Tales of Etheria: Awakening

Chapter Two

The sound of my alarm clock rings in my ears. I feel the noise burrowing into my skull like a knife and I moan as I roll over, trying to find the button to make it stop without opening my eyes. My hand only finds air, and then my nightstand.

The alarm continues screeching, so I open my eyes and find my windup clock has shifted itself to the other side of my nightstand and is about to drop to the floor. I leap out of bed to catch my clock, and smack the button on the top to make it shut up.

I've only been in school for two weeks and I'm already wishing I could stay home instead. The space beneath my eyes aches, and I only want to lie back down in my comfy bed and close them. But I think of Lilly walking down the street and stopping to wait for me. She'd never forgive me if I simply didn't show up.

So I get dressed, fix my hair, eat a fast breakfast then run out the door with my backpack. I meet Lilly and we walk together to school, but I'm tired so I don't say much to her. When we get to school, I drag myself down the stairs into the basement to Mrs. Serey's classroom.

Today, we're learning about stars.

She begins class by asking us what we know about stars, and why the stars are important to learn about. Navigation and cultural history. Duh. But I don't raise my hand to answer because no one else does.

There's a tingly feeling on my cheek, but I don't acknowledge it. Rafi sits at the table parallel to mine, and I know the sensation is from him staring at me. I've been dealing with this for the past two weeks and it hasn't gotten any easier.

"Now, can anyone tell me the name of this star?" Mrs. Serey asks as I tune in to her lecture.

I study the sky map she's pointing to hanging on the classroom wall. It's a map of the summer sky, I can tell by the way the constellations are positioned. I couldn't be able to count how many warm nights I've spent staring up at that summer sky.

Leo Laine raises his hand.

Mrs. Serey nods at him.

Leo clears his throat. "Isn't it Morina?"

I can't help cringing, and before I can stop myself, my hand is raised high in the air.

Mrs. Serey turns to me and gestures with a little point of her finger for me to speak.

"It's Vasilios," I correct. "Named after the great sorcerer." My cheeks are burning as I realize what the rest of the class must think of me. Geek? Witch? Geeky witch?

She smiles, bobbing her head. "Very good, Evana. I wonder, can you tell me where Vasilios can be located in the sky during the winter?"

"The Southern hemisphere, just below Sebastian II." The words flow out of my mouth like a river with no dam, I can't stop it.

Mrs. Serey's eyes are wide with astonishment, if I'm lucky.

There's a loud snapping sound to my right, and when I turn to look, Rafi is clapping his hands together. No one else joins him, he's just clapping by himself, clearly not bothered that everyone's eyes are on him now.

"Way to go, Evie!" He pumps his fist in the air.

My cheeks feel even warmer, and the warmth spreads down my neck and to my whole body until I'm hot with embarrassment. I roll my eyes dramatically so he sees.

Really, no one seems to care that he's obnoxious.

"You've got his attention," Angela says from across the table.

I glance over to her. "What do you mean?"

She shrugs. "We'll see."

Class ends, and I stuff my textbooks back into my book bag. Mrs. Serey comes up to me.