Codename: Angelus

Chapter 6 - Back to Mapletree

A week had passed with no significant events. No new kids who fell prey to the Lost syndrome, no accidents whatsoever, not even the old lady at the end of the lane tripping and falling and breaking a hip, no nothing. It seemed nothing *ever* happened at Mapletree. It was the most boring neighborhood *ever*. How was Milla supposed to learn anything new?

St. Michael Academy was tough. They got tons of homework and assignements to do, they had to join a club and actively contribute to club activies or do charity work. St. Michael Academy kids were boring too. The epithome of the teacher’s pet. They were *all* teacher’s pets!

Even Laura, whose grades never passed the C mark, was a teacher’s pet.

The only exception was Michael. Michael was clever, fun, nice and good-looking. Though Milla kept saying to herself she mustn’t fall for a Dormant. She wasn’t there to amuse herself, she was there *to work*!

Even so, she was at a stalemate so she thought talking to Michael and Laura — Laura never left them alone; she was like a *tick* — about the Lost couldn’t hurt.

It was lunchtime. They found a little cozy spot by a window in the dining hall. The food wasn’t bad either, even though Milla knew it was only data — but that didn’t make it less delicious. She got a chicken hamburger with country sauce, french fries and a fresh fruit salad with yogurt. She didn’t get to eat food like that in the shelter. They had farms and grew their own food but they didn’t have that much variety. Meet was scarce. Fresh fruit, too.

Laura was picking at her food. She always did that. Made Milla mad.

Michael was digging at his pepperoni pasta with fresh tomatoes and Parmisan cheese. He was a robust eater, though he was skinny and wiry. “Have you heard about the Lost?”

Laura shunned the subject as a stupid urban myth.

Michael remained silent, but cast her an enigmatic glance.

Milla let Laura change subject and listlessly listened to her grumble about how much homework they got, her assignment on Jane Austen, a new bag she saw at Mopsie’s.

“I believe we got the same assignment for our Biology class” said Michael, after lunch, “Wanna join me at the library?”

Milla was still intrigued by the glance she cast at her so she agreed.

“At five” he said, leaving.

At five, Michael was sitting on the front stairs of the library building.

“Laura’s not coming?”

He was smiling, amused.

“Yeah. One of her friends from another school asked her to go shopping.”

“Laura has friends besides you and me? And from another school, too?”

“You know how Laura’s grades are the lowest in our age group?”

“Yeah?”

“She didn’t enter St. Michael with a scholarship, that’s for sure. And her family lives at Maple Grove. It *owns* Maple Grove!”

“Oh, I get it. Daddy made a donation to the school so she could attend even if her grades were horrible. Well. I’m here on a scholarship so what do you say we go look up our assignment? Meiosis, was it?”

“All right.”

She followed him to a reading nook on the third floor. Michael had a list of textbooks he wanted to look up for the assignment and had the librarian send them to their hPads in advance.