Grey - A Kotlc Story

A Benedict Arnold

"Come ON!" Evie Feare called out to her brother Shawn as she ran down the almost vacant hallway of Ridgewood High School's twelfth-grade wing, her long hazel hair flowing behind her. The twelve-year-old girl had always been excited about school, even though she had skipped practically all the grades and didn't always fit in. But lucky for her, when she skipped, the school district put her into her brother's grade, which meant that she had him to help her feel comfortable in a place where she wasn't. Evie had even been accepted into Princeton University, the college of her dreams, on a full scholarship, which her parents decided to accept. So, if you asked her, her life was going perfectly.

Sliding into the chemistry classroom at the end of the hall seconds before the bell rang, Evie and Shawn made their way to the lab table on the far right of the room where sat a girl with wavy silver hair, who was staring at the beakers in front of her with intense interest.

"Hey, Alicé!" Evie said, sitting down next to her and smiling. Alicé lifted her attention from the beakers onto Evie, her azure eyes giving off a vibe of annoyance. Then, she realized who it was and smiled back.

"Hi, Vi. I'm trying to understand the substitute's puzzle," she replied quickly and then turned her attention back to the beakers in front of her, her voice trailing off. "It just doesn't make sense..."

Shawn sat down on the other side of Alicé and slid his stool closer to her. Alicé leaned into his shoulder, letting out a sigh. Evie rolled her eyes and laughed. Ever since Shawn had asked Alicé Kim, the girl of his dreams, to the homecoming dance two weeks ago, Evie had become the third wheel on a lot of things. She didn't particularly hate it, but Evie knew that there was something about Alicé that she couldn't quite place. The most beautiful girl in school, going out with her brother? She loved her brother and all, but he wasn't exactly the most handsome, most popular, or the most athletic guy around.

"Can you help, Vi?" Alicé asked Evie, looking hopeful. Evie nodded, slid in front of Alicé and Shawn, and began to examine the beakers. Before she did anything though, she glanced up at the chalkboard, on which the substitute teacher had scrawled Mr (did that say... Ignis?) Ignis in an almost unreadable font. Focusing back on the puzzle, she picked up the beaker on the right, which was dyed blue, and with a steady hand, poured ten milliliters of the chemical into the empty beaker in the middle. Putting the right beaker down, and picking up the left one, which had red dye in it, she poured in five milliliters and then poured in one last milliliter, turning the center beaker purple. Then, she took a ph strip from the center of the table, dipped it into the solution, and then let it sit on the table. Evie smiled slightly and then turned back to Alicé.

"How'd you not get that?" Evie asked, her grey eyes clouded with suspicion. "It was in our homework yesterday and is literally like the easiest solution in the book." Alicé shrugged her shoulders.

"I just forgot."

Evie frowned. What am I not getting? She thought, confused. There was something terribly, terribly wrong.

Under the table, Alicé's hands were toying with a single, glistening strand of hazel hair, which she had plucked from Evie's head when she was working on the puzzle. Of course she knew how to solve the puzzle! Of course she didn't need Evie doing for her. All she needed was this strand of hair. This strand of hair worth years of hard work. This one strand of hair that could open every door. This strand of hair that she couldn't get until today, the day when she could successfully hand it off without anyone suspecting anything. As she thought, the substitute clapped his hands loudly and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Hello everyone. As you can see from the board, my name is Mr. Ignis," he said, looking around the room. Then, focusing his piercing blue eyes on Evie, he sneered, "Let's get started..."

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As soon as the bell rang to signify the end of first period, all of the students jumped out of their seats, eager to get out of the chemistry classroom. The entire time, Mr. Ignis had focused on Evie, making ominous remarks, and constantly asking her to "prove her worth" to the class. By the end of the forty minutes, everyone's eyes were filled with worry and their brains repeating the command of getting up and dashing straight out of the room, without looking back. Everyone except Evie. Evie was used to teachers being shocked about her. Maybe not to this level, but definitely to some level. Though she wasn't as terrified as everyone else looked and felt, she was worried. She couldn't understand why a substitute would have it out for her, especially because she didn't think she had done anything wrong. Alongside the rest of her classmates, she quickly scurried out of the room, dragging Shawn with her.

Now alone in the room with only Mr. Ignis, Alicé quickly scribbled a note onto a piece of lined paper, taped the strand of hair onto it, and walked over to the teacher's desk.

"Ray," she started, no emotion whatsoever in her voice. "Here." She dropped the note with the hair strand on the table. Ray Ignis watched as it fell onto the table. He nodded curtly at her and turned to face the chalkboard. Alicé shook her head and walked out of the room, disappointed at his lack of speech. Was she really not that important to him? She shook the thought from her head as she continued down the hallway, satisfied that her job was done.

After Alicé was nowhere in sight, Ray examined the note that she left him. On it, a strand of hair was taped next to big, bold letters that read, IT'S HER.