At Meteor Heights High, the schedule for classes changes depending on the day of the month. So when Paige got to school the next day, she headed straight to Accounting. When she got to the class, the door was closed, but the lights were on.
What should I do? She asked herself. At her old school, if the lights were on, the room was open. Is it the same here?
She heard voices from inside, so she figured it was open. She turned the doorknob and went in. "Mr. Väinämöinen, about the work—" She stopped when she saw her teacher.
Mr. Väinämöinen was half lying on top of his desk. A man who looked to be a few years older than him was leaning over him. When Paige had entered the room, they had both turned to see who it was. The older man was glaring at her.
"Oh, Paige!" Mr. Väinämöinen sat up a little more. "Berwald, this is one of my students." The man nodded, but continued to glare.
Paige felt bad for interrupting them. "I can come back later." She checked her watch. "But class is supposed to start in five minutes." As if on cue, the warning bell rang.
Berwald didn't move, but Mr. Väinämöinen pulled himself into a sitting position. "Sorry." He whispered, and Paige knew it was to the other man, not to her. "You should go."
Still glaring, Berwald got up and walked past Paige, closing the door behind him.
"So." Mr. Väinämöinen focused on Paige. "You had a question about the work?"
Paige looked at the floor as she talked to him. "I was just wondering what the previous GAAPs were."
"Oh, no problem." Mr. Väinämöinen got off his desk and rooted around in a drawer for something, emerging with a sheet of all the accounting GAAPs. "You know, you're probably the first student to call me by my real name." He smiled, handing her the paper. "And with perfect pronunciation, too."
"My friends say I have a gift for that kind of thing." Paige thanked him for the help and took her seat. When other students started filing in, Mr. Väinämöinen set to work straightening out his desk.
"Paige, it wasn't a heart attack!" Jackie was so happy she couldn't sit still. "He was just stressed!"
Paige nodded, pushing her lunch around her plate. "I heard."
"Kiku's out today to make sure his brother's okay." Oliver reported, putting his lunch on the table and taking a seat.
"That was just so scary." Jackie fanned her face with a napkin. "He seemed so calm, then he's on the floor and everyone's yelling at once."
"Does anyone watch the news?" Paige asked, forcing herself to take a bite of pasta. "What's happening in China?"
Jackie looked at her like she was crazy. "Who cares? Something happened here!"
"There's this big thing there about abusing workers." Oliver supplied. "Children being kidnapped in the night and forced to work in large factories. If they don't work, they don't live."
"That's horrible!" Jackie shuddered. "I'll just focus on what's going on here, thanks."
"Then who's gonna care about their rights?" Paige whispered. She didn't press the matter as Kevin and Lynn joined them.
"Here's the list." Lynn pushed a pad of paper toward Paige. "I'm pretty sure I got all the names."
Paige looked at the first name on the list. "Eduard von Bock?" She looked up. "How it that hard to say?"
"Hey, I was just told foreign names." Lynn protested. "Do you realize how many foreign students we have? That list's, like, four pages long!"
"No one talks to him." Kevin offered. "He gets mad when people pronounce it 'Edward'. He somehow knows you aren't saying it with a 'U'."
Paige flipped through the list. "Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, Elizaveta Hedervary, Toris Laurinaitis. Lovino Vargas? Feliciano has a brother?"
"Yeah. They're twins." Oliver looked over at the paper. "Technically, he goes to this school, but he skips almost every day."
Jackie stole a french fry from Kevin's plate. "He never falls behind 'cause Antonio tutors him. It's really annoying."
"Hey, is Liz back?" Lynn asked Oliver. "She's in your English class, right?"
"Yeah, she's back." Oliver didn't look very excited. "Oh, Paige! You wanted to know about 'Princesses'? Well, Liz's the closest thing around here."
"Yeah." Jackie chimed. "Her hair's so long, it must take her hours to brush it. And she always wears nice clothes."
"The exact opposite of Paige." Kevin laughed, then caught himself. "Oh, sorry."
Paige looked down at her faded jeans and black hoodie. She'd opted to tie her hair back in a way that made it look shorter. "It's fine. I like being opposite." I think. She added to herself.
"Well, your hair's nice." Lynn offered.
"How did this turn to me?" Paige tried to distance herself. "Weren't we talking about Elizaveta?" She fingered the tip of her brownish-blonde hair, wishing that hair dye would last longer than a few days.
When Paige got to Cooking, Ms. Dutch was talking with a student about her hair.
"If you don't have an elastic, I'll lend you one. Here, you can't have special treatment. You have to blend in, Hun—" Ms. Dutch noticed Paige standing in the doorway. "Oh, Paige. Hi. Are you ready to make those Belgian Waffles today?"
Paige nodded. "I'm ready. Cooking was the only class I wasn't flunking back in Toronto."
"Oh, weren't doing well?" The girl turned to Paige. "If you'd like, I could help you get caught up. Ms. Dutch was just telling me about you. We'll be in the same group." She added as if in explanation.
"Thanks."
The girl, as it turned out, was Elizaveta Hedervary, who'd just gotten back from visiting family in Hungary. She was an excellent cook, which Paige was grateful for since their group was them, Henry, and Natasha, who didn't care one bit if the waffles burned.
"Wow, they look great!" Elizaveta clapped her hands.
Paige glanced sideways at her. She looked right at home in the white apron everyone had to wear. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a flowered bandana. Paige couldn't help thinking she held herself like a proud leader.
"Of course they look good, Liz." Natasha sneered. "You made them."
"Nat, you could make good food, too, if you followed the recipe." Elizaveta smiled, but sounded a little annoyed. "Isn't it a wife's duty to cook?"
As the two argued, Paige noticed Henry grab a fork and try a waffle. "How is it?" She asked, slightly aware he'd sample one that she'd made.
"It's pretty good." He nodded at her. "Nice job."
"Thanks." She smiled, realizing this was the first time they'd spoken.
Paige ran through the meadow, her toga-like dress whipping at her legs. Her head throbbed with thousands of voices and tears blurred her vision.
Up ahead, she could make out three figures sitting in the grass. As she approached, one figure stood up. "Panny, what's wrong?"
"It hurts." Paige cried. "I can't think. There are too many voices!" She collapsed and the other two figures came forward.
"Gracie, what's wrong with Panny?" one asked the first figure.
"It's finally taking its toll." She explained. To Paige, she said softly "Panny, it'll be alright. Just go to sleep. When you wake up, the voices will be gone." Then she reached out and covered Paige's eyes.
She woke up screaming, sweat sticking to her forehead. She checked her clock. 5:30am. Another hour before the alarm.
Sighing, Paige got out of bed and walked over to the map. She looked down at her hand. "It was just my imagination." She told herself before placing her hand over China again. "See, nothing." She chuckled, closing her eyes.
Pain and sorrow coursed through her. She heard the children again, heard the whips. She saw the man again, but this time, his black hair was stained with blood. His lips moved, a silent prayer for help. Tears spilled from his eyes and mixed with blood on his cheeks.
Paige pulled herself away from the wall. She'd recognized the man as Yao. "What's going on?" She asked herself. She got dressed and brushed her hair before realizing that she was crying.