Eight

Miss E

     Our teacher is met only with stares of shock. I know all the kids must be thinking the same thing: What the heck is going on?!

"Wow you guys are quiet," she muses aloud. "My fifth period class was the same way. Are you guys maybe just nervous for the first day of school?"

A few kids stumble around or mutter, "Uh, huh," but most of us just stay quiet.

"It's okay, I totally understand. I'm new here, myself. So maybe we can all learn about this school together!"

I can't believe how nice she is! I'm beginning to have my doubts about the whole witch thing.

"So, since it's the first day of school, I thought we would just do something fun and easy today." Yesss! Could this class get any better? "Take out your English notebook and a pencil. You will be writing an in-class essay summarizing the major themes in Charlotte's Web. I assume you all read it over the summer, as was required? Anyway, be sure to include evidence from the text, as well as that from your own personal experience with spiders. You have thirty minutes to compose an introduction, at least four body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You may begin."

Yep, she's definitely a witch.

Billy coughs lightly, gets up out of his seat, stands there for a few seconds, turns around, and walks straight out of the classroom.

Miss E clears her throat. I brace myself for the wrath that's about to be unleashed, but instead, when she speaks, her voice is soft and slightly remorseful. "Um, could someone please go follow him and tell him I was just kidding?"

We all remain frozen, with the exception of some people's jaws dropping.

Miss E looks slowly around the classroom, until her gaze locks on me. I gulp, as I start to feel sick in the pit of my stomach.

"Would you please go get him?"

I nod, unable to muster any words other than "Um, hm." I shakily get up and leave the room to look for Billy in the hallway. I look around, expecting him to be leaning against a locker or sitting on the floor. But he isn't anywhere near the classroom. Where is he? What if I come back to the classroom with no Billy? I have to find him. But he's nowhere to be seen. If I can't find him, I can't find him. Whatever happens to him, it's not my fault. I'm about to give up on looking when I notice him walking down the hallway, with an air of confidence, towards the front door. "Billy," I hiss, not wanting to draw the attention of the hall monitors. He doesn't turn around, doesn't even slow down. "Billy," I whisper louder. "She was just kidding!" He continues to ignore me, so I resort to the only option I can think of, and run after him. "Billy! Hey!"

     He turns around the second I reach him--still running at full speed, I might add--, causing us to smash into one another. "Watch it," he accuses. "This is a new shirt and now there are girl cooties all over it!"

     I want to respond to that statement with How old are you?, but refrain from doing so, as there are more pressing matters at hand. "Billy, she was just kidding. Please come back to class."

     "Well, the witch should've said so! And even if she was just kidding, it's still a cruel thing to do to poor innocent children. I'm not going back there. Not now, not ever. Once the school board hears about this, I will be excused from any charges for running away from school. It's for my own safety."

     "And just where do you plan on going?"

     "I'm going to hide at Taco Bell across the street. I know I'll be safe there. I'll stay in hiding until Miss E gets found out and gets banished the Himalayas or something."