Sanity By Jo Lockett

Chapter 3; Taken

"Ah, Miss Adams."

I sit on the chair, and look down at the floor.
The detailing is quite beautiful. There's a gold pattern with these copper veins mixed in with the silver detailing, which is, of course, the classic rose, but the silver is mixed in with the gold, which all leads back to the copper-

"Miss Adams."

Oh shoot. I missed what the Headmistress said.
I hesitantly look up, and see Mrs. Evergreen's infamous green eyes staring at me.
I swallow hard.
She can smell fear, I think, forcing myself to make eye contact with her. If you don't show fear, maybe she'll let you go nice and easy. Oh, who am I kidding. I'm dead.

"Y-yes, Mrs. Evergreen?" I say pathetically. I internally curse at myself for sounding so weak.

The Headmistress smiles, and reaches over to the intercom.

"Marie, please," she says, ignoring me.

I swallow the urge to ask who is Marie, and what am I doing here, if all she needs is Marie?
A sudden voice with a thick French accent suddenly crackles over the intercom, and I jump, my heart pounding in my ears.
The Headmistress notices, and smiles at me, almost like in the way a mother would at her child if she knew something the child didn't.

"Yes, Madame? What iz it?" the voice says.

"Ah, oui, Marie! Salut, comment ça va?" the Headmistress says.
I blink, surprised at the Headmistress's fluency.

Marie and the Headmistress begin talking enthusiasticly. All I pick up from my many years of attempted French lessons was hello, mate, and hot dog.Finally, the Headmistress laughs, and hangs up the phone.

"Well," she says to me, quite merry, "let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Um, y-yes Ma'am," I stutter, looking up and down from her eyes.

The Headmistress laughs again, and I can't help but notice the pure prettiness of it.
It sounds like some sort of beautiful bells coming together in one harmonious melody. All right, maybe not that beautiful. But you get what I mean.
The Headmistress's eyes become serious again, but I can tell there's a hint of fun behind them, almost as if she was... teasing me.

"I believe you are wondering the reason you are here?" she queries, staring into my eyes.

"Yes, Ma'am," I say, suddenly feeling confident. I imagine myself behind a wall of bravery and smartness and coolness, and I imagine my eyes telling the same message.
I guess something must've passed through about my new found confidence, because a flicker of surprise and... pride pass in the Headmistress's eyes.

"Well, Miss Adams-" she begins to say coolly, putting her hands on top of each other horizontally.

"Please, call me Grace," I interrupt, matching her tone equally as coolly.

A flicker of emotions pass on the Headmistress's face, and I pat myself on the back in my mind, grateful that I had the guts to stand up to the Headmistress.

"All right, Miss Grace," she says, a smirk hiding behind her words, "I believe you'd like to know why you're here, correct?"
I nod, making sure not to break eye contact."Yes, that would be correct," I say, feeling a sudden anticipation and excitement pass through me quickly.

The Headmistress smiles, and takes a sip of her water, that magically appeared out of nowhere.

"Well," she says, staring at me thoughtfully.

A moment of silence passes, and I tense.
She was staring at me, and I felt... unworthy. Like I shouldn't be here.
Awkward.
The Headmistress spoke again.