United

State of Innocence

On Monday evening, Mrs. Leith told us there was going to be a last-minute study session for the students in her religion core class before the next day's midterm. And since I had already missed a full month of the class, I thought it would be a really good idea to not miss classes this time.

Mrs. Leith gently pulled me aside the other day to discuss how far behind I was in the writing of my family tree paper. I had to feign astonished gratitude when she walked me through an hour’s worth of database instructions yet again. I felt a little ashamed, but playing dumb was far superior to admitting I’d been too busy obsessing over a certain male classmate to devote any time to my research. 

“As you all remember from your reading of Paradise Lost last year, when God gave his angels their own will,” Mrs. Leith said, breathing into the microphone clipped to her ivory lapel and flapping her thin fingers like a perfect angel’s wings, “there was one who crossed the line.” Her voice dropped dramatically, and I watched as she twisted up her index fingers so the angel’s wings transformed into devil’s horns.

Behind me, someone muttered, “Big deal, that’s the oldest trick in the book.” Maybe it was because I hadn’t had a religious upbringing like the rest of them, or maybe it was because I felt sorry for Mrs. Leith, but I felt a growing urge to turn around and shush the hecklers.

Once it was dinner time, instead of going to the cafeteria the students and I stayed on our seats as Mrs. Leith informed us that if we were attending the study session our meal would be served in the classroom where the session was being held, to save time.

One of the cafeteria ladies entered the room with a cart full of sandwiches that, to be honest, didn't look very tasteful. I saw as Stella and the other students grabbed them and began to eat. I was really hungry, so it was that or starve to death. I was about to grabbed one when Jasper shouldered up net to me.

"Eat some." He said opening his hand where there was some fresh figs. "I don't want you to get intoxicated with one of those." He pointing with his chin at the cart full of sandwiches.

I smiled at him. He was always so thoughful. I raised my hand to grabbed some.

“Don’t eat those.” Celine had swooped in, lifting the figs out of my fingers and tossing them in the trash. She’d interrupted yet another private conversation and replaced the empty space in my palm with a handful of peanut MM’s from a vending machine sack. 

"What's your problem, Celine?" I said, not understanding why she always interrupted us and acted like that.

“She’s right, Elena.” Colleen had appeared, glowering at Jasper. “Who knows what he drugged these with?”

I looked at them confused. They were joking, right? Yet I didn't see any of them smiling. I didn't say anything and slipped the MM's into my pocket just as Mrs. Leith called the students to take their seats.

Mrs. Leith had only gotten from the Dawn of Creation to the war in Heaven after a few hours in there. They weren’t even at Adam and Eve. The MM's that Celine gave me didn't cease my hunger. I needed to get some food.

“And do we all know who the wicked angel was who battled God?” Mrs. Leith asked, like she was reading a picture book to a bunch of children at the library. 

“Anyone?” She asked again.

“Seth!” Colleen hooted under her breath.

“That’s right,” Mrs. Leith said, head bobbing in a saintly nod. She was just left of hard of hearing. “We call him Satan now, but over the years he’s worked under many guises: Mephistopheles, or Belial, even Lucifer to some.”