Heathen Chronicles - Changed

Chapter 13 - The Art of Defiance

Tannah's POV

I enjoyed mimicking a cat as I stretched out of my sleepy daze—part of my morning routine. It was my turn to make breakfast, and I was determined to make it the best one we'd ever had; we needed it.

The computer flashed, grabbing my attention quickly. I moved over, switched it on, and waited. We had an email from Raven, and I was anxious to open it... About damn time! What was the password, though?

"Guys, wake up! We got an email from Raven! I really want to read it, but the damn computer is password protected! What's the password again!?" I yelled excitedly, trying my best to figure it out but failing miserably.

"Shh. It's too early for this, Tannah," moaned Xelia as she slumped out of her room. Everyone else followed slowly, looking irritated and tired. Oops.

"I'm sorry, but the email is from Raven, and it looks important... I think..."

The irritation disappeared from their faces, replaced with excitement and relief.

"So, open it!" insisted Xelia.

"I forgot the password."

"How could you forget it when you created it and had all of us memorize it?" joked Ntsakela.

"I don't know, but in the future, I will write it down somewhere."

"Move, I'll unlock it quickly," Ntsakela stated. She spent less than a minute typing, then read the email aloud for everyone while I moved into the kitchen to start breakfast. They sat attentively until she finished, then watched as she logged off. She turned in her chair and stared at us. The gloomy faces said everything. We went from giggles to blank expressions fast.

"Well, that just sucks," announced a voice from the door. Dwayne and the rest of the guys walked in. "Sorry, we heard the whole thing," Shaylin added.

"Yeah, what the fuck does that mean?" asked Dwayne, pushing through the group. He must be missing Raven the most. Those two were almost inseparable, and being away from her for this long was driving him mad, though he'd never admit it. She was like a sister to him.

"It means our friend got into trouble thanks to the others. Look who she has to train with; they can cause a lot of trouble, and it looks like they already have," Taylor answered.

"See, I told you this would happen, but does anyone listen to me? No. Now look! This is exactly how it started at the other schools," Serina protested angrily.

"Let's not overreact! Maybe it IS just a privilege drop and nothing bad is really happening," Shaylin corrected calmly while he played with my hoodie. I enjoyed the company in the kitchen and the little distraction he offered while Serina glared at him from a distance. Oops.

Shaylin wasn't bothered and moved closer to help me with breakfast. Thank goodness, because I was starting to get lazy. "Yeah... plus there is nothing we can do if there was trouble. It's not like we can teleport," I added while frying the eggs.

The bell rang an hour later after we had finished breakfast and gotten dressed. We grabbed our bags and floated to homeroom gloomily. Trapped in our thoughts, we walked mindlessly through the hallways—first to our lockers, then to class—not noting where we were going and nearly walking into every pole or person in our path. We would get through this, though. We always get through tough times.

***

Xelia's POV

I stood staring at the picture Raven had made for us, and it hit me: an idea for the art assignment due on Friday. I couldn't do it alone and would need help from my friends—well, I'd find a way to involve them somehow.

I ran to homeroom; I was late and looked shyly at Mr. Cheng, hoping he wouldn't give me detention. This was probably my fifth time or so.

"Sorry, Mr. Cheng!" I called quickly.

"Mmm-hmm, what was it this time?"

"The grade-eights were crowding the hallway and refused to move."

"Maybe it's because you look like one of them," he joked, smiling as I took my seat.

I returned the smile before beckoning for my friends to crowd around to show them the photo. They smiled but looked confused since they all had the same one; I didn't expect them to understand right away. I sighed and checked to see if anyone was listening. Satisfied, I gestured at the photo again.

"For our art projects—the one Miss Satan gave us. Let's do an artwork on each other, on our friendship, or on the incident she was involved in with us!"

"What?" they all sang, more confused than ever.

"Let's do the drawing on our friendship. We are important to each other, and we took art because we love it, but she has been making our lives difficult ever since that fucked-up incident with Victoria and Jeydon. So, let's do the same to her. It's what Raven would suggest. You know how she used to get," I explained quickly.

"True," affirmed Katlego proudly.

"And it's art! She can't do shit about it, really... we are expressing ourselves," I finished. I waited for them to say something as they thought it over. I really hoped they'd say yes. This would be so epic!

"Let's do it!"

We spent the rest of our free time in homeroom planning. Mr. Cheng heard us and smiled, dropping a piece of paper with a list of where to get supplies and adding a few suggestions of his own on the floor next to our table as he passed. He returned to his desk with a wicked smile. We knew he didn't like Miss Satan either, especially since she started flirting with him while trashing us. We giggled and carried on planning our piece...

This was going to be unforgettable.