More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter Four

Lunch passed quickly once Hayden left. After lunch was history II, and I had that class with Nathan, Garrett, and my original guide Jordan. The teacher, Mr. Ern, was just as boring as he sounded. Funnily enough, a homophone to his surname was urn, and that's where just about all of his students wanted to be.

Luckily, the next period was the final period of the day. For a bonus, it was advanced art, the subject I had been anticipating all day.

I hoisted my bag straps over my shoulders and waited impatiently for the bell. Garrett, my guide for my final period, lazily sauntered to my seat.

"Hey. I don't think we've gotten the chance to properly introduce ourselves. I'm Garrett."

"I'm Veronica. I heard you're my guide for final period. Is that right?"

Garrett wiggled his eyebrows. "So, you've heard about me, huh? I guess I'm all the rage with the ladies, especially now that Mr. Gladwell over there is taken."

I laughed at how overconfident he seemed. "I'm assuming Nathan is with Reece, right?"

Garrett nodded. "It's almost their one year anniversary, actually."

"That's great. So, is the art teacher any good?'

He shrugged. "I don't know. Never had her before, but I heard she's alright. We'll see, I guess."

Finally, the bell rang. Garrett lead the way to my next class, which wasn't too far. He sat down in the center of the class, and told me to sit beside him. I chose to sit on his left, against the windows.

"I believe that everyone is here, so I'll begin attendance," the teacher announced.

As she went down the list, I took in her appearance. She seemed to be middle aged, maybe early forties. She had very curly dark brown hair scraped into a messy bun, and bright blue eyes. Freckles covered her face and arms.

"Hayden Dennis?" she called, peaking my attention. "No? Didn't think so," she muttered, laughing to herself.

A few people down the list, my name was called.

"Here!" I responded.

The teacher caught my gaze. "Ah, the new student. If I'm remembering correctly, you're the one with tetrachromacy and a fabulous history with art, yes?"

I nodded.

"Well, nice to meet you, Veronica. My name is Mrs. Smith."

"Nice to meet you, too."

Just then, the door swung open and the almighty Hayden Dennis strolled into class over five minutes late.

Mrs. Smith narrowed her eyes at him. "Find a seat!" she barked.

My eyes widened. What a personality change!

Hayden chuckled and seated himself in the seat in front of me, the only empty spot in the room.

I alternated my gaze from the back of his head to Mrs. Smith's angry expression. When she saw my shocked look, she laughed.

"Oh, I was just teasing him, kids. He's my nephew!"

Everyone mumbled their understandings.

"Well, class, let me introduce myself a bit more. As you know, I'm Mrs. Smith. None of my assignments will be too harsh, and no homework will be given. Now, let's go around the room. When it's your turn, say your first and last name and something that nobody knows about you."

Oh boy. Suddenly, the jittery part of my brain set to overdrive. What was something that nobody knew, that wasn't boring, yet I was conformable sharing with a class of twenty peers? Could I tell them about the time my parents and I traveled to Germany for scientific research? Or the time that a military commander requested to video chat with me for an interview? Probably not....