The Secret Legacy of Pan - English Translation

Chapter One

FELICITY

THE ENTRANCE

It was Monday, the third of September. The day began like any other. I was late to school. Who would have thought that this would be the day my whole life would be turned upside down? If I had even had the slightest idea, I would have paid more attention to my appearance. Or I would have stayed in bed.

The corridors of Horton College were already pretty empty when I ran to my locker to look for my geography book between a juice- and pudding-stained T-shirt and other schoolbooks. In my rush, a deodorant, a few loose papers, and a tattered novel fell to the ground. I awkwardly picked everything up, threw the stuff carelessly back into my locker, and tried locking it. This made my key break off. Great. If it isn't one thing, it's another. And of course, it had to be the double period with Ms Ehle I was late to!

"Ah, Miss Morgan graces us with her time", she said promptly when I tried to sneak into the classroom. "Do you have a good excuse ready, or should I make one up?"

"You can write down 'bad traffic'", I answered lovingly.

"You live right behind the college", she said drily. She stepped closer and sniffed. "Do I smell alcohol on you?", she asked sternly.

Oh, shit. I forgot. "Yes, Miss Ehle", I answered and lowered my eyes. Not to hide my shame, but to hide my grin.

"You drink excessively and aren't even twenty-one?"

"I am eighteen", I explained to her unnecessarily.

"And drink alcohol in the middle of the week? You know that I have to alert the school's administration regarding this?" I nodded. "Take your seat. I want to start class." I quickly did as I was told and scurried to my seat. While I emptied my bag of pencil case, notepad and book, a sticky note flew on my table from behind.

Wednesday's motto: Ehle in suspenders with bunny ears it said. I turned around and grinned at Phyllis. She winked and Corey besides her wiggled his bushy, red eyebrows and wore an insinuating grin. When I looked around the classroom, I found all my other classmates wearing the same knowing, smirking facial expression. They too were imagining Ms Ehle in provocative dessous with bunny ears. Considering the one hundred and sixty centimeters tall Ms Ehle, who weighed at least ninety kilos, with her short, greasy hair that did not really conform to any hairstyle, this concept seemed very absurd – which made the class somewhat tolerable. Oil- and gas-resources in Azerbaijan. Who the hell needed that? I tried to hide my yawn as good as possible and pondered that a bunny tail would completely go under on Ms Ehle's mighty behind. Bridget Jones was a sex bomb in comparison.

When the bell rang, we jumped out of our seats as if someone had planted nails on our seats and ran out of the classroom.

"How late were you out yesterday?" Phyllis asked in the corridor. She was, in my opinion, the prettiest girl in school. Her skin had the color of white coffee, she had a figure and hair like Naomi Campbell and a smooth face with high cheekbones and chocolate eyes. Beside her, I often felt pretty plain and bearish. But the most beautiful thing about Phyllis was: she did not care about appearances. My luck, because we would not be friends if she did.

"Late", I answered. "Who thought of the motto for today?" Corey came up to us with a satisfied grin. "Oh, why am I even asking? Have you ever thought about the fact that imagining teachers in suspenders is terrifying?"

He shrugged. "Depends. In Mr Singer's case, I would agree."

"Ew!", me and Phyllis shrieked in unison.

"What's your problem?" Jayden had caught up to us. He was wheezing a bit.

"When are you going to slim down?", Corey asked disapprovingly. "Remember, fat people don't live long."