Facing The Light [EDITING ON HOLD]

Chapter 6 ~ New Substitute Might Be Fired in a Week

Chapter 6 ~ New Substitute Might Be Fired in a Week

The Aphotics. That name was all I could think about as I flicked through the channels on the TV. I wondered whether Dad knew about them, and if he knew I had a power. If he or my mother had a power. I was still freaked out about finding out I had the ability to control someone's emotions. I was both confused and excited about it. It's not every day you find out you have powers.

I didn't notice Dad wheel in the room. I could feel his gaze on me as I constantly pressed buttons on the TV remote.

"Skye, what are you doing?"

I snapped my gaze from the small screen and blinked at my father. "Uh, nothing."

"You look bored."

"Extremely." I said with a sigh.

Dad wheeled in front of me and grabbed my hand. "Why don't we go to the store and get some ingredients for dinner to tonight? We can cook together."

That sounded like a good idea to me, so I nodded quickly and wheeled him out the front door towards the car. Cooking with my father sounded like a lot of fun and I hoped it would take my mind off of the whole Aphotic thing.

I drove to the middle of town and parked in a public parking lot. I helped Stan get out of the car and they both headed for the grocery store. As they entered, the store was almost empty, except for the employees at the cash registers and a few other people.

Dad had already written a list and handed it to me. We both split up to find the ingredients. I grabbed a carton of eggs, sausages, bacon and cheeses, and met Dad at the frozen food isle. I threw the items (except the eggs, of course) into the trolley.

"Did you get everything?" He asked.

"Yep, everything's there."

"Good."

I bit my bottom lip, questioning myself as to whether I should ask him. I decided to do it.

"What does Aphotic mean?"

Dad stopped moving, the frozen peas were still gripped tightly in his hands. He shook his head after a few moments of silence. "Why are you asking a silly question like that?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I just heard it somewhere and wanted to know what it meant."

"Oh." He faced me. "Aphotic basically means darkness." He pointed to the trolley and I pushed it alongside him.

I debated more with myself now. Should I ask him if he knew people had special abilities? Just do it and get it over and done with!

"Just out of curiosity, are there people out there with, let's say, special abilities? And not ones like they have a higher IQ than an average person, but like super powers?" I blurted out quickly.

Dad narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. "That's a stupid question! I don't want to hear that sort of garbage ever again, do you hear me Skye Marsden?!"

I stood back, shocked at his sudden outrage. His words were bitter and came out like poison. Dad didn't say another word and continued pushing himself towards the register. Where did that come from? It wasn't like him to burst like that. Something was up with him and I wanted to know what it was.

I filled the small pot with frozen vegetables and let the water boil them on the stove. I walked over to the other side of the bench and began cutting up the sausages.

Dad was preparing the bacon on the other side of the room. There was a heavy and uncomfortable silence and I hated it. I wanted to say something to my father, but I was afraid to. He had no right to out burst like that to me. I just wanted an explanation.

Dad sighed and placed the knife down on the counter, noticing my distress. "Listen, Skye, I know it was wrong of me to say that to you before, and I'm sorry. But I did that to protect you."

Surprised at his sudden apology, I replied. "Protect me from what? How can I be protected when no one is giving me answers?"

"It's complicated."

I stopped cutting the meat. "You know, ever since Mum died you've been shutting me out. I just want answers, Dad."

That silenced him. He slowly picked up the knife and continued cutting. We both finished preparing dinner and Stan went into his office to eat, whereas I went to my room.

I set the plate down on my bed and climbed into the soft mattress, sitting in front of the plate of food. I sighed deeply and brushed my hair with my hand a few times.

Why won't he just tell me what's going on? What are you hiding from me?

I looked up at the ceiling and whispered to myself, "I just need answers."

***

"Did you hear there's a new teacher coming to school today?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I overheard one of the teachers and they said he's coming all the way from the city!"

I stopped walking. The city? That's only a few hours away, but it was still very far from here. He must be rich, too. All people who come from the city are either wealthy or boring businessman seeking easier jobs.

Layla nudged me with her elbow, snapping me from my deep thoughts and we continued walking to class. I have been so out of it lately. The Aphotics, my powers and Dad were blocking my mind to concentrate on anything else. There was no room for reality. Why would my father hide things from me?

Layla and I entered the classroom and sat at desks beside each other. Class had started and the teacher was ten minutes late, so everyone chatted amongst themselves. There were paper airplanes flying across the room, a few of them occasionally hitting me softly on the back. An unfamiliar teacher walked in the classroom and I could tell he wasn't the usual. His tie was half around his neck, his pants were long and baggy, his hair was messy almost like it was styled as if he just got out of bed, and he had an unconscious smirk on his face.

"I'm Mr Mark. I'm the substitute for today's class." The man said.

Layla leaned over to my desk and whispered, "he wouldn't last long looking like that." She said in a disgusted tone.

"Why do you mean?" I whispered back, hoping not to be heard by anyone around me.

"I mean, look at him. Any teacher with looks like that would send girls swooning to the point where they might cause other teachers suspicious. If he gets caught making out with one of the students, he'll be fired for sure." Layla chuckled humourlessly. "I give him a week."

I looked back to the front. The substitute was already speaking about whatever it was they were learning, not that I was actually paying attention in this class. I agreed he was incredibly handsome, but he wasn't type. After all, there was only one guy on my mind, even if my mind wants to deny it.

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A/N: (not proofread - just too tired -.-)

First of all, in so so sorry for the late update and the really short chapter. School is being mean and I've been focusing on homework and assignments so much that I haven't had a chance to write. Sorry. I'm so tired so I decided to make this chapter sloppy and I know you guys don't deserve this crappy chapter, but I will try and edit it.

The new substitute Mr Mark, or Trent...yeah, lets call him Trent, is an important character in this story, as well as many others, but you'll find out about that once you keep reading ;) That's all I can tell you muahaha >:D

Again, sorry for the late update...

Oh yeah! I'm going to Canberra on Friday, yay? There are about 200 more people at my school that's going and we're going to be spending 6 hours on the bus the whole day, and at least 3 hours at the place. So I have to be at school by 6am and arrive back home at 7pm. Well that sucks...

WISH ME LUCK!! :D :/