Elements

Chapter 36

Monday came too soon, as it often does.

The Haven was far more exciting than most high schools, but no amount of excitement was enough to make me want to leave my bed.

Of course, I didn't have much of a choice. School didn't wait for late sleepers. Reluctantly, I left my bed and got ready for the day. Anita was already up, applying makeup and styling hair. Not caring much about my appearance, I grabbed a pair of jeans, a military green t shirt, and my signature leather jacket. I entered the bathroom and stood facing the mirror next to Anita. I made myself semi-presentable, then sat with Violet until Anita finished with her hair and makeup. The cat stared up at me sleepily with its purple eyes, as if saying that it didn't want to be awake any more than I did.

I stroked the cat's sleek coat until Anita left the bathroom, then we left the room and Violet for the one thing that beat sleep in my eyes: food.

We were among the last to arrive, so the food was fairly picked over. Thankfully, however, Ben had grabbed food for us and was waiting at our usual table in the back. As we made our way over, I couldn't help but notice that everyone was speaking in rather hushed tones, gossiping and wondering about something.

"What's going on?" I asked Ben as we sat down.

"There's been a rumor that a new student is joining today. A girl glimpsed the future, said that it was a girl named Lizzy. That was all she could tell us about it, but the school hasn't stopped speculating since." He replied, sliding a tray of toast and fruit salad to me, and eggs and bacon to Anita.

"New girl, huh? Hopefully she doesn't fall in with May. The last thing we need is another person giving us trouble." Anita commented, stabbing her eggs with her fork.

"Oh yeah, there's something about that too. Apparently May's little hate group has grown again: she's got a boyfriend." Ben gestured to where the jerk in question sat with a boy's arm draped over her shoulders. The boy's back was to us, so I couldn't see his face, but something told me that he wasn't going to be a big fan of ours.

"Well, I hadn't heard much about that second little... Development, but I have heard about the new student. I forgot all about it until now." I explained how Ms. Wren had requested that I befriend the new student and show her around. I had already shared the majority of the meeting with them the day before, but had forgotten to mention the new student.

"Well, maybe our table's population will grow to four. Until then, let's go to class." Anita finished off her meal and cleaned off the table. I did the same and stood up. School wasn't going to wait, and neither would Lizzy.

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Our class sat in the gym talking obnoxiously loudly, just like any day, as the bell rang, echoing off the walls. For once, the noise in the room didn't lessen after the bell sounded; Coach Clair wasn't in the room.

"Where's Coach Clair?" Anita wondered aloud, shouting over the noise in the room.

Before I could reply, a familiar snarky voice responded. "Probably got sick of dealing with you losers and quit. Can't blame her- I can barely tolerate just standing near you!" May laughed.

I rolled my eyes and ignored her. "She and a few other teachers had to leave for a while to take care of some business in Iowa." I tried to emphasize Iowa, as I had told Anita and Ben the day before that the Puppeteer had been sighted in Iowa.

"Oh, yeah, 'buisiness'. We all know that's just another way of saying they were begging another school to take you off their hands, freak." May retorted.

Before anything else could be said, the sound of high heels clicking on the floor of the gym caused silence to ripple across the class. Within seconds, everyone in the room had fallen silent, and Ms. Wren stood in front of us.