The SVE Club

5. Startle

    "Sit down," Miss O'Brian commanded when she and Midas entered the office.

    Midas passed the chair she had pointed to and leaned against the wall. He was the only student in the office.

    Miss O'Brian let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Just wait there." She walked across the room to the principal's office. After knocking, she entered and closed the door behind her. Her shouting could be heard through the walls. It seemed the secretaries working in the office were used to this noise; they continued working as though nothing was happening.

    Midas looked down at the floor. He wondered if he'd get kicked out of school again. The prospect made his heart race. If he failed here, the only person who could intimidate him would be extremely disappointed.

    "If I have to come bail you out again, boy, you're going to live to regret it," were the man's last words to Midas.

    Midas shuddered trying to imagine how much regret he would have if he screwed up. He'd been too careless, let his emotions get the best of him. He needed to calm down, needed to-

    "Eeiiiiiikkkkk!"

    Midas looked up to find a secretary shrieking, a hand pressed to her heart. A girl stood in front of her, looking concerned.

    "Willow!" the woman whimpered. "You have to stop doing that! My heart can't take it." She began fanning herself with a piece of paper.

    Midas jerked his head up in surprise. Where had the girl come from? He was standing five feet away from the door and he hadn't heard her come in.

    "I'm sorry," the girl whispered anxiously.

    "Honestly," the woman at the desk said, still fanning herself dramatically. "Every time you come in here I nearly have a panic attack. Can't you make a little more noise when you come in?"

    "I'm sorry," the girl whispered again. She was of average height, not skinny, but not overweight either.

    "Anyway, what did you come in here for?"

    "I need to wait for my parents here," Willow muttered.

    "Again, huh?" the woman asked, her expression softening. "I'm sorry sweetie. Have a seat."

    Willow walked over to the chair by Midas, making no sound as she moved. She pointed questioningly at the seat. Midas shrugged. She apparently took this as an invitation to sit down. She said nothing as she sat, simply stared into space. Midas slowly inched away from the chair.

    "That was cool," she suddenly said.

    "Huh?"

    "The mask exploding. It was cool."

    "Oh."

    The silence returned. The girl didn't say anything else, but occasionally glanced up at Midas.

The principal's office door opened and out stormed a fuming Miss O'Brian. "Mrs. Hayes wants to see you," she said huffily.

Willow stood up.

"Not you, Willow!" Miss O'Brian snapped. Willow sat back down. Midas headed for the office door.

"You're a danger to everyone here. I will find a way to expel you from this school, Aldridge," Miss O'Brian hissed in his ear as he passed by.

Midas scoffed and closed the office door behind him.

"Mr. Aldridge," Mrs. Hayes said wearily. "Have a seat."

Midas sat. Mrs. Hayes was seated at her desk, which was meticulously organized.

She eyed Midas with some concern. "I understand your first day isn't going very well. Care to elaborate?"

"I would but I think Miss O'Brian probably told you everything already."

"Yes, she did. But I want you to have a chance to defend yourself. That boy whose mask you exploded has first degree burns on his hand. I need to know if you had a legitimate reason for what you did."

"I didn't. I blew up his mask because I was angry," Midas replied.

"What were you angry about?"

Midas hesitated before stating, "He was mocking me."

"Personally? He walked up to you and started making fun of you?" Mrs. Hayes asked, suddenly admiring the student's bravery.

"No..." Midas said. "But he was wearing the mask."

Mrs. Hayes tapped her desk in thought. "Perhaps he wasn't making fun of you. That student is in the drama club. Maybe the mask was for a play."

Midas considered this.

"You know, I think we could work a little on your social skills. We need you to meet more people, make friends, that sort of thing." She thought for a moment before coming up with an idea. "Why don't you join a club?"

"A club?" Midas asked, not sure if he'd heard correctly.

"Absolutely," Mrs. Hayes gushed. "Cherokee North prides itself with its clubs. We have a lot of students so there's a lot of clubs. We have chess, basketball, video games, yearbook; What do you like to do?"

"I like to blow things up," Midas responded.

"Well," Mrs. Hayes said, "There's no club like that yet... but student and teachers are creating new clubs all the time. Maybe one will come along that grabs your interest." She handed him a flyer that listed all of Cherokee's clubs.

"In the meantime, please try to get along with people. If you can just-"

"Can I start a club?"

Mrs. Hayes looked at Midas in surprise. "What?"

"You said that students and teachers are always making new clubs. Can I start a club?"

Mrs. Hayes thought for a moment. "I don't see why not," she said slowly. "What kind of club did you have in mind?"

Midas stood up suddenly. "Are we done here?"

Mrs. Hayes flinched and scooted back in her chair in suspense. "Yep!" she exclaimed.

Midas made for the door.

"Wait, wait, hold up!" Mrs. Hayes said, regaining her sense of authority. "First, detention after school for an hour; Miss O'Brian will strangle me if I let you off with a warning. And second, if you want to start a club you'll want at least five members to start and a teacher to supervise."

Midas nodded rapidly. "Detention, strangle, five members, teacher; Got it." He left, slamming the door behind him.

Mrs. Hayes laid her head down on her desk, sagging with relief. Having a student from ISH was perhaps a little too exciting.