Darkness Falls

Chapter 20 - English Lesson

When the French lesson finished, Skittle checked her timetable to see what lesson she had next. She had English. She saw all the other children coming out of the classroom. They seemed to know where they were going, so she followed them. They came to a stop outside a big door.
"Mr Winter's English Class." Skittle read.
Then someone walked up to the classroom. It was a man with jet black hair and blue eyes, and Skittle assumed he was Mr Winter.
He opened the door and everyone ran into the classroom.
"Sit wherever you want, class." he told them.
Skittle didn't have anywhere she would particularly want to it, so she just randomly sat on the nearest chair. When all the tables had been filled up, she noticed something. She was the only girl on her table! The other children sat around her were all boys, and very silly ones as well. They were laughing at some rude joke one of them had said.
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Mr Winter, and I will be your English teacher for the rest of the year." the man announced.
The boys on Skittle's table were still being silly. Skittle sighed. She used to love English back in primary school, mainly because it was the only thing that she was good at. She found it strange that back in her old school, everyone admired her stories and loved her when she read them out in class, but in the playground nobody would bother with her.
"I'm doing the register now." Mr Winter said, then called out everyone's names.
Skittle was first on the register, as her surname was Aradito.
"Skittle?" Mr Winter called out.
"Here, sir." Skittle replied.
The register went on until everyone had been marked in, then Mr Winter said that he was going to be giving everyone their levels in English.
"I'll go through the register and give you all your levels." he said.
Skittle was feeling a bit excited. She knew she was the best at English. She got really high marks in the tests she did at her old school, so she just knew she'd get high marks here too.
'Skittle, you are a Level 5." Mr Winter told her.
Skittle's face fell. A Level 5? Was that all? She knew that a Level 5 was above average for someone her age, but still! She thought she'd get better than that!
"Emma, you are a Level 7!" Mr Winter said to a girl with long brown hair and small black glasses.
Skittle gasped. A girl her own age with a Level 7? That was almost impossible, unless you were some kind of child genius.
The girl named Emma gasped too and did a little squeal. Then she turned round to Skittle and stuck her tongue out.
Skittle stuck her tongue out back. She was outraged, and she wasn't just jealous. She had worked really hard for years to get that level, and Emma didn't look as if she had done a thing.
Mr Winter kept on going through the register until everyone had got their levels.
Emma glared at Skittle, then flipped her hair and faced the front again.
"Right, everyone. We're going to be answering some comprehension questions today in our books." Mr Winter said.
Skittle's eyes lit up. She loved comprehension questions at her primary school, and she had had a lot of practice. When she got her new book and a comprehension sheet, she got on with it straight away. She wrote quickly in her neat handwriting with her favourite ink pen, and completed all of the questions.
Mr Winter spotted that she had finished, and went over to check her book.
"You have beautiful handwriting, Skittle." he said, looking over her work.
Skittle laughed nervously. She had never been complimented by anyone before.
"Thank you." she said, bowing a little.
Mr Winter nodded to her, then walked back to his desk.
The lesson went on for some time. When it was over, Skittle realised that she had actually enjoyed that lesson.
"Well, that has been the first fun lesson I've had at high school." she said to herself as she walked out of the door.