Wingspan(Paranormal, Young Adult) MAJOR EDITING**

sixty four

i make a beeline for it at the end of the hall, my necklace bouncing on my chin as i made a sharp left and ducked like they showed us when there was fire. i dropped down on all fours, my forearms taking most of the hit and threw my body flat to the ground.

to get a better look i turn my head sideways and squint my eyes. while straining to reach across i stretch my fingers out and fumble my way around blindly for the most part missing it completely. where did that dang thing end up going anyway?

OH, hold that thought. as i moved my hand, cursing, i could feel the side corner of a textbook.

hang on. nearly there. just a little bit more.

found it. gotcha! i just need to reach a little...more. huffing, i stick a leg higher up, my knee hitting wooden support beams of the furniture. i scoot my butt a few inches to the right, angling for a better glimpse at the thing.

i spent my night studying and in the midst of the morning routine forgot the textbook i needed that seemed to have fallen to the ground and landed on the floor as i slept on my back too tired and exhausted to reach for it.

not only was i relieved to strike the eye, but i had to get across campus and into the English-history building before the bell rang.

i had to have some bad luck to get kicked out of two schools in one month. that would so not look good on my student personnel file. 

if i was late even once the headmistress would be forced to call my parents and my mom would get a kick out of it. i could see her face right now and that made me hurry up.

again i extended my arm under the bed and reach for the textbook with tired shaky fingers. out of breath i grab hold of the cover and drag it from its hiding place and jump up from the floor, my four star pendant hitting me in the face.

in a race against time i run with my textbook in my arms and make the excursion from my dorm building to the main quad.

if i was fast enough i could get there on time. normally i wasn't irresponsible but i had gotten into a major fight with Chanel the other night and i felt bad that she blamed herself for what happened to my other high school.

in hind sight it was a freak accident that could have been prevented if i was paying better attention to my surroundings. i was in a chemistry lab and so of course there would be hazardous material lying around.

no matter how i tried to prove her innocence Chanel remained stubborn insisting it was her fault that i got kicked out of my last school. and that just wasn't true. but she wasn't hearing any of it.

i scrambled past the quad and marched up the steps of the English-history building and slid into class just before the bell chimed again indicating that everyone should be where they were supposed to be by now.

sweating and panting i could only hear victory bells and trumpets. like USA scored a goal against china i was safe and back in action. it may have only been one goal but that was all their team needed to advance in the next round.

my day got better when ms. Donovan let us do an open book test. not many of the professors liked to make life easy for their students and so this was a real treat.

those who failed to bring their textbooks would have to suffer and do it by memory. grinning, i write my name on the first line of the double sided packet. this would be easy now that i had the dictionary so that i wouldn't confuse similar sounding words.

i look up when the door opens. a tall exotic looking girl with a braid walks directly over to ms. donovan and hands her a yellow slip of paper.

curious and because i'd never seen such hard core beauty, i listen to the destination of their conversation. "i've been instructed to escort aislin striker to the professors office right away." i over hear.

i wince thinking now i'd done it. ok so maybe with all the rush going on i thought i'd gotten to class just in the nick of time when really i was late.

when ms. Donovan called for me i began planning my imminent death. a small, shamanic rite, with all the requisite dancing and coffin-hugging. local sitting, respectable. nothing too crazy but family and loved ones who can support in the passage of the soul.

darcy turns his head. and looked at me. really looked at me- looked at me hard. "what'd you do? i bet it was good. yeah, you look like the type who would rig something." he nodded some more.

i shrug, measuring ms. donovans standing position, believing i could somehow tell what she was thinking by her mannerisms. "i dont know what i did." i confess not able to take comfort in the patient smile on ms. donovans face. 

"but im about to find out." closed casket, i thought. definitely a closed casket. i'd be in chunks by the time mom was done with me.

i stood up, grabbed my things, and walked over to ms. donovan waiting to die, and the model cover girl waiting for me to get a clue.

i shifted my backpack high on my shoulder and wave to Kira if i didn't see her again.

ms. donovan excused me from her class."don't worry about the test. i'll be in touch and let you know what happens next." Gee thanks a lot. 

with my test in hand i mentally cursed myself for hanging around like a puppy who didn't know her own tail.

i run after the original cast of insanely outrageous and elegantly fabulous, who impatiently held the door open for me, her long black braid swept over her shoulder, an irked glare shooting me down until i felt a good size below her silver wedges.

of course nothing could take away from her pretty face, not even what was supposed to be a glacier stare. i would have thought she was irritating if i weren't already too troubled to care.

i follow my peeved companion outside the English-history building as i mentally crafted my obituary.