*Old Version* Running From Them, Running To You

Chapter 3-Running From Them, Running To You

Mrs. Ferguson peered over the top of her glasses at Will. His smiled faltered until he finally let it drop.

"I think I'll go back to my seat now," he feebly ended. The teacher gave him a tight lipped smile.

"I think that would be a good idea," she said.

I heard the chair scrape against the floor away from me, but the stares still held for another few minutes. A sudden wave of exhaustion slammed into me. I need a vacation, I thought to myself as I put my head down to my desk and fell asleep.

I couldn't find the snooze alarm. I could hear it in the distance, but it was didn't sound right. Slowly I came out of the fog and gathered my surrounding.

The classroom.

I slammed my head back down on the desk, then looked up again. The classroom hadn't changed into paradise yet. Rubbing my eyes didn't alter the scenery either. The bell was now fading, and the last of the people were shoving through the door and into the hallway. When it was apparent no palm trees were going to block the fulgent lights, I tore myself from the desk and pushed after the remaining students. The halls were as crowded as before and I labored through the many bodies to reach first my locker, then the science classroom.

The first impression I received when I entered Mr. Henderson's room was total science laboratory. Starch white lab coats hung along the wall adjacent to the door. Microscopes rested around the borders, flanked by sparkling test tubes. Above the many padlocked cabinets sat a specimen soaking in liquid, encased in glass.

A middle aged man sat on a stool in front of many bench desks. He had brown hair, with predominant gray streaks. The moment I entered the door his head snapped up.

"Ms. James I presume?"

I nodded after a moment of hesitation. It's James now, I reminded myself. Jameson isn't here anymore. That's not me.

"Good; your seat is right next to Katie." He gestured to a short brunette, who I then sat down next to. She gave me a friendly smile which I returned.

"How is he?" I whispered to her.

"He's good," she shrugged. "A little intense sometimes, but he can be fun."

"Talking about me are we?" Mr. Henderson appeared at my side, dropping a large textbook on the table. I swallowed loudly. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm not that scary."

The corners of my mouth hesitantly lifted.

"But, I do need to know one thing."

My mouth dropped back into a straight line.

"What's that?" I asked hesitantly.

"Do you like science?"

This time my grin stretched far across my face. "Oh yeah."

Chemistry, physics, biology, whatever field of science, I don't care; I absolutely love it. Instead of reading Goodnight Moon as a child, my dad would read me articles from National Geographic. Monday was always my favorite day of the week because he always brought home science magazines from work. Later on, we started going to the library too, where I devoured their entire non-fiction and reference center. By the time I was eleven, I was convinced I wanted to be a doctor, a dream I've secretly nursed since then.

After the period was over, I was entirely certain Mr. Henderson would be my favorite teacher this year. I'm pretty sure I was also one of the only people who thought that.

Within the first ten minutes, I had already deduced that he was the type of teacher that expected the best from you. If you showed him your best, he could be funny and nice. If you didn't, he was your worst nightmare. A steady flow of information was directed at you the entire class. Looking around, you could see a ton of people just tuned him out, but I sat enthralled the whole period. Five minutes left of class, Mr. Henderson allowed us to pack up and talk. I turned to Katie,

"Is he always like this?" I asked.

She nodded and yawned, "Usually, but today was even worse than normal. You chose a bad day to show up."

I shrugged it off. I didn't think she would enjoy hearing how much I enjoyed this class. "Do you guys do any experiments or is it more lecturing?"

"'Bout half and half," Katie tilted her hand side to side. "He starts to go stir crazy if we haven't blown anything up in a month or so."

"Blow things up?" I asked skeptically.

She giggled and nodded. "His experiments are always exciting. You'll love them."

"I'm sure I will."

The bell rang just as we finished our conversation.

"Hey, maybe I'll see you at lunch," Katie said as she left through the door.

"Maybe I will," I called back.

I followed her out and headed toward my locker. After throwing all my books in, I eased my locker closed, making sure the hinge didn't break. As I kept my nose stuffed in the map, I dug into my pockets until I finally found a crumpled five dollar bill. I looked up, realizing I had no clue where I was. I spun, trying to get my bearings, but only succeeded in confusing myself more. Contrary to the previous full hallway, everyone now was at lunch, leaving the corridor empty. I looked down at the map, but the classrooms and halls all melded into squiggly lines on the paper. I was about to start walking again, when I spotted someone walking through an intersecting hallway a few yards down.

"Hey, wait up!" I yelled, sprinting after them.

I spotted them spin quickly and start walking toward me. As they got closer, I was able to discern more physical attributes. The girl had a petite figure with long golden hair. The thing that struck me was her dressy outfit, skinny black dress pants with a pair of black pair of pumps. Her blue blouse flowed beautifully around her upper figure.

She looked at me. "Do you need something?" she asked. Her wide eyes gave an impression of total innocence.

"Yeah. I'm new and I got kind of lost." I gave her an apologetic smile.

She perked up, "Are you going to the cafeteria?"

"Yup! That's it."

"Oh great, that's just where I was headed. I came in late today." She started walking back the way she came, "here it's really close."

"Oh thanks so much. I really didn't want to be just wandering around the entire school. I'm Auden by the way." I offered my hand.

She took and shook it. "Cool, I'm Honor."

Honor. That rang a bell. It took a minute but suddenly the light bulb went off. Honor, Will's girlfriend.

Great.

Vote&Comment <3