Screaming Colors || Erica Jones

2. fun times in detention

"If you guys thought this was going to be a time where you could do homework and talk amongst yourself, you would be wrong," Garcia continued, a sour look on her face. "You all will seat here, silently and clean out the remaining lab equipment that you didn't end up destroying. Once you are done with that. I will decide if your work is satisfactory enough for you to leave."

Aaliyah and Serena exchanged nervous glances, it wasn't like Mrs. Garcia to be so angry at them, but maybe it was the presence of the other four that made her so uptight. Or it was the fact that she was overseeing their detention, which Serena had never been in before. Either way, the afternoon was not going to be a walk in the park.

Mrs. Garcia placed a bin full of different chemical equipment on her and Aaliyah's table. Once she turned her back on the pair Aaliyah whispered in Serena's ear, "Why is she in such a sour mood?" she spoke. "You would think she would be a little bit chipper, but no. It's like someone put a tack on her chair, and then she sat on it, and after that, she got a call in the hospital that her cat died or something. Then instead of hosting a funeral for her dead cat, she had to come here and oversee this detention."

Serena blinked, trying to process whatever Aaliyah had just said. "Or maybe she's upset because we broke a bunch of her lab equipment."

"Not we, you," Aaliyah whispered correcting her.

"Are we still on that?" Serena asked her a little louder than she should've because Mrs. Garcia whipped around at the sound of their voices.

She furrowed her eyebrows, rustling over to the girls, "Girls, what was the first rule that I said?" She asked, tapping her foot angrily.

The two didn't respond, out of fear of angering their teacher more, "Oh that's right," she said flashing the fakest smile Serena had ever seen. "No talking, now get to work," Garcia said pointing at the pile of equipment in front of them.

Serena grabbed a test tube out of the bin and started scrubbing it aggressively, picking up the pink towel next to her. The sooner she and Aaliyah could finish the pile of tools in front of them, the sooner Serena could go more and try and comprehend what was going on. What was happening to her, what a fledgling was, and more importantly, what to do about the newfound attention she's been getting from the four people in the back of the classroom.

She glanced over her shoulder and sure enough, the four were staring at her intensely. Serena shot them a weird look and turned back to the glass in her tube in her hand. She took the cleaner from the desk and sprayed along the inside on the tube.

Aaliyah sniffed and then covered her nose quickly. She looked like she was going to throw up. "Ugh," she said so that only Serena could hear her. "That smells disgusting, why is it so strong."

Serena didn't notice a particularly strong smell like Aaliyah did. She titled her head, "I don't smell anything," she replied quietly.

Aaliyah still had her hand over her nose, "Weird," she said in a muffled voice.

For the next hour, Serena continued to scrub away, taking each test tube, and cleaning it vigorously until she could see her reflection in it. She was very concentrated on getting her task done as being in the room was suffocating her.

The pile on the side of her desk was growing. It had gotten so big that Serena was scared that she would knock it over and break more equipment. There was a small whoosh in the back of the room. Serena tricked around in her still, but everyone was still where they were when she had seen them last.

Ethan gave her an awkward smile that she didn't return. Serena raised her eyebrow but turned back to the front of the room. They were one hundred percent planning something, but she had no idea what it was.