Obscure

seven

THE REST OF the day passed in a blur. 

Sophie breezed through all of her classes and the hour-long lunch period in a daze, her mind wrapped around her new first period. She couldn't believe that the mysterious blue-eyed boy was actually her teacher. She really couldn't. The idea tumbled around inside her head on an endless loop. It was virtually impossible to think about anything else. He was just so young.

She almost slipped up, in her 'Proper Etiquette' class, when she stood at the front to give an introduction to the class. She almost started babbling about Mr. Wolfe. 

"Exhausted?" Tabatha sat beside her on a wooden bench. It had been their rendezvous point, and classes had just ended. 

Sophie glanced at her from the corners of her eyes and nodded. "Extremely."

"At least you don't have any homework tonight." Tabatha pulled her backpack onto her lap and began to fish around inside of it. "Teachers aren't allowed to give out homework on the first week thanks to some study or something that said it was bad for our health." 

Sophie giggled when Tabatha rolled her eyes. She did suppose that  there were a few perks to attending this academy; had she been in a normal public school, Sophie would have been swamped with hours of homework by now. Tonight, all she really had to do was  to make sure she gets a good nights rest. 

"Come on," Tabatha said as she squeezed the cap back onto her ChapStick and zipped her backpack shut. She stood, holding out her hand for Sophie to take after slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Let's go get a snack before going back to our room. That way we can wait a bit longer for dinner." 

She rolled her eyes as she allowed Tabatha to pull her to her feet. Sophie lifted a hand to stifle a yawn and followed the dark haired girl down the dimly lit corridors, toward their dorm. Tabatha looped her arm through Sophie's, and pulled her toward the mini-fridges in the corner of the main room. "What do you want?"

The small doors were opened and, as Sophie peered inside them, she realized they were very well stocked. Clear plastic bags of fruits and vegetables swallowed the inside of two of the fridges, while the last two were overflowing with bottles of soda and water and lemonade. Sophie pursed her lips and reached inside, fingers curling around a bottle of Cola. Tabatha grabbed a lemonade and ushered her toward one of the cabinets. "This is where all the good stuff is," the dark haired girl muttered as she opened the door. 

Sophie smiled and snagged a small bag of chips. It was name-brand, which was new for her. Her father usually bought the off-brand stuff at their local grocery store --well, whenever he actually went to the grocery store. It was a lot cheaper and tasted somewhat the same. 

Once Tabatha had grabbed her own bag --or two, Sophie noted as the brunette stuffed an extra bag into the crook of her arm-- they returned to their dorm room. Sophie immediately wandered to her bed, setting her soda down on her side of the makeshift nightstand beside her pillow. She sat down on her bed and stretched out. "So what do we do until dinner time?"

Tabatha laughed at her. "Just chill. Stare at each other until our eyes fall out." 

Sophie rolled her eyes. She finished her snack and then got up. Her bare feet squished into the carpet as she walked toward her own desk and pulled the computer chair out. She sat down on the cushion and pulled her backpack into her lap. "I can't believe they gave us free laptops," she mused, as she pulled the sleek black notebook out of her bag and set it down on top of her desk. 

"And free WIFI," Tabatha snickered. "We're living the teen dream!" 

"Haha," Sophie laughed sarcastically. "Calm down, Katy Perry." She pressed the power button and opened a blank word document. She lazily fiddled with the fonts until she found one she liked and then spread her fingers across the keyboard. Hesitantly, she began to type a few words. 

Sophie didn't come from a very...wealthy family. In fact, middle-class was a very large overstatement. Her father technically worked for a trucking company. When she was younger, he spent the day hauling large shipments of food across the state, somehow managing to make it home by eight or nine every night. Once Sophie became a bit older, and more independent, the alcohol settled in. Brian went from working six days or so a week to a mere once a month. Needless to say, in the last few years, they weren't made of money.

And Sophie had never had a laptop before. There was a computer she and her father had shared set up in the kitchen, but she rarely used it. She wasn't fond of the idea of someone rummaging through her documents, and her father had never understood the beauty of password protection. The first time she'd tried, he'd broken in and discussed "why teenagers don't need passwords" with her the  next day. 

Her fingers tapped the multitude of keys as she wrote out her thoughts. It was strangely refreshing to see the words inside her head appear on the screen before her. 

"And then Drake scowled..." Tabatha read from over her shoulder. 

Sophie slammed the laptop shut and whirled around. She glared at Tabatha, who laughed and smiled at her cheekily. The brunette held up her hands in surrender. "Relax. I only caught the last sentence." 

"Still," Sophie said and looked away, embarrassed. 

Tabatha rolled her eyes. "Come on, Shakespeare, it's time for dinner." 

Sophie's eyes flickered toward her alarm clock. Her eyes widened. The bright red lights told her that it was already almost eight thirty. She bolted from her chair and rushed into the bathroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair and tousled it up a bit. Tabatha moved to the doorway and laughed at her. "You look fine!" 

"Yeah, yeah," Sophie muttered. She stuck her tongue out at her and then followed her out the door. She was excited to see what dinner had to offer them tonight. 

When she stepped into the dining hall, Sophie immediately looked around until she found the barren risen platform, filled only with tables. Tabatha lead her toward one of the tables and they slid into their seats. Kitty immediately scouted them out, and rushed over. 

"Hey guys," she chirped.

Sophie greeted her with a small "Hey" as Tabatha lifted her first two fingers in a 'peace' sign. Kitty slid into an open chair, her vibrant pink streaked hair trailing over her shoulder like a snake. She whipped out a notepad and pen. "Alright, so I have some wicked news, you guys." 

Tabatha leaned in closer, eyebrows puckered with curiosity. "Do tell."

"Well," Kitty said as she leaned forward on her elbows, arms crossed in front of her. Sophie moved closer and angled closer to the pink haired girl so she could hear her whispers better. "Tonight is the night. The Night Class is going to announce the male and female prizes for The Mating Game!"

Sophie felt her eyebrows pucker in confusion. She glanced back and forth between Tabatha and Kitty.

"What the hell is The Mating Game?"