Chapter Three: The Accident/Coincidence?

~Amy~

The teacher, whom I recognize as Dr. Eggman, paces at the front of the room saying, "Hello class, I'm Dr. Eggman, your new math teacher."

Dr. Eggman is in league with the Thorns. He's bound to recognize me. I have to stay low, and make little eye contact. Maybe I can get my schedule changed?

Dr. Eggman is a cruel man. He was once a famous scientist until he made and experiment that blew up in his face. After that, he was considered a laughing stock. Although most people were quite afraid of him.

He joined the terrorists, the Thorns, because they let him build whatever he wants. They also give him the resources he needs to complete his experiments.

How did he get this job? Why is he here? Did they anticipate me coming here? Do they already know I'm here?

I sink lower in my seat in an effort not to be seen. Then I realized something.

"New?" I whisper to Cream, "What happened to the old math teacher?"

Before Cream could reply, someone asked, "What happened to Mr. James?"

"Well," Eggman replies, "Mr. James had an accident."

"What kind of accident?" another student questioned.

"I heard he got into a car wreck," some kid answered.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" a different kid asks.

"Mr. James will be alright. He only has to stay in the hospital for a little while," Dr. Eggman answers.

"How long," another student asks, "will it take?"

"Who knows?" Dr. Eggman shrugs.

"So today class...," he starts talking about the rules of the classroom.

"Poor Mr. James," Cream whispers.

"He was the old math teacher right?" I whisper back.

"Yeah."

"So when did Eggman get this job?"

"Um a few days ago I think. At first he couldn't get the job because we had enough math teachers. He really wanted the job though."

"So now that Mr. James is gone, he get's the job?" That sounded a little too suspicious to me. Something must be going on.

"Pretty much."

"It's pretty funny how Mr. James got in an accident when Eggman wanted this job. It sort of sounds like Eggman somehow managed to put Mr. James into the hospital, so that he could get this job."

"Well it does seem like a pretty big coincidence that Dr. Eggman got this job when Mr. James had the wreck, but that doesn't mean anything."

"It was no coincidence that Mr. James got hospitalized when Eggman wanted this job," a brown-furred squirrel whispered behind us.

"What do you mean Sally?" Cream asks suspiciously.

"I was there when Mr. james got hit," Sally replied easily, "he wa sitting in his car when a black BMW came out of nowhere and hit his car while he was still in it!"

"How come you were there?" Cream asks.

"It happened in the parking lot of the dollar store. I was there getting some trash bags to clean my place."

"Did you see who was driving the BMW?" I asked, wanting to hear more.

"Nope," she shrugs, "the cops came by later and said that the BMW was in drive and there was a brick on the gas pedal.

"Oh," Sally shakes her head at herself, "where are my manners? Hello, I'm Sally, " she holds her hand out to me. When I take it, she says, "It's nice to meet you Amy. I've heard a lot about you already."

"Charmed," I reply as I give her hand a firm shake.

After processing all the new information about Mr. James, I came to a conclusion.

"Eggman had probably set the BMW in drive and put the brick on the gas pedal, purposely crashing it into Mr. James's car to get him out of the picture. Once Mr. James was in the hospital, the school needed a new math teacher, so Eggman applied and got the job."

I looked over at Cream, expecting her to get mad at Dr. Eggman.

"You guys," she says, "we probably shouldn't pry into this too much. We don't want to cause a scene."

"Why not? He probably killed Mr. James!" Sally whispers angrily. She takes a deep breath to calm herself.

"Probably. We just don't know if he really did. This could just be a big coincidence, so lets just stop making a big deal about it," Cream huffs angrily.

"Ladies please! We are in the middle of class. We shouldn't argue. Cream, if you really don't want us to talk about it in your presence, then we'll stop talking about it," I tell her. She gives me a grateful look.

"Bu-" Sally starts.

I stop her by placing a hand on her shoulder."

"Can't you see that this is difficult news for Cream to take?" I look over to Cream, who is shaking from the effort not to cry. I turn back to Sally, "I'm guessing Mr. James was her favorite teacher, and she doesn't want to believe that anyone could hurt him on purpose."

Sally nods, " I guess we can talk about it when she feels better.

"I'm sure she'll feel fine in a couple days."

The bell rings and everybody gets up to leave. I walk out and go into a bathroom to call my Mother before I forget.

I walk around the bathroom to make sure it's empty, then I dial Mother's number and listen to the ringing of the phone.

"Hello?" Mother says when she answers.

"Hello Mother, it's Amy."

"Darling! How are you doing? Is something wrong?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, you are calling me while you are supposed to be in school."

"I am a school Mother, I 'm just in the bathroom."

"Why didn't you wait to call me after school was over?"

"I just wanted to hear your voice." I didn't tell her about Dr. Eggman and my suspicions. Mother doesn't need anything else to worry about. She's busy enough as it is.

"Homesick already darling?"

"Just a little. You must remember, I got here yesterday and school is so new to me."

"You should tour the town with your friends and get acquainted with your surroundings."

"That sounds great! We could plan something for the weekend."

"Wonderful, and sweetheart, when does school end?"

"Um... around twelve fifteen, that's after fourth period."

"Why are there only four periods in a day?"

"Blaze told me most of the student's didn't come to school on the first week, so they made the first week all short days. Next Monday there will be seven classes instead of four."

"That's just very confusing Amy."

"It really is. I'm not even sure if that's the truth! I mean, Blaze told me this but even she said she's not sure why they do this..."

"It's very... unusual, that's for sure."

"Well, I have to go Mother, I have to get to lunch."

"I love you Amy!"

"Love you too Mother." I hang up the phone and pace around the bathroom for a minute.

Now where is the lunchroom? I ask myself, Why did I just leave Cream and Sally? I don't know my way around this school. I could get lost. I stop my pacing and rest my forehead against the bathroom mirror. What is wrong with me today?

I hear someone walk into the bathroom and quickly pull myself together. You can do this. Just walk and you'll find the lunchroom.

I start to walk to the door when I realize the person who walked into the room was Sally.

"Hey Amy," Sally say while taking my arm and leading ,e out of the bathroom, "you were right about Cream. She didn't mean to upset me, so I shouldn't have gotten mad at her."

"It will be okay," I tell her gently. i am good at comforting people. "Cream probably doesn't want to start drama.'

"You're right, again," Sally sighs, "so, are you hungry?"

"Starving...," I reply. I let her lead me to lunch.