fragile time

~chapter 2~

Our teacher continued droning on and on about things I already knew. I decided it would be best to zone out. My eyes shifted back to the healing flame on Carter's arm. It gently caressed the injury, making the scab underneath disappear. My mind began to wonder what the actual wound was. I glanced over to my sister's seat across from Carter, but was dumbfounded when I didn't see her there. My head whipped around the classroom, looking for her.

Mr. Alwater was in the middle of telling another one of his childhood stories when I raised my hand. He stopped what he was doing and called on me.

"Right. Uhm," I began, "Where's Taylor?"

"Taylor?" Mr. Alwater's eyes trailed to the empty chair, "Why is she your concern right now?"

"She's my little sister. Something you said about when you were a kid reminded me of her. I just now realized that she's absent."

"Glad you were paying attention to the lesson.." he muttered, "for once.."

The room erupted into laughter and talking. I inhaled deeply as Mr. Alwater failed at calming everyone down. For the record, the only reason I never pay attention is because I already knew most of the stuff he was saying. Someone yelled over the noise, "All of you shut up!"

The class, including our teacher, fell silent. Emily was standing up, just as surprised as we were to hear her yell. After a slight recovery, she continued, "Are you all kidding me?! Micheal could teach this class better than you could, Mr. Alwater! Plus, maybe if your lessons weren't so boring, none of us would zone out anymore! You all are hypocrites! Nobody here pays attention to the lesson! The only difference between you all and Micheal is that he's smarter than you! I mean, wow! I'm stunned. Now, everyone here owes Summers an apology! Will he get one, though? No! Because all of you are—"

"Okay!" Mr. Alwater interrupted, "Let's take a seat." Emily fell silent and sat down, but the anger never left her seething eyes.

"Thanks," I muttered while the class was still silent, "but fight your own battles."

The class let out a series of exclamations. Emily, her expression stern, but her eyes pained, tensed slightly.

Mr. Alwater answered my question, "Taylor's in detention. She accidentally injured another student, but rules are rules." He nodded toward Carter, who was now sleeping. Our teacher then redirected the conversation back to Emily, "Willows, you'll be joining her."

Giggles filled the room again. Emily glared at me as she grabbed her books. I gave her an apologetic look. Before she looked away, she mouthed, 'See you soon.'

See you soon? Did she mean in detention or after class? I closed my eyes and took a slight peak into her current thoughts, '...figured you would be reading my mind, now. Hi, Micheal! If you don't do something to get detention right now so you can apologize to me like the friend I know you are, then I'm going to kill you in fencing.' I opened my eyes and shuddered slightly. She wanted me to get detention with her? I do need to make it up to her somehow... apologize, and thank her. Yes, of course, the perfect time to do that is in detention.

I spoke after I heard Emily slam the classroom door. "She was right, you know, about you being boring." I said to Mr. Alwater, "but, she missed the part about you being stupid. I'm sorry, but nobody cares about your school play fifty years ago."

Mr. Alwater sighed, "I know what you're doing, Micheal. Go join her."

I grabbed my books and shoved them in my bag quickly. I heard Xavier chuckle, "Nice going." I turned my head right before I bolted out the door and gave him a brief wink. As soon as the door shut behind me, my head whipped around the halls, looking for Emily. The halls were empty, however. "Summers, my prince," I could hear the snicker in the familiar voice, "I'm right behind you, idiot."