The School For Gifted Kids

Chapter 10: Elle

It was Sunday night, and tomorrow we started classes again. I cringed at the thought of hours practicing grammar, but it would be a welcome distraction from the current situation. I figured that I could a movie in town with my pals and make it back before ten. "Hey, Gracie? Wanna catch a movie?"

She shrugged and grabbed her coat. "Sure. Who else is going?" "Let's go find out."

Ben was all for it, and Tyldy agreed to go if Nick could come too. The movie was good, and we decided to grab a 'shake before we headed back. The diner was empty except someone in the back booth. I didn't  think anything of it until we were leaving, and the diner closed. As we  walked towards the train that would take us back to campus, I noticed that no one else left. Perhaps they were related to the owner of the store. For some reason, I couldn't fall asleep that night. Perhaps the events of the weekend were freaking me out. I had to pee, but I didn't want to wake Gracie and was to afraid to step outside the dorm because of Riley. I tossed and turned until 5, and decided to just get dressed. Darn it! I had forgotten to send my uniform to the resident cloths washers. I'd have to deal with the stink today. I'd never really been up this early before, and it was interesting to see how different the school was at such an early hour. The cooks weren't up yet, so the school was missing the smell of fresh baked bread. It seemed I was the only one up, so the halls were missing their usual sound of screaming children. And the sheer emptiness of the school astounding.  No friends at my side to lean on, no Riley to terrorize me... it was almost scary in a way. the library was quiet, and I pulled out my laptop and began to type up my essay for L.A.  After a couple minutes, a voice  called out from the back of the library. "Do you mind? I can't stand the sound of computer keys." A little Japanese girl  emerged from the shadows. She spoke in broken english, and wore a pink calico dress instead of a uniform. I took a moment to admire her. she was about six, (from what I could tell), but her shiny black hair reached her lower back. she reminded me of a china doll, with perfect cream coloured skin. "Sorry. I'll go some where else."

I continued my work in the commons, and most people came round by seven. I was chatting with my pals by eight. Breakfast was pancakes, (my fave), and I was in a perfectly good mood until... "Can Elle Charon please report to the office?" (I know, I know, I don't have the same last name as my mom. my parents were divorced when I was younger.) I wasn't really worried about  going to the office because I got called down pretty regularly. Normally it wasn't much more than me forgetting my train pass or something else small. I walked pass Darcy, or Ms. Linguine if you will, and strode pretty confidently into her office. I was surprised to see Andrew, an older boy, sitting in a chair in front of my mom. I could tell even before I sat down the attitude was much more serious than usual. I slowly pulled out a chair as they stared at me silently. "Soooo. What's up?' My mom clasped her hands on the desk, a frown stuck on her face like Krazy glue on a finger.

"Elle, we've got a problem. "

"Again? I'm telling you- it wasn't me!"

"I'm afraid I can't believe you."

She slid a piece of paper across the desk. I frowned. It was some kind of note, made with letters cut out of a magazine.

I KNOW YOUR SECRETS. BRING 100$ TO DORM 947 BY WEDNESDAY OR EVERYONE ELSE WILL KNOW YOUR SECRETS TOO.

"What are you accusing me of this time?"

"947 is your dorm, isn't it?"

"You're saying I did this?!"

"It has to be. There's strong evidence to support our theory."

"What evidence?!"

"We have people who say you have a bad relationship with Andy here. We also found the magazine used for the note under your bed."