Shai Soi

Chapter 12

"Time, Rebecca. Hand your test to me, and head to lunch." Phrases and names swam around in my head, bumping together.

I rubbed my eyes after handing my test to Miss Murphy, my Biology teacher. I was almost out the door when she called me to her desk. I groaned.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay? Rebecca, you didn't bubble in a single answer, at least, not correctly."

"What?" I grabbed at the test. Yes, it was rude. Frankly, I didn't care.

It was the last day of school, and the Council meeting was tomorrow night. Aside from studying, I stayed up until two a.m. practicing changing from a human to a lioness to human then back again. It was extremely easy now, but the fact that people will be watching me, always made me gittery. Add that to everything else, and you get: no sleep.

The paper shook in my hand. When I squinted, I saw that all of my pencil markings were rather pitiful. Not one colored in the bubble, but instead marked the margins near it.

Great. She'll probably make you retake the entire thing, Arnold stated.

"I'm just tired. Since I was susp- I mean, sick, I missed three tests. I wanted to get them right, so I studied all night. I'm sorry, I guess I'll skip lunch and do it again?"

Miss Murphy's severely plucked eyebrows knitted. Her mahogany eyes sparkled. Out of all my teachers, she was my favorite. "Do you have any problems with seeing the board? Or can you read up close? Do the words blur?"

"No. I'm just tired."

Miss Murphy looked unconvinced. But she merely said, "Just tell me what letter number you put, and I'll fill it in."

I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding. Plopping into a chair, I looked off the paper, and listed off the answers.

When I was done, and all the answers  were bubbled in,  I walked out the door. "Rebecca?"

"Yes, Miss Murphy?"  I kept a hand on the doorframe, anxious to get some food.

"I can already tell you, this will receive a high mark. Well done."

I didn't know what to say. A sliver of hope wove itself into my mood. "Thank you."

I trudged out of the Biology classroom just to bump into none other than Sammi Glazerose herself. Behind her strutted half the basketball team.

She smirked and peered down her long nose. Why did it annoy me so much that she towered over me?

"Look who it is. Hey, Reject. Back from suspension so soon? I was just getting comfortable." Her friends snickered. "How are your make up tests going?"

Irritation flared through my chest, but being too tired, I tried to let it pass. "Actually, I'm glad you said that. I wasn't suspended."

Sammi's smile faltered. "What do you mean?"

I reajusted my backpack's strap. "My dear  friend, Nathaniel- do you know him? Yeah, he pointed out that there was one source that would portray our little confrontation without bias influence." Sammi's face was a blank mask, as were her friends'. I decided to throw them the bone.

"It means, they looked at the security cameras. Like I said before, I didn't touch you. The cams proved it. One minute, you were standing up, the next you were on your sorry little butt. But, I didn't feel well in the first place, so I stayed home for a week. Thanks for your concern about my grades, though. Just finished the last test. Now, if you would excuse me."

I knew before I started moving that she was going to stop me. So when her friends formed a tight semicircle, I was ready. I faked left before pushing off the wall and diving through a gap in their arms. Rolling up, I sprinted down the hallway feeling invigorated.

I glanced behind me to see a mixture of anger and confusion plastered on Sammi's face. I laughed in spite of myself.

I was entering lunch when a thought occured to me. How did I do that?

I know, you've never been the most agile person- in the best of times.

Shut up, Arnold.

You know you love me.

Ugh.

I was so busy arguing with the voice in my head, (because that wasn't crazy at all), that I almost bumped into a girl in the lunch line ahead of me.

My burst of adrenaline had worn off, leaving me tired again. "Uh, sorry," I muttered.

The girl didn't respond. If she heard me, she didn't let it show. Instead, she kept her back towards me, standing on her toes. She appeared to be looking for some one.

The lunch line was slow-going, so I took the time to re-do my hair, fixing it with a tight band high on my head. Even still, my thick hair tumbled to my shoulders.

"Hey!" It was the girl in front of me. She flipped her voluminous chocolate brown locks over her shoulder. I glimpsed her perfect smile, before zeroing in on the person she had addressed.

His green eyes sparkled. His one sided smile as teasing as ever. Nathaniel handed the girl a Starbucks coffee cup and said, "Well, look who's back from the dead. Stayed up late studying, huh?"

The girl he'd given the drink to looked puzzled, before turning to face me. My breath hitched in my throat, either from Nathaniel addressing me, or the girl's easily recognizable face. She was gorgeous with a full wavy head of hair, rich cinnamon eyes, lush eyelashes emphasized behind thick glasses, semi-full lips, and a slightly curved nose that made her look all the more interesting. This was who I guessed was Nathaniel's girlfriend. And she was the most admired trackstar at Boar Hill High School. Her name was Sadie Orin.

And by the looks of things, she did not like me.

"Uh, you could say that."