Sweet Delora

Chapter six

"How do you lose him in a bathroom with no windows?" Wednesday asks thing who does Thing's equivalent of a shrug.

Rowan was expelled, reason unknown so Wednesday sent Thing to follow after him, only for the appendage to lose the boy.

"A lefty wouldn't have failed me." Wednesday tells Thing and the hand shrinks. "Nes." I scold the girl but she doesn't stop. "Don't sulk. Now we're gonna have to find new evidence since you lost our only lead."

"I see you two finally made a friend." Bianca says and only now do I notice how strange we look, talking to Thing who's hiding behind a plant. "We go for quality over quantity." Wednesday tells the girl, walking away and taking my spot next to Enid.

"Nes-"

"Make up with him." Enid mouths to me, pointing behind me to Xavier who has the only other open seat beside him. "You set me up." I mouth back to her but she only smiles at me as Ms. Thornhill tells me to find a seat.

I begrudgingly sit next to Xavier who busy drawing a butterfly in his sketchbook. I rest my head in one of my hands, letting the other sit on the table.

A few seconds go by before I feel something tickle my finger. I look to my hand, finding a dark grey butterfly sitting on it. I glance over at Xavier who's already looking at me. 

"I doubt Delora is impressed by your tricks, Mr. Thorpe." Ms Thornhill says making both of us jump. I blow on the butterfly causing it to turn to dust. Shifting lower into my seat, I feel the classes eyes on us.

 "Wednesday, we're thrilled to have you join us on our journey into the world of carnivorous plants." Ms. Thornhill tells my cousin, thankfully pulling the attention away. "Now who can tell us the name of this beauty?" She asks the class, pointing to a white flower.

Bianca's hand goes up but she's not the one to answer. "Dendrophylax Lindenii." Wednesday tells her earning a scoff from Bianca. "Otherwise known as the Ghost Orchid." Bianca says, lowering her hand.

"First discovered on the Isle of Wight in 1854." Wednesday adds on making me sigh and place my head on the desk.

"Very good Wednesday." Ms. Thornhill applauds my cousin as I contemplate feeding myself to one of these plants. "You may have competition for first chair Bianca."

Students around me ooh and I lift my head. "Wednesday, perhaps you can identify the ghost orchid's greatest qualities."

"Resilience and adaptability." Wednesday answers as I reach across, grabbing Xavier's sketchbook. "It's able to thrive in even the most hostile environment." She continues as I start doodling random images on the paper.

"But it's mere presence can change the whole ecosystem." Bianca agues  but my attention stays on the pages. "Causing the established plants to reject it."

"Usually because the native species  is allowed to thrive unchecked." Wednesday says as I add leaves to my tree. "Nothing a weedwhacker couldn't fix."

"You can most certainty try."

"Watch it." I butt in, not even glancing up from the book. "We still talking about flowers?" Xavier asks, trying to lighten the mood.

"Thank you ladies, for those illuminating insights." Ms. Thornhill says as I finish my scribble, closing the book and sliding it back to Xavier. "Clearly the plants aren't the only carnivores in class today."

Classes ends soon after and Enid drags me to our boat to add some finishes touches for tomorrows race. 

"I need to get back to the woods." Wednesday announces, stopping next to our boat. "Weems has been watching me like a vulture circling a carcass."