Her eyes were on the map in her hands but her thoughts were elsewhere. Her next class was in another building but she couldn't get her mind focused for more than a few seconds, it kept drifting back to … her. Beth's hands curled into fists. Trying to breathe evenly, she looked pointlessly back at the map again.
What was wrong with that girl? She wondered. What was her problem? Beth admitted she probably should not have woken her up that way, but it was not fair that she also had to stay after school. Of course the teacher must have been joking when he had said they would have to clean the entire school … right? And Beth's anger was quickly replaced by fear.
Her very first detention – would this go on her permanent record? If it did, it would ruin the future she had so carefully planned out for herself! She had planned to make her own library, with all the books in all the languages, and teach these languages there for a small fee in the afternoons (she was not a morning person). Her house would be next door, and she wouldn't need security officers guarding it because she would form a huge magic shield around it. But would they trust her to do that with a detention on her permanent record? Beth suddenly felt very light-headed and went straight for the nearest bench.
"Hello," said a loud voice, as Beth sat down. Turning, Beth saw a tanned, deep brown haired face with warm orange eyes sitting next to her, smiling at her.
"Hello," replied Beth, smiling back faintly.
"My name is Bolocenoura," the friendly girl continued. "But you can call me Bola."
"I'm Beth," answered Beth, straightening her glasses. "Umm … I don't think there's a short form for that." Bola smiled widely. "What do you have next?" added Beth, trying to keep her thoughts away from her crushed hopes and dreams.
"Ancient History," said Bola after eyeing her timetable.
"Me too," replied Beth, nodding. "Do you know where it is?" Looking confused, Bola pointed simply at the birch door five feet in front of them. "Oh," gasped Beth, surprised at first and then immensely proud of herself.
"The teacher's Mr. Varo," continued Bola, with a confused tone. Beth promptly stopped smiling and thinking of compliments of herself.
"Do you want to go in now?" asked Beth, hoping the girl didn't think she was crazy … at least no more crazy than she was.
"Alright," agreed Bola, still looking a bit wary.
This classroom was very different from the one Beth had just left, but no less extraordinary. On these walls were paintings from, Beth guessed, every era they would study. They went from simple animal drawings to complicated religious ceremonies. The floor was a variation of animal skins, including at least two Beth recognized as extinct. But like the magic classroom, the most amazing was the ceiling, it was hard to say which one more so. On this one was the word 'History' formed by translations in every language. Beth lost control of herself once more and raced over to the nearest picture on the wall.
"Are you two members of my class?" asked a cool voice from the front of the classroom. Beth tore herself away from the masterpiece to see a young man, almost the exact opposite of the wrinkled teacher she had just left.
"Yes," answered Beth, fighting the urge to turn back to the wall.
"Then welcome," the teacher replied, throwing his arms out. "Please be seated."
Beth beckoned to Bola to follow her and they both took seats beside each other at the front and center of the class. Entranced by the beauty of it, Beth didn't register as the others came in. So she jumped when the teacher began talking again.
"Hello class," he said. "My name is Mr. Varo and I hope you enjoy this class. I'm sure you've noticed the floor is covered in animal fur, can anyone name – yes, Beth, was it?"
"Yes, sir," answered Beth, who's hand had shot into the air. "Most are just the animals we have today, but I believe I saw unicorn silk and dragon scales near the back of the class?"
"Correct, Beth," replied Mr. Varo, nodding. "Well done." Beth smiled brightly, she loved it when teachers thought she was brilliant. Of course, she knew this already, but it was still nice to hear it once in a while. "As Beth rightly says class," Mr. Varo continued. "We have many skins beneath us – though I assure you none were hunted down. They have just been collected over time.
"Our first unit is on the long extinct animals, such as the unicorn and dragons. We will research how these animals perhaps came to be and how we may have destroyed them. We know nothing for sure, but some historians such as myself have added theories together from the little references we have access to. For the first homework tonight, you will each get one reference and summon your own theories from it. There will be no mark on these, I just want to know your viewpoints."
And Mr. Varo continued describing the past for the rest of the class. He told them of the rest of the units they would cover this year, they would next study huge natural disasters and their impact on the people and, usually more importantly, the earth. Legends and myths would follow that unit, and finally they would cover the history of culture and religion. Again Beth was lost in the teachers words, but every once in a while would look to her left to make sure Bola was not drooling on the text book. Luckily, Bola was a much better student than Tay.
"Beth?" asked Mr. Varo, as the class filed out of the classroom, whispering to each other in awe. "Could I talk to you?"
"See you tomorrow, Beth!" called Bola, following the others out of the class.
"Yes, sir?" said Beth, cautiously walking towards the front of the class, dreading another detention. What had she done this time?
"I was wondering if you wanted to borrow a textbook for the year ahead of us?" asked Mr. Varo. "I think you already know of most of the topics I spoke of today."
"I did a bit of research over the summer," admitted Beth. "But what we'll be observing in class sounds incredible."
"Thank you," smiled Mr. Varo. "But I would gladly give you something else to study in your spare time. The books are at the back, you can have a look at them if you would like."
"Thank you, sir," replied Beth. "But I don't think I will."
However, as she reached the end of the classroom, Beth was overcome by temptation and looked at the titles before her. One in particular jumped out at her. She was sure she'd seen it before …
"Mr. Varo?" she asked. "Could I take this one." For a fraction of a second Beth could've sworn she'd seen a frown upon her teachers face. But his face jumped into a smile so quickly, Beth thought it must have been a trick of the light.
"Yes, you can Beth," he answered. "Good choice."
"Thank you, sir," Beth repeated, and hurried out of the class.
Pulling out her map, Beth found her next class, cooking, and walked quickly towards it. Her bag was too full for another textbook, so the Anicent History one remained tucked under her elbow. It was a shade of darkest blue and the title, which was inscribed in black, was barely visible. But it shone like gold when Beth looked at it -almost as though it was calling out to her - a pentagonal eight.