Wickford High 1 - The Revelation (2 page)

Vicky’s mouth dropped open, and then the situation started to get on her nerves. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stand here all day.”

Sister Phoebe’s eyes darted up from the stack of papers. “You’re new.”

Vicky rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You must be from the big city.” She looked her up and down. “You walk through these doors with a bad attitude. Well Missy, check the attitude at the door. We don’t tolerate that here at Wickford High,” she said sharply. Vicky blinked a few times and looked around. Surely, this woman couldn’t be talking to her. “You will look at me when I address you,” the nun barked.

Vicky jumped and looked Sister Phoebe in the eyes. “Yes, ma’am,” she grumbled.

“That’s better,” she said and looked down at her paperwork again. She shuffled through the mess and put a paper on the counter in front of Vicky. “Fill this out while I make up a schedule for you.”

Vicky took the paper and looked down at it. It looked normal enough. She filled it out and pushed it back in front of the nun. “We’ll have to order my transcripts. We left Fort Lauderdale a little suddenly.”

“We don’t need them here. You’ll keep up or suffer the consequences.”

Vicky gnashed her teeth and glared at the nun

.

“Here’s your schedule, Miss Phillips. Be sure to have all of your teachers sign off on the form and return it to the office at the end of the day,” said Sister Phoebe. She pointed down the hallway. “Your first class is the third door on the right. Be sure you have a school uniform by tomorrow.” She looked at Vicky critically with disapproval. “We have a dress code here.” She raised an eyebrow and glared. “I also expect to see your face scrubbed clean. We are a strict Catholic School. Makeup is the Devil’s tool, and is not allowed under any circumstances.”

Vicky brought her notebook up and placed it self-consciously over her chest in a tight grip.

She flushed in a combination of embarrassment and rage. “Yes, ma’am,” she said in a clipped tone. She quickly backed away from the counter and hurried down the hallway toward her classroom. She was furious. She had never been dressed down so rudely before in her life.

She rounded the corner and stepped into the classroom. All eyes trained in on her. Great, the day just kept getting better and better. She wanted to shrink down in a corner and hide for the rest of the day. She blew out a breath and handed her schedule to her new teacher, Father Turner, a young priest. He was short and portly with black close-cropped hair. He signed her schedule and handed it back to her. “Welcome to Senior Religion, Vicky,” he said and eyed her critically.

“I hope you take your studies to heart.” He pointed to an empty desk. “Take that desk next to Luke and we’ll begin class.”

She locked eyes with Luke and smiled, finally, a friendly face in a sea of monsters. Luke grinned back at her as she sat down.

“Hi again, Vicky,” Luke whispered.

“I wouldn’t get too friendly with our boy Luke,” said a young beautiful blond. She had a small frame, petite features and crystal blue eyes. Vicky looked her in the eyes and the girl smiled smugly. “He can tend to be a little ‘g-r-u-f-f’ with the new girls,” she said snootily, and the class laughed. Luke narrowed his eyes and glared at her. “But then again, he did always tend to ‘sniff out’ the harlots.”

Vicky drew in a sharp breath, and her mouth fell open.

“Sara!” Father Turner scolded. “That will be enough!”

Sara rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Father Turner. I’m just saying what everybody’s thinking.”

“Vicky is new to our community. She has come to us from a large city,” Father Turner lectured. “In time, she’ll learn our ways and not dress so shamelessly in front of our Lord.”

Vicky covered her face with both of her hands. She officially wanted to disappear.

Sara rolled her eyes and flippantly tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’m just saying . . .,”

she said.

Father Turner’s face turned beet red with irritation. “Sara, if you say one more word, you will be ‘just saying’ your way to after school detention,” he chastised her sternly. “Am I clear?”

Sara nodded, rolled her eyes, and then she glared at Vicky for getting her into trouble.

Luke tapped her on the shoulder. “Meet me in the cafeteria at lunch,” he whispered to Vicky. She nodded, but she didn’t turn around to acknowledge him.

She was livid. “Obviously this little ‘chick‘ doesn’t know who she’s dealing with,” she said to herself in a barely audible whisper. Luke chuckled softly, and she whipped her head around in surprise. Her eyes were wide, and she flushed a deep red. Obviously he heard her talking to herself again. Luke’s smile grew larger, and he winked at her.

“Luke, is there something you’d like to share with the class?” Father Turner said sharply.

Vicky froze, and then slowly turned back around to face the front. The smile left Luke’s face, and he looked uncaringly into Father Turner’s eyes. He sat back in his seat, draped his arm across the back of the chair, and said nonchalantly, “Nope.”

Most of the class laughed, and Father Turner looked around at everyone sharply. Father Turner turned beet red again. “See me after class,” he barked at Luke.

Vicky closed her eyes, and the color left her face. Now Luke was in trouble because of her.

She sighed heavily. “Great,” she said under her breath.

The bell ending first period had rung, and Vicky sat there dumbfounded. Luke placed his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

She turned her eyes up to his. “I’m so sorry for getting you in trouble.”

He smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I stay in trouble around here.” He looked over his shoulder at Father Turner, and he was glaring at him. He looked back into Vicky’s eyes and smiled. “He’ll just make me go to confessional and say a few ‘Hail Mary’s’ and everything will be back to normal.” He chuckled. “I’ve never seen anyone talk to themselves more than you do.”

She looked away, and her gaze caught Father Turner’s. She groaned at the glare she was receiving. “I don’t recall ever having a need to talk to myself, but today has been exceptionally trying.” She looked back into Luke’s eyes. “I have to go find my next class, and you had better go talk with Father Turner before he has a stroke.” She glanced at Father Turner again and raised an eyebrow. “It looks like we’ve got his blood pressure up.”

Luke laughed, and she looked back at him and smiled. “Let me see your schedule.”

She pulled it out of her notebook and handed it to him. He glanced over it and frowned.

“What’s wrong with it?” she said in alarm.

He smiled. “We don’t have any more classes together.” He shook his head. “Well, there’s still lunch. Meet me in the cafeteria.” He handed her back her schedule.

She placed it in her notebook, grabbed her bag, and rose from the desk. She smiled. “Okay, I’ll see you at lunch.” He grinned at her, and then turned to go see Father Turner. “Good luck,”

she whispered to his retreating back, and she heard him laugh.



Vicky rushed into her next classroom just as the bell rang. Her mouth dropped open.

Standing in the front of the class was Sister Phoebe, and she was glaring back at Vicky for being late. Vicky looked at her schedule again in a panic and quickly looked at the number on the classroom door to verify she was in the right place.

Sister Phoebe put out her hand for the schedule to sign off on it. “Vicky, I’m happy to see that you finally decided to grace this class with your presence,” she said dryly.

Vicky swallowed hard. “You’re the teacher? I . . . I thought you were the school secretary.”

Sister Phoebe handed the signed schedule back to Vicky. “I have many jobs in this school, Miss Phillips. Be sure you’re on time tomorrow,” she said sharply. “Take that seat next to Sara.”

Vicky and Sara locked eyes, and Vicky groaned. Sara sat back and smiled smugly. “Oh look everybody, it’s the harlot again,” she said snidely.

Vicky had about all she could stand of Sara for one day, and her temper finally got the best of her. She smiled at Sara spitefully. “It takes one to know one,” she said flippantly.

Sara smiled hatefully. “You really don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you?”

Vicky cocked her head to the side and shrugged uncaringly as she sat down in the empty desk. “I could say the same thing to you.”

Sara motioned her head to a small girl sitting meekly in the back of the class. “Ask Rachael back there what happens when you cross me.” Rachael turned white and cowered down in her chair further.

Vicky glared defiantly at Sara.

Sister Phoebe slammed a ruler across the front of Sara’s desk, hard, and they both jumped.

“Ladies, if you both don’t want detention, then I suggest you stop this bickering now!” she barked.

“Yes ma’am,” Vicky grumbled.

“This isn’t over harlot,” Sara said in a low tone that only Vicky could hear.

“You’re damn right it isn’t,” Vicky whispered back.

It seemed like the day was dragging on forever for Vicky. All she wanted was for the horrid day to be over. Her third period class was a little better. She had Father Turner again, but at least Sara wasn’t in that class.

This time she had sat next to Rachael, and at least she was nice. Rachael was actually a beautiful brunette. She had large round blue eyes and a small petite frame. She also had a beautiful smile, when she was brave enough to show it. If she had been back in Fort Lauderdale with Vicky, Rachael would have been very popular. As it was, Sara had the poor girl cowering in a self-conscious shell. Vicky had always been a champion of the underdog, and she made the decision that she’d have to do something about that.

The bell ending the class had rung for lunch. Vicky glanced over at Rachael. She cleared her throat. “Rachael, tell me something. Why do you cower away from Sara?”

Rachael turned white. “She’s a witch,” she said in a barely audible whisper.

Vicky’s eyes got wide. “When you say that she’s a witch, do you mean actually or figuratively speaking?”

Rachael swallowed hard. “She’s really a witch.” She gave Vicky a pleading look. “You seem nice enough. Please don’t cross her.”

Vicky raised an eyebrow. “I’m not afraid of Sara,” she said dryly.

Rachael looked away. “You should be.”

Vicky smiled and placed her hand on Rachael’s. “Can you keep a secret?”

Rachael nodded. “Who am I gonna tell? Sara has no one talking to me.”

Vicky pressed her lips in a thin line grimly at what Rachael said. Vicky blew out a breath.

“I’m not afraid of Sara. I’m a witch, too.” Rachael’s eyes grew wide in fear. Vicky shook her head and smiled. “I wouldn’t hurt you. In fact, I like you. I’m going to take you under my wing and give you back some of the confidence that Sara has stolen from you.” Rachael shook her head frantically. Vicky’s smile grew bigger. “It will be okay. If Sara wants to butt heads with me, she can just bring it on. My day couldn’t get any worse that it already is.”

“Do you wanna bet?” Rachael said meekly.

Vicky rolled her eyes and laughed. “I’ll repeat myself. I’m not afraid of Sara.”

Rachael’s face paled again. “Well, when your hair starts falling out, you’ll be singing a different tune.”

Vicky’s face grew concerned. “Is that what she did to you?” Rachael nodded. “You seem like a nice girl. What did you do to her to make her want to curse you like that?”

Rachael shrugged. “Jason smiled at me.”

“Who’s Jason?”

“Jason is Sara’s boyfriend,” Rachael said and looked away. “Sara said she’d make it so that Jason or any other guy at this school wouldn’t want to smile at me ever again.”

Vicky’s blood started boiling. She and Sara were definitely going to butt heads. Vicky patted Rachael’s hand again in comfort. “Stick with me Rachael. In a few days, Sara won’t be a problem for you anymore.”

Rachael shook her head frantically again. “Please don’t provoke Sara.”

Vicky shrugged. “Sara’s already provoked me. We’re already going to have a go at each other. I might as well save you while I’m at it. Believe me, when I’m done with Sara, she won’t be able to hurt you anymore.” Vicky stood up from her desk. “I promised Luke that I would meet him in the cafeteria for lunch.” She gathered her notebook and bag. “I’ll see ya later. Try not to worry about Sara.”

Rachael swallowed hard and nodded. “It was nice knowing ya, Vicky.”

Vicky shook her head and laughed at Rachael and hurriedly left the classroom in the direction of the cafeteria to meet Luke.

Vicky hurried into the school cafeteria, and Luke was waiting for her just inside the doorway. He tapped in her shoulder. “Vicky . . .”

Vicky jumped and whirled around. “Luke!” she said in surprise. “You scared me!”

He laughed softly. “What’s the hurry?”

She grinned. “I was running late, and I didn’t want you to think that I was a no show.”

He raised an eyebrow and smiled. “So, you care what I think?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Of course, I care.”

He draped his arm around her shoulders. “That’s nice to know. Let’s go get in line before we run out of time to eat.” They joined the lunch line and Luke put a tray on the rail. Vicky reached for a tray and Luke shook his head. “I’ve got this.”

She rolled her eyes. “Luke, you don’t need to be doing this.”

He grinned. “Just get what you want to eat off of the line.”

Vicky rolled her eyes again and picked up a hamburger, a plate of fries, a bottle of juice, and she put them on the tray. “Thank you.”

Luke laughed and picked up the same thing. He paid the cashier, and he looked around the room. “There’s a table in the corner,” he said, and Vicky led the way to the table. They sat down at the table and Vicky took her plate of fries and popped one in her mouth.

She grinned. “So, what did Father Turner say to you?”

He rolled his eyes. “I had to go to the confessional.” He shook his head. “They’re so predictable around here.” He laughed. “My sentence was twenty-five ‘Hail Mary’s’ just like I said it would be.”