I am the Enemy ~ S.M [3]

The Dread Doctors

Chapter 10

I couldn't have gone sleepwalking in the forest. But then why was my bed covered in sand? Was it there last morning? It must have been. It certainly wasn't there when I first slept in that bed. That has to mean I got up in the middle of the night to do something. The same night that I lost my necklace that turned up in the forest in a burial hole. How the hell did that happen? And why don't I remember anything?

"Nina, is anyone alive in there?" A voice snaps me out of my head. I glance away from the window to meet the stern eyes of Mrs. Finch as she crosses her arms over her chest. "Or is the outside world more important than your Biology grade?" I shrug my arms in response knowing full well that she won't like my reply. "Well, then how about answering my question?"

"What was the question?" I wince as her expression changes.

"If 99.9 percent of our DNA sequence is the same as other humans, what could account for the missing 0.1 percent difference?" She asks, leaning against her desk.

"Um..." I freeze racking my brain for the answer that I know is somewhere buried inside. Excuse the pun.

"Clearly you could benefit from a little more attention focused on your book." She scolds with a pointed look before her eyes drift to a few seats behind, "Theo?"

"Um, nucleotides."

"That's right," She says causing me to want to kick myself. Of course, the answer is nucleotides. "Yes, Kira?" 

My eyes move over to her on the opposite side of the class, "Can there be more than one species in the same DNA?" She asks.

"No, but there can be multiple sets of DNA in the same individual. We call that a chimera." 

Chimeras... It sure sounds a lot better than Frankensteins

"Anyone know where that term comes from?" Mrs. Finch continues. "Sydney?"

"Greek mythology. It's a lion with a goat coming out of its back and a tail that ends in the head of a snake." She answers perfectly.

"That's right, Sydney. Do you want to read us the full Wikipedia entry off your phone?" She scolds as Sydney sheepishly places her phone on her desk. Tough luck. "But, that does get us into the next topic of mutation. As you know from the reading, DNA is a fragile molecule. Isn't it, Scott?" His head lifts up from his notes where he just wrote the word Chimera underneath a flowchart of Tracy and Belasko. "Or, did you miss last night's assigned reading?"

Why does she always have to pick on him?

"Kind of."

"Kind of, or yes?" 

"Mostly yes," He sighs.

I raise my hand up trying to ignore the annoyance building in my chest, "Our friend was attacked last night so we... didn't really have time for reading."

She crosses her arms over her chest, "So I take it you didn't do the reading either?"

"No..." I huff in annoyance.

"Well then, thank you for another helpful transition in topic," She walks over to her desk and grabs a stack of papers, "Drop forms. All those now acutely aware that they do not belong in this class, you should fill one out." She hands them out to a few horrified-looking students, "The rest will be on my desk.

The bell rings and I couldn't be more pleased to finally get out of this class. It's really ruining any love I had for Biology. I pack up my bag and walk toward the exit with Kira when I realize Scott isn't following. I turn around and my heart drops as I see him taking one of the drop forms off the table.