The Prodigies [First Draft]

Twenty Three

When Kenny walked into her sixth-period classroom, there was an unfamiliar woman sitting at Mrs. Page's desk. The young girl nearly jumped when she saw her, as she had not realized how comfortable she'd gotten with her therapist until someone else took her place. She stood by the door, fidgeting with her ID card until the woman finally noticed Kendall had arrived.

The woman owned fair hair and light eyes that reminded Kenny of Gene's in their color. However, while Gene's calculating expression made him always seem cold and unfeeling, the woman's own facial details caused her to appear gentle and tired. She was similar to Miss Kaylee in this way.

"Hello!" the woman called from her desk. "I'm sorry, but Mrs. Page has fallen ill. I would have you stay here with me for the time being, but I have to go to the Main Office. You usually meet with her during my planning and prep period, which is why I'm not here when you two are together."

Kenny stood silently in the doorway, thinking. She pulled out her cards and found one that read, I'm going to the library. She showed it to the woman, who nodded and smiled at the young girl.

"Alrighty then! I'm sure you've been there before if you know where it is. Most students don't acknowledge our library, so Miss Gavin will be pleased to have you. In fact, I'll walk you there so you don't manage to get yourself into any trouble."

The woman laughed, and Kenny tried not to flinch as she thought about all of the trouble she had gotten into already.

The woman (whose name the young girl still did not know) fetched a file similar to the ones that sat like rocks in Kenny's backpack and closed the door to her room. Kenny then led her to the library, for it seemed that the teacher did not know where she was going. Like the students she spoke of earlier, she knew the library was there, but she didn't acknowledge it. Not even the librarian herself fully appreciated the room, as when Kenny stepped into the media center, Miss Gavin was gone. The young girl turned back around to find that the woman who had walked her there was gone as well.

Which meant Kenny would be alone for the next fifty minutes.

Kenny was used to being by herself; she had always preferred it to being flocked by people like she constantly was at AGC. However, being alone gave the young girl time to do the one thing she didn't want to do: think. She set her backpack down and wandered aimlessly around the library, thinking.

First, her thoughts fell on her family members. She remembered how they would always spend time with her and tried to push away the grief that came with these memories. In order to keep herself from becoming too miserable, she quickly began to think about Fins and Tellie. She had watched the other F groupers throughout the day and noted that their serene demeanors fell and they began to act normal again approximately two hours after waking up. She had also noticed that today, both the F groupers and the E groupers were acting oddly.

That worried her. Was there an illness that was spreading? Was that why Mrs. Page was absent? Had she gotten sick? Had she infected Kenny? Could Kenny unknowingly have the illness?

The young girl decided it was time to stop thinking and turn her attention to something else.

Kenny walked back to the place she had set her backpack. She knew she could return the files now, and no one would notice that she had gone. However, a feeling overtook Kenny, the worst of all feelings that brings nothing but more trouble than needed— curiosity.

And because Kenny was feeling so curious, she opened her backpack and brought out the files.

Anxiously, the young girl sat down and pushed the sides of the folders until the files were aligned in one stack. She took a nervous breath, telling herself that she would only take a quick peek at the contents of the manila folders before returning them. When she finally felt she was ready enough (for she could never be fully prepared), she opened the file on top of the stack.