The Color of Knowledge

Chapter Nine (pt. 5)

Ivy opened the side door of the high school building as slowly and quietly as she could and slipped through, hoping the camera had not seen her.

It was a little past three in the morning, yet she was wide-awake. She had spent most of her time after dinner waiting for everyone to get tired and go to bed. She had been forced to act tired and go to sleep so that Spencer would follow and do the same. Spencer had fallen asleep next to her for the second time in a row and it had not taken long for Ivy to hear the girl's even breathing. Her parents on the other hand, had not gone to bed until two. She had waited an extra half and hour to give them time to fall asleep before rising to leave.

Donning all black and equipped with a flashlight, Ivy surveyed the empty halls. The light bounced off the plain white walls, which made the beam seem brighter than it was. Principal Moore's office was at the end of the second hallway. She walked as fast as she could. Though she knew no one was in the school, her imagination would start to play tricks on her if she stayed too long.

The door she had walked through too many times to count opened with ease. She surveyed her honorary chair she had sat in on many occasions and noticed how rusty Principal Moore's placard had gotten since her last visit, years ago.

Three gray filing cabinets stood on the far wall behind the desk chair. Ivy tried with all her might to slide open the first drawer of the first cabinet and failed. She tried all the rest, one by one, and was about to give up hope on her hunch, when the last drawer of the last cabinet slid open. She had been used to pulling quite hard and as a result the drawer crashed opened with considerable noise, leaving Ivy off balance and nervous someone, somewhere had heard.

The drawer was labeled 'S-Z' and contained the names of every student who had ever walked the halls of the school. Rifling through, Ivy found Zari's file. Within contained a photo ID, final grades, and even a report on her personality. Though she would have loved to read through it, it was not what she had come for.

After searching through the entire drawer multiple times, Nadia's file was nowhere to be found. Nadia had neither attended nor been enrolled in the high school. Ivy sat back, absorbing her discovery with wide eyes. Did Nadia even exist within The Society? If not, where had she come from?