X and I arrive to admin. He leads the way inside.
There's a woman sitting behind an old desk. She's leaning back in her chair flipping through paper when we walk in. She's a woman, looks to be in her mid 20s, dressed in business attire but she has bright red lipstick and her blouse is just one button away from showing everything.
The room is basically just a private office from when the school was just a home. The front room is like a waiting area at a doctor's office except with less chairs and more medieval decor.
"I was told somebody wanted to see me. Marcellus Abbott" I tell her.
She moves slowly as if disinterested, barely looking up from the papers.
I look over at X who has a concerned look on his face for the first time.
That can't be good.
I ask him what's wrong.
"Nothing, it's just that I was expecting to see Ms.Delgado here." X says.
I can tell there's something more going on that they're not saying .
She looks up quickly. Her bronze colored eyes practically piercing through X's face.
"She went home. Family emergency."she says.
Her tone is as if X had said something wrong.
She closes the files she was looking through and sits forward.
"Do you need help with... something?"she asks looking X from head to toe.
I can't tell if she's trying to seduce him or sizing him up for something else.
"Um no." X says. I can tell he's uncomfortable.
"I was just making sure Marc got here safely."he adds putting extra emphasis on the word "safely".
There's a lot of subtext going on. I'm almost certain I'm missing something.
"Well I can take it from here. You should get to class." she says in a forced tone.
"What did you say your name was again?"X asks.
"I didn't." the woman says with a fake smile.
There's a long pause.
Finally X looks over and gives me a nod. I nod back as he walks out of the admin door.
"You can have a seat for now, Marc."she says.
I walk over to one of the 4 seats line against the wall and sit down.
I feel time start to stare at the landscape painting on the wall.
I can feel the seconds slip into minutes that eventually slip into hours.
I start to count. I get all the way to 1hr 12 minutes before I get bored of that.
I fall asleep.
I'm eventually jolted awake by the sound of voices.
Wiping the drool from my lip, I look over and see the woman sitting cross legged in the chair.
She has a deviously seductive smile on her face.
"You can go in now."she says.
I walk to the back room expecting to find Headmaster Ross. Instead there's another woman at his desk. His nameplate is still on the desk and pictures are still on the wall.
She looks young, same as the one outside.
She's dressed more professional but in man's slacks and button up shirt. Her sleeves are rolled up and her tie is loosened. Her blonde hair is up in a bun on top of her head.
"Where's Headmaster Ross?" I ask without thinking.
She looks at me with a gentle smile.
"I'm afraid Headmaster Ross has fallen...ill."she says.
She introduces herself as Interim Headmaster Gray.
"What about Ms.Delgado?" I ask.
"She suffered a similar fate as Ross. Abigail is here to help instead. You know how viruses are, they never stop with one victim." she says.
Her voice is friendly and playful but I can't ignore the same feeling from before, theres subtext here that I'm missing.
She invites me to sit.
I sit across from her as she opens up a folder and starts to flip through pages.
Finally she speaks, "The reason I called you here was to see how everything is going. I heard you had questions about your roommate."
"X?" I ask.
She looks at the paper.
"Oh you mean Xiàn xiàng?"she asks.
"Not him. I was referring to your former roommate, Kaiden Samuels."
I've never heard that name before. I'm confused what she means until she slides a picture across the desk. It's not recents, he's shorter and younger and blond but that's definitely Bam.
Kaiden must be his real name.
She goes on to tell me how "Kaiden" had been expelled. He'd been caught breaking the rules. The fact that he has multiple infractions, this was his last strike.
"What about his girlfriend, Dahlia Martin?" I ask.
"Hmm."she says as she starts to look around her desk. She wheels her chair over to the cabinet and pulls out a piece of paper.
"Yes, Miss Martin was withdrawn by her mother yesterday."
I pretend to accept it.
She goes on to tell me about how she called me to the office to also inform me that she knows about me breaking curfew.
I try to make an excuse but she interrupts.
"I understand boys your age are bound to test their limits. But there are limits. Continuation of rule breaking will result in your own expulsion."
I sit in silence as she threatens me with a cheerful smile. I'm unsure if I can speak.
She pauses and stares as if waiting.
"Yes ma'am." I say.
"You can go to class now. I believe it's almost time for your Nature Survival class."she says sliding a sheet of paper with my schedule on it.
"Thank you." I say.
As I'm getting up I get a glimpse of one of the papers on her desk. The same paper she pretended to read when she told me about Dahlia.
It's blank.
I smile and pass Abigail going in as I walk out of her/Headmaster Ross's office. As I'm walking past I spot something on the floor near Ms.Delgado's desk.
It's a digital watch.
There's no sign of Abigail.
I pretend to fix my shoes and grab it.
I tuck it into my pocket and leave admin.
This watch could be a huge help in figuring out the strange things that have been going on at Barnum lately.
YOU ARE READING
Unseen (Book 1)
أدب المراهقينStory of a young teenage boy who's been kicked out of schools only to find himself enrolled in a boarding school in another country. Little does he know the students, staff and even the school itself are more than meets the eye.
