by Quil Carter
“No problem.” Ellis looked around the hallway with a look of interest on her face. “I’ve never seen so many kids our age in one place.” Her eyes focused on something behind me and she raised her eyebrows. “Get a load of them.”
I turned around and saw four females walking down the hallway. They looked like… witches. They were wearing all black and had on black eyeliner and black lipstick, their hair was also dyed black or just naturally black and they were wearing weird clothes. Black skirts and high heel boots and netted socks, also gloves, and lots of bracelets and necklaces. They were all dressed the same like they were a part of some sort of cult… or covenant.
“Freaks,” I mumbled. But when I looked back to Ellis I saw that she was still watching them as they walked by.
One of the girls smiled at Ellis as they passed. “Aren’t you Ellis Dekker? Princess Ellis Dekker?”
Ellis nodded. “Yeah, I just stopped by to drop my brother’s backpack off.”
“You have such pretty eyes!” The girl who’d originally spoken came over to her. I backed away, repelled by them, and smelled a sickening stench of perfume. “And your hair! You’d look amazing with some makeup on. Wouldn’t she?”
The vermin women crowed their agreeance. Ellis looked stunned by this attention. “Oh, my dad would kill me.” Ellis laughed nervously. “I love your bracelets though! Where did you buy them?”
I groaned and leaned against the lockers. Women were weird.
“Gizelle’s down by Sky View Mall,” another one said. Her face was powdered to make it paler than it originally was and she had skull earrings. “And a few other places but that shop always has a great selection.” She held out her hand. “Which one’s your favourite?”
I ran a hand down my face and wished I were dead… or at least for the bell to go off to tell us we had to go to our next class.
“Really? Thank you!” I tuned myself back to what was happening and saw the girl slide off a black bracelet with silver Celtic swirls. Ellis put it on her wrist and admired it. I suppose that was the one she said was her favourite. “I’ll checkout Gizelle’s.”
“We hang out at the mall often, maybe we’ll see you there,” the girl said. Then she looked at me and smiled. Her lipstick made her lips look like dog shit that’d been in the sun for too long. “Your brother is hot. Purple eyes? What a dream.”
I stared at her, horrified by this, by all of this. “I… need to go to class.” But I knew going to class and leaving Ellis here would get me into trouble. I had to make sure she was on her way back. “Let’s go, I have to find my class before the bell rings.”
Ellis looked at me like I was an annoying flea. It was quite too bad that I didn’t give a flying fuck. So I grabbed her by the arm and tore her away from the flock of witches, and rolled my eyes when she yelled goodbye, and that they’d meet up at the mall later.
Dad was going to love this.
Ellis left. She wasn’t even in a bad mood that I’d pulled her away, she looked excited over the fact that she’d made friends. Her only friend was An-Mei Zhou and they fought all the time.
I checked my schedule and saw that I had English 10 next. I asked the reception lady where that class was and was soon on my way. I decided to get there early to secure myself a seat, but the moment I turned to the right hallway, the bell rang. I picked up my pace and ducked into the English 10 room and picked a spot in the farthest row at the very back. That was where the cool kids sat in the movies and, well, I wanted to be cool.
People started entering the class and each and every one of them looked in my direction then did a double take. I was used to this, it happened every time I went out in public, but that didn’t make it any less annoying. I busied myself getting out my binder, a 4-Star binder with the front made out of cloth complete with a zipper to keep everything in, and the textbook we’d be using.
“Elish fucking Dekker.”
I looked up and my heart flip-flopped out of my chest.
It was Todd.
Grade 10 English… Todd was in grade ten. He was in my class… He was in my class!
I stared at him dumbly. I stared at his vivid grey eyes and perfectly brushed black hair, that dimple on his left cheek…
Oh god, I was staring. Say something.
Say something, Elish.
Fucking anything, Elish.
“Fancy seeing you here,” I blurted before I could stop myself.
No…
No I didn’t just say that. I didn’t just say that.
Todd laughed, and he winked at me again. He nudged a guy behind him and pointed to me. “The Prince of Skyfall is actually a cool dude. Especially since he’s down-to-earth enough to hang out with us dirt toilers.” Todd walked over and pulled up the chair beside me. He leaned back on it and flashed me a smile. “You just couldn’t stay away from me, huh?”
I stared at him again, horrified at being called out on almost exactly what I did. But my mind quickly told me that he was only joking, that there was no way he could know, and I caught myself before I said something stupid.
“Yeah, you wish,” I said with a forced laugh. “If I’m going to be king when Silas is gone… I gotta know how the people function, right? Anyway, it gets boring in that tower, I needed an adventure.” Oh, that was smooth. Good job, Elish.
Todd’s grin widened. I liked him so much more than the last asshole who was sitting beside me. Sacario should take a page out of his book. “What happened to your arm?”
Speaking of that asshole…
I looked down at my arm, still holding the pen streaks, and pulled my sleeve down all the way to cover it. “Just some idiot in my last class,” I said blandly. “They come in all temperaments, don’t they?”
Todd gave me an amused look. He nudged the friend he’d walked in with, a rounder man with curly brown hair and thick-framed glasses. “Isn’t he cute? He was my entertainment when Mario and I got into that spat.”
The round one glanced at me and raised both his eyebrows. “And I can see why Mario was jealous. Flirting with a prince.” Todd’s eyes widened and he turned around and punched the man’s arm. “He’s like twelve. Shut up, man. Jesus.”
“I’m thirteen now,” I said quickly. He’d been flirting with me? Did he like me too? “F-February seventh. It’s… it’s a holiday.”
The tips of Todd’s ears went red. He had an earring in his left ear, the upper cartilage. I’d always wanted to pierce my ears like Silas’s were, but he said I had to wait until I was a… a… teenager.
“Yeah, I remember now. Sorry, Elish.” Todd regained his composure and his smile returned. He opened his mouth to say more when there was a cleared throat. My eyes turned to the front of the class and I saw that the room was now full, and the teacher was standing in front of his desk, leaning back on it. “Well, now that I have everyone’s attention. Welcome back, and I hope everyone had a nice Skyday break.” He looked over at me and tilted his chin up. He was a rather attractive man now that I got a good look at him. Black hair that curled at the ends and bangs that fell over large blue eyes, thick eyebrows and a goatee that was trimmed short. “And, of course, we have a new student joining us. Welcome to my class, Prince Elish. I’m Professor Britain. I’m sure my class will be child’s play for you, but I hope you’ll humour me.” He smiled and I admit I decided I liked him in that moment.
“Who knows I may be teaching this class soon,” I said smiling too. I tried hard to disguise it as a wry smirk; I couldn’t believe that had come out of my mouth. Being around the silver tongue of King Silas had paid off.
Professor Britain laughed at this and drummed his fingers on the desk before pushing himself off of it. “I’ll watch out for you, Your Grace.”
There was a snort from a man in front of me, a burly man who looked older than Grade 10. “Your Grace? He’s thirteen.” The young man slammed a boot onto his desk; it was a legion-issued army boot. This military brat obviously came from a legion family. “And why the hell do we have t
o do all this protocol shit, like he gets to leave first? If the shrimp wants the commoner experience he can get treated like the rest of us.”
Well, that was uncalled for and I wasn’t a shrimp, I was almost as tall as King Silas.
The entire class fell into a hush, half of their eyes on me, half on the boy in front of me.
Professor Britain cleared his throat before pointing to the door. “Get out now. Call the Skyland base and tell your father to make an appointment to see me.”
The young man, with a dark buzz cut and a thick neck, leaned over. “Are you shitting me? You have got to be fucking shitting me!” He slammed his hands on the desk.
“I am not. Now, Tiberius. If you don’t get your ass out of my room, I’ll be calling King Silas directly to tell him what you said about his prince. And your father will hear about that as well.”
Tiberius slammed his hands down on the desk before pushing it. He stalked up to Professor Britain and mock advanced on him. Professor Britain didn’t flinch, but Tiberius looked smug anyway as he turned towards the exit.
And as he walked to that door, he gave me a glaring look. I looked back unblinking, and he disappeared out the door, slamming it behind him.
The professor sighed and muttered a few choice worlds. “My apologies, Prince Elish. His father gets drunk and beats him when he’s off duty; he takes out his angst on anyone he feels threatened by.” The other students gasped and giggled, even I couldn’t help a smile. “Shall we carry on?”
English was uneventful but educational. Todd must’ve been a good student because he didn’t talk to me or even look at me once. Professor Britain called on me several times though and I got every one of his questions right. He raved about how smart I was which made me want to float off of my chair.
The professor handed out a book for us to read as well. We were supposed to read The Giver which took place in a dystopia where there were insane rules and everything was controlled by the government. I wouldn’t be surprised if Silas had assigned it to the grade 10 curriculum to remind everyone just how good they had it. Professor Britain wanted us to start reading it and every ten chapters we had to write an essay about what we thought of it. It was due at the end of the year which I thought was so hilarious I even let out a muffled snort. Professor Britain looked at me and asked me what was so funny.
“I read books like that in a day,” I said with a shoulder shrug.
“Jesus… shut up!” a girl with curly red hair hissed at me. I didn’t know what her damn problem was.
Until Professor Britain next spoke. “He’s right. It is much too easy for fifteen-year-olds. You have a month to read it. And you–” He looked right at me, his blue eyes flashing mischeviously. “The Giver, Catcher in the Rye–”
“Read it.”
“To Kill a Mockingbird…”
“Three times.”
The professor narrowed his eyes and slowly began walking towards my desk. “1984?”
“What do you think?”
The class was chuckling at us now. I had my arms crossed, a smug look on my face. “Have you even read them, Professor?”
Professor Britain put a hand on my desk and leaned down. His eyes met mine and he smiled. “Don’t antagonize me, Prince. I am your teacher.”
“I’d enjoy it while it lasts, Professor.” I smiled back.
Professor Britain shook his head slowly back and forth, the class Oooh’d behind him. The professor glanced over his shoulder when he heard them, then turned back to me.
“Twilight,” he said simply.
I stared at him, and blinked. “What about it?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Have you read it, Elish? Of course you have. I bet you’re team Edward, no?”
“What?” I looked at him perplexed and confused. The mere thought was audacious, I felt horrified. “I’d never read such garbage.”
Professor Britain clucked and crossed his arms. “Then I guess I found something that Prince Elish hasn’t read. I want all three books read by the end of the school year, and a six-thousand-page essay on each book. Eclipse is only an unfinished draft but I’m sure you can make do.” The professor grinned at my horrified look. “Happy reading, Prince Elish.”
The class erupted into laughter, and I melted into my seat and decided then and there I’d be requesting cyanide capsules implanted in my molars. I wanted to die, so badly right then and there. I’d been outsmarted by a god damn Skylander!
The rest of the class went by without incident. I kept trying to catch Todd’s eye to maybe start up a conversation or at least make eye contact but he was quiet towards me. He poked the friend he’d walked in with, now sitting in front of him, with the end of his pen several times to harass him, but that was it.
Once the bell rang, I rose from my seat and packed up my belongings. I felt the heat once again on the back of my neck as the class stared at me, waiting for me to leave. I hustled out of there pretty quickly without saying a word. I didn’t like them waiting, but I didn’t know if I even had the authority to request that they didn’t. This was a protocol that Silas had instilled and I didn’t want to make him mad by refusing it.
I waited by the door though to at least talk to Todd, make conversation, declare my love… you know, the usual things. But while I was waiting, Professor Britain emerged. When he saw that I was by the door, he flashed me a smile. “So how did you like your first class?” He leaned his elbow against the lockers and took a sip of a coffee cup he was holding.
“I enjoyed it,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t bring attention to that embarrassing exchange. “I’ve written a few short stories but never with a topic it has to be based on. It forces you to think outside the box, outside your usual writing and I like that.” The creative writing prompt he’d given us to write about was ‘A day I will always remember’ I already had a few ideas. He said it didn’t have to be based on real life, but to let our imagination take us. I hadn’t decided how I was going to write it. Maybe this day? I’ll always remember this day.
“Perfect. I’m glad I could challenge the prince.” Professor Britain’s eyes twinkled when he called me prince. It seemed like he was intrigued with me which I found flattering and interesting. But that being said, it better not interfere with how he graded my work. I wanted to earn my A+, not have it given to me, or even worse, have people assume it was given to me. “Mondays are our creative writing days; I give a short story a week just to get the kids’ creative juices flowing.”
“I look forward to it, Professor Britain,” I said with a smile. I don’t know why I liked him, he just had a friendly look to him. I was comfortable with this man, perhaps it was because he treated me normally. I was here for the high school experience, not to be treated with kid gloves.
“Oh, just call me Ryan,” Professor Britain said waving a hand. “Professor Britain is for the… what do you call us? Peasants? Commanders? Normal boring folk?” I laughed at this and so did he. I liked him even more.
But then Professor Britain, or Ryan I guess, his eyes shifted past my own and I saw a strange expression pass over them. I looked behind me and saw Todd stalking past us.
He looked pissed.
And my observation was confirmed when Todd gave Professor, I mean Ryan, a glaring look. It was a look of just distain; I could feel the heat radiating off of him. It was really confusing, and I didn’t understand it at all. Todd had been so chilled and relaxed when I’d met him at the party, and he’d been before class started too.
Professor Britain’s blue eyes deflected from Todd’s. The smile was gone from his lips, but as soon as he saw that I was looking at him, it returned. “So what’s your next class?” Todd passed by like a dark storm cloud and he carried on down the hallway, his shoulders tense and his walk rigid.
“What was that?” I said, cutting to the point. It was obvious Todd was pissed off at Professor Britain for a reason and I wanted to know why.
“Oh… nothing.” Professor Britain laughed nervously. “Don’t
worry–”
“What is it?” I asked again. I crossed my arms. Professor Britain shifted around at my posture and rubbed his nose with his hand. “Don’t make me pull rank on you, Ryan.”
The professor gave me a pained look. He raised his red coffee mug, blue patterned, and proceeded to take the longest, slowest drink I’d ever seen.
But that was okay, I was a patient man.
“Todd gets angry about really stupid things and…” The professor stalled again. “… and he’s… ah…”
“Prince Elish! So the word around the school is right, the Prince of Skyfall is attending our humble school!” an unfamiliar voice rang out behind me.
Professor Britain’s face fell and he let out a relieved breath. “I better go back to class then! I’ll leave you two. See you tomorrow, Prince Elish.” I gave the professor a narrow look, a look that told him I wasn’t pleased with this escape at all, but all he had for me was a flashy smile and then he was gone.
I’d never seen a man move so fast.
Not wanting to be rude however, I turned around and was greeted by a man with a round stomach and a friendly jovial face. He bowed to me and held out his hand to shake mine. I shook his and inclined my head. I’d seen him before but only once, enough to know who he was. This was the principal of Skyland High, Principal Henshaw but his first name was Barry.
“I’m happy to be here,” I said to the principal. “You have a wonderful school. I’ll have nothing but nice things to say to my master.”
Mr. Henshaw looked pleased with this. “Well, doesn’t that just make my day. Is there anything I can personally do to make your time at my school more pleasant? Just say the word, snap a finger and it’ll be done.”
“Oh, no need, everything is fine,” I said. I tried to keep my tone casual and my eyes on him, but mentally I was looking around the principal to make sure no one had overheard that comment. A lot of the students already seemed annoyed at the protocols already in place, and I didn’t want to make it worse. “I just want to be treated normally. Get the whole high school experience, you know? I think it will be beneficial when I’m helping King Silas run Skyfall.”
