For Everything

The Lyone of Blackburg Elementary

The day I walked into Blackburg Elementary School, I sold my soul to the devil. The devil who was disguised as a lion, a lion who took the form of a girl, a girl who went by the name of Felicity Lyone. That day I went straight to the attendance office (which is different than the principal's office) and told the short squat woman behind the counter that I was new. 

"I can smell it on you," the lady replied in a rough low voice.

"Excuse me?" I said in a voice as politely as I could.

"You don't smell like fish," the woman responded. Realizing I wasn't going to catch on, the woman peered at me through her half moon glasses and continued, "Everyone in this blasted town smells like fish, it's impossible to not smell like it. You don't have that stench, but don't worry hon, it'll catch on soon enough. Heh heh," the woman's laugh was low and scratchy, as if she were coughing up a hairball instead of laughing. "What grade are you in hon?" she asked.

"Eight- eighth grade," I stuttered.

"And what is your gender?" she asked as if that was a perfectly normal question to ask someone who is obviously a boy.

"Um," I stammer, "A boy?"

"Was that a question? Are you unsure?" the woman pestered.

"No, no. That was not a question. I am definitely a boy," I say sheepishly.

"What is your name hon?"

"Hunter ThorneBerry," I respond.

"Ok, Hunter ThornBush, how old are you?"

"Um, actually it's ThorneBerry, not bush," I correct.

"Do not correct me young man!" the woman bellows. She rises out of her chair and stands over me, breathing in my face. Her breath smells like a thousand dead corpses, a.k.a. fish. She was right. "Do not correct me," she repeats, this time softer. The woman sits back down and asks me again how old I am. The entire office does not look up from their desks, as if this is an everyday norm. "Young man, I'll ask you one more time," the woman repeats, "How old are you?"

"Oh, um, I'm sorry," I manage, still stunned from already being yelled at, "I'm fifteen years old."

"Good, now Mr. ThornBug, here is your locker number and combination," she says handing me a piece of paper, and then practically throws a grey nylon backpack at me. I catch it, not knowing it's full of books, and accidentally let go of the strap. The backpack unzips and all my binders, books, and sheets of paper fly everywhere across the office floor. "Oh look what you did now, putz," the woman scolds me. I begin to get on the ground and clean everything up, trying my best to get everything and shove it into my bag. "Hurry up ThorneBranch," the lady shrieks, "Oh well, Miss Lyone! Miss Lyone, get out here at once!" Almost immediately, a girl marches out of one of the many doors of the office. She's a tall girl, pale and freckled. She has deep, piercing blue eyes and scarlet red hair that seems to shimmer. Her fingernails are some sort of maroon or burgundy, I don't know. She wore a grey shirt that flowed with her every movement and short cut jean shorts, which I don't know how she can stand to wear such a thing, due to the constant overcast weather and sun never shining. On her feet were a pair of grey high top converse. 

"What do you want now?" the girl whines. 

The short woman points to me, still cleaning up my mess, "Help this putz clean up his books and escort him to his locker followed by his current class, and don't be late." The girl's head jerked to meet my gaze, and she smiled. Her teeth were perfect, flawless, and blinding. 

She giggled a little followed by a, "He's a putz, huh?"

"Uh huh, now hurry up and get out of my office," the short woman says.

The girl's eyes seem to laugh and say, "You're new. I like new. I'm going to have so much fun with you." I shuddered at the thought of who this girl might be. She bends down and helps me scoop the rest of my stuff back into my backpack. I zip it up and sling it over my shoulder. "Let's go," the girl says, grabbing an identical grey backpack and shoving me out the door. "You're new," she says once we're out of the office and walking down a hallway.

"Yeah, I just moved here a week ago," I say.

"Why?" the girl says, "You must be really desperate to have moved to Blackburg. No one comes here, ever."

"My parents thought it would be fun to try something new, so we moved here."

"That sucks, I've always wanted to leave Blackburg. Even quitting the school would be satisfying enough."

"Why? The school seems like a nice place," I say, trying to be positive.

"This is not a school. This is a prison. I hate it here, someday I want to watch it burn to the ground." The girl looks at me for a second, then just starts laughing. "Dude," she gasps, "I'm just kidding, ease up." 

"Oh, haha," I say nervously. I didn't know a lot about Felicity Lyone then, including the fact that one "just kidding" wouldn't even come close to the last, and it also was Felicity's way of saying stuff she really meant without making others uncomfortable. So in fact, Felicity really did want to see the school burn to the ground, and someday she would. 

"I'm Felicity by the way," she says, reaching out a hand. I shake it.

"I'm Hunter," I respond.

Felicity giggles again, "I like you Hunter. Do you know why?" I shake my head. "I like you because you haven't learned the ways of Blackburg yet. You're a blank slate, and I get to teach you, because I called you first. Plus you're cute." My face turns red, like hot red. Felicity notices and laughs again. "Ease up dude, not many people get to be my personal protege. You'll thank me later." I nod my head, not knowing what to say. Felicity giggles yet another time, "You're funny Hunter. We're going to be such good friends." With that Felicity links her arm through mine and we stroll down the hallway. I have to admit, Felicity was cute, and I could tell I already liked her. I also have to admit that day as Felicity claimed me as hers, I succumbed to her. I gave myself to Felicity, so she could do with me whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. That day I sold my soul to the devil. The devil disguised as a lion. A lion who took the form of a girl. A girl who went by the title of The Lyone of Blackburg Elementary.