall for your trick? Then you screwed with two people for no reason."
"Trust me. She'll fall for it. She's falling apart already. She can't make it without me."
His arrogance was astonishing.
"Hey! Watch it!" I heard Beth yell.
Xavier and I looked over our shoulders and watched as she tried to push through the crowd unsuccessfully. The next thing we knew she had been pushed forward and bam! She landed face first onto the ground. I turned in my seat to help her up but my senses were stunned as the glob of estrogen shrieked at the top of their lungs. It reminded me of the sound a really old, rusty bike makes when you squeeze on the brakes. It was very deafening and made me want so desperately to punch somebody. When I finally got reoriented I rose to my feet to help Beth but realized I didn't have to. Someone had already beaten me to it.
It was a weird moment. Just as quickly as the girls shrieked they had fallen into silent mumbling and grumbling. All eyes were focused on Beth and the guy that knelt down before her. They all watched intensely as the guy held out his hand to Beth, who struggled with assessing what had happened.
"You okay?" I heard him say. His voice was smooth and traced with an accent I couldn't put my finger on.
Then something happened. Something I thought I wouldn't see Beth do but with only one guy. She blushed. "Y-yeah." She stammered. She was nervous. She was actually nervous. She started tucking the hair behind her ear, her most famous move when she was caught off guard.
The guy offered his hand. Carefully he helped her to her feet and attended to her kindly as she dusted herself off.
"Thank you." She said barely above a whisper.
I couldn't help but smile as I took my seat. "Seems like she's doing just fine without you dude." I quipped to Xavier. The moment was too good to pass up. I had to steal a look of his face and it was worth it. He was watching the two with this blank expression and his skin looked pale as if something sucked the life out of him.
I looked back over my shoulder to Beth and it finally hit me why the mass had formed. It was because of that guy. They had started shooting the evil eye at Beth because the guy had helped her up. She was in imminent danger and she didn't even know it. The guy wasn't letting up on her either which was just making it worse. He proceeded to escort her into the classroom and helped her to her desk with the girls hissing and snarling behind them. I zeroed in on him, watching him closely as he smiled at Beth and walked away. I'd never seen him before and yet somehow something about him was familiar.
"Stare any harder and his clothes will spontaneously combust Em." Xavier stated in kind of cold tone.
That snapped me back to reality. I hadn't even realized that I had been staring so hard until he said something. I looked at Xavier and smiled. The cool-headed guy had now melted down. He was literally sulking. "Don't get snippy with me just because you suck at life." He folded his arms, leaned forward, and rested on the desk lazily. "Anyway, who is that guy?" He didn't reply. I felt bad for him but it was still kind of fun watching him suffer. Maybe now he'd get some sense, grow some balls, and ask her out instead of going on with that moronic plan of his.
"What is going on in here?" Mr. Isakson's voice suddenly boomed. He stepped his way into the classroom easily now that the crowd had parted. "Don't you people have places to be?" He roared. The school bell chimed in, breaking his flow. "For all of you that are not seated you have detention. For the rest of you who are not in my class, you have a week's detention." He served in a gruff voice. For every sentence he served the girls groaned. It served them right. "The bell has rung and classes have already started. Hopefully your teachers won't add on to your detention. Now get out of my classroom." He commanded. How he would manage to give them all detention I don't know but I knew it could be done. One time he gave ten guys detention, all from different classrooms and grade levels. They thought they were scot-free because they thought there was no way he would remember them all. They thought wrong.
The girls whined and began to slowly disburse. Finally we could all breathe.
"Take your seats." Mr. Isakson commanded, which was immediately obeyed. Mr. Isakson wasn't one to be trifled with. If he said jump you didn't even ask how high you just jumped. My guess as to why he was so crude was because he was scrawny lookin' and nerdy as heck. The thirty-something year old man walked as if he had a stick up his butt and looked as if he had been bullied for most of those thirty-something years. So now he was finally asserting himself and taking it out on the student body. Either it's that or he was still suffering internally from when his scientific theory on salamanders and the effects of bacteria on their environment was stolen and published by his rival. The poor guy was heartbroken and had a meltdown in class.
The intercom blared with a greeting to Marblehead High. Mr. Isakson marched to the front of the classroom and immediately took to writing today's objectives on the board. We all stood when necessary, said the pledge of allegiance, and took our seats. It was a pretty mundane routine, one filled with annoyance and the urge to jump out the window but hey, they say you'll miss it after you graduate. I look forward to missing it.
For the next half hour I felt chills run up and down my spine. Beth was staring at me and staring hard. No doubt she was shooting some telepathic messages my way. I did my best to ignore them. I pretended to be all about biology. I acted like it was one of the most mind-blowingly awesome -ologies out of them all. The genealogy square thingy, right up there next to Sudoku. And family trait lineages, nothing could even begin to compete with that. My notebook never held so many notes from one class sitting before. I could actually pass next week's test. Class actually seemed to fly by the more I immersed myself into Mr. Isakson's drool lecture. His drawn out speeches kind of, had a hypnotizing affect. Maybe Beth and I should fight more often. Then maybe I could finally get on that honor roll thing that everyone makes such a big deal about.
My good streak didn't last long though. As I scribbled down the last note a ball of paper nailed me in the middle of my back and dropped down to the floor. As discreetly as possible I turned in my seat and immediately found Beth waving me down from one desk behind me. 'Sorry' was what she mouthed. Of course I would forgive her. I could never stay mad at her for too long. But I could at least torture her for a whole period. I decided to shake my head and turn back to taking notes.
But to my surprise, suddenly something sticky and wet ran down the palm of my hand. Had something spilled? Was my hand just that exhausted from actually doing work for school? I snatched back around. My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. My hand was completely covered in blood! As a matter of fact I was elbow deep in it! My papers were completely stained and a deep crimson puddle ran from my desk onto the floor. I wasn't even holding my pencil anymore but a large, jagged, piece of glass. Screaming at the top of my lungs I dropped the glass and abandoned my seat as fast as I could, knocking over my stool in the process.
"What the hell Em!" I heard Xavier gripe aloud.
"What's going on?" Mr. Isakson hurled our way. His voice was stern yet I could hear he was a little shaken.
I lifted my eyes briefly to Xavier, who by now had already shot up from his seat and moved a comfortable two feet away from me, and then to Mr. Isakson, who had stepped away from the chalkboard, staring me down for an explanation. I struggled to catch my breath. I was more than ready to point out the pool of blood on the desk but when I looked back to my seat it was all gone. No blood, no glass, just my notes and mechanical pencil. What the hell was going on? I knew I wasn't crazy. I had seen it! Felt it even!
"Ms. Hunt, what is going on?" Mr. Isakson asked in a hard tone.
"I-I just..." I stammered for something, anything other than the truth. I couldn't very well explain to them that there was a pool of nonexistent blood on my desk. Not without coming off as psychotic. "I just finally realized how the... gene square thing works. It all finally... clicked." I provided breathlessly.
"And that required you to scream out in the middle of my class?" He narrowed his eyes. No doubt he was questioning my state of mind. Hell, even I was questioning my state of mind.
"Sorry. I was just excited. Nothing ever... clicks right away for me."
He wasn't buying it. He studied me closely for a few minutes. The whole situation was awkward in itself. I hoped everything would just mosey on along. But of course, I had no such luck. Mr. Isakson extended out the piece of chalk in his hand. "Well since you're so enthusiastic about all of this why don't you come up here and solve this next Punnett square for us?"
Great.
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