Opposites: The Staff of Light [Book One]

12. Mitch Gets a Hit on the Head

Alice

I did like the closed shirt vests. I had the icy blue on with the logo, of course, and I had to take this elemental class with Georgia Pier, the telepath, Tyler Ellis, the nature dude, Alex, I guess you’ve all met my electrocuting brother and Mitch Ainsley, the rock king.

Tyler was fine being around with, since he was just fifteen but I didn’t have a lot of experience with people like Georgia. She was like two years older than me, and exactly I had no idea what she liked or what she wanted to talk about. I know it doesn’t matter with age, just… I didn’t feel most comforted around her.

Apparently, the five of us had to sit altogether in a table. The other cohorts, to their sayings, didn’t like us around. They say the losers had to stick in one table. I wanted to spike an icicle through their throats, but my hand didn’t allow me, and Tyler got that covered when he backed me off.

“Hey,” he snarled at them. “You can just say we can’t be sitting with you, or on your stupid table, ‘cause we don’t care about them. You can keep your idiotic ways to yourselves or shut your blabbering mouths and maybe look into your own mirrors and look at your reflections. Those who specifically said we were the losers, technically, we’re not mirrors, jerks. Now leave me and my cabin alone.”

None of them dared to protest. Our cohort sat in one table. I considered my brother wishing he never was there. I didn’t want him to watch that whole thing through. “I don’t think they like us,” he mumbled, looking down at his fingers. “Why do they act like that? And, what’s it with the whole cohort thing? Um… what is a cohort?”

“I sure wish Annabeth were here,” I thought. “She’d answer that herself, no lesser than five sentences, I suppose.”

“Cohort means legion,” Mitch supplied. “Or maybe it’s an army, too. I guess it originated from Rome. I’ve heard from those certain Roman books, but I never once read any, though.”

Suddenly, a guy walked into the room, his knapsack slung on one shoulder. He had these muscular arms built for basketball, like an athlete’s, dressed in a white closed vest. He saw Georgia and smirked. “Hey, George,” he greeted, his cabin mates snickered. “You’re still in the losers’ table? Wow, I always did want to finish ninth grade seeing you still haven’t changing. Good luck with that, Pier.”

I glanced over at Georgia who looked pained, staring down to her shoes. “I’m not a loser,” she grumbled. “Jimmy is blind. I never was a loser.”

The boy, Jimmy, heard and smirked. “I see what I can see, George. And for you, young lady, you are nothing but a stupid, worthless, pathetic girl who always lived like air. No one pays you attention after all.”

She slowly looked at Jimmy, with a sad frown on her face. Then we soon found out that Jimmy fell down to the floor. His chair broke wooden piece by piece, and he grunted on the slippery pavement. We all broke out laughing, except for Jimmy and the ones he gave a mean look (another brief warning of: Shut up).

“That’s not funny!” he cried in anger. He threw a piece of wood at me, I closed my eyes shut and the wood hadn’t touched me. Ice froze the object and it fell cold into my hands. I smirked in luck. “That’s unfair!”

“Now, children,” a young man’s voice with a British accent spoke into the room. We found a man, about twenty or something, with a staff in his hands, strawberry brown hair and he dressed himself in an all black outfit: black jeans, black shoes and black men’s tunic. “This is a school, and absolutely not a WWF wrestling house. I am Professor Frank, not much of a medieval name but you will get my point, one way or another. What seems to be the trouble?”

“Georgia Pier broke my chair into pieces!” Jimmy snapped. “Look at my seat, sir!  She’s a freak!”

The professor looked surprised. “Now, now,” he hushed with a smile. “There is no need to be feisty around these parts. You’re all freaks, and I get that.” We laughed. It was so not insulting when he was speaking in British. “Who is this Georgia…?”

The other kids pointed at Georgia. “Oh, my,” Professor Frank said. “So, Miss Pier, do you have any grudges on Mr. Jimmy Fort right here?”

“Yes!” she cried with gleeful determination. She already knew she was winning from that point. Jimmy was just stupid. “He’d been bullying me for the rest of my years. He’s stupid! All he does is making my life more miserable every time.”

“Now, the both of you are in fact opposites. There is in fact nothing you two can do but make up. If you don’t like it, then better sit down and listen.” He forgot the fact that Jimmy didn’t have a seat. “Georgia, would you mind fixing the broken chair, please?”

Georgia eyed Jimmy in anger. She gritted her teeth, urging, “It… is… my… pleasure.” The chair instantly fixed itself back to its old self.

“Thank you. Now, let’s get on with the lesson.” The doors suddenly flew open. A boy with this pair of glasses entered the room. He had a calm look on his face. Everyone laid his attention to the stranger. I could tell he was a camper, since he had a white and grey vest on and a bag. “Yes, hello, Mr. O’Bryan, is there anything we could help you with?”

“I just need to speak to your student, Professor Frank.” He glared at Mitch, who was trying hard not to laugh. “I assure you, sir, this will be quick, because I myself am late for my sorcery class at Mistress Demetria’s.”

“Make it quick, now.”

“Oh, absolutely.” He stomped his way towards Mitch, took his notebook from his hand and hit him on the head. Mitch chuckled. “I-HATE-YOU!” the boy yelled as Mitch continued chuckling silently to himself.

He stomped his way out the classroom and glanced back at the professor before he left. “Thanks, sir.”

Hours after that, it struck lunch, meaning that we could do anything after the meal. I went down the corridor alone, taking my books. The corridor was filed with people of different cohorts. I caught sight of my sister, who’d just was talking about something about… a book, I guess… while she waved her wand around like a professional. She spoke to the guy with the glasses.

I had an incredibly awesome idea. “Hey, sis,” I greeted. She looked at me and smiled. I leaned over to her ear. “You like this guy, don’t you?”

“What?” she protested aloud. She blushed. “No way, dude. Shut up.”