Eros

Chapter 6

Charlie and I stood outside the school the next morning, waiting for the first students to arrive. The other instructors had gotten there early to set up, and were not lined up behind us. In oder to get the students around the school and keep things on track, each teacher had been assigned  an intern of sorts. Basically an unpaid angel just working here to get a reference. Unfortunately I hadn't been allowed to hire them, so the intern I got, Charlotte, was incredibly annoying. Very chatty. I don't really do.. chatty. At least she's only here for a year I guess. And she wont be here for the holidays. And the academy year ends in June, so really it's not even that long, Only like, eight months... who am I kidding I'm gunna die.

I was so lost in my thoughts I didn't even hear Charlie calling my name until he put his hand on my cheek gently.

"Jake? Are you okay?" I was jolted out of my mind so quickly that I was irritated. I looked back to the line of teacher some of whom raised their eyebrows at Charlie touching my cheek, and I felt embarrassed. I slapped Charlie's hand away and glared at him.

"I'm fine okay! You don't have to check up on me. I'm not a child." Charlie pulled his hand down slowly looking upset, his brow furrowed. I felt the flash of anger leave just as fast as it came, and in its place I felt remorse. I reached down and grabbed Charlie's hand. "I'm really sorry, I'm just stressed. Ignore me, I'm an idiot." Charlie smiled and squeezed my hand reassuringly, then let go.

"I was just going to tell you that the students are arriving. Look!" He pointed down the long driveway at the black busses that were pulling up to the house. Slowly teenage angels started pouring out, each looking at the others with hostility. Which is fair, considering the academy is very competitive. If you want to become a field agent, like me,  and actually do the tracking of the people and the shooting of the bows, you have to be at the top of at least one class. Meaning, at most, we could accept 5 angels per year into the program. Each teacher chooses one student to go into that highly specialized program, the rest will go into research or administration. Or teaching. The teachers other then Charlie and I, are not field agents. I'm not sure if I'll be moved at the end f the year of if they want me here for longer. My guess is they'll be moving me as soon as possible, but you never know.

By the time all the busses had been emptied, there were about fifty students in front of us. As such each teacher took ten, and we headed off on our own. I waved goodbye to Charlie, and turned to my own group.

"Alright guys! I'm jake, and I'm the head of this academy for right now! Can you guys all tell me your names?"

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At the end of the tour I handed out the timetables, and told them to report to their next class in fifteen minutes. I then sprinted to the field where I'm going to hold my first weapons class to get everything set up. By the time I'd finished I had a good number of students standing outside the fence that surrounds the field watching me set things up. the first bell rung and they slowly trickled into the field. "Alright everyone! Let's get set up!" I had almost started the lesson when a girl wearing  a huge hat and carried four books ran towards us, when she got to us she dropped the books and then scrambled to pick them up. Choosing to ignore this, I started my lesson. " Hello! I'm your weaponry teacher, my name is Jake, and you can call me Jake or Coach Jake, whichever you prefer. Now, we're going to start with a preliminary examination of your weaponry level. Just take a bow," I wiggled the one I had in my hand around to show them, "Face the targets," I turned my feet towards the moving bullseye's I had set up, "And shoot." I released an arrow and it flew straight through the center of two targets, stopping in the middle of a third. I turned back to my class, most of whom were slack jawed and wide-eyed. "Don't worry, I don't expect that from you yet. Just try and hit the target. You will go one by one, and I'll give you each three arrows. Your score will be based on whichever arrow you get closest to the middle. Alright? Let's go! Line up please. "

The lesson passed in relative ease. I had one or two good shooters in my class, Drew, a tall boy with dark brown skin and green eyes, and a thin, pale girl named Alexa. Throughout the class I could feel the girl with the hat eyes digging into my back, and whenever I turned around she squinted her eyes as though trying to place me. I quietly hoped she didn't know me. As the class drew to a close I breathed a sigh of relief as she seemed to not have been able to place me. "OK everyone," I called out, "Bring it in. Great job today! You're all doing well, and-"  I was cut off by a loud voice, belonging to hat girl.

"Excuse me, Coach Jake, but, what's your last name?" I sighed heavily, knowing it was a hard story to explain. Oh well, better now then later.

" My last name is Bell." As soon as I had finished the girl let out a loud squeal. Several people around the class gasped, one boy fanned his face in excitement.

"I knew I knew you! You're the best agent the North-American Agency's ever had!" The girl shouts, and soon people start pilling on.

"I heard he can make couples without doing any research!"

"I heard he's the best shot in the world!"

"Yeah well i heard he can't die!"

I winced and turned away at that, trying to bury the memories. Just then the bell rung, and I put on my best smile to dismiss them.

    Its a good thing I didn't have another class next or they would have found me crying alone in a field shooting arrows at targets while blinded by anger.