The Espionage and The Enigma

Chapter 4- NOT VALID

AN: This is when the story really picks up and the whole main plot comes into play. Seriously, it's one of my favorite chapters. Hope you guys enjoy it! xx

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 PHILLIPS ANDERSON CAMPUS.//

4 DAYS UNTIL THE RANKING EXAMS.//

WEATHER OUTSIDE: 18 DEGREES.//

                      The cold bit at my nose, even tucked in a scarf, as I made my way across the Phillips Anderson campus in the middle of class. The weather was especially cold today, a 15 degree drop from the usual winter climate which was about 23 degrees. Weather charts had predicted this winter was to be the most cold and bitter in the decade. Something about climate changes influenced it. Thankfully, I still had my Phillips Anderson winter uniform, a large navy blue trench coat, with the school's emblem of course, paired with patching pants. Even though the sun still shone, the snow still stood hard and frozen on the edges of the sidewalk, pushed out of the way to make way for the mass of students that would walk them today. I tucked my hair over one shoulder as I walked towards Lorenne's office, where they called me out of class to go to.

                      Lorenne rarely spoke to me, and she wouldn't at all if it wasn't for my visits to her office to miss parts of my classes, which I all found boring at times. There was no logical reason as to why Lorenne herself would call me out of class, other than to scold me for something. Did she know about the party? About the substances I saw? About the fight? She must have known, and she's probably going to ask me what I saw of it. The Monday after the party, Edmund had showed up to school with a white bandage wrapped around his nose; Apparently the damage Dylan had done to it was so circumstantial, the area had to be reconstructed. When he showed up to school, it was like a spark that ignited the flame of gossip for the students who hadn't been there. Thanks to them, the whole affair had been the topic of hundreds of conversations at school for the past two weeks.

                           Could that have really been just a mere 14 days ago? The sight of Dylan beating up Edmund to a pulp floated back into my mind again, overwhelming me with a blinding anger. I pictured Edmunds bruised and bloody face again, trying to gather any sympathy I had for the boy. Maybe sympathy would make me feel better, maybe it would make me feel a little bad for the poor boy who's half of his face had to be surgically redone. I decided to shut my mind completely off the subject, since no sympathy from me went towards the cause. I didn't feel as if it was my fault either, simply because it wasn't. Vanessa had told me since the fight to not feel bad and that it wasn't my fault, but I knew that anyways. I began to count my footsteps towards the castle as I moved closer and closer to it.

                Step 117. Step 118. Step.119. Still no thought of why Lorenne would call me to her office.

                  By step 214, I was already in front of the castle, starring up at it. It looked peaceful with the snow adorning its pointed brick tower roofs. Snow flurries fell down from the sky, landing on whatever was available. The treetops in the nearby forest, the benches in the courtyard, and all the buildings were temporarily a blinding white. This gave the campus an eerie calm look, as if nobody had disturbed it for centuries. I ducked inside the building, making sure to not be noticed by anyone. I had gotten my fair share of drama as well due to the fight between Edmund and Dylan. At random moments for the past two weeks, everyone kept asking me what exactly happened since I was right next to the fight, and since I was so close with Dylan. In response, I would just shrug my shoulders and lie to them about how the event really wasn't that important in my eyes, just 3 punches between 2 reckless guys with nothing better to do than to pick a fight. I walked across the winding corridor, looking into language classrooms. I saw the German 2 Honors class and sped right past it, not bothering to look inside. It was Dylan's classroom. I didn't need another reminder of what he did.