Sophitz Forever

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sophie walked through the hallways with Fitz for what seemed like forever until they finally reached the astronomy classroom. The Level 6 astronomy teacher was new this year; his name was Sir Farrius and he was a rather young-looking man, despite having a wispy beard and spectacles, from what Sophie had seen when she glimpsed at him at the teachers' ceremony in the morning.

Sophie walked awkwardly beside Fitz, saying nothing and looking straight ahead. There was a strange silence that had never happened between them before, and Sophie couldn't think of anything to say to fill it. It was a relief to finally be inside the classroom and meet the teacher, which was occurring now.

Sir Farrius had a strange, thin, voice, similar to the wispiness of his beard. "Good morning, Sophie Foster. And good morning to you too, Fitzroy Vacker. I'm so delighted to have you in my class. I see from my records that you, Fitzroy Vacker, have failed this class once before." Fitz blushed and shifted uncomfortably next to Sophie. Sir Farrius continued, "I'm sure that you will work harder in this class than you did last year. Fail a class two years in a row will result in being expelled from Elite classes, as well as certain ability sessions. I do hope that that won't be the end result for you." Sir Farrius smiled at Fitz, though it wasn't as warm as Sophie would have thought.

Sir Farrius turned to Sophie, "And as for you, Sophie, I hear that you are 'amazing' at this class. I heard that you have a photographic memory and it helps you in the Universe. I see lots of potential in you and I truly expect good things from you."

This guy was seriously way too polite. What was with the long speeches? And the formality? And how did he know all of this about them?

As more students started pouring in, Sophie noticed that Sir Farrius was ignoring and barely greeting them, which was odd and quite the opposite of what his reaction was to Sophie and Fitz. Sophie concluded that the teacher had researched up on them two, though she wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe it was the "power and potential" thing that the Council told them about.

As soon as the late bell rang, Sir Farrius slammed the door, shutting up everyone who had been chattering and saying hello to their friends.

"Good morning, class. I am Sir Farrius, as you should know from your schedules. Hopefully, you met me at the morning assembly today, though it may not have been in person. If you have taken a seat, please stand up now. I have assigned seats for everyone. There will be no arguing with my assignations. You have what you have and too bad." He picked up a list from his desk and cleared his throat.

Wasn't 'assignation' the wrong word? Sophie was pretty sure it meant when lovers meet in secret, though she could be wrong. She decided not to say anything.

The room was arranged in pairs. Two desks were stuck together and there were many various pairs around the room in crooked rows. Sir Farrius said, clearing his throat,

"You will sit in pairs of two so that you will always have a partner. If your partner is absent, I will be your replacement partner and trust me, you won't have fun. So I advise you to come to school every day. Also, these are all boy-girl partnerships." Sophie heard various groans around the whole room.

"There are twenty-one students, so we might as well start this off now and get it over with. Oh, and there are no arguments. Your seat is yours and you will not be moved until the end of the term. Over here, we have Jensi Babblos and Marella Redek are partners at Table One." Jensi and Marella walked over to their table, not saying anything. Sophie didn't miss Marella's eye roll though. Jensi, however, was grinning widely at his partner. 

"Table Two. We have Valin Harvey and Dina Hart." So that was Dina. Sophie took in her appearance: red hair, blue eyes, slim figure. Sophie could sort of see what Dex saw in her but she wasn't what Sophie would have picked out of a crowd for Dex.