The Vixen

The Results

   Jasmine was dizzy as she left after she regained consciousness. What was the point of this test? She hurriedly left as Mrs. Shepard's eyes bore into her as if she had seen her soul. That feeling that Mrs. Shepard knew more about her than she did scared her.
   The test of the day was a blur of gabbled voices. Jasmine was too worried to pay much attention in her remaining classes. After the last bell rang, Serenity guided her towards the cafeteria for dinner. Ursa grabbed her soup and a roll for dinner. "Thanks," Jasmine thanked, her voice weary.
   "The test made me tired afterwards too," Serenity put in. "It's a taxing process."
    "Look," Ursa exclaimed, pointing to Mrs. Shepard handing out envelopes to students. "Do you think she is passing out the results:"
   Jasmine felt the butterflies in her chest start to frantically flap their wings. She took a bite of  the roll, but it tasted like dust in her mouth. She put it back down on the tray, her appetite withered. 
   Mrs. Shepard skirted towards the companions table. She looked more like a hawk than ever with her beaky nose and hair tied back in a bun. She smiled thinly and handed Jasmine an envelope. "Thanks," Jasmine said, trying to keep the quaver out of her voice.
    Mrs. Shepard gave her another thin smile and walked away to hand more of the new students their envelopes. "Open it up!" Serenity exclaimed excitingly.
    "I want to see what your results are," Ursa agreed.
    Jasmine nervously tore the envelope open, her fingers trembling. The letter was written in scarlett ink that matched the room she was tested in. The handwriting was slanted and in cursive. Jasmine bit back a curse. "I can't read it," she muttered.
    "Hand it over," Serenity suggested. "I can read Mrs. Shepard' handwriting like no one else can."
   Jasmine pushed the letter to her friends and waited anxiously as they read it. What would they think of her? What did the results say? Surely they were bad. What if she was kicked out?
    Ursa looked up. She was done reading the letter and had a perfect poker face. Serenity was not as adept at controlling her expression and she looked at Jasmine with mingled shock and a trace of fear. "What?" Jasmine asked.
    Serenity wouldn't respond. She looked scared and suddenly tired. "You tell her," she told Ursa.
    Ursa bit her lip, finally betraying her concern. "Well, Jasmine," she said. "You see, your results are very.." she struggled to find a word. "They are very interesting. I suggest you talk to Mrs. Shepard yourself."
    Jasmine got up and snatched the letter back. The looks on her friends' faces scared her. Would they too turn on her?
    She ran up towards Mrs. Shepard's room and frantically knocked on the door. There was no reply and she waited there, crying and hugging her knees outside. Finally, she heard footsteps and saw though a blurry gaze Mrs. Shepard. "Come on in," Mrs. Shepard welcomed. "We should probably talk."