Are You Sure I'm Not A Villain?

07

"Mr. Saki!" the teacher shouted. "Sleeping in my class?"

The class was silent, everyone was looking to the back corner of the class. The teacher was practically breathing fire from her angry, red face. There were a few snickers from the front corner where a gaggle of popular girls with too much makeup were grouped. People shot them side eyes and looks of disgust. It wasn't all that funny.

Kai stayed silent. He was still thinking over what had happened in his dream.

"I don't know what kind of drugs your parents let you do at your house, but it is not tolerated in my class," the teacher said. "You are staying after school today for detention. I will be calling your parents personally to complain about your behavior!"

"Relax, teach," the gap-mouthed boy said from next to Kai. "He didn't do nothing wrong! Everyone falls asleep sometime in this boring class!"

"Detention for you too, Mr. Jones," the teacher snarled. "Perhaps you both can learn to sleep at home and not in my very important math class!" 

The boy just rolled his eyes and snorted at the arrogance of their math teacher. Kai thought that he was pretty amusing for having stood up for him. Little did gap-mouth know, Kai was figuring out how best to kill the teacher. Now he was stuck with the kid for a few hours after school in addition to his punishment.

As the bell rang and everyone packed up their bags, there was only one thing going through Kai's mind. His father would be so angry that he was not using the time he spent in detention to find the turtles. Kai shuddered to think about the consequences of getting this detention. Kai cautiously placed his backpack on his back, wincing again at the pain. The boy saw this, but decided not to say anything.

Classes went by pretty much the same, the only difference was that Kai was watching out for the redhead, April. He took different hallways just to avoid her and was basically late for every class because of this. The last class of the day was actually Kai's favorite, so he always ended the day on a good note. Or so he tried to tell himself. He walked to the school library and noticed a stack of books laying on a rolling cart. He set his backpack down next to the door, sighing with the release of the weight on his shoulders. He limped over to the rolling cart and grabbed some of the books. He looked at the titles and the authors.

This was his last period, helping the librarian, Mrs Thomas put the books away that had been returned throughout the day. It was tedious, but at least Mrs. Thomas gave him coffee and brownies after each shift. It also counted as volunteer hours so that he could at least graduate.

The blood red cover of one of the books caught Kai's eye. The cloth was fraying and the gold lettering was slowly disappearing. He picked the book out of the bottom of the stack. The book was older, Kai was almost reverent as he flipped it over to see which one it was.

Dracula, written by Bram Stoker.

"Where did you find that?" an elderly voice asked from behind Kai. He turned around to see Mrs. Thomas standing behind him with a brown paper bag with a smiley face drawn in Sharpie on it and two white paper coffee cups in a cup carrier.

"Just on the bottom of the pile," Kai said, shrugging. "Whoever had it last was not kind to it."

"No they weren't," Mrs. Thomas said with a frown. Her little black eyes squinted behind her thick glasses. "I can't send out a book in such terrible condition. It will hurt my soul to see it harmed even more."

She blinked and stared at the book. Her face suddenly lit up and she traded glances between the book and Kai. Kai was just really confused about what was happening. He just wanted to organize books, not be scrutinized by the librarian. He looked back at the elderly woman and started backing up when it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything. He set the book on the cart and grabbed another. Mrs. Thomas walked back to her office with the book in her hands.

Kai shrugged it off as the usual odd behavior of the beloved librarian. At the end of the fifty minute period, he walked up to the librarian's desk and signed out. She came out of the back with his brownies in a large paper bag and coffee. He smiled at the woman and thanked her, reaching for the bag and coffee, as was the custom.

"I put something extra in there for you," Mrs. Thomas said, pointing to the paper bag.

"Thank you," Kai said. "I have to go now, though. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you later, Kai!" the elderly woman said, waving him out the door.

Kai dropped his smiling mask and headed to the math classroom for detention. He put the paper bag into his backpack, not looking in; he'll see what it is when he gets back home. He sipped at his coffee and cringed at the cold temperature against his sensitive teeth. He shrugged around people in the crowded hallways, jocks occasionally bumping his shoulders and causing him to almost spill his coffee. At the next trash can that he passed, he tossed the cup away. He liked Mrs. Thomas as a person but he felt like sometimes she was trying to poison him.

He walked into the math class to see gap-mouth already sitting in one of the chairs in the back of the classroom, spinning a hockey puck on the table. How did he get a hockey puck? He smiled at Kai when he walked in the door, but Kai did not reciprocate the gesture. He sat one desk away next to the window, waiting for the math teacher to come into the room. Gap mouth rolled his eyes and adjusted the bandana wrapped around his head. He grabbed his backpack and scooted to the desk next to Kai, who sighed in annoyance.

"Name's Casey. Casey Jones," he said.

Kai just nodded and looked back at his ring that he was fiddling with. He noticed that the boy's name was very similar to the name that April and the turtles were throwing around the previous night. Could this be him? Was he a part of the vigilante band of mutants? Kai thought that it would be best to start keeping tabs on him, just in case.

"What's your name?" Casey asked.

"Kai," Kai answered shortly.

"No last name? Cool," Casey said. "So what's your whole deal?"

Kai looked up at him, startled. "What do you mean?"

Casey just laughed. "You are limping around and groaning everytime you put your backpack on, dude," he said. "I know what that's like. I play some mean hockey, and the puck isn't good on your back that's for sure. Did you just sleep wrong or something?"

"Or something," Kai said.

"Dig it, man," Casey said, sticking his tongue out.

Kai shook his head, Monster tab earrings clinking. The classroom door opened and the math teacher walked in, heels clacking against the linoleum floor. Her stern expression killed the mood and replaced it with a deepening darkness that shrouded the hearts and minds of the students. She sat down at her desk and opened a drawer, taking out two scraper tools.

"You boys have gotten on my last nerve," the teacher said. "I want you both to scrape all the gum off of the bottoms of the tables and chairs in the classroom and only may go home when you are finished," she said. "Is that understood?"

Casey groaned and scrunched further into his seat. Kai glared daggers at the teacher, maybe he would use real daggers later.

"Well? Chop, chop!"

Both Casey and Kai stood up and walked to the desk, snatching the scrapers off the pristine wooden surface. She stood up and squinted her eyes at them.

"Tomorrow morning I expect this room not to have a single ounce of gum," she declared and stalked out of the classroom and down the darkening hallway.

After a moment of silence, Casey turned around and looked at all forty tables and chairs. "I guess we better get to work," he said.

Kai grimaced. Shredder is going to actually kill him when he finally gets out of here.