Crown Sword

Chapter 1

     Finally! The bell just rang and now school's officially out for the summer. It's not that I hated school, I just hated balancing school with work at home. Both were hard enough on their own anyway.

     "From here on, you are now officially high school seniors, start acting like it!" My English teacher Mrs. Barnes called out as students rushed out of the class. From all of my teachers I actually like Mrs. Barnes. Push aside her sarcastic nature and she genuinely cared for her students. There were many times she asked me to wait outside the classroom so she could have a conversation with me about my mental health. They always ended up with me assuring her I was fine of course, it's not like I would tell her what was really going on.

    "Jane!" she called me out just as I was about to reach the doorway. "Could you help me with these bags? Sorry dear, I know you have somewhere to be on the last day of school but I could really use some help. You wouldn't mind would you?"

    "No, it's fine," I reached over to grab the bag she handed me.

     "Thanks honey," she turned off the lights and locked the door as we walked into the hallway.

     "Are you excited about next year? I know you don't enjoy school much, but it'll be your last year with us," she chuckled as we walked down the hallway.

     "Eh, what another year to me? I've already survived many," I joked.

     "That's the spirit. How's your sister doing? You know she failed my class this semester, she's going to have to be here for summer school."

     "She's not my sister," I grumbled under my breath.

    "Pardon?" she asked.

     "Oh, I was just saying, I'm not surprised. She's just too busy going to parties and hooking up with boys to be interested in school. And for crying out loud, it's regular English not even AP. How hard can it be to pass?"

     "You could help her you know, instead of criticizing her the way you do. You are a straight A, AP student. How hard could it be to tutor someone else?" she spun my words back at me.

     "As if she'd ever accept my help. And it doesn't matter anyway, I wouldn't help her if someone paid me."

     Mrs. Barnes peered over at me through her glasses and shook her head, chuckling. "You know for a nonconformist such as yourself, you certainly play into that stereotype of being a fiery strong tempered redheaded girl."

     We had started across the parking lot to her car. "What makes you say that?"

    "Well for starters, the amount of times you've gotten into fights at school and arguments with teachers."

      I shrugged. "Have you seen the kids here? They are so annoying and ignorant it's unbelievable. They're all sheep. The fights happen because they expect me to act in their standard way, and when I don't, well... As for the teachers, I have to call them out on the misinformation they give out. I study too hard for them to be making mistakes when they're teaching." I help her load her bags in the trunk.

     "Also, as your teacher, I've read your writing." She closed her trunk. "Honey, you're so angry. I will do you the courtesy and not question it, but you really do need to see someone. I can tell that you are going through so many things, but you are the kind of person that just shuts everyone out and bottles up your emotions. It's not good for you, hon." She looked at me with a sad expression on her face.

     "Alright, bye Mrs. Barnes," I started to walk away from the car. "I'll see you next year." I wasn't about to get into another conversation about this with her. She didn't know anything about me and she tried acting like she did.