Little Spy | Peter Parker ✓

[18]

A SOUNDLESS SIGH passed through my lips, heaving a small gust of air and leaving no trace of the action. In the distance, a clock ticked, though it was slow and dramatic, taunting the students of their situation inside the dull, steaming room. Outside a window shut tightly, an invisible breeze blew and called to the teenagers, begging them to step outside and taste the cool air once more. It tickled their thoughts, irritating them and frustrating each one amid the humid environment that was the science classroom.

I tapped my pencil drearily against my blank paper, staring through Mr Warren like he was not even there. It was the most boring class I had had to sit through, considering I had all of the notes and lesson plans at home, and how much the man enjoyed to draw out every single word like he was speak-singing an opera to us in the form of science.

Really, it seemed like only Peter and a few others were really listening, scribbling furiously like any of the words was actually important. I watched the boy as he focused on everything the teacher said, admiring snidely how much he cared about his grades. The boy was a hard worker, I had to give him that much credit.

He looked up and caught my eye, turning a light pink and smiling slightly. I made sure to exaggerate my motion of happiness, returning his gaze with a slight wave and a smile that could cure a disease if it really cared to. He had to believe I cared in every way possible, even in the sauna-like room that made me feel like a chicken slowly boiling to death.

"Alright class," he ended, waving a stack of papers in the air like a lazy, fraying flag, "here are the tests from last week that I've marked and will give back to you. Please do not share your grade with others, as that is for your eyes and your eyes only, and if you have any problems with what is written on the paper, talk to me after class."

Peter was one of the first to have his test handed to him, and though he made no outward clue as to how he did, I could see through the paper; a giant 100 scrawled across. As to be expected.

However, as my stack of white papers fell, my heart sank; it was a seventy per cent. Just that, a seventy per cent. No matter how I had tried to remember the information fed to me, copying out all the notes that would be in every lesson and forcing myself to repeat the foreign terms and phrases back to Inga, I could not pass the test at the same level as all the other students, at Midtown. Perhaps, I should have gone with the option of cheating that Inga had presented me with.

It was horrible, to sit and realise just what had happened and what I had inadvertently done. Yes, my mission was to watch Peter and monitor everything he said or did, but my brilliant mind was my facade, my world, my biggest connection to Emily and her perfect life. With a sixty, I couldn't fly by undetected, nor could I play the part of a straight-A perfectly annoying Midtown High Student.

I shoved the test into my bag and sighed in relief as the bells finally blared, signalling the end of the first period. Shooting a smile to Peter and almost jumping with the joy of escaping the heat, I hurried out to the door-

"Can I talk to you for a second, Emily?"

The name almost flew right past me, forgetting that that identity belonged to me, but the steady clap on my shoulder drew me right back to reality. "Um, sir, I have class-"

He cut me off, shaking his head and gesturing to a now-empty desk. "I'll write you a note, and it'll be fine. I just wanted to catch you now while I had a spare period."

"Oh. Alright."

"Now, Emily, I understand that life has probably been hectic lately, what with moving to a whole new country and all the technical details of that to settle in a new school, which probably leaves you in a stressful situation. Is that right?"