Thor's Academy

Curiosity Killed the Cat.

“You what?!” A shriek blasted my eardrums. Even through the low quality of the pay phone, I could hear her voice clearly. Too clearly in fact.

I winced. At this rate, I'd go deaf in my right ear in a few weeks. "I told you, Kate, I got expelled."

"How could you do that?! What are we gonna do now?! O, what agony hath befallen us? My younger sister is a delinquent and we shall be homeless in the streets! Where did I go wrong!?” She cried.

Did I mention she was a drama queen?

“Kate, you can stop now. Please.”

She growled. “You better get your butt to another school, pronto! I can't get anymore night shifts at McDonald's, and I'm juggling the jobs best I can. With Mom's fees, we still don't have enough for an apartment. We lost the other one 'cause I couldn't pay rent!”

"Easier said than done!" I protested. "Where am I going to find another school so soon?"

"Who's the genius in the family? Don't ask me, I didn't get expelled. Just find one, and fast. I don't have enough to pay funeral fees for you!” She hung up.

Our family was very loving.

Slumping to the floor of the phone booth, I sighed. A boarding school that would take me in in the middle of the semester? That was impossible. I flipped through the bills Lila gave me. I couldn't spend it all in one day, and cabs out of here cost a fortune.

"Well, I guess its Phone Booth Hotel for me tonight then." I said aloud, and curled up for warmth. The interior of the booth provided some insulation, thankfully. Sleep would overtake me soon enough, and beggars couldn't be choosers.

“How sad.” I muttered, as the reality of that statement came into my head. If I couldn't find a place to go, I really would be a beggar.

Suddenly, the door opened and a gust of wind chilled me to the very bones. I mean seriously, I don't think I have ever been this cold. Minnesota Novembers are things to be feared.

"Do you mind?!" I said, more than a little annoyed. I looked up to see…the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life. It looked like he had come straight out of a Hollister catalog. My mouth dropped open of its own accord.

"I'm sorry," he apologized with a velvety voice. "I didn't see you. Might I ask what you are doing in this booth?"

Even the hottest of men could not prevent the wave of anger that passed through me. Truly, the ones who are attractive had cotton for brains. "What I'm doing here? Are you stupid? I'm sleeping."

He brushed a hand through his hair. "I can see that." He sighed. “If you'll excuse me, I need to make an important call. So little girl, enough with your game of 'runaway' and go back to Mommy and Daddy, okay?”

I visibly flinched. He hit my weak spot.

I laughed harshly. “Runaway? Mister, I want a home to 'run away' from. Daddy's dead, and Mommy's in the hospital, so please let the little girl sleep in peace, okay? Now go, before you get beat up by little girl here. I was trained in karate, so I'll first kick your ass, then scream rape. Okay with you?” My eyes were ablaze with cold, contained anger.

Instead of the fear I wished to instill in him, all I saw was a bit of shock and amusement. A smile danced around his lips. His perfect-- Oh snap out of it, Skyler.

“Ah, so you're homeless, are you not?”

“Does sleeping in a phone booth with nowhere else to go count as homeless?”

"Just answer the question." he said.

“If it's any of your business, yeah.”

"Are you tied to something or someone in anyway? So that it provides a situation where you cannot leave?"

"Look, you're really getting on my nerves.”

“Will you please answer the question?”

I sighed loudly. “No.”

"PERFECT.” He looked around absentmindedly, and 'casually' dropped a flyer on the ground. “Well, I must be off!” He almost skipped away, and I swear I heard a giggle.

Was I weird for thinking a guy giggling, skipping away was hot? Oh, the hunger was getting to me.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I picked up the innocent piece of paper.

And then dropped it like it was a hot potato.

The paper itself was littered with guys—hot guys, winking gorgeously at me.

“What in the holy mother of Pete...” I mumbled. “Thor's Academy. A prestigious school for boys?!”

On the sheet, an address and time was scrawled in red ink. Then underlined. Then circled. I think I got the point. A section was highlighted on the bottom. “Some may qualify for a scholarship.”

A scholarship?! That was the answer to all my problems...but could I trust him? Ever since I was young, I was taught not to go with strangers. Especially suspicious strangers. I think this fell under the category of suspicious.

Thanks to Grandma Hales, I was born with a curiousity streak. And it was either this, or die in a phone booth.

“I'M MAKING THE WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE!” I yelled. And groaned.

I decided that I wouldn't go. Until a stray thought changed my mind.

Where are you going to live? What about Mom and Kate?

I sighed. If this didn't deserve a Daughter-Of-The-Year award, I didn't know what did.

“I'm going, I'm going.” I sulked.

A thought niggled at the corner of my mind. If it was for boys, was I expected to dress up as one?

“Skyler,” I breathed. “One trouble at a time. You can worry about the impossibility of that fact later on.”

I laid out the Abercrombie bag along the floor of the booth, and got as comfortable as I could. I would just go there and see what happened. If I was at rock bottom, the only way I could go was up, right?

My stomach rumbled, and the money was burning a hole in my pocket. The dark had already come, and it was way too dangerous for a girl to go out to buy a burger.

Yup, I had hit rock bottom alright.

I just hoped there wasn't another layer below it.