The Destined

Chapter 10: Anna

    Anna    

I send a confused look towards Melissa and Avani. Walking together? Something doesn't seem right. I mean, Avani is kind of our friend, but with Melissa, not so much. Or at least, I think.

I continue to cut my pancake, and then I notice Katie and Jesse walking towards their table. Another girl is with them. "Reese," Meredith whispers into my ear. They are all glaring at our table, even if they are having their own stupid conversation.

"So Meredith," Melissa says. "Do you have any powers? Since you're from Lybrethium."

"Well, I wouldn't say 'powers'." Meredith swallows her last bite of food. "I heal the sick and the injured."

"Sweet!" I say.

"Look, guys, I need to tell you something." Meredith's voice turns quiet. The table goes silent and all eyes are on her. For a minuet, she looks like she gave up on what she was going to say. "I can't hold it in anymore." She pauses. "It's about Lotso, the headmaster. He wants you to –"

Lotso cuts in almost immediately, joining our table. Meredith looks shamefully at her empty plate. "Girls, Meredith, please. No talk about Lybrethium in the Real World." Lotso says.

Meredith glares at Lotso, then she gets up and leaves the cafeteria. When Lotso moves on to another table, we follow her. She barges into the bathroom. We find her leaning over a sink. She's staring at herself in the mirror, fearful. Her eyes rapidly begin changing color. From green, to blue, to yellow, to red. We step back in fear, but she isn't really doing any harm.

Meredith's breathing gets heavy. Her eyes now just flicker from blue to yellow, on and off. The colors begins to slow down, and then they stop. Meredith's forehead is leaking with sweat.

"I...I...had a vision...a vision..." Meredith talks, breathing heavily.

"Of what?" Avani puts her hand on Meredith's shoulder.

"Lybrethium." Meredith says in a shaky voice. She straightens herself up, but she steel looks terrorized. "Of the monster." She gulps.

"What monster?" I ask.

"There was war, and people were dying." Meredith sobs. "Death, and...and...betrayal." She stares at someone. Not me. Not Avani.

Melissa.

"Boo!" Someone yells. We all scream bloody murder. Reese laughs, and Katie and Jesse and this other girl walk into the bathroom. Meredith's face is bright red.

"You guys should've seen the looks on your faces!" Reese laughs. I try to walk past them, but Avani doesn't move. Melissa is comforting Meredith.

"Oh, poor Avani. Hanging out with the loser now?" Jesse smirks. "Oh, are you going to go cry to mommy and daddy now?"

Avani is on the verge of crying. "Shut up."

"They don't know, do they?" Jesse laughs.

"Stop it!" Avani runs out of the bathroom. Melissa runs after her. I try to go as well but they block my way.

"Where do you think you're going, Anna?" The way Reese says my name makes me want to strangle her.

"Why can't you just leave people alone? Don't you know that everybody hates you?"

"No, they are scared of me." Reese says. "I can make people do whatever I want. And you are going to do whatever I want, too."

I run past them, out into the hallway. Meredith comes out too, and we walk away from the bathrooms. They are laughing, mocking us.

After lunch, everyone gets ready to go outside. Sometimes, we can go downtown, but not today. There is this park in the woods that you can go to by following a path, but so many bad words are scrawled on the benches and the fountains, that nobody feels comfortable there.

We just walk around the school courtyards. At one point we reach the edge of the cliff. There's a weak fence and a sign with the words "STAY OFF EDGE" painted hastily on it. It was really stupid to build a boarding school on a cliff.

Avani doesn't hang out with Jesse and Katie and – ugh – Reese anymore. I guess she finally sees them for what they really are: heartless snobs. I hope she realizes she looked like one as well.

"No!" Meredith yells. I turn to see what she is yelling at. Melissa is standing on the edge, looking down. "What do you think you are doing?"

"I just saw something and –"

"Do not go near the cliffs! It's...it's dangerous!" Meredith says. Melissa nods but seems confused. So am I.

☾☾☾  

It's finally at the end of the day and we are in our dorms. Melissa is finishing up taking a shower. Avani moved up to gifted L.A. /Lit. She has much more work to do, including study for a test, which she is obsessing over.

We could hear Katie and Jesse and this girl named Emily laughing in the other room. They make so much noise! They are the reason we have to go to bed an hour early. They stayed up until 1:00 AM.

The room is quiet. I check my phone. One missed message, sent from Dad. One ignored text saying, "I miss you." I don't respond. I don't want to. He doesn't mean it. I look over to Melissa, who is now in her bed. She fiddles with her hair, the Hunger Games in her lap. I cover myself with the blanket as I read Lybrethium quietly.

☾☾☾  

In Ms. Darling's class, we are doing a lab on rocks and minerals. I get confused when we have to do luster. I could already see I am getting everything wrong. Ms. Darling walks by and checks out my work. I try not to wince.

"What are you? A fool?" Ms. Darling comments on my work.

Ok, this is my least favorite teacher.

As if the entire class knows what's going to happen, they stare at me. They know she hates me.

"Did you follow directions? I bet not!" Ms. Darling rips my lab out of my notebook and tells me to start over.

Now I know why we call her Ms. Darling.

☾☾☾  

During passing period, I catch up to Lotso. I ask him about Lybrethium again. He says we are going there tonight. I can't help but be excited. He looks kind of mournful, though.

"What are we going to do? Can we finish the tour?" I ask.

"Yes," Lotso says quietly as we walk through the hallways. "Sure."