Chapter 2

It was the day after Labor Day and school had just started. I was excited, only because Andres and I didn't get to be together as much as I would have hoped. Andres was doing an internship at the local hospital where he stored and drew blood. Now we would be together, for probably our last year.

I woke up extra early that morning so I could make sure I looked my best for Andres. Once I got up, I took a shower, ate a short breakfast, brushed my teeth, and was out the door. I live in a pretty crowded neighborhood, so there are usually five to eight people at my bus stop. Normally, I don't bother talking to them as they always look bored and tired, but one of them struck my eye.

He was a blue-eyed blond, wearing what I thought to be a Boy Scout's uniform, minus a logo, badges, belt, and with cargo shorts as opposed to pants. I tried not to laugh, but then I saw this thing on his right shoulder, which looked liked some kind of crossbreed between a guinea pig and an otter. It noticed I was looking at it, and to my surprise it began to speak.

"This is why we stay in...Australia," it said obnoxiously to the blond guy, whose face turned red as he began to twitch, obviously triggered. The blond guy swung at the rodent with his left fist, but before he hit it, the thing jumped to his left shoulder and instigated, "Uh, uh. Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?" This only angered the blond more, but the creature continued to instigate.

I turned away from them, chuckling and pretending I knew what the heck that was, as I pulled out my phone. I began to text Andres by saying, "Hey," but got no response. I then tried, "U up? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)" but that also didn't work. Soon my bus pulled up and everyone on my bus stop scrambled on. I sat in the back, away from most people, I was going to try texting Andres again, but that guy and his furry tumor sat in front of me. The beast stared at me for the entire bus ride, not once even trying to start a conversation.

Once at Forge, I ran to the Broadcast Room. That's where everyone hung out in the morning, except for the Student Council, as they were allowed in the teacher's lounge. Inside, I looked around for Andres, but I couldn't find him. Upset, I sat on the couch in the back of the room and pulled out my phone, still waiting and wanting for Andres to text me back.

"Hey, guys," Kirsten said in a high-pitched squeal, "Who wants a potato?" she held out two potatoes, one in each hand. Aries turned off the lights, and pulled out his phone to play Darude Sandstorm. Kisten then shook the potatoes like macaranas as she danced to this makeshift rave.

"Oo, I'll take one," Angel said, turning on the lights, causing Aries to stop playing the song. Angel then walked up to Kirsten and grabbed one out of her hand. He then pushed his fingers into the potato, making a face.

Mr. Mulreany, the English teacher, walked by, with a confused smirk on his face. "Hey, Mr. Mulreany..." he said in a seductive low voiced manner whilst he moved his body to expose more of himself and the potato. Mr. Mulreany let out a slight chuckle and walked to the front.

Standing there, he made an announcement. "For all of you that are here, Adam has asked me to give this to you. I'm placing the papers here. Please pass on this information to your fellow classmates." He then placed a stack of papers down in the front, then began to leave. Angel was still seductively smiling at Mr. Mulreany, which caused his confusion to turn to laughter.

"Yeah, Mr. Mulreany," Angel began, "Won't you marry me, so, you know, we can get together ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)." Smiling, as he nodded his head, still trying to seduce the teacher. Mr. Mulreany just continued laughing and he walked out.

I walked over to the pile and grabbed one. Usually there is a swarm near the papers when their passed out, but if it's from the student council no one dares go near it. Before I got a chance to read it, someone from behind me wrapped their arms around me and leaned next to my cheek. Startled, I jumped away from them, luckily it was just Andres.

He cautiously walked closer to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Sorry if I startled you, my darling." I backed away, as I was upset with him for not texting me back. "What's the matter?" he continued.

"Well, you didn't text me this morning, or basically all summer..." I quietly mumbled at him. He just stood there and then let out a slight chuckle.

"Oh, I understand why you're upset. See, my dear, I got a new phone over the summer," he then pulled out a shiny new Samsung Galaxy 420, "I've been trying to tell you. But every time I texted you, it said I couldn't…" I broke out in laughter, as I pulled out my new phone, also a Samsung Galaxy 420.

"Okay, I don't mean to ruin your moment," Kirsten interrupted us. As I looked over at her, I realized that everyone in the Broadcast Room had been watching Andres and I the entire time. My face turned red with embarrassment, but Andres was just laughing it off. "But," she continued, "I wanna know what the supreme overlords said before they come back and realize that none of us have read their memo. Like, I don't even what to know what they'll do, especially Cole."

"Yeah, I'm with Kirt." said Aries, "I think someone should read it." Aries then stared right at me, with ever widening eyes.

"Oh, uh, okay," I nervously answered. I don't like eyes on me, and I don't like public speaking. But the pressure was on. I felt trapped, I had no choice. So, after clearing my throat, I began to read the note out loud, "F...fellow..." I sighed, "Fellow CGS Participants,"

"Wow, they can't even call us classmates," said Drew, with a sigh.

I continued, "By now, we hope you are all well informed of the incident involving a certain dance and a fire that occured at it. We, the Commonwealth Governor's School Student Council, had launched an official investigation over the summer to look into the incident. Unfortunately, we have reason to believe that it was one of you 'Forgers' who started the fire via lit cigarette. The Snowball is a respected event, in which all of you are able to enjoy the little freedom that you have. So, when we learned that one from our site, one of the people we are responsible for had caused this incident, you can understand our concern for your safty."

"Don't you mean safety?" Andres asked, confused.

"No, they put down safty." Realizing they must have purposefully misspelled the word (they never made mistakes), I continued, again, "If the person or persons responsible would volunteer themselves to justice, we promise that the punishment won't be as severe as it would be otherwise. Not to say there is no punishment at all, just slightly less severe. Again, we have launched an investigation and it will be conducted until we find the perpetrator or perpetrators. Anyone with information regarding whom it may be, please contact us at some point, there will be a reward in it for you. Here at the CGSSC, we care about your safety, academic career, and when you will work for us in the future. To whom you hold respect, The Student Council."

When I looked to the class, everyone's face held shock. Strangely, nobody said a word, not even Andres. Fear, worry, and despair all flew through my body. I began to feel light-headed and started to tumble, but luckily, Andres grabbed me before I could.

"Are you alright, my dear? I'd hate to see anything happen to you," he said with sadness on his face. I nodded him and he led me to a chair and let me rest. The eerie silence continued.

"Whale then, Aries said with a slight chuckle, breaking the long silence and trying to lighten the mood.

"Okay, this has to be a joke," Bryan said in disbelief, "There's no way one of us is brave enough to do something like that."

"Yeah. For all we know, this could be an attempt for them to pin us against each other," Neffisah added on, "Lydia, you're friends with Meaghan, right? Did she say anything, or act strange near you?"

"No," Lydia replied shaking her head, "But I know she had an odd summer," Neffisah gave her a confused look, "Usually she goes to Boston for a month, but this year she didn't go at all. And I'm beginning think that she might have been the one who called it off, not her family." Everyone placed a finger on their chins and began to think.

"I think Adam looked a little less big bodied today then he did last year," said Jessica as if lost in a daydream. Little Man and Angel agreed.

"Yeah, now that you mention it," Drew began, "Cole didn't talk at all about his plans for making taxes filed in base two. He does that every year, he even writes up a proposal, proposal speech, and acceptance speech,"

"Also," Kiara said, "I think Ashley is wearing a cape today." I was dumbfounded, and so was the rest of the class. What did a cape have to do with anything? She noticed we were staring at her and continued, "It's a well known fact that capes are worn by cat-girls when they are in a serious mood. Something about it blocking their ability to play with their tails."

"But, come on, guys," began Jessica, "What could they really do if we don't do anything? Make the test harder? Make our grades drop?"

"I know what they can make harder ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)" said Angel, raising and lowering his eyebrows. We began to laugh, then it turned into a nervous laughter, then to silence. We all pondered what Jessica just stated, before someone said what we were all thinking.

"That's exactly what they're going to do," Kirsten said, "They're going to make us fail, it's like Mr. Briggs all over again. What if they bring back Mr. Briggs?!"

Now this was no joking matter. Mr. Briggs was fired over the summer because of new laws limiting homework to children, and he just couldn't stop. The packets he made broke the ten-limit by thirty pages! He was fired with no hope of return, but if anyone could bring him back, it was the student council.

"Guys," Lil' Man began, "Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but what if the student council is right about one of us setting the fire?"

It dawned on all of us. The student council had never pulled a stunt like this before. Even if they made us mad when they sent out these letters, they were never lies. The facts are: One of us set the fire, one of us was trying to kill the rest of us, and that person was in this very room. This frightened me even more so, but I took a deep breath and was calmed. I stood up and began to walk to the door.

"Where are you going?" Andres grasped my shoulder and asked me, "You're not...you're not going to them are you?" He was clearly concerned.

"Well it's just that...I just...I can't believe this." Andres looked into my eyes almost as if he was holding in tears, clearly concerned for me. "I just need to hear them say it to me, face to face for me to believe it." I continued walking out the door. I didn't make it very far as I ran into the blue-eyed blond from the bus stop.

Nervously, with my head on his chest, I looked into his deep beautiful blue eyes. Cheeks red, heart pounding, and mind wandering. I eventually brought myself to reality, and saw his whole face. He looked uncomfortable and seemed to want to say something, but no words left his mouth.