Banish Me

Welcome To Reality, pt. 2

As it turned out, the school I had attended in Ireland was further ahead than Stitchman’s. At the end of the day, I had pink slips from each of my teachers stating I needed to be placed in more advanced classes than the ones they were teaching. When I took the slips to Ms. Peyote she nodded, changed my classes, and didn’t even bat an eye. It was like she was used to doing this sort of thing all the time. She took me to the “book” closet and handed me my new books with the corresponding syllabus for each class.

I was now the only 16 year old junior.

Great.

I headed to my room, ignoring the voices down by Gwen’s door. I rooted around my backpack for my keys. My finger hooked on one of the rings. As I pulled them out, they snagged on the zipper and dropped to the floor leaving my hand empty and me staring down at them like they had just killed my dog.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten, as I could feel the anger boiling deep down. I had a hot temper, as my mother used to tell me. I sighed after I reached twenty and bent over to grab my keys, opening my eyes only to see a hand shoot out and grab them from the floor, leaving my hand yet again empty.

I straightened up and my face was only inches from a small scar on someone’s chin. My eyes flicked up to meet the chocolate brown pools that were Peter Marks’ eyes.

“Are you always this clumsy or is today just an off day?”

I gapped at him like a fish and when I finally found my voice box I squeaked out, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

He smiled like I was the cutest thing on the planet. “You bumped into me this morning and now I find you standing in the hall with your eyes closed, your keys lying on the floor. I thought you Kennedys were supposed to be calm and collected while under scrutiny. ”

The sound of him saying my father’s last name snapped me out of my daze. I was already mad but the sound of that name always made my temper fume. I reached up and tried to snatch my keys out of his hand but he held tight.

“I’m not a Kennedy,” I snapped back.

I pulled on my keys but he still didn’t let go. He shook firmly once and my hand was suddenly void of my keys. He slipped the key into the lock and I heard it click, all this without taking his eyes off mine. The color in his eyes seemed to swirl while he grabbed the knob and turned, the door swinging open. He cocked an eye brow and tilted his head towards my room. I narrowed my eyes and walked inside.

I dropped my bag at my desk and turned to find that he entered the room and closed the door behind him. I walked over to my closet and took out a change of clothes, going behind the screen to change.

“This your mom?” he asked.

He must have spotted her picture sitting on my desk. I sighed, not really wanting to answer but knowing if I didn’t he would walk over to where I was.

“Yes,” I said, pulling on my jeans, the last item I needed to put on.

I came out from behind the screen and found him holding the picture. I took it from him and put it back on the desk. I walked over to the door and opened it.

“Now you can go,” I said in a clipped voice.

“You don’t feel comfortable.” More of a statement than a question. “But you felt comfortable enough to change while I was in the room.”

“You’re rich, I knew your nanny would have taught you manners plus I saw the way you treated your sister.”

He chuckled. “You’re observant.”