"Xav! Hi!" Ella yelled, having just left the classroom. He looked lost once again until he saw her and sighed, relieved. Jacob walked out behind Ella and, seeing where she was looking, turned his gaze and smiled softly, waving at Xavier.
"Hey, Ella and..." Xavier closed his eyes, concentrating on a name that he no longer held in his brain.
"Jacob," Ella laughed.
"Right!" He snapped his fingers.
"What are you up to, Xavier?" Jacob asked.
"I'm, uh... lost again," he laughed shyly.
"Perfect," Ella said excitedly. "You can come with us! Well, uh, me. Jacob has chemistry and I have literature."
"Oh, okay, guess I'll be seeing you Ja-COOOB!" Ella had grabbed Xavier's hand and raced down the hall, dragging him with her.
"See you both!" Jacob yelled, laughing at their retreating forms.
They walked into the literature classroom, and Xavier gawked at the size and busyness of the room. A trolley that looked like it came out of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood tooted happily as it scooted along a track that spanned across the entire room. Plane models hung from the ceiling that had been painted like a sky, clouds pink as if the sun was setting.
And the books. Books were littered across the floor, shoved into bookshelves, spread across windowsills, wildly splayed on a desk up at the front, and even on some chairs in the back.
Feeling slightly overwhelmed, Xavier followed Ella further into what he could only describe as a bookworm's heaven. Ella turned around and, seeing his surprised expression, laughed loudly.
"I just realized this would be a lot for someone who's never seen it!"
"Ellaaaa," a voice behind her groaned as arms wrapped around Ella's waist.
"Ah!" Ella giggled. "That tickles, Raven, I'm never prepared! How are ya?"
The small girl mumbled incoherent words before answering, "I'm tired."
"You know, I wonder why I always think the answer might change one day."
"Mm," was Raven's sole reply. She wrapped her head around Ella's back and, seeing Xavier, squinted at him. "Who...?" she wondered aloud.
"Ah, right, this is Xavier," Ella explained.
"Haha hi..." Xavier laughed awkwardly, waving slightly.
"Hmm," Raven squinted more, a frown on her face as if to say I'll be watching you.
A thud was heard at the front of the classroom. Turning, they heard a quiet, "Oww." A small woman with large circular glasses and wildly wavy, long brown hair entered the room and rubbed her forehead.
"Hiya, Miss Zelda," someone said, giggling a little.
"Miss... Zelda?" Xavier remarked, confused.
"Her real last name is Zeldenhauff, but people thought it was too long. So one time in class, someone called her Miss Zelda, and it stuck on her. She seems to be fine with it," Ella explained.
"Hello, class," Miss Zelda laughed a little. "Little clumsy this morning. I should stop reading books while I'm walking..." She pondered this thought. "Ah, yes! In any case, time for class!" Everyone laughed and took out a book called Crime and Punishment.
"Miss Zelda!" Ella raised her hand as she sat down at her seat.
"Oh, yes, Miss Lockwood, what's wrong?"
"We have a visitor," she announced proudly, dropping her hand.
"Oh my, it seems we do! What is your name?" Miss Zelda asked.
"Xavier Mendell," he responded, scratching the back of his head and smiling shyly.
"I see," she said, clapping her hands together. "Mr. Mendell, do you enjoy books?" she asked excitedly.
Xavier thought for a second. "Every once in a while, yes," he answered, nodding his head.
"Very good!" Miss Zelda responded happily. "You know, youth these days don't have enough exposure to literature. I must admit that in my childhood years I was not much of a reader myself."
People began to laugh, and Xavier heard some people say, "Here she goes."
"But I'll never forget the day my aunt gave me a book and told me I would love it. And I did! And then I realized, if books could be this good, why, I should read all the time! So I savored every book I read, from fiction to non-fiction. School books, to pleasure reads. And-!" Miss Zelda stopped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oops. I tend to go off on tangents, forgive me. Well, Mr. Mendell, grab an extra copy at the back and have a seat if you'd like!"
"Oh, okay," Xavier nodded, somewhat confused after the onslaught of words that had just been thrown at him. He grabbed a small book and scooted a chair next to Ella's desk.
"This class is my favorite," Ella whispered excitedly. "Gets a little getting used to though." She winked. Xavier chuckled and opened his copy to the same page Ella had tabbed in-between her fingers.
"LET US BEGIN!" Miss Zelda exclaimed loudly.
"This should be interesting," he thought to himself.
