". . . And this was the blanket my parents found me in," I said, holding up an emerald green fabric to my classmates.
Their faces were blank with confusion. I wish something would get through their thick heads. The only thing that helps me get through each school day is their absolute stupidity.
"Thank you, Winter," my teacher mumbled. "Have a seat now."
I flipped my long raven black hair, "Of course, darling."
My name is Winter Solstice Edwards, why exactly? Because my 'parents', as I'm forced to call them, are very creative people. What should we name this child that randomly has appeared outside our door? Well, honey, what day is it? Humpday? I thought it was Friday. No, the winter solstice. That's probably the dumb kind of conversation they had, knowing them.
I'm a little ahead of the other students in my grade. My doctor says I'm a seven-year-old with a fifteen-year-old's brain and attitude. I've been offered, begged even to skip ahead to let the students in my class have a chance, and I've voiced my opinion on the matter quite strongly. It's much more fun to mock the fools than to let them all have to see me go. I excel, and they fail, quite enjoyable.
I live in an apartment in East Harlem and go to River East Elementary. This is my second year at this school, and I still hate it, but today is the day for one of my biggest pranks. I try to do one every month; it keeps my hopes up that one day something exciting might happen. The administration's been dying to catch me in the act since first grade, but they're understaffed, low on funds, they can't stop me. Plus, I have a secret weapon.
Back when I was three, my parents were worried I was severely anti-social, and so they bought me one of those big stuffed teddy bears in an attempt to get me to talk to someone else, even if it couldn't answer me. I think I ended up cutting its head off, but I did find a person to talk to, myself. At first, we just talked through the mirrors, but soon enough I was able to create a ghost-like entity who looked just like me. In all honesty, she is me, well a part of me.
Summer S. Edwards is the physical embodiment of all the good things in my head when I let her out, I change a little. I've never noticed, but she claims I become a tad bit more violent, and tactical, and well evil. Nothing bad's ever happened, but boy were my parents surprised when they came into my room to see me sitting across from myself having a chat — same hair, eyes, entirely identical, like twins.
She's my partner in crime. While I go off to wreak havoc across the school, she stays in my place pretending to be me. Sounds perfect, it just took her a couple of times until she realized that people would be calling my name and not her's. It was a little suspicious at first, but she soon caught on after I yelled at her for messing up. You see, it's her goal to please me, for, in order for her to be happy, I must be happy.
But Winter, wouldn't someone notice that oh I don't know, she can't hold a pencil and such if she's like a ghost? I'll give it to you, you may have a brain, but so do I, and it didn't take long for me to find a way around this issue. After a lot of practice, I learned how to channel energy into her. That's probably the simplest way to put it. If I concentrate a little, she becomes solid and can do those sort of things. Yeah, it's cool.
Today, I'm going to be egging the teacher's lounge. Some may find it boring, or repetitive, but there aren't many things I can get my hands on without people questioning. It's become common knowledge that I can't be trusted, with anything. Folks look for secret meanings behind my words, as though I'm gonna lie to them all the time. I don't, I only do it now and then.
"Ms. Knight?" I asked, raising my hand. "May I go to the bathroom?"
"If it's an emergency—"
"Which it is, thanks," I replied and jumped out of my seat heading for the door, smirking the entire time.
I exited the classroom and turned right towards the girl's bathroom. My dozens of eggs were hidden in one of those panels on the ceiling that kids pop out all the time; they happen to be great for sneaking things in and out of the building. I removed the panel next to the one I had put the egg cartons above and conjured up Summer.
"Hey, Winter!" She said cheerily, waving at me. "Time for prank number one hundred and twenty-seven?"
"Yeah, yeah, okay. Just hold these for a second."
I started to hand her the eggs, stacking them in her arms, the plastic crinkling slightly. Putting the panel back where it belonged, I stepped off the toilet I had been standing on.
"Now give 'em back," I ordered. "I'm gonna go to the teacher's lounge down by the fourth and fifth grade hallway as planned, and you're going to take my place for a bit as always. Nothing weird, feel free to be sarcastic, and when I give you the signal, ask to get a drink from the water fountain. It should take me thirty minutes max, got it?"
"Got it," she responded and headed back towards the classroom after giving me all the eggs.
The school was old, the bricks even starting to fall apart. It was only two floors built like circles; first, second, and third on the bottom, fourth and fifth on the top. I'd been watching for the past week to see if any teachers leave their classrooms while they're teaching towards the end of the day, and they don't. So all I have to do is not draw any attention while I head upstairs.
There was a staircase on the right when I exited the restroom that, if the old maps were accurate, would bring me closer to the teacher's lounge. It's supposed to be on this side of the building. Toe, ball, heel. Toe, ball, heel. I made my way up the stairs without a single creak. Success. I exited into the second floor hallway which was lined with lockers for the fourth and fifth graders. They were meant to help them transition to the middle school. If a younger kid ended up on the wrong floor, they were meant for bullying — a kid my age could easily fit inside one.
Finally, I arrived in front of a door that read:
Teacher's Lounge
No Students Allowed
Like that was gonna stop me. I swung open the door and quickly locked it behind me. The room was about the same size as any of the other classrooms in the school. It was decked out with a few round tables with wooden chairs, a fridge, and counters topped with a microwave and coffee maker. Was this where all the school funds were going to? The paint wasn't even peeling.
I dropped the cartons on one of the tables and opened the first one up. Time to have some fun!
⚬ ⚬ ⚬
Eggs were everywhere, the walls, the glorious fridge, even the chairs. I laughed. Oh were the teachers going to have a ball cleaning this mess up. I threw the now empty containers into the trash and exited the smelly lounge. Making my way down the seemingly deserted hallway, I stopped in my tracks.
"Winter!" A boy with blond hair yelled at me. "I know what you did."
This was bad, never once in my entire prank career had I been caught, less a kid be suspicious of me, but this was the geek I guess you could say of my grade. His name was John Bradley, and though he wasn't as smart as me, he did seem to be able to use basic deductive reasoning.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tell the principal," he said, a triumphant grin on his face.
If only Summer weren't taking my place in class, maybe I'd have had some reasoning, or even had thought before I did the next thing.
"Because you won't be alive to rat me out," I sneered.
It was only then when his grin changed to fear. I was taller than the other kids in my grade and much more cunning. I lunged for his throat, only giving him seconds to react. He didn't seem to know what was happening until it was too late and my hands were around his neck. He gasped for breath, but his little lungs couldn't support him for long.
He collapsed, and I let him fall on the floor. I concentrated on signaling Summer. I just needed to hide the body, and then I would go back to class. I opened lockers until I found an empty one and shoved John in. Hey, I told you they were a perfect size. Then, I swiftly went back downstairs to meet Summer at the water bubbler.
"No problems, right?" I asked her, making sure that I knew everything that had gone on in class while I was gone.
"Nope. We just did some basic math," she answered. "Did everything go well with, you know?"
"Yup, now time to go."
She disappeared in a flash of green, and I returned to my class. When I sat down, I realized what I had done upstairs.
"Crap, crap, crap," I murmured to myself.
This was the issue. You know how people say you have a conscience that tells you right from wrong? Well, I like to think of Summer as mine. She tells me what's right and there's a chance I'll take what she says into consideration. There is also a strong chance that I won't, but I'm aware of the good and bad. When I was upstairs, I couldn't tell, and now I felt awful.
There were definitely better ways to handle that problem without killing someone! I wondered how long it would take someone to notice that he was missing, and then to find him. It's not like I was going to miss the kid, he was annoying, but it didn't sit well with me that I had taken a life like it was no big deal. Great, I thought to myself. How long before I become a serial killer for fun? It was gonna be a while before I let Summer out of my head again.