To Feel Liberty

One: Four Years Later

"I can't believe you're actually going through with this!" Nehemiah hisses into my ear as we crouch behind the door to the paper room of the head misteress of the boys and girls home.
    My eyes gleam with mischief as I can totally believe I am going through with this. The lady deserved it. She was just awful. Just yesterday, she made Tony go hungry for two whole days for stealing an extra cup cake from the bakery. The poor boy was crying and begged for forgivness, but noooo. He had to be punished roughly. Here, everybody got punished for even looking at someone disrespectfully. Well, at least that's what it felt like. It was absolutely ridiculous.
    "You know that you're gunna be the next one punished for this, right?" He whispers as we enter the mistress's paper room as we like to call it. He checks the hallway after we are safely inside, then looks at me pointedly.
    "What?" I smirk at him as I pull something out of my pocket.
    He rolls his eyes and sighs. "Jeez louise, have you not been hearing anything I've been saying?"
    "Of course, I just enjoy not answering you, " I open a wrapper containing a glob of chewed gum and place it under the middle drawer of her desk. I am tempted to laugh evilly at the thought of her opening her desk and grabbing a handful of nasty gum. It was too good to be true.
    I then pull out a jar of honey and lightly coat the end of her pointing stick with it. Just enough for it to be sticky, but not enough that she'd notice it unless she looked too closely, which hopefully she wouldn't.
    "I think someones coming!" Nehemiah notifies me as he glances out the door, and then whips his head back into the room before whoever was out there could see him.
    "I'm almost done!" I whisper back as I crouch down beside the base of her chair. I quickly loosen one leg on her chair until its no longer connected. Then I simply rest the chair on the leg so that it looks to be connected, even though its not. And when she sits? She will discover how gravity works to suprise you.
    "Sola!" He hisses and I quickly scramble over to him, right next to the door. We hold our breath as we hear footsteps aproach the door. They pause and then continue down the hall.
    When the coast is clear, we hurry out the door and around the corner.
    Right into the head misteress herself.
    "Well, isn't this just the coincidence of the week." She raises an eyebrow and purses her lips to create the most unatractive face on the planet.
    I sigh, "Isn't it always."
    "Come now, what were you up to in this wing of the building?" She starts walking down the hall and we have no choice but to follow. Running away just leads to more discipline and less freedom.
    "Well, Misstress, we were just wandering around and checking things out," I try to play it off.
    The Misstress keeps walking calmly and confidently.
    "Is that so," she says it as if it were a fact intsead of a question.
    We reach her office and Nehemiah gives me a slightly worried look. I just shrug at him. It was too late now.
    The Misstress walks over to her desk and I hold my breath as she begins to sit down. I guess the Misstress noticed for as she was lowering herself to her chair, she looks up at me over her glasses and then stands upright, moves to the side and gestures to her chair while looking pointedly at me. I shoot Nehemiah a 'what should I do?' Look but he won't meet my gaze and just shakes his head.
    "Won't you have a seat, Solaris?" She almost smirks. Almost.
    I let out my breath. "I will not, Misstress. I am most comfortable standing where I am."
    The Misstress raises an eyebrow at my defiance and says, "Very well. No dinner for your friend and he will miss out on all the free times and fun activities this week and will instead join me for some extra studies."
    The Misstress sets a couple items on her desk and almost smiles at my gasp. Almost.
    "But Misstress, I swear, Nehemiah had nothing to do with this!" I plead.
    "Oh hush now. If you would consider being a normal student, and stop instigatting trouble then our conversations would be very different, if non-existent, and your friends would never get caught in the wake of your trouble."
    She props herself onto the edge of her desk, crosses her legs and leans toward us. " Now, if you would just sit in the chair, your friend will not be punished."
    I sigh in defeat. I hate defeat. I then look toward Nehemiah who looks back at me. His face says don't do it, but he knows I will.
    I walk over to the chair.