Fallen (15 page)

C
uriously
,
when
Achan left the room, the fear
that
plagu
ed me began to
slowly subside. This caught me off guard so I
didn’t
immediately
notice
that
The Warden
had closed the door behind Achan and returned to his desk.

He didn’t have my full attention again
until he
lifted a foot-hig
h stack of files from the floor and allowed
them to
crash loudly onto
his de
sk
.

He was watching me, his face now far more displeased.
“
Your files, Ms. Tanner.”

“Maggie,” I corrected.

“I heard you the first time,” h
e said
,
indignantly. “
Sixteen
schools in you
r short
eighteen
years of life.
I’ll have you know, Ms. Tanner, that is a record.”

He glowered at me until I
realized he didn’t plan to stop. S
omeone
was going to have to break
our deadlock stare.
Realizing there was no point in antagonizing him further,
I dropped my eyes to the floor.
Only then
,
he sp
oke
.

“
Sixteen
previous schools. A Harley Davidson
for transportation
. Performing psychic readings for money in the French Quarter. Do you know what these are, Ms. Tanner?”

“T
he result of good research on a new
student?”

“Now we can add
impudence
to the list
…
,
” He frown
ed
,
before continuing. “These are red flags, Ms. Tanner.
I wish you to know that I’ve met with each of your teachers prior to your arrival
,
and they will be reporting back to me about your behavior
…
consistently. So it
would be
in your best interest not to act up.”
He paused
,
contempt radiat
ed
from his
glare
,
a
s
he
lifted
his chin
toward
the door. “Go.”

I gue
ssed that was my cue to leave. It was just a bit different than Achan’s exit
,
so it took a moment before
I reacted
.

“Go!”

I hauled my backpack up over my shoulder and left the office, though not as quickly as
The Warden
would have liked. I knew this because
I noticed that
he
rolled
his eyes as I closed his office door behind me.

Then, it dawned on me
that
I forgot to hand Ezra’s letter to
The Warden
, so
instead
,
I
left it with Ms. Saggy
–
Arm
on my way
back
out to the
hallway.

Instinctively
, I looked around for
Achan
;
thankfully
,
I
could
n
o
t
locate him
.
H
owever,
there were
plenty of other students now roaming the halls
and
each one seem
ed
to
get in my way as I struggled to find my first class.

Like I was
being punished further for some unknown crime, I found the room
…
on the top floor
,
in the far right corner
,
of the East Hall. It couldn’t have been farther from
The Warden
’s office
,
or any more difficult to find
,
so I was five minutes late.

A
very tall, thin
,
German woman
approached me
when I entered, which
I
knew must be
my new English teacher.
Ms. Gleichner introduced me to the class
,
while
the students
silently
scrutinized
me
,
before directing
me to
a corner seat in the
last row.

This quickly proved to be the end of my lucky streak for the day, when
the hair on my neck began to
tickle and reach outward,
as I walked farther and fa
rther down
the aisle. By the time I was at my seat, the hair
felt like it was being
pulled by
a strong
magneti
c
force. Thankfully, I didn’t have the shakes or sweats
that accompanied this reaction earlier,
and I
was able to
pass myself off as
being
somewhat normal.

I
was almost certain the
effect I was feeling
was
caused by the guy in the seat next to mine
, even if he
did
look harmless enough.
H
is hair was dark brown and
unkempt
;
he wore
simple, wire rimmed
glasses and a
short-
sleeved shirt
with a collar
.
His shirt
looked like it had been stolen from a 1980’s sitcom
so,
clearly
,
he
didn’t run with
the same crowd
as Achan
.
When I finally arrived at my seat, he
didn’t bother to look up at me.

Others, however, peeked in my direction all throughout class
,
but after
the bell rang
,
someone actually spoke to me.

“Excuse me,” said a girl with straight blond
e
hair pulled back
into
a ponytail
,
expos
ing
diamond drop earrings.

My first reaction was to
act
like I hadn’t heard her.
The
tone
of her voice
would
n’t
be considered friendly by anyone’s standards.
Unfortunately, she was sitting directly in front of me and had turned nearly all the way around in her seat.

“Excuse me,” she repeated
,
more insistent.

I finished shoving my book back
into
my backpack
and zipp
ed
it up
,
before r
esponding.

“Yes?”

“Are you the girl who sits in
Jackson Square
and
takes money for delivering
messages to
the dead
?”

By
now,
everyone who hadn’t left the room was watching me.

“Why? Do you have a message to deliver?”

The girl snickered. “No.”

Then she
stood
and muttered to a mousy
,
dark-haired girl across the aisle, “
Yes, it’s confirmed. She’s a freak
.”

The two of them left the room
whispering
together – which I was certain
was
about me.

The boy who sat next to me
,
the only one not to sneak a quick
glance
in my direction during class
,
leaned
toward
me.

“
That’s
Bridgette Madison
. Her friend
,
who sits in front of me
,
is
Ashley Georgian
.
Best to stay away from them.”

“I’ll try if they let me,” I said
, happy to find someone
who seemed
decent at my new school
. “Thank you. It’s always helpful to know someone who’s been around
the school
longer
.”

“
Actually, I’m new too,”
he
said,
as he forced
his own books back in his bag.

“Really?
How
do you know
the two girls
then?”