I

I swear, it was an accident!

I didn't mean to kill my physics teacher.

Yes, that was my worst subject, and yes, my grade didn't go lower than the "F", but that was because the system didn't have anything lower than that.

Still, I wouldn't kill a person just because I was a disaster in their area of expertise.

I didn't kill my english teacher for making me read "The Lord of the Flies", so why would I kill my physics teacher, you may ask?

Well, she started it.

I mean it, Miss Dunbar tried to kill me first, after calling me a hideous spawn.

And mind you, I am a fine specimen,...when I washed my hair properly.

But you're probably wondering how I got myself in that situation.

I'll have to ask for your forgiveness, of course you don't know; so, if you please, allow me to start from the beginning.

I've never been a normal girl, and the only reason why I didn't end up locked up in an asylum with a restraining jacket is because I learned to keep my mouth shut after the incident that took place on my sixth birthday.

I had told my mother that Clara's birthday party had been amazing, with a clown to entertain us and a llama to play with.

For some reason, my mother took it the wrong way, and being a little six year old, I didn't understand her need to prove to Clara's parents that she could throw a better party.

She hired the biggest bouncy castle our yard could fit, and a pony.

Most kids were too busy jumping around the bouncy castle, but I stayed with the pony.

The owner of the pony name's was Phil, he was in his late sixties, and he also laughed at my bad jokes.

Phil asked me to watch over Prince Apple (that was the pony's name) while he went to relieve himself, and I had taken the task too seriously.

A few of the kids came over and started to pet Prince Apple, while my little hand griped the reins as tight as it could.

"Pff, take your stinkin hands off me, pal"

My green eyes widened, and my neck almost snapped as I turned to look straight into the pony's eyes.

"Could you tell them to leave me alone, my lady? Their hands are dirty, and I took a bath just this morning"

Nodding slowly, I told the other kids to not get Prince Apple dirty.

"My real name is Edwin"

"Sorry, Mr. Edwin"

"Oh! Don't apologize, my lady"

His long face travelled around mine, smelling my hair and tickling my ears. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Could you,...please,...toss me one of those cupcakes. They look so delicious"

I did as he asked, unwrapping the treat before offering it to him.

"Alexandria!" my mother's angry voice drained all color of my cheeks, "You can't give cupcakes to a horse, it's not healthy for them"

"It's not healthy for humans either, but they're so delicious" said Edwin, his tone jovial.

"But he asked me to" I said, as if a talking pony was a normal thing.

The few kids who heard me started to laugh, but my mother went as pale as a ghost.

The next thing I was aware of, was the burning pain in my left cheek.

My eyes were stinging with contained tears, and around me, the kids stopped laughing, and the adults ceased their talk.

They were all staring at us, but my mother didn't seem to notice.

"Animals. Don't. Talk." she muttered through gritted teeth.

That wasn't the first incident nor the last, but I never spoke of it again, choosing to avoid stables, aquariums and lakes as much as I could.

Then came my step father, Abraham, and just like my mother, he ignored my existence. I was fine with it. The guy was a jerk.

I wish I could say my life had been mundane, but it wasn't. I have dyslexia and ADHD, one made reading a nightmare, and the other got me in trouble more often than I would like.

In my thirteen years of life, I had been kicked out of four different schools, and neither of them seemed too eager to take me in. I didn't blame them, I was a problematic kid with awful grades, my future didn't seem too bright. I barely passed my classes, and even so, I was a year behind.

History was the only class where I didn't completely sucked.

I wasn't brilliant, but I wasn't helpless either, which is more than I can say for most of my classes.

Having a good teacher always helps, and boy, Mr. Brunner was great. He came to our school right after christmas break, after our previous teacher, Mr. Lawrence, had retired (he had cancer, and decided to spend the remaining of his life with his family). Around that time, also arrived Miss Dunbar, the physics teacher.

Mr Brunner was different. He had the habit of playing games, often coming in class wearing an armor and waving a sword.

Most kids thought him to be weird, but for me, he was the coolest teacher in the world.

Mr. Brunner was also in a wheelchair, and although most people ignored that, there was always some jerk laughing and cracking jokes about him whenever he would pass by. It made me so angry, not even Grover could calm me down.

They also made fun of Grover. He had been transferred at the beginning of term, and had a condition on his legs, which constricted him to walk around with clutches. He liked to joke saying that at least it would spare him from the P.E class. Although, he was pretty fast when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

He was the second coolest person I had ever met.

They kept me sane, Grover and Mr. Brunner.

My mother, Maris Agapov barely remembered my existence, and before Grover, I had never had a friend. He was the closest person in my life, he was the only one whom I considered family.

I didn't know much about my family. My mother told me that her great-grandparents had emigrated from Russia after the revolution, but I didn't know anything else.

I didn't even know who my father was. The last time I asked about him I was ten, and my mother's face turned red with hatred as she spat three words: "He is dead"

Something in her tone made me believe she didn't mean physically dead, but I never asked again.

Some days I hated him for leaving me with her, but most days I wanted to believe that he didn't know I even existed, and that if he knew, he would love me.

I dreamt about him once. I was around three or four, and I was laying in my bed, sick. As I debated between consciousness and unconsciousness, I smelled the sea and felt a warm, calloused hand caressing my forehead.

I had never felt more safe than in that dream,

I wanted to hate him, but then I remembered that silly dream, and my heart would fill with hope.

"Alex?"

I was taken out of my thoughts by the voice of Grover.

I smiled at him as he took a seat next to me, He looked a little old to be twelve years old, but I had never found it strange, after all, my neighbor, Katy, was almost thirty, but she looked way younger.

It was raining, which was good. A lot of people complained about rain, but I loved it. It was a defense mechanism of the earth, and it amazed me how it fought relentlessly against the damage we induced.

"How do you do?" I asked Grover, sharing half my snicker.

He shrugged.

"Not too excited about the trip. You?"

I mimicked his actions, swallowing the sweet before answering.

"I hope is not boring"

Our class was going to the Strasenburgh Planetarium today.

Grover and I shared a look.

Yeah, sure.

It wasn't as boring as I thought it would be.

The bus ride was quite dull. Most kids were acting like caveman, screaming, grunting and throwing things at each other.

Grover and I sat at the very back, watching the spectacle with open mouths. In the seat in front of me, a boy took a big snot out of his nose, and ate it with a satisfied expression.

Grover's face turned green, and it took everything in me to not throw up.

Miss Dunbar and Mr. Brunner had given up their efforts to stop the mini war that was taking place, and instead, Mr. Brunner chose to read while Miss Dunbar threw dirty glares in my general direction.

I don't think she likes me.

We descended the stairs after the stampede, and waited for Mr. Brunner while Miss Dunbar put the rest of the class in a line.

"Are you excited, miss Agapov?" asked Mr Brunner, giving me a warm smile.

I scratched the back of my neck.

"Um,...sure" I lied.

I would have rather stayed home sleeping than being here with those neanderthals, but I would never let Grover alone in school. They could be as mean as they wanted with me, but I'll be damned before I let them come close to my friend.

Mr. Brunner laughed, the sound was rich and warm. It made me feel like I was worth something.

"I'm sure you'll like it"

.There was a guy waiting for us at the entrance. He looked young and happy as he waved at us.

"Welcome to the Stranserburgh Planetarium, kids. There's an exciting day ahead of us."

He urged us in before the rain started again.

Just as we were putting on the badges, a shiver ran down my spine. I felt as if someone was watching me.

As subtly as I could, I turned my head to the side and saw a man standing in the parking lot.

He seemed to be on his late twenties. He was tall, and as white as one could be without being considered a ghost. His dark hair reached his shoulders and melted into one with his dark clothes.

Even though he was several meters away from me, I was mesmerized by his stormy eyes. They commanded respect, and I felt the urge of walking towards him and taking a nap at his feet.

"Alex" Mr Brunner's hard voice brought me back to reality.

He was staring at the man with cold eyes, and behind him, Grover trembled from head to toe.

"Don't stay behind" said my favourite teacher.

Nodding, I walked besides Grover towards the rest of the class.

I didn't dare to look back, but I could feel those stormy eyes burning holes in my back all the way to the elevators.

The guide was pretty cool, he really seemed excited about what he talked about.

I was really interested in what he was saying about the conflict between the Iroquois and the europeans, but some of the kids behind me wouldn't stop laughing and pointing at the small representation of a native american's home.

"Look at their clothes" laughed Clara, pointing to a middle-aged woman.

"Will you quit it?" I found myself saying. There was nothing wrong with the clothes, so I didn't understand why they made fun of her. She wasn't even real.

"Miss Agapov, come with me"

Oh, great! I'm getting detention again.

Miss Dunbar grabbed me by the arm. I tried to get Grover's attention, but he was too busy searching for food on his backpack to notice, and Mr. Brunner was too immersed in the lesson.

That's just my luck.

Miss Dunbar grip was too tight, but I didn't dare to say anything. She lead me down a corridor and inside an empty bathroom.

"Um,...Miss? This is the men's bathroom" I said with a shaky tone.

The look she gave me could have frozen hell.

"You disgusting spawn" she spat.

My heart stopped. Her voice had dropped several octaves (any male opera singer would kill for her voice) and her eyes seemed to be alight with fire.

"I'm s-s-sorry" I stuttered, starting to sweat "I'll keep quiet, I promise"

The last thing I needed was to be expelled again, and I knew I was close to cross the line in this school.

She growled. Yes, growled.

"On the Styx you shouldn't have been born"

I began to slowly back away, but the wall put a halt to my escape.

Miss Dunbar fingers turned to claws, her jacket melted, turning into big, leathery wings.

Maybe that snicker was expired, and I was seeing things.

Her mouth was full of yellow fangs, and even standing over five meters from her, I could feel the awful smell coming from them

Yo', brushing your teeths is important.

A yelp escapes my throat. I'm sure I'm gonna die today, and I still haden't watched all the episodes of 'The Simpsons'

I'm too much of a coward, so I cover my eyes in hopes of not feeling pain in my lasts moments, and that's when I hear an explosion.

I don't dare to open my eyes, but I feel something flying across the bathroom. The sound of water splashing fills my senses for a brief second.

Miss Dunbar lays on the ground completely soaked, and she looks even more pissed than before.

"Alex!" Grover's voice takes my attention.

Mr. Brunner throws something at me, and as I grab it, it expands, turning into a trident. A real one.

Miss Dunbar is racing towards me, and in my panic I don't think. I rise the trident with both hands in front of me at the last second, encrusting it in the teacher's chest.

Miss Dunbar turns into dust, and her yell of rage kept on ringing across the bathroom even after there was nothing left.

I stood there alone, shaking like a leaf. I looked down, and the bronze trident was nothing but a necklace.

Looking up, I see Grover looking at me with fear in his eyes, as if I were about to be hanged for witchcraft.

Mr. Brunner doesn't look much better. His left hand runs over his beard.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" I start to say, using the wall behind me for support.

"Quiet, girl" commands Mr Brunner.

I do as he says, trying not to cry.

I just killed someone.

Sure, she was coming at me with those smelly fangs, but still, I'm a murderer.

"They know" whispered Grover.

"Miss Agapov" starts Mr. Brunner, looking at me as if he were trying to figure out a way to kidnap me "What will you do this summer?"

What?"

"Watch disney films?" it sounded more like a question, but my brain could barely process what was happening.

"Mm. Well, you're going to have to change your schedule" he turned to Grover and began whispering in his ear.

My green eyes landed on the post where Miss Dunbar had vanished, almost expecting her to appear once more.

I feel someone grabbing my hand and I gasp, only to sigh when I notice Grover's worried face.

"C'mon. We have to go. Now"

He pulls me out of the bathroom, but before we take another step, I force him to stop.

I turn to .

"Won't you come with us, sir?" I ask, worried about him.

The poor man was on a wheelchair, and of Miss Dunbar were to return…

I swallowed the lump in my throat, not daring to finish the thought.

"I'll be right behind you. I need to cover this"

I'm ready to protest.

"Don't worry, Alexandria. I'll be fine" he takes my hand and gives it a comforting squeeze. "I'll see you at camp"

"Let's go" Grover urges me.

We run out of the museum and into the rain.

"Your house is near, right?" Grover asks me.

Luckily for us, the rain isn't too heavy, and the weather is almost warm.

I nod, and guide him down the streets towards my house.

On the way there, I think back to what Mr Brunner said.

What camp was he talking about?

As ´promised, first chapter is ready.

I hope you enjoy!

Have a nice day :))