Twisted (Editing)

Chapter 2 (Edited)

"All of them?"

"Just the mother and the son."

"What did you think of them?" she asked.

"I don't know. They were friendly."

"Even Jonah?" She shook her head. "He's a god, but he has the sourest face I've ever seen. And his parents are weird..."

"Have you met them?"

"Just from what I've heard. Plus they own all the land beneath our feet. And the homeowners association."

"And this school?"

"No, Mr. Evan's brother runs it. He's the principal too. So actually...yeah, I guess you could say that they own it. Anyway, here's your locker. It's right by the cafeteria."

"Is the food any good?"

"It's the best thing I've ever tasted. I'm going to miss that when I graduate. We have real chefs, you know."

Huh. At least I could save time in the morning. No more packed lunches.

"So what brings you to the boonies," she asked.

"My parents are researchers. We move to where the labs are."

"You mean the BioCore company twenty miles out? The genetic modifications?"

"That would be it. The lab is small and struggling⁠⁠—no surprise, it's far from a large city⁠⁠—so my parents are going to be around getting it back on its feet. Or maybe they'll stay, who knows."

Liz stopped in front of a door. "This is the class. Mr. Headway is going to try and make you feel stupid with his classes. Don't take it personally, he just prefers his old. His family has been here for generations."

She opened the door and went inside with her head toward the floor and her feet so light as to not make a sound. The teacher called out anyway. "Miss Wimly, may I ask why are you so late to my class?"

"We have a new student and I'm her designated tour guide." She held up the paper in her hand. "We have a pass." As she spoke, I located a nice seat beside the window and second from the back. I crossed the room and placed my things down.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" I froze in place. "Yes you, turn around."

"Sitting down?"

"Come up here and introduce yourself to your fellow students. It's common courtesy, if you didn't know." My cheeks burned hot and I walked to the front of the room. The students looked at me, half sleepy, half curious. I set my hands on the side of my skirt.

"My name is Imani Walker. I'm from....all over the place. I moved here from San Francisco, but I was born in London and I lived there for seven years."

"That's very interesting Miss Walker." He yawned, showing me he was not interested at all. "I expected that you'd bring more culture with you after visiting all these places."

"Excuse me?"

"It's nothing, you may sit down."

My blood began to boil. I didn't move. Instead, I stood right where I was and faced him. "What do you mean by culture?"

"I said sit down Miss Walker. Unless you want a detention on your first day." I bit the inside of my cheek and sat down. I needed one decent year and a good transcript and then I could very well go back to London. I tapped my fingers on my desk, imagining Mr. Headway's face covered in a spontaneous eruption of hives. He'd deserve that. "That's better," he said. "Now textbooks." He held up a fresh Calculus book. "When I call your name, come and get your book and card. Anderson."

A girl with blond waves stood up and took a book from him. "Ackles." A lanky boy in glasses followed. "Evans? Evans? Evans!" Mr. Headway snapped at him. "No daydreaming in class."

Liz leaned over. "Did you say anything to him when he visited your house?"

"No. He was like a rock."

"He was looking at you."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Or he could be angry at you."

"Off of one interaction? That would make him bitchy," I whispered. "And I hate bitchy men."

Liz's laugh erupted involuntarily. She slapped a hand over her mouth, but Mr. Headway scowled at us, and moved his head to indicate that Liz better sit straight in her seat. I leaned into my own and looked out of the window. A car passed by, slow. A few children, younger than school age, played with a woman who must've been a young nanny. A mother walked her babies in a carriage.

Life was slow, serene, and sanguine here.

What a boring town.