Seeing in Color

Six

Just as the teacher walked in and the kids around me straightened their desks and uniforms, there was an announcement over the intercom.

"Ms. Ravenswood, please come to the principle's office." An older lady's voice blared over the speakers, and everyone glanced around the room. No one stood up, so the whoever the girl was, she wasn't in here.

The teacher, a tall middle-aged man with glasses and a sweater vest, cleared his throat and rapped the desktop with his knuckles. All heads turned to face him. I adjusted my uniform and sat with my back straight, like my grandmother makes me sit when eating a formal dinner. Which is every dinner.

"I am your English teacher, Mr. Duncan. Please take the paper that is on your desk and write your name, with no nicknames or doddles next to it. Write it bold and clear for me to see when I grade this test."

A groan spread across the room and the sound of the 't' word. I looked down at the paper. It was in fact a test.

"Now, now, this is not part of your final grade this year, calm down. This is just to let me see where each of you are in English. Please write your name, with no fancy cursive writing, please, and do not look at the test questions yet. When I start the timer, you may start." Mr. Duncan waved his hand toward an old-fashioned apple kitchen timer. I almost snorted. My grandmother had a Chinese cat timer in her kitchen, which she refused to ever use since she has 'gifts' of telling time. If I were even four seconds late walking through the door at night, she'd know.

We all pulled out pencils. One boy with jet black hair and a peculiar eyepatch raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr...." Mr. Duncan glanced down at a sheet of paper on his desk. "Nakamura, do you have a question?"

"No, sir. I have no pencils. I seemed to have forgotten them at home."

"Would one of the students next to Mr. Nakamura please lend him a pencil. Nakamura, do remember them next time, all right."

The boy reddened and looked down at his paper. A student to his left handed him a pencil.

"Has everyone written their names down on the test paper?" Mr. Duncan picked up the apple and wound it back, keeping his hand on it to stop it from starting.

Everyone nodded.

"Pencils ready, back straight, eyes on your paper and your paper only," He gave a few of the students a stern look. "And...START!"

He set the apple down and I looked down at the test.

This was easy. I had already learned this last year. Scribbling as fast as I could, knowing full well the timer was short, I answered all but the last three because we were all interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Mr. Duncan?" A boy with big blue eyes came in, holding onto the doorknob and shyly handing the teacher a note. "Ms. Meyers asked me to give this to you."

"Thank you, young man. Please return to your classroom at once." Mr. Duncan sternly said as he glanced over the slip of paper. He looked up and saw the class waiting, then glanced at the timer. "Less than two minutes left and decreasing."

Students hurriedly started writing and I quickly answered the remaining three questions. Just as I put the pencil down, the apple gave a mechanical buzz, and Mr. Duncan cleared his throat. Everyone stopped and set their writing tools down, pushing slightly away from the table.

"Ms. Wight, please collect your classmates' papers and place them neatly on my desk." He instructed a girl near the front. She stood and walked with a straight back to the far end of the classroom, taking papers from the other students. When she reached me, I politely handed her my paper, she gasped and flushed, quickly moving on before embarrassing herself any more. Most girls fluster whenever they meet me, but I'm not proud of it.

The class dragged on as Mr. Duncan taught a boring lesson on diagraming sentences and finding conjunctions. The clock ticked and tocked and ticked and tocked and ticked and tocked and ticked and tocked, on and on and on and on and on and on.

By the time the bell rang, everyone was half asleep, and it was only first period.

Boy, won't sixth period History be a yawner.

Hey guys.  I'm incredibly sorry about the super-late update.  There was a malfunction in my computer, so it took me forever to recover my files.  Fortunately, my brother's a computer expert, or that's what he calls himself, anyway.

Hope you enjoyed! 

Keep reading for an amazing surprise!

p.s. If you would like your own character, whether made up on the spot or actually yourself, please comment their features and talents below!

Peace out,

-Burgundy Wolf

;)