My Demons

Chapter Nine

Tess groaned as the alarm clock beeped. She turned over and slammed her hand down on the snooze button. It didn't work, and she repeated the action, successfully hitting the button this time. Tess lay there a minute, not wanting to get out of bed. Finally, Tess ignored her sleepy body and managed to drag herself to the shower. She took her shower quickly, knowing she'd lost time lying in bed. Tess hurriedly pulled on a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. She began packing her gym bag/schoolbag with the freshly washed track shorts and shirt. She threw in her spikes too, remembering coach saying something about running drills today. The thought of running multiple four by ones made Tess groan. Brushing out her hair, she made a quick braid that came over her shoulder. She heaved her backpack further up on her back and walked down the hallway into the kitchen. Tess opened the fridge seeing the cheap microwavable biscuits that waited for her, she shrugged and grabbed them. After a couple of minutes they were ready and she took them out of the microwave. Sighing, Tess ate the half-tasteless biscuits. The watch on her wrist beeped warning her she needed to get going if she was to get to class on time. Tess ran out the door quickly and fast walked toward the school, which was about ten minutes from her house. The school bus passed her and she knew some of the junior high kids were probably snickering at her for not riding it. Tess ignored the thought. She had always enjoyed the brisk morning walk to school, plus Levi normally joined her, making it more of a race. Before she could finish the thought of her and Levi racing, she heard his rapid footsteps behind her as she passed him. He had been leaning against a stop sign, waiting for her, 
"You're going to make us both late," He commented, slowing his pace to match hers,
"I told you, you don't have to wait for me," Tess reminded him,
"Sure, but I just don't like the idea of you walking to school alone, okay?" He said, looking at her. Tess knew Levi was always concerned about her being alone, it was annoying, but comforting at times,
"Aww, Levi it's so sweet that you care about my well fare," Tess said in a sappy voice, leaning close to him. Levi's face crinkled in disgust,
"Oh shut up," He said lightly, pushing her away. Tess laughed knowing how annoyed Levi got when she acted sappy,
"You'd push me over a cliff the first chance you got," Levi remarked, a grin crossing his face,
"You know it," Tess said, immediately returning his grin. As they neared the school Tess glanced at her watch,
"Ready to sprint?" Tess asked Levi,  
"Not really, Why?" Levi asked,
"A minute, thirty seconds until class starts," Tess said, leaping forward. One thing Mr. Falls didn't stand for was tardy students, 
"Damn it," Levi cursed, running after Tess. Tess fought to stay ahead of Levi as his long legs gave him an advantage in sprints. Also her gym bag bumping against her leg didn't help. They both burst through the school doors, glad the principal wasn't around as they ran through the hallways. Levi opened the science room door and the whole classroom jolted around, staring at them. Tess cringed as the bell rang in the background,
"Did we make it?" She asked, raising her eyes toward an annoyed looking Mr. Falls,
"Miss Rochelle and Mr. Fletcher, I will not take kindly to you crashing into my classroom every morning," Mr. Falls said dryly.
Oh proper names, not good. Tess thought as she sat down. Mr. Falls looked back at both of them,
"And yes, you made it," He said, before turning to the dry erase board. Tess let out a breath of relief and she heard Levi chuckle,
"Now I want to see what everyone had for an idea of their ecosystems, starting with Silas and Tess," Mr. Falls gestured for them to come to the front of the room. Tess looked over at Silas, who was pulling out his notebook. They both walked to the front of the room,
"I'd rather you speak then me," Silas whispered to her. Tess took the notebook from him,
"We decided to take four cups of water and sterilize them by boiling the water. Then we are going to put one food source in each of the environments, but the fourth one," Tess said. Mr. Falls held up a hand for her to stop for a moment, even though she already had, 
"And why will you not put a food source in the last one?" He asked. Tess knew Mr. Falls knew the answer, but wanted to use it as a teaching moment,
"So that we have an untouched environment to compare the others to," Tess said. Mr. Falls nodded in approval. He dismissed them back to their seats as everyone else began explaining their experiments. Tess was half asleep when the bell finally rang for the next class. She stood, gathered her books, and followed everyone else.