Stone Creek Academy: Deception (#2) *slow updates*

Chapter Five

The next morning school started back up. That meant, of course, that it was Monday. And it seemed to be that in Engerwood, Mondays made everyone especially slow before school. Halle started the morning by cursing quite loudly when she burned herself with her curling iron. Then, Beth spilled orange juice all over the kitchen floor. Lily had to scramble through the last nine problems of a math worksheet she'd forgotten to complete. Even Ashlynne caught our case of the ever contagious Monday-Morning Syndrome by burning her waffles to a crisp, on accident of course.

I managed to survive the morning with only one minor mishap to my name. Let it be known that one should not attempt to watch Tom & Jerry (which was officially everyone's favorite cartoon and was turned on almost every morning) while pouring cereal. The portion of Honey Kix I poured myself went all over the counter instead of into the bowl like I had intended it to since I mistakenly held the box about 3 inches too far to the left of the bowl.

By the time we all stumbled out the front door, only five short minutes away from being late, we looked like we'd gotten ready in the middle of a tornado. We were all surely violating the unspoken rule that one should always take care to look extra good on the first day back from anywhere. In my opinion, all that rule did was make sure you looked fairly normal, since usually if you'd just returned from a vacation or something like that you weren't exactly looking as beautiful as you did most ordinary days.

The only advantage I could find to looking like a messy weirdo who could wear one of those "I Woke Up Like This" and have it pass off as a truly believable statement was that if you walked fast and made an annoyed face, people cleared a path for you. I reached my locker in record time. Thankfully, this gave me just enough time to grab what I needed and get to first period just barely on time.

As Mrs. Hared, my English teacher, began walking around taking role, I scanned the room briefly, making notes of who was here and who wasn't. Right when my eyes landed on Sofia's vacant seat, the classroom door opened and Sofia hurried inside. She handed Mrs. Hared a late pass, then slumped down in her seat.

I'd never seen her look so down. Her eyes were red and puffy with black half-circles beneath them, and every line of her posture screamed exhaustion. My mind flashed back to crouching in the bushes yesterday overhearing the vet as they went inside. Figuring that was what was making her radiate such hopelessness, I was immediately shocked by my initial instinct to go comfort her.

"Now class, today we will be starting your first big project of the year. As you all know, we've been studying texts revolving around the American Civil War. You will all be assigned a partner. With this partner, you will be assigned a figure from the war to research. Since this probably sounds like it should be a history project right now, I'll have you know that you and your partner will be writing two weeks worth of fictional diary entries, giving an oral presentation, and writing a five page persuasive paper on why your heroic figure was the most important character of the war. You will have to meet with your partner outside of school, so be sure to set aside time for your project. The entire project will be due on the last day before the winter holidays. You will also give your oral presentation on this day. Any questions?" Mrs. Hared announced. I just blinked at her, then turned to shoot Ashlynne, who was also in this class, a hopeful look. Naturally Mrs. Hared had embarrassed her with the whole "new student" ordeal at the beginning of class, even though almost everyone knew who she was. If we got lucky, we would get to be partners.

While Mrs. Hared started calling out pairs of names, I zoned out and doodled a horse on the edge of my paper. The only thing I could draw accurately was horses, but this one looked pathetically like a cartoon horse.

"Ashlynne and Grace." Mrs. Hared called. I looked up at the sound of Ashlynne's name. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Grace look over and smile at Ash. Despite technically being a part of their group, Grace had never absorbed Sofia or Bella's icy demeanor or wicked-witch tendencies. They would be fine as partners.