Healing Hearts

Chapter Six

t h e n

Eleven Years Ago

"I think Ms. Heddy is having a breakdown," Elli whispered beside me, pointing at our science teacher.

Ms. Heddy was a petite woman whose brown skin glowed, and her cheerful aura lit up the entire room. Her encouraging words and calm demeanor made students like Elli and I love her so much. She always had a smile, a slight bounce in her step, and an airy tone in her voice. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd suddenly burst into a song and start calling upon creatures of nature in our classroom. She was like a Disney princess in disguise.

She, however, looked none of that right now. Her usual sweet smile was long gone and was replaced with a smile that seemed slightly strained and, to be frank, a little sinister. She looked like she was about ready to pluck every strand of her hair out. I suppressed a shiver. Ms. Heddy was the kindest and most patient teacher in White Meadow Middle school, so getting on her nerves was a feat.

"This is so silly," said the pale boy in the corner of the classroom.

Well, maybe not all students. I turned to face the source of her annoyance, and it was no surprise that it was James and his friends again. Of course.

Elli and I shared a look, trying our very best not to roll our eyes at the smug look on James' face. He carelessly waved around a suspicious-looking liquid, urging his friends to do the same. He remained the troublesome jerk I met at the beginning of the year. James still was an annoying fool who was a pain to everyone around him. Even teachers weren't excluded from that. All year long, James and his friends were trying to get on Ms. Heddy's nerves; they made it a game to see who would be the one to break her patience. Since it was the last day of school, I think they are giving it their all.

"Now, children." Ms. Heddy said, staring pointedly at the table James was in. Her left eye was twitching. "You are misbehaving. As I have mentioned countless times, I promised to make learning fun if you promise to follow as I say. It's to keep you all safe."

"But your rules make no sense. You're just trying to keep the fun out of learning," James said.

At this point, Ms. Heddy was having a breathing exercise over by the corner. I feel bad for her. She had planned for an end-of-the-school-year experiment and she said we should end the year with a bang (not literally, of course) to make it more memorable.

I heaved out a sigh and looked at our poor science teacher. So in a loud voice, I said, "This looks like an easy experiment. It would really be embarrassing to fail it. Bet Elli and our group could do it with ease." That last sentence earned me proud looks from the said group and a glare from Elli.

James looked at our table, his eyes narrowing at the challenge. Bingo. If there was one thing James disliked more than anything, it is that he be bested by Elli. This was practically impossible since Elli was good at almost anything he puts his mind to and was just too humble to acknowledge. And just like that, James dropped the act and started taking the experiment seriously.

Ms. Heddy gave me a grateful look, mouthing a 'good job' before she faced the class and repeated her instructions.

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Truth be told, even I didn't fully understand the experiment. All I knew was that it was colorful, it was cool, and our group did well. The experiment was about density and involved different types of liquid. Elli and I did most of the work, and while I tried not to make a mess out of things, the green food coloring that stained my hand proved I didn't really do a great job at it.