Another chapter done. Sigh, I hope this one meets my editor's expectations. No,you still don't know what Erik's trick is yet, but the next chapter will explain it all! Happy reading!
Myra fidgeted restlessly in her seat as the woman in front of her droned on in a tedious monotone. Her classic green business suit and curly scarlet hair that was tied up in a messy bun gave her the uncanny resemblance to a female leprechaun.
"And then you let the mixture dry. Now be sure to only make this in small quantities because . . . blah blah blah." Science never was one of her favorite subjects, and now it was keeping her from finding out about her premonition!
She drummed her nails impatiently on the desk. "I've got to get out of here!" she thought.
"Excuse me, Ms. Kent?" Myra asked, raising her hand habitually. The woman turned away from the chalkboard on which she had just been writing.
"Yes, Myra?"
"Um, could I go to the bathroom?" Ms. Kent looked at her in a motherly-scolding way.
"You should have gone during lunch."
"I didn't have to go then." she protested.
"Very well, but be quick about it." The woman ended up calling after her as she ran down the hall in the direction of the bathroom.
She stopped, realizing her predicament. The school was very large, with two massive floors, seemingly endless hallways and unnumberable classrooms. Myra often got lost on her way to classes and ended up asking some upperclassman directions. How did she expect to find some mysterious event without knowing even what floor it was supposed to take place on! The most likely scenario was that she would set off in any old direction, end up getting lost and miss the rest of class. Sighing dejectedly, Myra was just about to go back to class when she heard a noise.
Bang! Bang! Where was it coming from? She stood there, not moving a muscle. Not even breathing, she listened intently. She waited there, and for a little while, nothing happened.
Bang! Bang! There it was again! Myra ran off in the direction she believed the noise had come from. Remembering her worries about getting lost, she counted and remembered the turns. "Left, right, right again." she thought, still sprinting and straining her ears for any other telltale sounds.
Myra paused, breathing heavily. She thought she had heard a noise . . . yes! A small sound, very soft . . . the whir of machinery! Once again, she set off in the direction of the noise. She was very close now, the sound was louder than ever. It was right around the corner, she knew it! Myra turned that last corner to find . . . the janitor?
No, an electrician working on the long rectangular light. One of the bulbs had fizzed. He was putting the new light in place. The banging had been the sound of the cover dropping off the ladder and the whirring was the drill used to take out the bulb. This couldn't have been what she was looking for, no way! It was as ordinary as changing a lightbulb.
The electrician hadn't noticed her footsteps over the sound of the drill in his ears. Myra turned around dejectedly and began walking back. But then she realized, in her hurry, she hadn't been keeping track of her turns after she heard the whirr of the drill!
"Oh, great." she said, sarcastically. "Now what do I do?" She looked back and forth down the hallway she had just come from, trying to remember which way she had been going.
Hoping her poor sense of direction was correct, she set off down the corridor, looking for familiar landmarks. She found none. Groaning with frustration, she began jogging, still searching for something she could recognize.
Myra was constantly looking left and right, hoping to find something in the scenery helpful. She didn't notice the two figures coming down the hall like steamrollers.
"Ahh!" she cried, as she was bowled over. Apparently, the two boys hadn't been looking where they were going either. With a resounding thud, the mess of limbs fell to the floor. Myra was crushed under the weight, hardly able to breathe.
Suddenly, a hand reached under the chaos and pulled her to safety. Over her heavy breathing, she heard a familiar voice.
"Myra, are you alright?" She looked up to see Erik, seeming concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked down at the two boys as they tried to untangle themselves. They looked ghostly white and terrified. "But I don't know about them."
Now that the boys had stood up, she noticed that they were quite tall and extremely muscular. They looked like great lumbering trolls, and the type of people that wouldn't be scared easily. Yet there they were, looking like a couple of frightened rabbits. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Erik smiling.
"Well, ah," he started to whisper, sounding a little awkward, "these are the two I was talking to you about." Myra blinked, remembering Erik's bully problem she had been hoping to fix. However, it didn't seem like much of a problem anymore.
"Oh, well, um," she stammered, not sure what to make of the situation. "Ah, are you two alright?" she asked, looking at the two bullies.
"Fine, fine." one of them said, in a gruff voice. They were still very pale.
"Okay, do you know the way to classroom 53?" Myra asked, hoping they would have a better sense of direction than her own.
"Huh? Oh, right down there." the other one answered, pointing down a hallway not two steps from where they were. She cursed her terrible navigational skills.
"Thank you." she said, politely. Nodding slightly, the two boys hurried off down the hallway rather stiffly. "And thank you," she turned to Erik, "for pulling me out from under there. How did you know I was here?" If she wasn't so shocked at the previous events, Myra might have been suspicious at Erik's sudden appearance.
"I was just wandering a little when I heard your cry, and came running." he answered casually. "And you, I suppose, were out searching for whatever your premonition was?" Myra nodded. "I thought so. I believe that, what just happened, was it, so you'd best get back to class."
Smiling sheepishly, she waved to Erik and jogged the five steps to the classroom door.
"Well you certainly took your time getting back." scolded Ms. Kent.
"Sorry, got lost." Myra apologized quickly, taking her seat. Nodding curtly, Ms. Kent continued her lecture.
"Well that was quite an adventure." she thought. "I run off, following a false alarm, get lost, and bump into what I was looking for. Actually, I didn't bump into it, it ran me over." She stared vacantly at the blackboard. "Lucky Erik was there, I might've been crushed. But, it's rather convenient he was so close-by, a little too much of a coincidence." Myra's suspicions were aroused. "I'm not much of an interrogator, but I think I'll confront him about it after school."
She began copying down the night's homework as the bell rang, groaning because it looked like a lot. Hurrying to her next class, she began wondering how to bring it up. "If he really did have something to do with it, he'd be hesitant to trust anyone with the information. I've got to let him know that I won't tell a soul, because I wouldn't do that to a friend like him. I'd like to get to know him better, but I have to earn his trust."
Feeling very determined, Myra looked around her for the next turn. She blinked, but found she didn't know where she was. "Shit." she thought dejectedly, "not again."