1. Gone

I was sitting in the counselor's office at Coates, staring at the very unfortunate looking Mr. Negry. Over the semester break I had written to my father, once again asking him to pull me out of Coates. Once again he had refused.

"Now Diana, your father insists that you stay at Coates Academy for the next semester. Come on now, is it really so bad?"

I had a response to his question, but it was not what he wanted to hear so I held my tongue.

"Just stay at Coates for one more semester. It's the best solution. Your father will be happy, your friends will be happy, I will be happy…" Oh I bet you will. "Everyone's happy!"

"I'm not happy." I replied finally.

Mr. Negry sighed and looked at me seriously. "Well maybe you're incapable of being happy."

I grabbed my bag off the floor and stalked out of the office. Caine was waiting for me just outside the door.

"So how'd it go?"

"If you have to ask it did not go well." He sighed with obvious relief. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, we can still catch the end of lunch if we hurry."

"Oh yes, because the cafeteria food is worth hurrying for." I didn't bother to disguise my displeasure.

He grabbed my hand, and after considering for a moment I let him. He dragged me to the cafeteria and sat me down next to a girl named Courtney. He sat across from me, next to Drake.

"So Ladris will we finally be spared your presence?" Drake asked, just a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"In your dreams Merwin."

"Hah, the only reason you would be in my dreams was if I was having a nightmare."

I nonchalantly turned my head back to my food. Today they were serving a slab of thick meat that they called steak. I cut into the meat nonetheless, it was so undercooked I feared I might get food poisoning. I pushed the steak to the side and picked at the vegetables. Courtney practically talked my ear off about all of the dumb stuff she was going to do over the summer. The bell couldn't have rang soon enough. I collected my wing and hurried off to the science classroom.

I took my seat next to Anthony, a boy who'd had a major crush on me since my first day here. Usually I didn't give him the time of day, but sometimes it was fun to tease him. Unfortunately for him today was not one of those days.

"Good afternoon everyone, my name is Ms. Marx. I will be your sub for today seeing as Mr. Gelb is still in the hospital." I struggled to hold in my laughter at the sight of fat and sweaty Mr. Gelb rolling helplessly down the stairs. Priceless.

But then a new vision entered my mind. Not that of Mr. Gelb tumbling down the stairs, but of my mother toppling down the staircase in our home. Landing at the bottom, her eyes open and twitching. I shook the image from my mind.

When my mind returned to the classroom everyone was laughing nervously and looking around the room. Not wanting to seem unaware I looked around to, though I had no idea what was going on.

"Did you see that?" Anthony whispered.

"See what?"

"The sub, she just disappeared." Just then my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out. Caine of course.

"Is your teacher gone?" He asked, his tone serious.

"If by gone you mean obviously not in the room then yes."

"That's what I mean." He snapped.

"So I'm guessing your teacher pulled a Houdini too."

"Yeah. Meet me in the dining hall in five. Grab Computer Jack on your way."

"What for?"

"We have things to do, plans to set up."

"Ok maybe I'm understanding you wrong. Are you suggesting that all of the teachers have mysteriously disappeared?"

"I'm not suggesting it. It's true. Five minutes Diana, tick tock."

The dial tone sounded. I lowered the phone from my ear. The other kids were starting to get panicky now. The more time wore on, the more evident it became that the teacher was not coming back. I got my phone out again to call Computer Jack, but the call didn't go through. I tried again and again, but it did not work. I shoved it back into my bag and slipped quietly out of the classroom to find him myself.