Hell School

Chapter Three

"Back to what I was saying," she said, eyes rolling so far back that I could see nothing but the whites of them, "we'll be starting with the basics: cell dissection!"
" Wait, " I think to myself, " I couldn't have been the only one to see that. Whatever. I guess I'd better get back to listening to her talk. "
" Okay, everybody," she says heavily, followed by a dramatic, heaving sigh. "I hope everybody understands this assignment. Get with your lab partners. NOW!"
"Partners?!" I say in a high-pitched voice. I realize too late that I thought out loud! I clap my hands over my mouth, turning as red as a tomato. "Why is nobody looking at me?" I wonder to myself. Then I see it. Somebody is looking at me.
The teacher is now striding over to me. My heart is pounding in my throat.
"Is there a problem Christine?" she says, the shrill way she pronounced her words rattling around like shards of glass bouncing off steel in my head.
"Not a big one, but there is," I reply, my voice shaking so much I could swear she sees my throat moving. "Um," I squeak, "If you don't mind me asking, what's your name? I-I don't think you've ever mentioned it."
She smiled at this, which took me by complete surprise.
"My name is Ms. Anderson, and I did mention it." she replies, forcing her face into an even tighter, more uncomfortable looking smile. "Now, sweetie," she says, manifesting her voice to go abnormally high-pitched.
"What was your problem?" At this, she smiles an even wider grin.
I zone out again, this time focusing on her mouth.
"Wait. Does she...does she have more than one row of teeth?" I worry to myself. " This girl can't be human. No way."
She kneels down next to me and gets so close that I can feel the hot breath coming out of her nostrils.
"You're right, sweetie," she hisses, "Indeed I'm not."
I swear I didn't mean for my mouth to drop open, but it did. I mean, my substitute teacher just read my thoughts and answered them. But wait. She didn't just answer them out loud. She answered them in her head.