Alice Academy (Rewritten.)

Chapter 17

     I had taken Daichi's advice and double locked my doors that night before I went to sleep.

     The thing is, I didn't exactly sleep so soundly. Thoughts of Naoki and Daichi floated through my mind, and the constant pondering kept me wide awake. However, within about two hours of slipping into bed, I fell asleep.

     Upon waking up naturally, I wiped my eyes and checked the time. I had enough time to get dressed, do my morning routine, and grab a small breakfast from the dining room. Reluctantly, I sat up, and the sleepiness that still lingered threatened to push me back down into the bed. I fought the feeling and slowly trudged into the bathroom where I washed my face and brushed my teeth.

     After doing my morning routine, I picked out a simple outfit to wear. It was sunny outside, so I didn't expect it to be all that cold. I settled for a simple white v-neck shirt with a black pocket on the breast and basic denim skinnies. For shoes, I quickly slipped into my black Converse. I grabbed a plain black bobby pin and twisted my bangs, then pinning it out of my face.

     I packed my things and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I went to the dining room and grabbed an apple, wiped it on my shirt, and bit into it. The juices of the fruit burst into my mouth, and the crunchiness of the apple was pleasant. I slowly ate my apple as I  made my way to school.

     Earlier than usual, there were still a lot of seats left in the class. I took my normal seat, next to where Naoki would usually sit. Once the class was filled, Hitoshi-sensei passed out review worksheets for the upcoming test. I finished it faster than most people, and knowing that I couldn't put my head down after finishing my work, I took out an extra notepad and began to sketch random things.

     The day passed by like a turtle. I seemed to drown out every lesson, as the teacher continued to drone out about things that weren't of interest to me.

     Once the bell rang signaling that the school day was over, I walked back to the dorms. Today had been an anticlimactic day.. I went to my room and laid on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Sudddenly, an acrid smell invaded my nose, and I coughed violently. Screams and shouts correlated with the caustic smell, and I ran outside to see what was going on.

     A harsh, burning glow radiated from the dining room. It had been set ablaze. Naive kids ran around, waving their arms frantically, screaming, unsure of what to do. The thing was, the flames weren't normal flames. The blue flames danced in front of me, specks flickering at the ends. It was as if it wanted to devour everything and everyone that tried to get in its way. The thing way, the flame was blue, meaning it was started by an Alice.

     All of a sudden, my robotic duck, Peanut, calmly waddled out from a midst the fire, completely unharmed. There wasn't a scratch or a burn on him. My eyes, the size of golf balls, were glued to the mechanical creature. How in the world did he get activated and get stuck in the mess? Nonetheless, how did he survive it? Peanut waddled back into my room as if the entire catastrophe hadn't happened.

     Naoki burst out of his room, coughing and sputtering from the thick smoke. He narrowed his eyes when he saw me standing so close to the fire. Naoki ran up to me and pulled me away from the fire, continuing to cough violently. I wasn't coughing as much as him, but seeing his body rack so threateningly worried me.

"Manifest something to get rid of the fire!" I shouted over the curdling screams of children and adults.

     Another coughing fit racked Naoki's body, but with his energy, he manifested a huge water hose. It immediately activated, spraying the entire dining room with water. The screaming stopped, but soon, students were soaked with water and shivering. The food was wet, and so was the floor, tables, and chairs. With a snap of the few staff members' fingers, the entire room was dry, other than the students, of course.