The Safe Place

Chapter Five - Part One

Principal Hendricks smiled politely, stepping aside so I could get through the courtyard doors. "Excuse me miss," he said. He towered over me, tall and lean with thick, brown-rimmed glasses and his head shaved clean. He raised an eyebrow, smile slipping. "Aren't you the girl from the Academy?"

"Yes sir," I answered, confused. Was something wrong? I had only met Mr. Hendricks once before, but neither he nor Mr. McCoy seemed very fond of me. I didn't understand why, seeing as they only knew half the reason I was here. As far as they were concerned, I was just helping work out some security issues. Which, for the most part, was true.

"Where's your uniform?"

More confusion. "Uniform?"

"I thought your school had uniforms."

"Well," I started, trying to figure out what he wanted. "The Academy has a dress-code."

"Hm." The principal touched the knot of his tie. "I believe there may have been a misunderstanding." He thanked me, nodding politely before passing me to get through to the courtyard.

The bell rang, and I sighed, pulling out my phone. I was already late, so I might as well let Mr. Blackbourne know Mr. Hendricks was under the impression I needed a uniform.

My phone buzzed as I reached my class and I paused to check it.

Owen: I'll take care of it.

~ | ~ | ~

After school, I returned to my and Marie's house. With Sean working a shift at the hospital and Owen off on Academy business, I had no reason to be hanging around Sean's condo- it still felt odd to be alone, there. Neither of them would be back until well past my preferred bedtime, so it was up to me to find something to do in the meantime.

I spent a bit cleaning, opening windows to air the house out. After a period of work, I gave up on cleaning up Marie's mess, moving onto homework. The poem was easy to write once I looked up a few examples, and was actually kinda fun. By the time I had finished, however, only an hour had passed.

My thoughts drifted back to the day I'd had, analyzing expressions and actions I'd observed in other students. The thief and his victim in homeroom. The thief and his friends at lunch- whom I could see out my bedroom window now, congregated on my neighbor's front lawn.

Throughout my classes I had noticed them. They always sat with each other, chatting and joking through the class when there were multiple of them, keeping their heads down and quietly completing their work when they were on their own. Like in Japanese- the one with the fiery eyes sat at the desk in front of me. I made a mental note to talk to Sean about maybe pairing me up with him for some group work, if only so I could get closer to his thieving friend.

It was important that I make some connections with other students. My team's job at Ashley Waters relied on it. We were there in search of a new, dangerous drug that supposedly was being used and sold on school grounds. Of course, like our cover story, we were also there to work out unrelated security issues (like the almost weekly fights breaking out, break ins, and things being stolen), but our main focus was to stop the drug from spreading.

I was itching to figure the mystery out, but after a single day of school I still had nowhere to start. What were the chances that the first and only two students I had talked to would be the key to solving everything? And definitely not so soon. I was doomed to waiting- and I hated waiting when there was a mystery to solve. I was too inquisitive for my own good.

I was pulled out of my boredom-induced mental wandering by an unfamiliar noise. It took a moment to recognize the chime to be the doorbell. Was one of Marie's friends here? I thought Marie had gone straight to Danielle's from school.

Sighing, I stood, stretching and grabbing my book from my bed to re-shelve it before jogging down the stairs. "I'm coming!" I called, wondering if whoever it was could truly hear me from the door. They could in movies, but I had never seen it happen in real life.

Paranoia poisoned my thoughts at the idea of a stranger at the door. I could hear my step-mother's voice whisper in the back of my mind, feel my knees aching, but I pushed the emotions down. Not everyone was crazy.

I opened the door.