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She gave her first class bookwork, not bothering to really be an adequate teacher. She gave them just enough to work until the bell and told them to hand in what they had even if they hadn't finished. It wasn't even worth a grade for the right answers. She figured, if they did it they would get full marks on the assignment. And that's when her stomach had started flip-flopping - when the bell rang. She had been in her office for the whole lesson, door closed, head down on her desk. She had her phone off the hook, her cell phone off and she wasn't answering the e-mails Cid kept sending. Xu came over to check on her during the ten-minute class change and she pretending nothing was wrong but it was rather obvious.
"Hey." Said Xu, sticking her head in Quistis's office. Quistis had had her forehead on the desk, eyes closed.
"Oh!" She said, sitting up quickly, the topmost paper sticking to her head. Xu laughed as she removed the paper.
"You're sure your okay? You seem a little bit out of it today."
"I'm fine, I must have just dosed off." She said, lying, waving her hand at her.
"Okay, but if you need anything, let me know."
"Stop, I'm fine. Go on, you need to get your grades in by one today. The students get interims in their last period. Don't let me hold you up because I'm having an off day. The late bell is due to ring any second." She said looking at her wrist with no watch for the time. The she glanced at the computer to see the time there, but the screen was blank. She shook her head. "Just get going!"
"Alright." Xu said, heading out of the door and towards her own office. The bell rang and her eyes flashed towards the door. Her heart began pounding faster. She stood up and took a deep breath. She opened the door from her office to classroom with apprehension but quickly composed herself. She did not look on Kelsey's side of the classroom as she made her way to the front desk and began to call attendance. She was doing good until she saw the words "Griffith, Kelsey" on the sheet in front of her. Her stomach flipped again as she paused.
"Griffith." She said, like all the names before. No one replied. Was Kelsey being stupid on purpose? She refused to look up into Kelsey's eyes.
"Griffith." She said again, louder. She heard a small voice. It was Yuka, one of Kelsey's roommates, who spoke as Quistis still did not glance from the paper.
"Kelsey has been missing since yesterday afternoon, ma'am," said Yuka, informatively. Quistis's eyes raked Kelsey's empty seat. Quistis felt the pen slip from her fingers and had dashed from the classroom into the hall before the attendance list had hit the floor.
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This cannot be happening, Quistis told herself, sprinting down the corridor, heart pounding in her throat. She ran into Xu, who was walking down the hall to the elevators. Xu turned, completely bewildered and called after her.
"What's going on? Who's watching your class?" She shouted after her, but Quistis did not reply, thinking hard.
This isn't real. She can't've done what I think she did. If she were in the infirmary, I would have gotten a phone call. Damn it, I've had both phones off this morning. But if they hadn't been able to get in touch with me, they'd have sent someone down to tell me, right? Damn it Kelsey, are you that naïve?
She was running through the halls of Garden, her legs beginning to ache but it didn't stop her, since her mind was so clearly focused on it's goal: Get to Lisse.
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Her class sat there thunderstruck, talking and whispering amongst themselves. They hadn't even been without a teacher for minute when Xu came bursting through the door, having been just seconds down the hallway.
"What happened?" Xu asked in a dangerous voice. Silence.
"What happened?" She shouted, pounding her hands on the teacher's desk, fingers splayed. Still, not one student said anything, afraid that Xu would most likely start exploding at them. They were leaning back in their chairs, apparently scared beyond measure.
"What's going on?" Said a voice from the doorway. It was Squall, who had been walking down the hall and had come in, curious to hear Xu's screaming voice from Quistis's classroom.
"Quistis left. I saw her running down the corridor." She pointed. "She left her class here without anyone. Something must have happened." She told him quickly. Fearing for Quistis's safety, Squall turned on the class.
"I want you," he said pointing at a random boy in the front row. "To tell me exactly what happened in this classroom since the bell rang." The boy spoke in hardly a whisper.
"Instructor Trepe was taking attendance, one girl was absent and she ran out."
"Well, who was absent?" Xu asked impatiently, grabbing the list off the floor and scanning it. But Squall had taken a step back.
"Kelsey Griffith." Said the boy and Squall in unison.
"I am going after her." He told Xu, running the same path as Quistis.
"Wait! Squall!" But he was already gone.
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