Inhibition

Chapter 5

Cat was bored. A bored Cat was a dangerous Cat. Already, five people had felt pricks on their neck. Three people had glanced around as if they had been touched. And one misfortunate soul had been smacked upside the head, and totally spazzed out, looking like an idiot.

Cat might have, kinda sorta had something to do with it. May-be. May-be not.

When she went to do it again, something smacked her upside the head. She turned to see Mr. Collins strolling down the aisles, whistling. Point taken; don’t screw with your fellow classmates. However much fun it might be.

She merely stuck her tongue out at him, rubbing the back of her head. Walt, on her left, coughed really loudly and awkwardly. Trying to cover something up?

“Are you okay?” Cat asked, worried. “Do you need some water?”

Walt just stared at her like she was a hopeless invalid. Which she kind of was. Sometimes . . .  okay, most of the time. Moving on!

And then came distraction. She just had to waltz right into Cat’s calm, albeit boring, life, to shift some dirt around, kick up some trouble, and stir the pot. She wasn’t even subtle about it.

I mean really, Cat thought, if you’re going to make an entrance, avoid the bright lights and cliché music.

And that is exactly what happened.

Mr. Collins was talking (something about unicorns? Tricorns, maybe?) and a soft light started to come in through the window. Usually, that would be ignored. But it was raining outside, really pouring. The sky was a roiling mess of clouds at war, spilling their life blood as rain. Also, the windows were all shut and the blinds were down. So a little, soft light was concerning.

That little, soft light, gradually increased to a medium bright light, before going crazy. It faded to nonexistence briefly before sharply becoming so bright it caused the students to all turn away and cover their eyes.

Only Mr. Collins continued to look out the window, and the expression on his face was more disturbing than anything, even the crazy light. Mr. Collins, always so nice and jovial, a smile permanently fixed to his face, wasn’t smiling. The expression on his face was nothing less than solemn. It drained his features, the lack of smile adding ten years to his face, the tensing of his eyes and mouth adding another ten.

Another explosion of light rocked the room, distracting Cat from Mr. Collins face and the epiphany on the tip of her mind.

“Everyone, please head outside. It’s ridiculous to think that I would be able to teach in this. Go! Investigate! Leave this house of knowledge to satisfy your short attention spans!” Mr. Collins shooed them all out the door, before following himself.

They were only a few classrooms on the winding staircase below Mr. Collins’ room, so it didn’t take long for them to get outside. It was even stranger outside. The clouds were still roiling, but long, bright rays of light shot randomly through them, piercing the body of the sky and rocketing to earth. A patch of earth would light up, before the clouds rolled over the light, extinguishing it with a vengeance.

Strangely, there was little noise. There was still the sound of heavy rainfall, and all of the children were being drenched with rain as they stood outside, their feet sinking into the muddy ground beneath them. There was the sound of footfalls, and heavy breathing, as people rushed outside. But soon even that stopped. All who were coming outside were now outside.

That was when the music started. A faint, soft sound at first. The sound of sweet instruments gracefully playing their song. People looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. They craned their necks to peer around them, and over other students. They looked beneath their feet. Only Cat looked up. Her blond hair was whipping around, stinging against her cheeks, but she looked up.

There! A parting in the clouds. Bright golden light spilled out, like blood from a wound. And in that light, bathed and enveloped by it, was a man. He was probably one of the most beautiful men Cat had ever seen. His long, white blonde hair was a curly, unruly halo around his head. He was tan, like he spent every waking moment he could outside.

His eyes were a piercing green, like emeralds, but not as deep. Cat couldn’t accurately describe it. She wasn’t being reflected off of those eyes, but she certainly wasn’t falling into them.

He wore an impeccable white suit, complete with white shoes, shirt, pants, jacket and tie. A gold earring glinted in his ear as the wind blew his hair. The wind touched him, but the rain did not. His golden bubble of light protected him.

He flew down just like that, the angelic hymn in the air gradually getting louder the closer he got to the ground. When he finally reached the ground, when his foot first touched the earth, the music stopped. Completely. Silence reigned.

“Really? What are we, Mr. Dramatic? Hotness and cool effects do not make up for being so cliché and tacky.” Cat just couldn’t help herself.

Again, people turned to look at Cat like she was stupid. Mr. Dramatic looked really pissed for a moment, a dark cloud passing over his angelic features before he smoothed it away. He ignored her and turned to the crowd. But that one dark look was enough to send a chill down Cat’s spin.

Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t good news.