Chapter 1: Trouble and A Box
"Now, in lieu of our final, as the class has voted, we will be doing group presentations on the different government structures we have studied this semester -"
At Mr. Harmel's words the entire class nearly shouted for joy, and by the look on our teacher's face, he was none too pleased about his loss to the class vote. I figured that would soon change though; he always had something up his sleeve, so there was sure to be a drawback. If there weren't, there was no way he would have allowed a vote in the first place. So while the rest of the class was grinning and dividing themselves into groups, I sat and waited for the other shoe to drop.
Mr. Harmel cleared his throat once above the noise before proceeding. "And since it is now a presentation instead of an essay test, the grading rubric will be tougher, the presentation will weigh more in your overall grades, and I have also already chosen the groups."
I sighed, feeling the same depression cloud that now hung over the classroom. It seems I didn't realize just how frustrated he was with us. Most teachers would have only used two out of the three methods of torture, but Mr. Harmel was determined to make the next week hell for everyone.
I looked around the room as he started to call names and assign them governments and team members. Some were lucky and were placed in the same group as their friends while others got dragged away into a group of strangers. Hearing the groans with occasional whispered 'YES!'s, I didn't have to wonder which sound I would make. Being a wallflower and an overall outcast, I was going to end up in a group of people who either didn't realize I was in this class, let alone this school, or who knew I existed but didn't really care. Yes, I was sure Mr. Harmel couldn't surprise me twice in one class - I would bet 5 bucks on it.
"And the last group will be Cassandra Gallis, Drake Newman, Sophia Blake, and Darren Xu. Your presentation will be over the Ancient Egyptian government." I was stunned, but apparently Mr. Harmel wasn't done yet. As the bell rang for the end of school, he had to raise his voice to be heard, "everyone please grab your new rubrics on your way out, and tomorrow we'll start having class in the library so you can research and prepare. Don't forget that the presentations will start next week in random order, whether your group is ready or not!"
There went my 5 bucks. I was happy that classes would now be turned into study halls in the library, but of all the groups I could have landed in, I was stuck with the boy wonder who could do no wrong, his blonde and empty-head queen bee, and the second-only-to-boy-wonder, who everyone knew was vying to become number one and getting the most popular girl in school. I had tried to stay out of this school's political mayhem for four years and now, right before my last semester I was to be shoved into the thick of it?! This was not going to end well.
I was still thinking about my current predicament when I unloaded my locker and started to walk home. There was bound to be a lot of drama starting tomorrow and my chances of coming out alive were slim. Sophia was queen bee for a reason - she had sunk her teeth into Darren first thing freshman year, charming her way to his side and the top of the school's hierarchy, and it wasn't until she was sure of both his position and hers that she showed her dark side. Any girl who came within 5 feet of Darren became the subject of pranks and ridicule from almost the whole school overnight, whether or not the poor soul had actually intended to take the role of wonder boy's girlfriend. And for all her clawing and snarling - the mental picture made me smile - all the popular boys seemed completely unaware of her doings. To them, or any of the teachers, she acted as she always had, a charming though not very studious teenager. I sighed. Working with her and Darren together was not going to be easy.
A soft meow caught my attention and I focused on what had to be the strangest black cat I was ever going to see. Unlike most cats in it's predicament, it sat still on the sidewalk corner, ears and tail unmoving, as cars going 40 miles an hour whooshed past, blowing a perfect fur coat into disarray. And yet the cat didn't seem to mind. It just kept sitting and waiting, and when I met it's eyes I realized it was staring right at me and probably had been for a while. As I got close it let out a quiet huff and meowed at me again with a more commanding tone before turning around and dashing into the still moving traffic. I made to follow but stopped short when someone honked their horn at me.
When the light turned red and I could cross, I bolted down the crosswalk, eyes scanning the pavement for what was sure to be a patch of dead fur. I made it to the other side, however, without seeing any cats either dead or alive. I heard a loud and surprisingly dignified snort behind me and turned to see the same cat sitting above an old box of knickknacks. Letting out one last 'huff' that was almost a sigh, it turned to look through the open doorway of an antique shop. I followed its gaze and when I did, the owner happened to look in my direction and saw me. Before I could smile and dash, he was outside the shop and standing beside me.
"Those are buy one, get one free you know," he said, gesturing to the cardboard box in front of us. "They've been sitting in the back for so long, we no longer have room for them."
"What?"
"People have been donating everything due to garage sale season and spring cleaning, so we have to move some of the older things outside. This box doesn't have a sign yet with prices, but everything here is $10 or less and buy one get one free." The shopkeeper finished his speech with gusto, hands on his hips and his face wrinkled with a grin. As much as I didn't want to ruin his mood I wasn't really interested in anything; after all it was that strange cat that led me here. And I was about to tell him so when something in the box sparkled, catching my eye.
Looking down I saw a clay-baked box with a picture of a proud black cat like the one I on the sidewalk, but this one had gold earrings, a nose ring, necklaces and bracelets. If cats could be queens, this one would be ruler of the world. I was already intimidated by the picture alone. It wasn't until I went to put the box back that I realized I couldn't. My arm couldn't move, and before I could wonder why I found myself turning back to the shopkeeper.
"I'll take this one. How much is it?"
I'll take it?! What the hell! That is not what I wanted to say. I was going to say sorry to bother you but I was just following a cat I thought had become road kill, a perfectly normal excuse, but now the shopkeeper was already looking at the box intently. After a moment he blinked and said, "that one is three dollars. Is there another you want to take as well?"
Nope. Not really. But my hands were already searching through my backpack, taking out the correct amount. After handing the money over I found myself back on the way home with an old, dusty box still clutched in my hand.