An Insomniac's Guide to Anxiety - Book 1 of the Life is a Disorder Series

Chapter 2 - It's a Conspiracy to Have Me Killed

Silas Carter

After the meeting on schedule changes, the new English teacher made a quick exit. I felt like a weight lifted off my chest as soon as she left. Finn slung his arm over my shoulder. "This year's going to be great, I can just feel it," he sighed.

"You say that every year and it never is," someone commented from his other side. Grace Clark had a pencil behind her ear and a stack of books in her arms.

"And there's our favorite ray of sunshine," Finn muttered, rolling his eyes. Grace shook her head and dropped some books in each of our arms.

"Here, take these for me. They're going to my office," Grace ordered. Finn frowned.

"Why?" I asked. "Aren't these library books?"

Grace sighed. "Not anymore. They have 'inappropriate graffiti' on them." She used air quotes. "I'm taking them before Principal Harding finds out and makes a school wide announcement about respecting library books. Besides, I find it funny."

"You're awe-inspiring," Finn said, winking. "Really, you're doing a stellar job. You must be the best associate principal there ever was."

"Shut it," Grace snapped. "I don't do my job to be the best. I do my job to get paid."

"Obviously," Finn teased. "So, the new English teacher... how do you like her? Wait, what was her name again?"

"Allison Davis," Grace answered. "And I think she needs to not wear sweatpants inside this building."

"Since when do you care about what people wear?" I snorted. Grace shrugged.

"Just don't want her looking like the students. She's short enough to look like one, she doesn't need to dress like them and confuse everyone further."

Finn scoffed. "Okay, sure. I think this associate principal thing is going to your head. You've become a real buzz kill." Grace smacked Finn's arm.

"She made me panic," I admitted. Finn gave me a concerned look but Grace looked disinterested in what I had said.

"What did she do?" Finn questioned. I frowned.

"Nothing," I assured him. "She almost ran into me in the parking lot and I started to panic a little. It wasn't anything serious. Then, I got a little flustered talking to her."

"Yeah, I saw that much," Finn reminded me. "What do you think... I mean..."

"Triggered it?" I prompted, following Grace down the hall. "Again, I don't know. But that's kind of normal anyways. It's usually out of the blue."

"Do you guys want to go get a milkshake?" Grace asked, unlocking her office for us.

Finn pretended to pout. "We've got the tracks, remember?"

"Right, I meant get milkshakes for the tracks," Grace said, not a trace of guilt in her voice.

Some science teachers walked by just then, the majority of them with white hair and smug looks on their faces. "You'd think they'd just won a Nobel prize," Grace muttered with disdain.

"For what? Being pompous assholes?" Finn joked. I laughed.

"I hate the science department," Grace groaned.

"That's only because every time you walk into a lab, something explodes," I teased. Grace glared at me.

"It's a conspiracy to have me killed, I swear," she said with murder in her eyes.

Finn stared after the retreating science teachers. "We have to claim the new English teacher before she gets corrupted."

"Jesus, she's not an object," Grace snapped