The Institute- Dust darkened

Chapter 4: Straight A's

The next morning I’m late once again. I rush into the classroom, just as the teacher is busy giving out the exam papers. “That is it, Miss Montgomery! I am calling your mother today, and you are going to write a thousand word essay on why you shouldn’t always come late.” At that moment Jordan walks in.

“Miss Kieke?” He interrupts, giving her a charming smile. “Mr. Landon needs to speak to you in the principal’s office about some complaints that multiple parents have mailed to the school.” Mrs. Kieke turns bright red and clears her throat.

“Oh… well.. I’m in the middle of an exam, I…” Jordan smiles.

“I could supervise the students while you are away, Madam.” He says. I’m sure he will never get away with that- he can hardly be any older than we all are and he’s a student at this school. But Mrs. Kieke just smiles at him weakly and nods.

“Yes, yes, Mr. Stargazer. I guess that would be best since the other teachers are occupied and…. I’ll be right back. I’ll trust you with them. You as the partial owner should be trustworthy, right.” She clears her throat and leaves the room. Jordan grins and sits in the chair at the front of the class, kicking his feet up onto the desk.

“Pens and papers on the desk, pack everything else away and then you may begin.” He looks as if he’s having a lot of fun. I bite my lip and stare at him. What is he doing here? He gets up and paces through the classroom. When he arrives at my desk he pauses and looks around. My classmates are all hypnotized by their papers and their heads are basically glued to their tables. My desk is right at the back of the classroom, and that way nobody, not even Carter, notices when Jordan leans down and picks up my paper. I stare at him with wide eyes and try to take it back, but before I can make a sound loud enough for my classmates to hear another sheet of paper appears on my desk. Jordan slips the empty page into his jacket pocket and gestures towards the test paper. I look down at a sheet covered in neat, swirly handwriting. My handwriting. The writing covering the sheet looks so much like my own it’s even hard for me to tell the difference. I look up at Jordan and he grins, then leans down, very close to me. I shudder as his breath streaks across my cheek. “I think I did a pretty good job. Don’t you?” He says. I can hear the smile in his voice. “Don’t you wish getting straight A-marks was always this easy?” He straightens and walks back to his desk, leaving me shivering in my seat.