The Short Demon King

Chapter 31

To ensure I wouldn't lose my mind so quickly at school the second day, I packed a few more books. Maya even brought along some extra paper and pencils for me, so her bag was almost bursting at the seams. Backpacks were not made to carry supplies for two different people, so I decided to carry a few of my books to lessen its load.

We said our goodbyes to Kevin before beginning our trek to school. There usually weren't too many people outside around this time, but we actually ran into one of the neighbors.

Maya greeted her with a smile. "Good morning, Eiling!"

The lanky old lady glared back in response. Maya seemed unbothered, as if this was a common occurrence when interacting with her.

Eiling walked around us to avoid further conversation, waiting until we were out of earshot to mumble crankily to herself, "Stupid little humans."

I wanted to ask Maya more about the situation since it seemed so strange to me, but she'd already moved on, suggesting some activities for me to do during her class. Not wanting to put a damper on her good mood, I pushed that interaction to the back of my mind and smiled along with her.

We made it to her first class on-time and sat through another long lecture about interpreting the 'secret meaning of books' or something like that. I stayed on high alert, listening to every near-silent complaint as the students restlessly waited for class to finish.

When the bell finally released them all, everyone rushed out. Apparently Mr. Sanchez's lessons were not a favorite amongst the students here. I calmly grabbed my things and met Maya at her desk. But before we could leave, her teacher stopped us.

"Could I talk to Jaye for a moment?" he asked the both of us.

Maya looked mildly concerned, but didn't answer. She turned to me, motioning that it was my decision to make.

It could go very badly if he had figured out our lies. Plus if I got held back here, I'd have no way of protecting Maya... but wouldn't it be stranger if I refused to talk with him?

I had to stay. So I gave a small nod to Maya and mouthed 'scream if you need me' before turning back to her teacher.

If something happened and Maya screamed for me, I would hear it easily. As long as I was nearby, I could still save her.

I finally answered her teacher, "Of course! What's up?"

He seemed slightly taken aback by how casually I talked with him, but didn't mention my weird tone. Instead he addressed Maya, "You should hurry to your next class before you're late. Since I don't have a class this period, I can help him find you if he needs it."

Maya gave a slight nod, anxiously glanced back at me one last time, then slipped out into the hallway. With her gone, Mr. Sanchez relaxed slightly and leaned back against his desk.

"I really don't know why these kids don't like me," he mumbled softly under his breath.

Pretending I couldn't hear him, I asked, "So what did you want to ask me?"

"Oh, yes." He looked back up at me. "I guess I really just wanted to know what you're doing here since you clearly aren't a highschooler. No normal teenager could sit calmly in the back of a classroom for so long without causing a ruckus."

Caught red-clawed.

I sighed softly before explaining, "Well, you aren't wrong about that. Your students could barely sit still this entire time. But you don't need to worry about me. I'm just here to keep an eye on Maya during school. I'm not sure how much the school knows, but she hasn't been the... safest here."