Miley sat in the lobby of the school, fidgeting with her fingers and playing with her hair as she looked around. It felt unreasonably huge, and every door looked so far away.
She looked for every exit, sized up everyone that walked by, and watched for any people out of place.
"Are you my new student?" a voice from behind asked as a hand dropped onto her shoulder.
Miley jumped and yelped, whipping around to see who was behind her.
A surprised, brown haired woman stood with her hands up.
"Whoa, I didn't mean to scare you," she apologized.
"Oh. It's fine. I'm just so nervous," Miley responded, looking at her lap.
"It's fine. A lot of kids are. You're Miley Anderson, right?" the woman asked.
Miley nodded.
"Ah, so you are my new student. I'm Mrs. Hine, your seventh grade homeroom teacher," the woman said.
"It's nice to meet you," Miley said, looking up at her.
"I look forward to having you in my class. Here, let me lead you long there," Mrs. Hine offered, beckoning her with her finger.
Miley obeyed, hopping off her seat and picking up her backpack.
"So, where'd you move from?" Mrs. Hine asked.
"My family lived in New York City," Miley answered, playing with her hair.
"Ah, where in New York?"
"Brooklyn."
"Why did you move?"
"My parents work for Ultainum, and they got-"
BANG!
Miley's ears began ringing as the background noise around her began to sound muffled. She felt her chest tighten as she gasped for breath. She swore she heard a muffled scream.
"Miley!"
A brief flash of a muscular man was displayed in her mind.
"Miley!"
She couldn't breathe. It felt like she was in space.
A flash of someone on the ground with a trickle of blood leaking filled her mind this time, and then the glint of a blade.
"Miley, are you okay?" a voice brought her back into reality, and she saw Mrs. Hine standing in front of her, with a concerned look on her face.
"Huh?" Miley said, looking back at her.
"A balloon popped in the room across the hall, and you just froze up. Is everything okay?" Mrs. Hine asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just startled," Miley answered, looking down.
Mrs. Hine nodded and looked at Miley as she kept walking. Her eyes darted around the hallway, and she walked on the other side of the hallway, lagging behind by a little. She seemed a lot more antsy as well.
Mrs. Hine looked into the girl's eyes and saw no warmth or innocence.
She saw distrust and fear.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Miley answered.
Mrs. Hine nodded and slowed down.
"You know it's awfully hot to be wearing a hoodie. Wanna take it-"
YOU ARE READING
Burnt House Hill (RainbowCaliber GX Story #0)
Science FictionJake has it rough. There's not really any other way of putting it. He's constantly made fun of and beaten up by bullies, and the fact that Jake is the shortest and weakest kid in the class doesn't help anything either. But even those who feel helple...
