The Queen Of Spades

Chapter 4: School sucks

School has never been my favorite thing. Don't get me wrong, I love learning. But I don't like having to be cooped up in a building with three thousand other people smelling like sweat and way too much cologne and perfume. Then there's this thing where I have to move from state to state all the time, and I can't ever tell the truth or make friends because friends ask questions. Questions like 'What happened to your arm?' or 'Where have you been for the last three weeks?' and that just isn't acceptable. Aiden made friends though, he didn't want to be a spy. He didn't like this life, he even had a girlfriend last year. Mom said friends and girlfriends complicate things, they make you emotional so that you don’t think clearly. They make you feel safe where you aren't and make you feel okay when you're not. But as I was sitting there in first period I couldn't help but wonder if it would be easier if I had the ability to feel the bliss of ignorance.

Caleb had every class with me and sat across the room from me in this one, but right beside me in the rest. We were going around sharing things about ourselves and I thought about what I was going to say. I could pass, but that would bring attention to myself, I could answer, but what would I say? I went with my favorite option—the most dramatic one—and mustered up my thickest accent as my teacher said, "Madelyn Everhart?"
"Pass B'y. I've got a rule against group sharing." He looked away and called the next name on his list while I took out my phone and made one of my own. Cara Williams, Axel Shultz, Caleb Acosta, Owen Russell, Naomi Peters, Devon Moore, Gideon McLain and so on. Forty-five minutes seems like forever when you have nothing to do, but when the bell finally rang and I took the steps two at a time down to the gym on the first floor, I felt like it was still only six am. Time moves funny that way, doesn't it?