The Twilight Line

Chapter 3 Revenge

King’s Academy April 18, 2786 8:06 a.m.

Mahria is nice enough to show me to the office, but then she disappears leaving me to the mercy of the woman behind the desk. “Here we are, Lady Hostetler. You have trigonometry first period.” I groan internally, “Give me one moment to call a student government member to show you around.” She types furiously, “I think Sierra will be a good match. She’s such a sweet girl.” My face grows weary from the fake smile plastered across it, “That sounds great ma’am.” The woman is  chipper.

A few minutes pass and a perky brunette girl walks in the room, “You called for me Mrs. Penny?” She reeks of popularity, and I have to stifle another groan. “Yes dear, this is a new student. Her name is Laney. Could you be a doll and show her around? Her first period is trigonometry with Mr. Stalley.”  Mrs. Penny beams at Sierra. Teacher’s pet… great. I watch in disgust as the two chit chat a little while longer. “Well, I suppose I’d better get Laney to her class. She’s already late as it is. I’ll see you later Mrs. Penny.”

I mentally let out a sigh of relief as we finally leave the office and the presence of the chipper pencil pusher. “I thought she’d never shut up…” I’m surprised as her attitude the attitude of this seemingly perfect girl does a complete one-eighty. “I’m sorry that took so long. Being nice to her helps when I skip classes.”

I’m dumbfounded, “So, you’re not some goody-two-shoes teacher’s pet? ‘Cause you played it up pretty good in there.”

“If you’re smart you’ll learn quickly to be the ‘perfect pupil’ and kiss ass.” I’m not sure if I should hate this chick or like her. For now I decide to like her. “So, this Mr. Stalley, any tips for his class.”

“Yeah, sit in the back and stay quiet unless you’re some kind of math whiz. He’s tough on the dummies.” Great, another stereotypical math teacher. I’ve always been horrible at math. This would probably be a good time to learn how to be invisible. “Thanks, so will I see you after class?” She nods and pops a piece of candy in her mouth, “It’s my job to take you to all your classes today. So just wait out here when the bell rings and I’ll swing by and get you.” She crunches her candy and opens the door, “Mr. Stalley, sorry to interrupt. You have a new student.” In a split second her alter ego returns. The man nods and I walk in. Butterflies fill my stomach. Pull yourself together Laney! I stand there waiting for someone to say something. “Well, introduce yourself.” He waves his hand impatiently. “Um… Hi, I’m Laney.” Sierra gives me a thumbs up and Mr. Stalley waves his hand towards a seat. Thankfully, there is a seat available in the very back of the room.

Without hesitation I sit and look at the board. I dutifully take notes, but I don’t understand anything he’s talking about. When the bell finally rings my head is aching. Sierra is there in no time, “So how was it?” I grimace. She laughs, “So not a math geek then. Well looks like next is Literature with Ms. Hall.” My face lights up. Now there’s a subject I can handle. “English? Really? That’s you’re subject?”

“How’d you figure that out?” She rolls her eyes, “You went from miserable to ecstatic in seconds.” I really have to work on not being so easy to read.

“Well, I use books to escape when things get difficult. I guess you could say it’s my coping mechanism.” Curiosity flitters across her face but disappears just as quickly. We arrive at the class room just in time. Ms. Hall is young and bright. She assigns me a seat without making me introduce myself. I’m relieved since I’m really not good at talking in front of people. We study one of my favorite classics, Macbeth, and I enjoy the class immensely.

At the end of class I start gathering my stuff together to meet Sierra. That’s when I notice him. A boy with long dark hair is staring at me from the back of the room. His eyes are shadowed by his bangs so I can’t tell if they are blue or green. Instead of turning away he just continues glaring. I’m about to ask him what his problem is when Sierra taps my shoulder, “You ready?” I nod, and grab my bag. When I look back he is gone.