Infinity

4: Asa Pike

Chapter 4

My wakeup call on the first day of school was far from pleasant. I was woken up by a loud and repetitive bang on my bedroom door. I rolled out of bed and shouted "I'm up!" and stumbled into the bathroom. I was exhausted. I had barely slept at all that night and continuously tossed and turned on my uncomfortable mattress. Each time I tried to move, the bed would squeak loudly.

I stepped into one of the shower stalls and was pelted in the face with cold water when the old pipes groaned to life. The water never did get hot. I just washed my hair and body as fast as I could and stumbled out. The tile was cold on my feet while I padded back to my wardrobe and pulled on my uniform. My hair dried quickly and I was able to tie it up in a messy bun. I didn't bother with makeup and ran out the door and down to the coatroom.

I don't know what I expected. Dr. Bloor wasn't kidding when he said that the dress code for drama was interpretive compared to the other departments. There were people with feather boas and big hats and glittery shoes. I stuck out like a sore thumb. At this point, I didn't care and gathered all my things. My locker opened easily enough and all my supplies were sitting inside neatly. My schedule was posted on the inside of the door.

The room behind me was full of liveliness and chatter from the students who were actually happy to be here. Their attendance at this school meant that they were all the best at what they did. They were exceptional artists, performers and musicians and had nothing to worry about. The Bloors left them alone and let them live their lives in peace. None of them were ripped out of their homes overnight, hypnotized into submission or forced to be here.

I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder that ripped me out of my thoughts. When I turned around, a mean looking girl stood behind me. Much like me, she was tall and lanky. Her skin was snow white and all of her features were bony and pointed. I was jealous of how beautiful and perfect her hair was. While the rest of her was kind of average, she had the most beautiful and shiny jet black hair I had ever seen. It was long and curly and she seemed to take really good care of it. "I'm Zelda Dobinski. They placed you in some of the same classes as me so I can show you around." She stated matter-of-factly. "If you don't have a class with me, you'll be with Manfred or Asa Pike. I'm in college level math classes and it seems that you're only smart enough for trigonometry. Huh. I thought they told me you were advanced."

"Do you talk down on everyone you just met?" I asked, shutting my locker. "I don't need your help. I can find everything on my own, I'm sure." Nothing got on my nerves more than being talked down to. I wouldn't stand for it. If this is what I was going to have to hear all day, I would take my chances wandering the halls blind.

"Unless you want to be stuck here another weekend, I suggest you follow me." Zelda narrowed her eyes. I just sighed and gave in and followed her around for the first three classes of the day. I mostly ignored her when she spoke because of her snide comments and I couldn't wait until I could get away from her.

My prayers were answered when we were approached by someone different right before my free period. It was a boy. He was just a little bit taller than me, maybe by two or three inches. He had bright red hair that stood up in a rough spiked look and it showed off that his ears were pointed. I wondered if it was surgical or natural. He had a nice enough face that was dotted with freckles and a bit of facial hair that was the same color as the hair on his head. He had yellow wolf like eyes that I was almost positive were contacts.

"Your turn to babysit." Zelda said quickly, before turning to walk away. I just rolled my eyes at her.

"I don't need to be babysat. It's fine." I growled, quite sick of my treatment. I didn't want to be treated the same way by him, too.