The linoleum floors squeaked against my wet shoes as I sprinted down the empty hall towards first period. Rows and rows of red lockers streaked by, and my backpack thumped against me back in protest. I shot a furtive glance at my watch, grimacing at the little arrows telling me the bell was about to ring. Up ahead I could just make out my destination, the dull once-red door gleamed like a beacon of hope at the end of the hallway.
Rrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnnggggg! 'Ah, man...' I thought as I sped up in a last ditch effort to make it to the door, 'dang it, Dang it, DANG IT!' My shoes shrieked against the the tiles as I swung to a stop, grabbing the frame of the door for dear life as it whooshed violently open. As if the door slamming open hadn't been enough to attract the attention of the class, my shoes slid out from under me with a horrifying squeak. I managed to cling onto the door and at least not fall on my butt, which I took as a good sign, but my face was none the less hot with humiliation as I squeaked down the long aisle of desks to sink into my the back corner seat.
My teacher raised a gnarled black brow at me, his glaring blue eyes causing my already drumming heart to bang painfully in my ears. I swallowed down my pounding heart until it was out of my throat, and returned his icy glaze with an fearfully apologetic one.
"Late again..." Tutted Mr. Rink, pacing across the front row, squinting at a stack of papers over his half-moon spectacles.
"Ye-yes, Mr. Rink but you know I-"
"I know your situation Luna, and your little job isn't an excuse for being tardy."
"Yes, I know but I-"
"Detention. After school," He gave me a hard glare, his ghostly blue eyes glinting, "Don't be late." With that he turned away from the class and began to write on the board, beginning the lesson.
I glared back at him now I knew he couldn't see, frustrated that my dark mahogany eyes would have the same chilling effect as his blue ones... It wasn't possible for me to be scary. I sighed and fished my english notes out of my backpack, looking over the doodle-filled margins. The girl in front of me turned and placed her arm on the desk.
"Luna, you have to stop being late for this class! Mr. Rink is going to give you saturday school if it happens again this week, and then we won't be able to do anything fun!" She whispered, brushing her short blonde hair over her shoulder.
I sighed and pulled out my sketch book, ignoring my best friend for the moment. My pencil flowed over the paper, scratching out the rough form a tea set. That was why I was late...
"Charity," I started, looking up at her, "Today someone wandered into the shop with an authentic 19th Century Antique Limoges Moss Rose Tea Set... that set goes for over 300 dollars if you can find it on the internet, and I was the only one in the store, because Ms. Ramona was running errands, so I had to buy it myself. Then what with setting it up, explaining everything once Ramona came back, and having to walk to school from the store on top of it all, of course I'm late! How much can one person do!" I hissed, clutching my pencil with a death grip.
Charity sighed, "Well, Ramona shouldn't have you working in the morning in the first place..."
"Yeah, well... she is and there's nothing I can do about it."
I focused back on the front of the room where Mr. Rink was explaining the many 'complexities' of sentence structure, and as interesting as that subject was it didn't hold my attention for very long.
The bell announcing the end of the period felt like rain after a long drought, all the students leapt for the door in a frenzy as Mr. Rink shouted out one last reminder about the night's homework. Charity and I lagged behind the stampede to gather our books before walking out into the now crowded halls.
"So," Charity started, adjusting her grip on her books to pull her long and stripedy gloves further up her forearms. "What's your deal on the custody situation? Are your relatives still fighting over you or can my mom just adopt you already and be done with it?"
I giggled a bit, but a hard lump rose in my throat as I was reminded of the still quite recent demise of my mother, leaving me orphaned and alone. "Oh, still fighting of course..." I sighed, fingering the gold wing-pedant necklace, the only reminder I had of my mother. "It's not as though they even want me." I growled, "They just want my mom's money." I sighed again, blinking away the tears that were gathering at the edges of my burning eyes.
Charity put a reassuring arm over my shoulder and rubbed my arm comfortingly. "Don't worry too much about it." She soothed, "Besides, the longer they argue, the longer you get to live with me at my house."
I allowed myself a smallish grin at that, and leaned into charity's shoulder, wiping at my eyes with my free hand, " Thanks Char." I sniffed, giving her a one-armed hug, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
After school I walked with Charity to her car and gave her my backpack to take home with her.
"I'm picking you up at five o' clock right?" she asked, shouldering my purple pack.
"Yeah, don't forget." I said with a slight grin, giving her a quick hug before she got in her car and drove off.
In the classroom Mr. Rink paced back and forth in front of the room full of 'delinquents'. His calm demeanor was betrayed by the large vein throbbing in his neck. I watched it pulse angrily under his skin in gross fascination from the back row. My ipod was tucked safely inside my right boot, my cellphone—shut off as a precaution—hid in the other. I knew Mr. Rink wouldn't see them there like he would in pockets or purses. I also had a few pages of drawing paper mixed in with the homework in my chemistry book. My previous time in detention gave me the experience and incentive to come in well prepared.
After all forms of entertainment were locked away in a drawer, Mr. Rink sat down at his desk to 'monitor' us for the next two hours. What fun. I crossed my legs and discreetly wiggled my ipod out of my boot, slipping it into my pocket, then threading the earbuds through my sleeve so I could jam in secret.
Creature Feature rang comfortingly in my ear as I pretended to do homework. The room was silent as usual... Mr. Rink only gave out further punishment for talking, so no one bothered. The shifting of a chair brought my eyes up to the boy next to me, my eyes glinting from behind a curtain of dark bangs. The boy flashed me a slimy smile, a very creepy-friendly, slimy smile. My gaze descended to my shoes. Ick, he was greasy looking... from the top of his dirty-blonde head to his gritty, too-big skater shoes. I bit my lip to keep it from curling with distaste, and arched a cynical brow at him before returning my attention to my drawing.
My head jerked up abruptly at an all too familiar tutting coming from beside me. I grimaced as I saw Mr. Rink towering over my desk.
"Tisk, tisk, Luna." He simpered in a falsely disappointed tone—god I was sick of his incessant snark, "Drawing in detention? You know better." In a flash he had snatched my sketch off the desk, and without so much as a glance at the page, tore it down the middle.
I gasped, eyes wide, and my hands moved towards the paper, only to drop back into my lap. Angrily, I clenched my jaw, balled up my fists in my lap and stared resolutely at the desk. I took a deep breath and squeezed my nails into my palms, trying to keep calm. This was too much, I couldn't take another minute with this man. But I didn't look up, I merely glared furiously at the desk, which was easier to intimidate than my teacher.
Mr. Rink let out a snort of laughter and strode with heavy steps back to his desk. He folded his long, bony fingers around a pen and began to write. With his gaze safely away from me I was free to glare unabashedly at him, and I did.
'You want to let me out of this room.' I thought, putting all my anger into my gaze, and every once of my conviction into my thoughts. 'You, Mr. Allen Rink, are going to let me out immediately."
Mr. Rink's pen halted on the paper, and his eyes went blank, as though he had just remembered something. "Luna," He said in a matter-of-fact voice, his eyes not leaving his paper, "get out." He blinked once, then continued writing.
My eyes widened, and my mouth popped open into a little 'o'. But I quickly recovered, gathering my papers and high-tailing it out the door. I didn't dare look back as I flitted down the hall, and I barely breathed until I was safely out of the building. Then I stopped, eyes still wide with shock, my breathing a little ragged.
I squatted down to fish my cell phone out of my boot, and hit Char's speed dial, holding the phone shakily to my ear. She picked up after the first ring.
"Luna?"
"Come pick me up, you won't believe what just happened." With that I hit the end button, and snapped the phone shut.