It's been two and a half years.
It was hard for the girl to finish the school year, but she had new goals to strive for, and Mary always tried to support her. When the girl finished the school year, she was trained to be a dance teacher and a special talents major. As she promised, everyone was afraid of her, she drove the teachers crazy in the courses, two even quit. She stuffed the gift box deep in a drawer and was only going to open it when the time was right. In the meantime, Lesso was trying to forget about Sara, and she was getting into her work, and she was snapping at her students.
***
Check-in day. Sarah arrived at the school as a teacher for the first time in two years. Standing near the entrance, she remembered teaching here, but now it was time to teach others. People had heard of you, so the kids walked around, and the guards didn't try to rush you or say anything unnecessary. After walking to the dormitory, you went up to the highest floor where there were only two rooms, one of which was yours. Once inside, you realized that there was a little light falling in there, and the view was of the school across the hall. As you looked out the window, you made a grimace and closed the curtains.
As you unpacked, you came across the same box tied with purple ribbon. You took a deep breath and opened the box.
***
The next day, everyone was called into the common room. You were to be introduced as the new teacher, and you decided to do a dance to show off your abilities. As you entered the hall, you approached Dovey, who was preparing to give a speech.
"Sarah! What in the world?"
"Surprise! You're about to see everything", – and then, out of the corner of your eye, you noticed the red hair, so you stood a little farther away. After Dovey and Lesso talked about themselves and the school - you were introduced and you stood in the middle of the hall. Everyone was a little shocked, the lights were dimmed, and the music started playing.
Performing the dance, you could see a pendant that went down to your collarbones. A pair of bracelets jingled on your arms, a purple ribbon was tied around your waist, there was a red rose in your black hair, and your eyes glowed purple. Dovey was shocked by this grace and plasticity. Toward the end of the dance, black roses flew at the students. The Evers didn't like it, but the Nevers were interested.
..opened the box and saw a pendant on a velvet cushion.
Finally, you went to your chambers, where you could relax over another cigarette. After the breakup, the girl was addicted to them and smoked five or seven a day, depending on the situation, but she never went anywhere without them now - it was a great way to relax. Your eating problems never went away, so cigarettes were just another way to numb the need for food.
"Hello, Sarah", – a man's voice suddenly sounded behind me.
"Rafal..", – the girl took out a cigarette.
"Smoking is bad"
"And I'm not good", – you took a deep puff.
"You're good. Almost everyone knows your name. And about.."
"Don't say it", – Rafal grinned and disappeared. You walked to the window and leaned against the window sill, continuing to smoke your cigarette.
Breathing out the smoke, you tried to gather your thoughts when this would all be over. The girl was tired of seeing and hearing this man, she was obviously not afraid of him, she was just tired of him, it already felt as if he had settled in her head.
Sarah gathered her hair in a ponytail and, taking another cigarette, sat down to read a book. But suddenly, there was a knock at the door and you had to tear yourself away from the book. "Who's there..", – the girl opened the door, and on the threshold was Emily, no, not her, it would be too noisy again.
"Hi! It's been so long since we've seen each other!", – she reached out to hug you, but you stretched your arm forward.
"Sorry, no hug today"
"Oh, okay", – you still stood at the threshold, so that she couldn't enter the room.
"Why did you visit? Just straight to the point", – Emily leaned against the doorjamb.
"Do you smoke?"
"Can't you see?", – you twirled the cigarette in front of her eyes. She brushed your hand away, and you giggled. "Don't waste my time".
"Ah, yes. I was asked to bring you a schedule", – Emily held out a couple of sheets.
"Fine, thank you", – Sarah slammed the door right in front of the girl's nose. Turning around, you tossed the sheets on the table and sat down to read again. Until it was completely dark, the girl read the book, and then just went to bed.
Sarah hadn't slept well at night in a long time, so she woke up early in the morning, which as always began with a cigarette and a glass of strong coffee. Deciding you needed to look more or less normal for the first day, you wore a black suit with slightly pointy shoulders and pants that were getting wider toward the bottom, you decided to wrap a tight, black ribbon around your waist. Sarah pulled out her high heels, because visually you wanted to appear taller, she could easily be confused with the students. Adding leather gloves, you glanced at your watch, there was plenty of time before class, but it was better to get out early.
Walking down the hallway, you remembered running down this same hallway two years ago, to a man who was incapable of love. And neither are you now. Wiping the memory away, the girl walked into her classroom, nostalgia rushing over her head. Walking through the classroom, you noticed that absolutely nothing had changed, the same walls, desks and cabinets. And the same smell. Sitting down at your desk, you waited for the students, who had already heard about you.
When the students ran into the classroom, it was immediately quiet, everyone was talking as quietly as possible, and when the lesson began, there was a sepulchral silence. "And so, let's start by introducing ourselves. I'm Miss Sarah. You can ask me a few questions, and then we'll get down to theory and practice. Any questions?", – the girl at the back of the desk raised her hand.
"What prompted you to come back here as a teacher?", – you sat down on the edge of your desk.
"I've wanted to come back here since the beginning, it feels like home, I can't let go of this place", – the guy raised his hand.
"Why this particular subject?"
"It was one of my favorites. Who doesn't already know - I teach dance."
"You like dancing?", – Sarah grinned.
"Of course I do. Otherwise, I wouldn't be teaching it", – you sat down at your desk.
"Let's have one last question"
"Why do your eyes glow?", – that question put the girl in a stupor. She didn't want to talk about her power.
"That's what we're going to talk about now..", – Sarah began to lead the lesson. The students listened with interest, periodically, you walked around the class and showed what the students were supposed to do, and they tried to repeat it, almost no one succeeded. "Lesson's over, you can go", – the girl thought it was going to be a lot harder, but so far it was going well.
The second lesson wasn't hard to teach, but she had to yell and scream at everyone because the class was restless. "Everybody shut up!", – your voice echoed through the class and everyone went silent. "That's it! Just because you think I'm young doesn't mean you can behave to me like you do to your friends! If I hear one more whisper, I'll glue all your mouths shut and turn some of you into butterflies", – some Nevers scowled. It was the last class, so you decided to go to the cafeteria.
As you walked down, Sarah heard the familiar tapping of a cane, you turned around, and saw the same hair and eyes there. "Hello".
"Hello?", – Sarah laughed, grabbing her stomach, then made a serious face and looked into those eyes again. "Don't talk to me, don't expect to hear from me again", – you left for the dining room, and the woman was left standing on the stairs.
"Sarah!"
"Emelyy" the girl extended the name irritably.
"How's your first day at work?"
"Wonderful, the kids are wonderful."
"Really?"
"No!", – Sarah took something random for lunch and sat down alone at the table. Emily tried to talk to you, but you politely asked her to leave.
What was she so attached to? Then, Dovey came up to you and you talked a little, it turns out that since you left, Lesso had refused to dance in subsequent years, so Emily danced, and she was now looking for a date to perform. "I see", – you finished your coffee and went to your room to get ready for tomorrow's classes.
***
Smoking a cigarette, Sarah danced around the middle of the room, she wondered what combinations would work for teenagers, because not everyone is cut out for dancing and even more so, not everyone likes dancing. So, the girl spent the rest of the day preparing the program.
***
At night you could not sleep, so you took cigarettes and opened the window. Sitting on the window sill, the girl dangled her legs down and smoked, enjoying the fresh air, then you still had to go back to bed and go to bed, which you managed to do only in the morning.
The next weeks were the same, no different. You were the best in discipline, and the students were either afraid or simply respected. You hardly ever crossed paths with Lesso, and if you did, you passed by pretending you didn't know him. But it wasn't an easy job; working with teenagers was a chore, you couldn't please everyone. She was terribly tired for the first few weeks, but then she got used to it, and tomorrow there would be a meeting where you would be a teacher, not a student.
***
While teaching another class, there was an incident in class that shocked you. Two Nevers got into a fight, you tried to break them up without using force, which unfortunately didn't work. Both guys had to be taken to the infirmary. Then, Lady Lesso herself came there to find out what had happened, because the students were badly hurt. Lesso was standing next to you, and you were all tense, because you weren't expecting this at all.
"Will they finally tell me what happened here?", – you tried to explain to her, but your voice became squeaky and shaky, but with all your strength, you didn't give it away and managed to finish the sentence.
"I'm sorry. Can I go now?", – you got a silent nod, and you went outside. You need a smoke. Urgent.
Standing near the bridge, Sarah was smoking her second cigarette in a row, and then she heard someone coming toward you. Turning around, you found Lesso. Sarah threw out her cigarette and went straight to the entrance of the school, but she was not allowed to pass.
"Sarah, that's enough!"
"First: Miss Sarah, second: I don't want to talk to you", – you tried to pass again, but Dean grabbed your arms and put them in front of you.
"I want to warn you! You don't have to talk to me, but Rafal.."
"Rafal! Ah Rafal?! You know what, Lady Lesso, I'm fed up with him, and I don't want to hear any more, you can't imagine how I've lived and am living now. All I ask is that you stay away from me!", – Lesso leaned even harder on her cane, as if she were in pain, and you went into the castle and ran to your room.
***
In the evening there was a meeting, to which you came as tired as possible, very sleepy. Dovey was talking about something again, and Emily was nodding at her, and you laid your head in your arms and gradually fell asleep, no one even noticed the sleeping teacher, so they didn't touch you for a long time.
Only when you woke up, you found someone carrying you in their arms to school. The girl wanted to raise her head to see who it was, but she had no strength at all, and you just continued to sleep on that person's shoulder.