The School For Gifted Kids

Chapter 8: Elle

Heyo! I'm back! Sorry for not updating for such a long while, but here it is!
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"Soooo, Ellie..." I pushed Gracie's face away from mine. Once again, she had rudely awakened me. "Whadya want?.." My voice was muffled by the thick blankets. She sat on my bed and in the same voice, explained. "I heard he kissed you twice. In the same chapter!" "Chapter?" She waved my question away. "Oh, that's nothing. Tell me the goods!" That was my only problem with Gracie. Her obsession with gossip. (and insistence upon calling each other "Ellie" and "Gracie") but for the most part we were good friends. I got up and changed into some old capris and a tee. "Don't bother. It was nothing special." She sighed, a dreamy smile on her face. Oh yeah, add boy crazy to her odd personality.

At the breakfast table Ben smiled at me and I blushed like an idiot. Gracie, Nick, and Tyldy didn't seem to notice what was going on. Good. I didn't want them to. I was finishing up my pancakes when I noticed Valarae and her cronies sneaking away. They could've just finished early and been going to study, but I decided to "tag along" anyway. I made my excuses and followed quickly behind them. They walked down twisted hallways and secret passageways. Peeked around corners so as not to be seen. We finally arrived at our destination. The office. I changed to a fly and zipped in with them. Ms. Linguini greeted them with her cheesy smile. "What can I do for y'all?" Valarae nodded and Shonny pointed at ms. Linguini. She fell to the ground snoring. Jackie stood watch at the door while Shonny and Valarae continued to Mrs. Lentos office. I watched horrified as Shonny pointed and lento snored. I buzzed down to the window sill and perched with my wings tucked behind me. Jackie locked the door behind us, and Valarae started rifling through lento's filing cabinets. "Anything new on Willow?" Valarae paused in one folder for a moment. "No. Nothing on Ben, either." I was too caught up in their actions to see that Shonny was staring at me closely. When she realized I was watching her, as well, she ran over to Valarae and hurriedly whispered in her ears. Valarae rolled her eyes and stomped her feet. "Yes I know, you idiot! I thought we discussed this! Jacqueline, take Chantelle back to the commons. I don't need you any more." I saw Shonny's (or Chantelle's) lower leak quiver. "Riley-" Jacqueline dragged her out. I shifted back to my normal appearance. "I thought you'd never show up." I snorted. "You're smarter than you let on." She pulled down her skirt, giving it a few inches length. "You are too. But your right. 'Valarae' is a fake. A front. A facade." Apparently my face displayed puzzlement, because Vala-Riley seemed smug. "What? You don't speak big words?"
"I do. I just thought I'd hear them coming from your mouth."
Riley shrugged. "We all get surprises from time to time. I thought you couldn't talk." She gestured to Mrs. Lento. "She'll be up soon. She won't remember a thing, but I'd scadaddle." I glanced at the cabinets and made a move. "Don't bother. Why do you think I come here frequently? I've changed my records and monitor others. Seeya." She sashayed out the room. She may have been right, but there was still something I wanted to check. Riley was telling the truth, all her files read "Valarae Swanson". But that's not what I was looking for. I rifled through many a drawer. No, no, no, no... I heard Mrs. Lento starting to arouse and I ran out of there as quick as I could. Only when I was out in the hallway could I relax. I trotted smugly past dorms, Ben Lopaz's file hidden beneath my shirt.

"Hey, you okay?" I pushed Gracie's hand off my shoulder. "Of course. I'm fine." She still seemed concerned. "You ran out of there awfully fast." I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry. I'm fine." She shrugged and trotted off down the hallway. Let's see... 9:27. The day in front me. Ben was tutoring, Gracie was going out with friends and Tyldy... was free! Me and her hadn't connected much, but there's a first time for everything. And anything. Anything to escape being alone on a Saturday. Well, I was dying to know what was in that folder, but I knew better. If someone caught me with it, they'd be sure to report me and I couldn't do with another "warning". I peeked into her dorm. "Knock knock..." She was hurriedly tying up a fashionable pair of sneakers. You know, the kind teen celebrity's wear, or the ones your too afraid to wear because you don't want to ruin them? "Sorry Elle. Can't talk now! I'm heading out to meet nick at the movies." She whizzed past me, nothing more than a blur. "But-" too late. She was gone. Well, I was bored. So under shelter of my dorm, I opened the folder of Benjamin Franco Lopez.

The folder was like the ones in normal school records, it had categories like name, age, gender and stuff, but if you turned the page- wow. It was a treasure trove of info. It held stuff like the specifications of power, his romantic inclinations, and- that's odd. His parents? Shouldn't that be on the more normal page? I grabbed my Mac from my backpack and searched up their names. A bunch of results for scientific journals and stuff popped up. I clicked on a Wikipedia entry. Sofia and Rico Paedraz seemed to be world famous scientists who discovered important clues to fill holes in famous theories. Maybe that's why Riley kept checking his files and why she had let him come to the party. Maybe thats the reason she was dating him in the first place! But... what would she want with scientific discoveries? She was only 15. Maybe her files would reveal something, I had to return ben's anyway. But how would I get in?