"So? How'd it go?" whispered Clarke to Maddy during Ancient History class.
"Umm... There were actually too many students waiting outside, so I'll go later again."
"Right. Well yeah, but-"
"Quiet!" screeched the teacher, a middle-aged man with receding hairline.
The two girls exchanged a conspiratory look, bowing their heads to hide their giggles at Mr. Benson, whose voice sounded laughably lady-like.
Maddy waited a couple of seconds for Mr. Benson to turn his back at them again and start scribbling his impossible-to-read notes on the white board, then asked:
"What about the kids that didn't come to school today?"
"I guess they'll just get vaccinated tomorrow. I mean, it's pretty much inevitable, you know?"
"Yeah... Hey, Clarke?" Maddy played nervously with her fingers under the desk, all shy like a little girl. "Does it... hurt?"
Clarke snorted. "Jeez, Maddy, you're such a baby!"
"I said quiet back there!" yelled the teacher once more, glaring at both of them.
"Ugh, what's his problem?" mumbled Clarke under her breath so that only Maddy could hear her, glaring back at him. "And for the record, yes, it does hurt. Like hell it does."
Amazing. Awesome.
"Great. Perfect." Maddy groaned.
Well, at least I'll be prepared. Can't be that bad. Right?
But her old memories had been torturing her nonstop ever since she had left the infirmary earlier that day, memories of her mother holding that syringe like a true nurse every morning at 6am only to-
"So, when are you gonna go?" asked Clarke.
"Huh?" Maddy's brows furrowed into a frown.
"To the infirmary, you idiot."
"Oh. That. Well, I think I'll just go after all of my classes."
"Ok... You sure?"
No.
"Yeah, I-"
"Excuse me for interrupting your little chit chatting, Miss Wesley, but I thought I had made myself crystal clear when I told you to keep quiet." Mr. Benson pronounced those last words slowly, as if he were talking to a child. Then he raised his high-pitched voice, spitting saliva all over the place. "Are you deaf or something? Or do you want a detention, young lady?"
Maddy felt the urge to laugh - this was starting to get ridiculous - but she cleared her throat and coughed instead, trying to fight it.
"I already got one, sir." The words slipped her lips before she could seal them.
And thus twenty pairs of eyes fastened onto her, overflowing with curiosity, as a wave of low whispers and giggles crashed onto the shore of her ears.
"She got a detention?"
"Maddy Wesley? A detention?"
Okay, but you seriously need to learn how to keep your mouth shut, Maddy, she reprimanded herself.
The bell rang only a few seconds later, rescuing her not only from everybody's stares, but also from a fatally boring lesson.
"Maddy Wesley, the baddie of the day," teased Clarke as the two of them crossed the door of that dull classroom.
"Shut up, I didn't mean to get a detention."
"Yeah, no shit."
"I think I might as well disappear if you keep mentioning it."
YOU ARE READING
Smells Like Winter
Science Fiction"Don't touch me, your hands are cold." Maddy Wesley was your typical 17-year-old high school student, a wallflower with excellent grades, a good taste for vanilla ice cream and a normal, somewhat dull life. Until a virus broke out. A virus that brou...
