The Legend Of The Six

Chapter 6

I walk into the school building feeling numb. I couldn't get away fast enough this morning, couldn't fight back hard enough, and I have the bruises to show it. I'm wearing a baseball hat to hide my face, and my jacket and jeans are hiding the rest. I head to my locker and enter the combination: 4937.

"Raven?" Rowan's soft voice fills my ears. It's like being wrapped in a huge, warm marshmallow. I shake it off and ignore him. I don't have the patience for this today. I don't have the strength.

"Hey, what's up?" I hear Claire ask hesitantly.

I don't care to respond as I shut my locker and sling my book-bag back over  my shoulder.

"What's up?" Nick's voice says.

"Hey guys!" Penelope's sweet voice fills my ears.

"Hey," says Jack who comes up behind her.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said to you. I was just-" Rowan starts.

"It's fine," I say automatically. I start walking toward class and they follow behind me. We get intercepted by the principal.

"You six, you're going to need to come with me. It seems you've been selected for the SCE Program: Special Circumstances Education Program. You'll be taken out of regular class and put in a classroom with a new teacher, one that's fit to teach you better. You'll learn all the same subjects, but new ones will be added as well. I'll give you a packet about it later that your parents will need to sign," he says. I'm shocked into silence. A special program? This can't be good. All six of us look at each other, confusion written on our faces plain as day.

"Who's this new teacher gonna be?" I ask hesitantly.

"You'll meet her when you come with me," he says, clearly irritated. Huh, so it's a woman. We follow him to small classroom at the end of the hall. He opens the door and heads straight in, not bothering to knock or do anything polite like that. No, because that would be absolutely absurd! I almost snort out loud as I walk in last. When you just stand in the doorway, the room looks like a rectangle. In the middle are just six chairs, two in each row facing toward the right side. On that side is a desk facing the chairs. Behind it is a whiteboard with the name Mrs. Thorne written on it. Wait.......

My heart stops beating in my chest as I get a look at the new teacher. I see her, sitting down in her desk chair. She's wearing sandals, a long red flower-decorated skirt, a black tank-top, and a jean jacket. Her sleek auburn hair is up in a bun, and she smiles kindly at us.

"I believe you can take it from here, Mrs. Thorne? " Mr. Adams asks. Without waiting for a response, he pushes past me and waves goodbye to the teacher. Mrs. Thorne stands up from her chair and waves back, then turns to look at me. Her violet eyes capture mine, so familiar, and I can't look away.

"Amelia Thorne? The leader of the six?" I ask numbly.