Mark of the Moon

Chapter 16 - The Flip Side of Things

Chapter 16: The Flip Side of Things

  "Thank you, Mr. Dubose, I really needed this extra time to work on my project," I smiled vaguely, putting away the half finished pieces of my entertainment center, careful not to mar the surface of the wood, that had been carefully sanded down to smoothness. He smiled back, kicking his feet down from the desk as he had been leaning back in his chair, half asleep, which I don't know how he could do since I had the machines running. But eh, he was a Woods teacher, he probably was pretty used to the whirring sound of the machines, even to me it was calming sometimes-"No problem, I had some paperwork to finish anyway," he said as he stuffed the rest of his papers into his briefcase. 

  "If you don't mind me asking," I said as I locked the locker and carried the big pieces to the backroom, "Why do you have a briefcase, you are a Wood's teacher, you can't have all that much paperwork," I pointed out as I carefully balancing the headboard against a desk.

  "Don't you remember last year, Ms. Williams? Basically it was all paperwork, you can't just let inexperienced children run around with saws now can you?" he joked as he opened the door for me. The lights flicked off in the woods room as we stepped out, me laughing, "Yes, I guess so, but we did well,"

  "Maybe, I still was afraid of Dylan chopping his hand off...with a hammer,"

  "A Hammer?"

  "That boy could make a limb slicing weapon out of anything," he chuckled, and I said goodbye, before heading towards the hallway my locker was in. The halls were empty. I had come back to Wood's class after last hour to finish up a major chunk of my semester project the whole first half of my last year at this high school coming to a wrap up after winter break and I needed the grade on that to be high. The ticking clock in the hallway was like a ghost following my every step, and I dimly saw the headlights of Mr. Dubose's car drive away in the dimming light. Five-thirty already? I had taken more of his-and my time than I had thought. Luckily homework came scarce tonight, so I wasn't totally worried about lack of time to finish it up, plus all of the books that I needed were the ones that I had two sets of, therefore I got to leave them at home and could walk out of the school with only my jacket on my back.

  The lights of the hallways started to flick off, leaving the floor to gleam menacingly, and I was quick to step out into the cold brisk air before the darkness would cover me. The janitors had a twisted sense of humor to scare a student like me. As per usual my coat did little against the cold yet mild wind that whispered past my face and caused my breath to create a cloud in front of me. I made my way to where my usual parking spot, head down to brace against the cold. But when I reached the spot and instinctively searched my pockets for the keys I found them empty. So was the parking spot. My mouth fell open, but snapped shut in anger as I briefly remembered that it broke down again this morning, leaving me to beg Quinn for another ride to school. And leaving me ride-less on the way home.

  "You look like you need a ride..." a voice said from behind me. I whirled around to face Tristan who was looking amused at me while leaning against another car. How he managed to sneak up behind me over and over again I'd never know-

  "You offering?" I said an almost pleading tone to my voice that I immediately blushed about. Showing weakness to a guy who took advantage of it was not a good idea. I kept my face blank, trying to decipher his intent.

  "Sure, I'd give you a ride..." he started to stay and I leaped at him pulling at the handle to the door, "Thank you, thank you, thank you," I said happily, I could almost kiss him, but I won't. "If you could please unlock the car?"