The day was finally almost over, all she had left was drama. She still couldn't believe that they put her in this stupid class. Of all the possible classes they had to choose this one. She would have gladly taken Chemistry, Gym, even Art! But no, Drama is what they chose, and Drama is what she would get.
She walked into a brightly lit room with wide windows and blue curtains. There were no desks, just open space with chairs all on one side. Looking at the room, it was like nothing she imagined. She thought that drama rooms would have very dim lighting with heavy curtains covering the windows to block out the light, to you know, give it a dramatic effect. Clearly she was wrong. She walked over to the end of the room and took a seat by the window. From here she had a pretty great view of the forest. She wondered how big it was. If she gauged correctly, the school was almost south from where her cottage should be on the other side of the woods. She would have to take a day and go hiking. Not just to get a lay of the land but to experience Mother Nature in her prime.
At a huge clang, Allison looked over at the door. Standing there with a bag full of God knows what was a woman, probably around her mid thirties, huffing away as she rested against the door frame. After catching her breath the woman picked up the bag again and placed it beside her desk before she took a seat. Allison was the only other person in the class but because she was in the corner she didn't think the woman saw her. Not wanting to give herself away yet, she took the chance to survey the woman. Shoulder length chestnut hair, simple yet somehow commanding makeup, and a slim figure wrapped in thee most colourful outfit she had ever seen. A hot pink, loose fit shirt paired with an equally bright and loose pair of turquoise pants. Black heals and several chunky bracelets completed the look. Surprisingly enough the outfit looked....pretty damn good on her. It must be a drama teacher thing. Taking a guess that this was Ms. Fuchsia, the outfit along with the name looked right on her. Deciding that she had been silent long enough, Allison got up and walked toward the desk. Noticing the movement, Ms. Fuchsia raised her head up in surprise. After taking a glance at her, she just exploded out of her seat. That was the only word that came to mind when Allison saw her get up to round the desk.
"Hello! Hello! You must be Allison Pent! Welcome to Rose High!" taking her hand, Ms. Fuchsia pumped it enthusiastically. "Please tell me what you think of the school so far! Just grab that chair over there and have a sit. Why are you here so early?"
After grabbing the chair and taking her seat Allison replied. "Our Biology teacher, Dr. Mist, suddenly said that he was not feeling well half way through class and told us that we were dismissed for the day."
"Ah, I see. Michael, Dr. Mist, tends to have several days where he is too ill to teach. Something about a poor immune system or something. I believe that is why he went into the field of Biology. Wanting to find a reason why he is so sick all the time. Frankly I don't understand why he is teaching high school. The man is a genius; has several degrees under his belt! Well that's enough about him, let's talk about you. Tell me, where are you from?"
"Well I am originally from a small town called Waterloo in Indiana."
"Oh dear! That is such a far way to go! Did it take you long to get here in Montana?
"Roughly about 2 days with pit stops and so on."
"Oh my! That must have been really stressful for you and your parents. Me now, I can't go 2 hours without getting the feeling of claustrophobia and practically jumping out of the car."
Allison didn't correct her about her parents. The less people that knew that she came up her by herself, the better. Even though word would get around soon enough with a town this size, she would keep that piece of information to herself as long as she could.
All of a sudden she jumped out of her seat. "Oh! Oh the time! Just look at it! Class is half an hour away! I have to start preparing!"
Allison got up and replaced her chair while Ms. Fuchsia flew around the room. Watching her go, Allison realized that she fit the role of a drama teacher down to a T. You couldn't just use simple terms to describe her, they were just too plain for her colourful character.
She went back to her corner and sat; Again looking out the window waiting for the class to begin.
****
As students started to file in, Allison sat silently, again watching every person who walked in. She was interested in seeing that the girl who was with Jasper the other day at Marcelo's had just glided in with a few of her friends. Just like Ms. Fuchsia, simple words could not explain the way she moved. There was a grace in her walk, almost as if her feet weren't touching the ground. Allison also noticed that the two other girls she walked in with also walked with the same grace.
They took their seats across the room from her, closer to the door. They didn't seem like the type to enjoy drama so perhaps they were making sure they had a fast get away in case things got a little to...touchy. As she stared, she wondered what the one that was with Jasper was thinking. There was something about her face that drew you in with questions and satisfied you with no answers.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the girl in question shifted her gaze and stared right back at her. Again, just like with Jasper, she couldn't glance away. There was something about their eyes that sent a charge into the air, almost like a challenge. "Gaze into my eyes if you dare." Not being one to step back from a challenge, Allison continued to stare into her eyes. Without moving a muscle, the two of them stared at each other for what felt like hours. In reality it probably was only a few seconds.
After another second went by, the girl slowly raised her lips into a half smile. Words weren't spoken but Allison felt like she heard a, "Well,Well. What do we have here." She didn't know why, but she felt as if by accepting the challenge she had achieved something. Who had won was the real question.
****
School was finally over and her day was just about to begin. She had planned over the weekend that if she had the time, she would start cleaning up the cottage and adding touches of herself too it. She still hadn't unpacked yet because she felt the need to do a thorough, top to bottom, cleansing of the house. Not just whipping a few windows and sweeping a few halls.
She started walking over to where she had parked. She stopped short of turning the corner at the scene before her. One of the boys she met earlier on in the day was in a full on fight with one of the boys who she briefly remembered was in her bio class. Not knowing what to do, she just stood there and watched as bloody blow after bloody blow was given and received.
"Come on Bellerophon, is that really someone of your so called position has!"
"Sorry to disappoint Cobalt, but some of us have better use of our energy than wasting it on low lives like yourself. I don't know why you challenged me. Within your own pack you are a good for nothing."
At that, the one named Cobalt hunched down with a growl in his throat and lunged at...Joseph, which was the name of the boy Jasper had introduced. Joseph effortlessly dodged it and turned to face his opponent.
"Is that all you have Cobalt?"
I couldn't help but hear the amusement in Joseph's voice. He was enjoying the fight!
Out of the corner of my eye she saw someone lounging against one of the cars as they watched the fight. After fully turning to see who it was, she stomped over to where they were standing.
"Jasper! Do something! You can't just watch your friend fight!"
"Why not?" He replied. "It's not my place to interfere in their battle."
"What do you mean it's not your place? And it isn't a battle, it's a fight!"
I stood there waiting for his response, glaring up at him. When he failed to respond or move, she tried a different tactic.
"Look. As you know I'm new in town. Right now I'm trying to get my cottage in a state worthy of living. That means I have to clean, redecorate and unpack my things. Before I can do any of that I need cleaning supplies. Once I have them I also have to get groceries to stalk up my fridge so that once I start cleaning, whenever I get hungry, I won't have to come all the way into town to get food. Are you getting what I'm getting at?"
The slight shift of his body and the sudden pierced stare was the only confirmation she got; she continued.
"Now in order to do all of these things I will need a car, my car specifically. And talking about my car as we are, I would like to point out that your friend is currently using it as a brace so he can pummel whatever his name is."
We both looked over just in time to see Joseph bust open Cobalts lower lip, causing blood to gush all over the hood of my civic. Great, more cleaning.
Looking back at Jaspers face I could see he finally realized that the car being abused was indeed my car. He looked down at me, said fine and walked past the fight.
"Joseph, we're going."
"Just when things were getting interesting! You have no sense of fun Jas."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Fighting. Fun.
Joseph dropped the flailing body to the ground and started to walk away. Cobalt, for whatever reason, decided that he would have the last shot and dived for Joseph. Sensing his opponent, Joseph side stepped, pivoted and planted a straight jab square into his nose. You could hear the crunch of cartilage before a river of blood started to pour out of his nose. He dropped to his knees holding his nose as his buddies gathered around him. Now that he was no longer in front of my car, I did a mad dash to the driver seat and opened my door. As I was getting in I heard the Cobalt guy yell at the departing backs of Jasper and Joseph.
"You'll pay for this! Both of you! I will get my way!"
At that I closed my door, started my engine and drove off the school parking lot.