Good vs. Evil High

by April Marcom

  And then it was Saturday morning. Miraculously, my hand was nearly healed. Only the palm still had to be wrapped up and medicated. It was also time to go see Headmaster. I still had no idea what I was going to tell him. But I threw my notebook, con, and the tube of mascara Sassy had gotten me totally addicted to in the navy blue shoulder bag I’d gotten out of the secondhand room, and went downstairs for breakfast. I was the only one in our room awake at seven a.m. on a Saturday morning.

  The cafeteria was pretty empty when I got there. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and a banana to eat before I took the elevator up to Headmaster’s Tower. I was early. Hopefully, that would help make up for the fact that I still didn’t have any answers for him.

  As soon as I stepped out of the elevator and heard the voices, I froze. Somehow, I knew they were talking about me.

  “But sir, no one’s even tried. Someone should at least talk to her about it; try to convince her to do it. She’s a guaranteed win.” I recognized that as Coach Beckham.

  The responding voice belonged to Headmaster. “Come now, Charles. You know she only just got here and wants no part in it. It wouldn’t be right to deprive her of finding her place in our school. She needs time to settle in. Why try to pressure her?”

  “To win. Isn’t that what all this Winter Competition stuff is about? You haven’t seen what she can do, Headmaster. It’s not just the fifty-yard sprint. There are a number of sports her speed could help us win. The girls’ tennis team could use her. Unless the Cinders are worse than us, that’s a guaranteed loss.”

  “I want to win as much as you do, but the well-being and happiness of the student comes first. For now, Kristine isn’t ready. And she’ll be here any minute. You should probably go down and have some breakfast before the students begin waking up. It can get pretty hectic in there on a Saturday morning, as you know.”

  A pause was followed by a, “Yes, sir,” and then Coach Beckham was walking toward me.

  I didn’t want him to know I’d heard them, so I hurried down the curved hallway away from them. I waited around the corner for him to climb on an elevator, but his footsteps kept getting closer. He would see me any second.

  My hand moved over the door I was pressed against and turned the knob. Sliding through the slightly open door, I shut it very carefully behind me.

  My adrenaline was pumping full speed. I turned around, praying I hadn’t entered someone’s bedroom. But no one was there. In fact, it was completely empty except for a stone fountain that was at least a foot taller than me. Made from the same icy material as the walls on the lower levels of North Haven, it had three tier bowls, the one on the bottom being the largest.

  As I moved closer to it, smoke began to fill the top and spill over the edges to the lower chambers. But something strange happened when it rolled over the lowest one. A purple hand wrapped itself around the edge and seemed to pull a person up. And then a ghostly figure was crawling out of the basin, hair drifting in and out of her wild face. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any more terrifying, one wide eye fixed itself on me through an open space between her hair.

  My muscles refused to move. My voice wouldn’t work.

  Then she threw her head back and screamed a terrible scream that echoed all over the room, as if several women were there, all crying out in terror. I covered my ears as she proceeded to climb out of the fountain. The way her body bent back as the awful cries continued was enough to get me going.

  I bolted back to the door and reached for the handle. It wouldn’t turn. I twisted with all my might. Nothing. I was trapped, with no escape.

  Looking back, I saw two very scary things. One: Another hand belonging to a second and equally bloodcurdling woman wrapped itself around the fountain’s edge and began pulling up her body. Two: The first body, still screaming, took a labored step toward me.

  That was it. I didn’t care if Coach found out I heard him or not. I started pounding against the door and calling out for help. “Can’t anyone hear me?!” I screamed desperately.

  I looked back. The first woman seemed to be rooted to the spot. The second one threw her head back to let out a new series of wretched cries. Both stared threateningly at me. Whatever they were, I was sure they wanted to hurt me.

  With shaking fingers, my hand dove into my purse and searched for my con. When my finger touched it, it rose from my bag and began to unfold. “Call Headmaster, CALL HEADMASTER!” I screamed, not caring if I got in trouble for being in there. He was right down the hall, waiting for me. He could be there before anyone else.

  It was difficult to breathe as I threw myself into a corner with my back to the horrifying figures, my con moving with me.

  “Hello, this is Headmaster.”

  I looked up into his kind face. “I can’t get out! I’m stuck in the first room past the elevators. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to come in here, but—”

  The screen went black. “Headmaster?” I shrieked. “Call Headmaster!”

  Connie appeared on my con. “He is temporarily unavailable. Sorry.”

  “What?”

  Chapter Eleven

  ~ The Baring Springs ~

  The door burst open and Headmaster tore in, running straight through the two women to the fountain, where a third one was climbing out. The women broke apart, vapor dispersing, as Headmaster leaned over the fountain, grasping the edges of the middle tier. The purple smoke still pouring over the edge became pink. Bubbles rose from the top, followed by a pink smoky woman. She began laughing and twirling playfully around. Headmaster looked back at me. “Are you all right?”

  “I—wh, wh,” I stopped to attempt to swallow down my fear. “What were they?”

  “A reflection of your feelings. You were afraid when you entered this room. I’m sure when you saw what came out of The Baring Springs, you became even more frightened, thus feeding the fear and making it all the more powerful. It was given its name because it bares the naked feelings of anyone who comes near it.” He walked over to me and held out a hand to help me up. “The Baring Springs is our school’s invention for this year’s competition. Every year each school creates something entirely original. No one but those involved in creating them are allowed to know what it is. Then when the school’s inventions are presented, the students and faculty have no idea which belongs to them and which belongs to their opponents. That way when the votes are cast for the better one, no one’s partial. I’ll have to ask you to keep what you’ve seen a secret. You must not tell anyone.”

  “I won’t. And I’m sorry I came in here. I didn’t want Coach to know I heard you talking about me.”

  “No harm done. But next time, you might find it safer to wait in the hallway.” He reached out for the doorknob and I noticed the little button beside it that he had to push to make it turn.

  “I would have, but he kept coming. I ducked in here hoping it was a closet or something and I could wait until he walked past me.”

  Headmaster stopped to stare at me. “He didn’t get on an elevator?”

  “No, he kept walking down the hall.”

  “That’s odd. What on earth could he be doing in my tower? I’ll have to have a word with him later.”

  I followed him out of the room and down the hall toward his office.

  “Last year, my brother’s school won the invention point with their shadowing technology,” he said. “I still don’t know how they do it, but a person can disappear right into the shadows, becoming absolutely invisible.”

  I remembered the Cinders we’d run into the night I was recruited.

  “You’ll win this year with that fountain of feelings back there. The women were so real. And the happy and scared ones went with the feeling they represented perfectly.”

  “Well, thank you. I did help to choose them. We felt that women represent emotion so much more powerfully than men, so we only used female figures, except for rage. We used a giant red fire-breathing man for that one.”

  We both took a
seat inside his office. “Now, tell me how school’s been going,” Headmaster said.

  “It’s been a blast. I love North Haven. Zoology’s my favorite subject and I’m trying to get used to Physical Fitness. My muscles are pretty sore.”

  “Yes, it always starts out that way, but I promise you, in a few weeks you’ll feel better and have more energy than you’ve ever had. Your teachers all say you’re adjusting nicely, making friends and doing well.”

  “Yes, sir.” I looked down at my bag in my lap. How was I going to tell him I still didn’t know what I wanted to do? I’d thought about it a million times, but still had no idea.

  “Is there anything else?”

  “I’m sorry, Headmaster. I know you wanted an answer from me today, but I still don’t have one.”

  He chuckled at that, making me look back up at him. “Nothing to be sorry for, my dear. Lots of students don’t have the answers for a very long time. Some even leave school as clueless about where life will take them as they were when they arrived. As long as my students leave here being good people who will make a positive impact on the world, I feel both they and I have succeeded completely...Aside from all that, did you get the notebook I left for you?”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you. And thanks for the pencil set. Being able to use shading makes a huge difference.”

  “So you’ve had a chance to get a few drawings done?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  “Would you mind if I took a look at them?”

  I reached in my bag for my notebook, feeling really excited about showing off my drawings. They were some of the best ones I’d ever done. Everything looked so much more realistic when I was using such a broad range of graphite and charcoal pencils.

  Headmaster took it and leafed through it, taking the time to study each drawing. Each of my roommates was in there, surrounded by what they loved most. There was also the view from one of the verandas I’d sat alone in for awhile Thursday night, a drawing of my mother, and the girls’ home I’d lived in less than a week ago. And then there were the places I visited and things I saw in my dreams, like Harmony and I standing on a stage singing a duet for a million spectators, and Roman pulling up in front of North Haven in a pumpkin carriage to pick me up for a fairytale ball. In the past I’ve always been too embarrassed to let anyone see what I drew, but since I’d gotten there, I hadn’t worried about much of anything. It was nice.

  “Well,” Headmaster said, handing my notebook back to me, “you certainly have a great deal of talent. Have you not even considered life as an artist?”

  “I would love to be an artist, but I want to stay here. And isn’t there a talented artist on every block who’s working two crummy jobs because it’s almost impossible to make a living as one?”

  “Perhaps, but I was thinking you could work here. We have Miss Rivers to teach art, but we don’t have an artist. Harmony is on the activities committee, as you know, and Mr. Fielding has been heading that. But he’s also the business and marketing teacher. He got saddled with the activities committee because no one else would take it. You could head that committee in a few years. You certainly have the creativity for it, and it seems like something you would enjoy. You could put art on walls or on canvas for the girls and boys here. Although Sassy designed the bags that hang on your door and beside her bed, Miss Rivers had to paint the Eiffel Tower behind them. There are times when more art is required of her than she has time to give. I know she would enjoy the relief you could offer.”

  “Okay.” I didn’t even have to think about it. It was perfect!

  “Perhaps I could even persuade you to join the committee right now. Harmony would be happy to have you, and they could use the help.”

  “Of course.”

  “Good, we’ll keep this to ourselves for now, because you may still change your mind. When our next school year begins, if this is still what you want, we’ll sit down with Miss Rivers and Mr. Fielding and give them the good news. But for now, that will be the plan for you, all right?”

  “Yes, sir.” I could almost feel happy pink bubbles boiling up and a woman dancing around inside me. I could stay here at North Haven and create art for the rest of my life!

  Headmaster opened a desk drawer and pulled out a sheet of thick white paper and a manila envelope. “I have your schedule for next semester here. Usually we hand them out to students a week before it begins, but I wanted to give you a chance to look it over while you’re here with me so you could ask questions if you have any. Everything’s on the fifth floor, except for Physical Fitness.” He slid the paper across his desk so I could see it.

  North Haven High School

  Spring Schedule for: Fayre, Kristine A.

  1st Hour: Art with Miss Rivers, Room 35

  2nd Hour: Physical Fitness with Coach Beckham, Gymnasium on 4th Floor

  3rd Hour: Geometry with Miss Tripside, Room 6

  4th Hour: Advanced Biology with Mrs. Weathers, Room 10

  5th Hour: English II with Miss Lytton, Room 1

  6th Hour: Activities Committee with Mr. Fielding, Room 33

  “No history?” I said. “This schedule looks fine to me.”

  “Good, good. I decided to make such an exception for you. But if you decide to change your future plans, history may be forced back onto your schedule, of course.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “There’s one more thing I want to give you.” He slid the envelope toward me. I picked it up and began opening it. I felt a mixture of joy and sadness when I pulled out an old photograph of my father with his arm around my mother, who was holding a tiny baby that had to be me. She was sitting in a hospital bed with a blue gown on.

  “Where did you get this?” I asked, a single tear rolling over my cheek.

  “The hospital where you were born keeps pictures of every woman and her new baby who comes through their delivery rooms.”

  It was hard, but I tore my gaze away from the woman I would always love more than anything else to smile at Headmaster. “Thank you. You can’t imagine how much this means to me.”

  “Actually, I can.” He stood up and walked around his desk to my chair, where he held his arms out for me. Standing up, I hugged him and cried. It felt exactly the way I always imagined a father’s embrace would, full of warmth and love.

  Chapter Twelve

  ~ A Touch Possessive ~

  We woke up excited Tuesday morning. It would be nothing compared to Wednesday, but today we got to pack. “They’re already here,” Harmony said when she opened the door to go to the bathroom.

  “Who’s here?” Sassy asked.

  “The suitcases.” She wheeled in two big black ones, then two more.

  “I’ve gotta fit all my stuff in that?” Sassy grabbed one and pulled it over to her wardrobe. It looked like plenty of space to me, but Sassy’s got a problem with collecting way too many clothes and never letting any go. And then there were her purses, jewelry, shoes, nail polish. She kept a lot of her stuff under Nadine’s bed and used up the entire closet on their side of the room. Lucky for her, Nadine didn’t need one. She was content with a few outfits. “If anyone has space leftover when you’re finished packing, let me know,” Sassy said.

  “I will,” Nadine said. She grabbed a suitcase, reached into her wardrobe, and pulled out several things, still on hangers. After stuffing those into it, she pulled a drawer out and dumped it in, too. She took her toothbrush and hairbrush out of the pile. “The rest is all yours,” she said to Sassy.

  “It’s only half full. Thanks, Nadine!” Sassy went to give her a hug. My con began ringing on the long desk in the back of our room. “Kristine Con, answer please,” I said. I grabbed a suitcase and sat beside my wardrobe as my con opened and flew toward me. I wasn’t surprised to see Roman’s face appear on the screen with snow and sunshine behind him.

  “Hey, sweetie,” he said, making me want to hurl. I hated when he called me that.

  “Hey, Roman. What’s up?”

  “I talked my c
oach into giving me the day off if you want to do something. Karaoke’s at three and Moonlight Ghost is showing at five.”

  “I’m sorry. I already have plans.” Maybe I didn’t, but I could make some.

  “With who?”

  “My friends.”

  “Which ones?”

  I hated playing Twenty Questions with him, but it seemed to be his favorite game. “Sassy, Harmony, and Nadine.”

  “Nadine’s got soccer all day.”

  “Then I guess it’s Harmony, Sassy, and me.”

  “Come on, Kristine. This is the first chance I’ve had to spend any real time with you since you got here. You see your roommates all the time.”

  “I know, but I already told them we’d hang out.”

  “They’ll understand—Are they there?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You girls don’t mind if I borrow her, do you?”

  “I wouldn’t mind,” Sassy said, “but the kids we’re having breakfast with might. I thought it would be good to help Kristine make some new friends, and since they’re expecting Kristine to be there, she probably should be.” Thank goodness she’d caught on.

  “You said it was just you and Sassy and Harmony,” Roman said to me, his voice getting angry.

  “It is. We’re just having breakfast with a few other people.”

  “I’ll come too.”

  “Roman, it’s a girl’s day.”

  He glared at me as one corner of his mouth twitched. “Fine.” The screen went black and began folding up.

  “When are you going to dump that guy?” Sassy asked me.

  “I don’t know. I keep hoping he’ll figure it out himself. He’s a lot of fun, and it kind of feels nice when he puts his arm around me...but he’s so possessive. Why can’t we be friends?”

  Harmony sat on the floor next to me. “I’m not gonna tell you what to do, but things might get better if you told Roman you don’t want to be his girlfriend.”