Narcissus

Chapter Two

The woman whipped around to glare at me, and I immediately found myself paralysed. Her eyes were unremarkable, appearing a cool grey although due to the distance I could not have been sure, the sheer coldness radiating from them kept me captivated irrespective of the space between us. They were frosty and indifferent, void of emotion, but reached inside of me with deathly hands, gripping my heart and squeezing it tight. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe.

Her arms were folded against a blazer, white blouse and black skirt. She looked around thirty-something years old. A guarded face gave me a once over, nose wrinkling at my baggy joggers. Her hair was a light, soft blonde shade pulled back in a neat but unrestrictive bun. The woman's eyes were not gentle, however, they held a certain cognisance, as if they saw what they were really looking at.

"Nice of you to join us, Miss..."

"Slater. Emma Slater."

"Miss Slater, may I ask why you are late?" The woman inquired, her voice low and gravelly, the auditory equivalent of whiskey mixed with honey and touched by smoke.

"Lift broke," I mumbled, lifting my sketchbook out of my bag to place it on the table beside Kendra. My eyes met Finn's across the classroom. She didn't sit with us anymore: Kendra had kicked up a fuss. Leaning back ever so slightly so that Kendra couldn't see my face, I mouthed 'Sorry' to Finn, and she simply responded with a sad smile.

The new teacher, Mrs Elderflower, continued with what she had been saying before, a boring speech about our exams, coursework deadlines and a bunch of other stuff I didn't care about (although I knew I probably should). Before I knew it, my head was resting on my arms and my eyes had fluttered shut. I hadn't managed to fall asleep, but I was still in a daze as someone obnoxiously cleared their throat behind me.

"Miss Slater. Please stand outside."

Sliding out of my seat, I didn't protest as I trudged towards the door and entered the dark, stuffy hallway. A bratty little Year Seven stood in the hallway as the door opposite the one I had just come through opened.

"You can come back inside now, Andrew." said a tall, young, curvy blonde woman. The boy left, but Mrs Banks spotted me and walked to the end of the corridor. She smirked, "Seriously, Emma? Your first lesson with the new teacher," Mrs Banks glanced at her watch, "and twenty minutes in you're already sent out."

"All I did was fall asleep," shrugging, I leant against the wall. A concerned look replaced the smirk as she frowned.

"Emma... is everything okay?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "I'm fine. Just tired."

"Okay," Mrs Banks stepped forward, her eyes flickering to my lips in an odd way that made me rather uncomfortable, "I'm only looking out for you Emma, you know that. We go a long way back, don't we," With a smile, she placed an awkward hand on my shoulder and I laughed it off.

"Yeah, good memories of me borderline bullying you back in Year Eight!"

"Any memory with you is a good memory." Mrs Banks said softly, and I frowned, ready to ask what she meant.

"Ahem," Mrs Elderflower cleared her throat, her voice appearing somewhere behind me, and Mrs Banks flushed scarlet as if she had just been caught doing something entirely inappropriate.

"I, um," Mrs Banks stuttered, "I have to get back to my class, you know what Year Seven's are like. I wouldn't be surprised if I went back in there and they'd set the place on fire!"

That brought a smile to my face. "Yeah, good luck with that. Have fun."

"Will do. See you later, Emma," Mrs Banks nodded at the woman standing behind me before leaving to go back to her classroom. The door to her class opened and broke the awkward silence as I was engulfed in screams and a scene of utter devastation. Then it closed behind her and silence enveloped Mrs Elderflower and I like a blanket of ice.