by D. B. Green
I spin around. Penny’s hand is raised. “I was just wondering what had happened to Mr. Randall and when he will be back.”
Miss Slayter strolls between the desks, stopping next to mine. “That, Miss Summers, is none of your business.” She’s wearing the same vanilla scent as Penny. I tug at my collar again.
A few sniggers ring out around the class. Followed by a few whispered ‘Penny Dreadfulls’.
Miss Slayter puts her hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “You must be Mr. Collins. It’s your first day here too, isn’t it?”
I roll my neck, trying to escape from the rising heat. “Yes, it is.” My face feels like it’s on fire.
“We’ll have to swap notes later.” She winks and slowly walks like a catwalk model back to the front of the classroom.
A sudden wind blows across my face. It’s Maz, fanning me with a book. “Calm down, tiger.” She smirks. “I thought you were gonna pop.”
“Can I swap notes with you later, too.” The bubble-blowing jock from earlier turns and gets a high five from a friend sat behind him.
Miss Slayter ignores him. She perches on the edge of her desk and her eyes fall on me. She winks again and smiles.
I take in a long breath and slowly let it out.
“I believe you were working on consumer math with Mr. Randall,” Miss Slayter says, slowly crossing her legs. “Let’s talk about compound interest.”
“Yes, I’m definitely interest… ed.” The jock sniggers again.
Miss Slayter eases herself slowly off her desk and strolls across to him. She leans forward planting both hands on his desk. “Look, Mr. Cavanagh.”
“I am looking,” he sniggers. “Call me Rich.”
A series of high fives erupt behind him.
“Look, Dick,” Miss Slayter emphasizes the word. “Don’t push me. Under this calm exterior there is a bitch. A bitch that will have no problem tearing you a new one.” She puts her finger to his lips before he can offer a reply. “And a bitch that will have no problem failing you at math, which I believe will have an adverse effect on your trust fund.”
Judging by the smile on her face, the threat hits home. She stands and surveys the rest of the class. “Look people, I’m not Mr. Randall. This is not going to be an easy ride. You’re all going to work you asses off to pass my class. I do my research. I’m blessed with a photographic memory. I know everyone one of you better than your own mothers do.”
A low moan echoes around the classroom. The novelty of a pretty teacher has well and truly worn off.
Maz, shakes her head in disapproval too. “What are you grinning at?” She scowls.
“I wasn’t aware I was.”
“You look like the freakin’ Cheshire cat.” She tilts her head to the side and stares at Miss Slayter as she sits at her desk. “You know, I think I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
A triple beep suddenly comes from the public-address system. Everyone looks to the speaker above the classroom door, waiting for the announcement.
“Can Logan Collins and Penny Summers please report to the nurse’s room for mandatory vaccinations.”
“What the hell?”
“You must have given permission on your admission form,” Maz says, a grin spreading across her face.
“Miss Moreau, I believe you are on chaperone duties for Mr. Collins. Can you show him the way, unless you want Miss Summers to do it?”
Maz slips her jumper back over her shoulders. “No, it’s fine. I’ll do it.” Penny storms past her and flings open the classroom door, slamming it behind her.
I grab my rucksack and head to the door with Maz. Miss Slayter winks. “Have fun, Mr. Collins.”
Maz closes the door and grins. “You need to watch out. I think she’s after you.”
“Look, I didn’t sign anything. Someone else filled in the admission form for me.” I reach into my rucksack and pull out my medication, covering its name with my hand. “I’m on pills for… allergies,” I say, shaking the bottle. “There might be complications.”
“Chill Newb, it gets us out of class. Just mention your medication to the nurse if you’re worried.” She rolls her eyes. “Unless you were having too much fun with your new girlfriend.”
“It was way too hot in there, even before she turned up,” I say, pulling at my shirt collar again. “Why didn’t anyone say anything about the heat?”
“Any chance to show off their tanned and toned bodies…” Maz stops and tugs the bottom of her jumper. “Let’s get going.”
We head down the locker corridor and past the bathroom Maz visited this morning. I follow her up a flight of stairs and past more classrooms. The corridors are deathly silent.
Maz yawns and rolls up her sleeve, showing a small red spot at the top of her arm. “The school has its own vaccination program. They give us shots every few months. Some virus in the ticks or something,” she says, stopping outside a dark blue door. “There’s even a special room. We call it the needle room.” She pushes open the door, it leads into small waiting room. “But this is no sewing club.”
“Mr. Collins, you can go through.” A blonde nurse behind a small white desk points to another door. She looks at Maz. “Your chaperone can wait in here.”
“I’m amazed how everyone knows my name,” I whisper.
Maz nods at the CCTV camera above the desk. “That’s how.” She pulls me to the far wall, out of the camera’s range. “Look, if you see any ghosts after the injection, keep it to yourself,” she whispers, with the hint of a grin.
“Ghosts. What do you mean?
“At the start of the semester, a girl in our year, Ellie Horton, had her vaccination. Straight after, she ran through the school screaming that she could she ghosts. She had proper freakin’ breakdown. No one has seen her since.” Maz leans in close, making sure the nurse can’t hear. “Rumors are she was taken to Clearwater.”
“Clearwater?”
“The Clearwater Institute.” Maz swirls her finger against the side of her head. “It’s a mental hospital. They’ve probably got her in a straitjacket.”
“Jesus Christ.” I rub my arm, forcing away the memories of Serenity Grove.
Maz grins. “Don’t look so worried. Her sister was a wacko, too. Believe me, it runs in the family. The board of governors cleared the injections. They’re super safe, unless you don’t like needles.” She turns back to the door. “Come to think of it, say you can see ghosts. An afternoon at the funny farm is way better than classes.” She sings the chorus of Ghostbusters.
“They’re ready for you, Mr. Collins.” The nurse scowls at Maz as she sings.
Maz sticks out her tongue. “Good luck.” Her eyes open wide and she points in front of her. “I see dead people.”
I leave my rucksack with her and go through the door into the next room. It’s small. Two white beds opposite each other fill the cramped space. Penny sits on one of them talking to a redheaded nurse.
A metal door at the back of the room opens and an almost identical nurse walks in. They’ve got to be sisters. “Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Collins.” She nods at the nurse with Penny. “We just need to prepare your vaccinations.”
“Wait. I’m on medication,” I say. “Will the vaccination interfere with it?”
The nurse smiles. “You’re fine, Mr. Collins. We have a copy of your medical records. Your medication has been cleared.”
My stomach drops as I imagine her going through my past. I turn away, unable to meet her eyes, until I hear her start to walk away. I look back as both nurses disappear through the metal door at the back of the room. It closes behind them, sounding like a heavy vault door at a bank.
I ease myself onto the other bed opposite Penny.
“I didn’t do it, you know,” she says, kicking her heals against the bed. “Someone tampered with my presentation.”
A tapping noise comes from the small window in the door. It’s Maz. She breaths on the window and then draws the outline of a ghost on the glass.
/> The door at the back of the room opens again and the nurses appear, carrying hypodermics.
“Sorry to have to do this on your birthday. It’s not much of a present, but happy birthday anyway,” they say in unison.
“Thanks,” Penny says.
“Yours, too?”
She nods.
My nurse smiles. “It happens a lot at this school, matching birthdays.” I roll up my sleeve and she presses the needle to my skin. Then she glances across at her colleague who holds the same pose with Penny.
“Three, two, one.”
They inject us both at the same time. I don’t feel any pain; I’m that used to needles. My arm is a regular pin cushion.
“Take a couple of minutes, just in case of side effects.” Both nurses disappear through the back door again.
A sudden coldness slowly fills my chest, making it difficult to breathe. I cough, forcing my lungs to work. Is this what they meant by side effects?
The color drains from Penny’s face. She leans sideways like she’s gonna pass out. I jump off the bed, ready to catch her, but dizziness threatens to overcome me too.
“Are you OK?” I ask.
She lifts her head. Her eyes glow orange, like they’re on fire.
She reaches for my face. “Your eyes are sparkling orange.”
“My eyes?” I say.
Her soft hand touches my skin. Images suddenly flood through my mind like a movie on fast forward. It’s her presentation in class from this morning. I’m seeing it through her eyes. The horror and frustration feel like a torrent of despair as the video of me plays behind her. In that split second, I know she had nothing to do with the news footage. In that split second, I know I can trust her with my life.
She pulls her hand away from my cheek. “I saw everything you did today.” Her eyes still sparkle, like they’re full of tiny exploding fireworks. “It was like I was scraping the ice from your truck and picking up the cat.” Closing her eyes, she moves her hand through the air. “Izzy’s fur was so soft.”
She eases herself off the bed and looks straight into my eyes. Butterflies swarm through my stomach sending waves of euphoria across my entire body.
“There something I need to tell…” She seems lost in thought. Our faces are close, almost touching. I’m drawn to her. She’s like a magnet to my soul. I can’t stop it. I don’t want to stop it. Everything else melts away and our lips press together.
Images flow through my mind again like a river of dreams. I try to fight them off, so I can concentrate on the kiss, but they overpower my mind. I sink into Penny’s life, seeing it through her eyes. Her parents, her brother, and long lost birthdays. The memories increase in speed like a fast-moving slideshow. Vacations, people, and forgotten friends come and go. Happiness, overwhelming sadness - and the all too familiar feeling of loneliness. I see my recurring dream, but from her point of view, leading me to the burning trees.
Our lips part. “What just happened?” Penny asks. “I think I saw your life; all your life. It went by too fast for me to focus.”
“I saw yours too,” I say, gasping for breath. “You had the same recurring dream as me.”
There’s a cough from next to us. “You can go back to class now,” my nurse says.
Crap. I didn’t hear the nurses come back into the room. Did they see us… kissing?
“I feel a little dizzy,” Penny says, taking my hand for support. Her eyes have returned to normal, like glistening emeralds on a bed of purple velvet.
Penny’s nurse raises her eyebrow. “You can wait in the outer room for a while if you like, until the dizziness passes.”
I open the door for Penny. She barges past Maz and drops into a comfy chair, under the CCTV camera.
Maz grabs my arm. “What was all that about?” she whispers, glancing at Penny. She looks her up and down then turns back to me, narrowing her eyes. “That was some freakin’ kiss.”
“I couldn’t help it.” I glance at Penny. “One thing is for sure, she wasn’t behind the news clip. She had nothing to do with it.”
“How do you know?” Maz says, glancing at Penny.
“I just do.” I pull my eyelids up. “What color are my eyes?”
Maz screws up her face. “Brown. Why?”
Penny suddenly steps between us and pushes me up against the wall. “Can you meet me later,” she whispers.
“Sure,” I say, my heart pounding fast like a drumroll.
“Meet me outside the Meridian Cinema at six thirty tonight.” She pulls a note from her pocket and stuffs it in my hand. “I need to tell you some things.” She glances at Maz. “In private.” She sways to the right, like she’s going to pass out.
I grab her arm. “Wait until it passes.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t, I need to talk to someone. Now.” She presses her face close to mine like she’s going to kiss me again. Her vanilla scent teases my senses. “Six thirty,” she whispers.
I whisper back confirmation. “Six thirty.”
She turns and runs out of the door, steadying herself on the wall as she heads down the corridor.
“Maybe I should go after her.”
Maz pulls me back. “Leave her, she’s fine.” She grabs the note from my hand and reads it. “What the…” She turns the note over. It’s written on the back of Polaroid photo. A photo of a white door. A white door in a forest. The same door from… Cassie. I grab the photo and read the note on the other side. It’s written on the dark surface in silver pen.
The door is real. I’ll explain later. Meet me outside the Meridian Cinema at 6.30 tonight.
Penny
(450 Main Street.)
“I should have gone after her,” I say, spinning around.
“Catch up to her in class,” Maz says, shaking her head. “Get a grip Newb, you look like a kid that’s lost his teddy bear.”
“I can’t explain it,” I say. “Something happened in there.”
“Yeah, I saw.” She takes the Polaroid back, frowning at the photo “Is this the same door you hallucinated?”
“Yes, it even has the red triangle at the… top.” The smell of vanilla perfume still lingers inside the room. I open the door. “I need to catch up to Penny.”
This time, I lead Maz back through the corridors and down the stairs. “Slow down,” she says, panting for breath.
I peer through the window in our classroom door. There’s no sign of Penny inside. The door opens and Miss Slayter invites us back in. “Are you all done now?” she asks, keeping the door open. “Where’s Miss Summers?”
Maz shrugs her shoulders as we retake our seats.
I run my fingers through my hair. What the hell just happened? Hallucinations.
I grab my rucksack and reach inside for my Roaxatol. I turn the bottle around and read the warning across the bottom of the label.
Can cause hallucinations.
Maz taps me on the shoulder. “Are you OK? you look like you’re gonna pass out.”
“Just a little dizzy,” I say, sliding the bottle back into my rucksack.
There’s a new feeling in the pit of my stomach. A new desire. I need to see Penny. To hold her, feel her… and kiss her. Whatever the bottle says, that was no hallucination back there. That was real. I take out the Polaroid. The faint essence of vanilla eases the feeling of loss eating at my core. I stare at the white door on the photo. This can’t be real. Not after what all those shrinks said.
15:15 GMT-4
MERIDIA HIGH SCHOOL | MERIDIA FALLS
The bell rings, signaling the end of last period. Thoughts of Penny still fill my head. I can’t shake her away; I don’t want to shake her away. I’ve never felt this kind of attraction before. The fact she disappeared after the vaccinations makes the desire to see her even stronger. She’s like a missing part of me, a part I didn’t know was lost… until today.
Miss Slayter leans back against her desk. Her tanned skin glistening in the heat. She raises her arm and points to the door, starting
a mad rush to leave.
“Are you OK, Newb?” Maz says, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You look a little pale. Maybe you should see the nurse before you leave.”
“No, I’ll be fine,” I say, rubbing my arm. “But I wouldn’t mind knowing what was in that injection.”
Maz half-smiles. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind knowing, too. I could give Steve a shot. I’d like him to kiss me like that.”
“But, don’t you think all these injections are a little weird?”
She shrugs. “Blame the ticks.”
“The ticks,” I say. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” she says, scratching her arm. “Look what you’re making me do now.” She shakes her head and elbows me in the side. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your car; you did drive here, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, did you?”
Her smile vanishes. “I used to, but my mom took away my car privileges. Taking the bus is my punishment, apparently.”
“I’ll give you a lift,” I say, holding open the classroom door. “It’s the least I can do. Where do you live?”
“Maple Avenue.”
I remember back to the street atlas I studied last night. “That’s just off the end of Main Street, isn’t it?”
Maz nods. “Not bad for a newbie.”
“Like I said, I have the same collection of history books as the school library.”
Maz frowns for a second and then smiles. “Oh, yeah.”
I laugh. “And it’s the next road on from where I live.”
Maz grins. “We’re neighbors.”
“Oh, Mr. Collins?” Miss Slayter saunters over to join us at the door. She poses like a model as she basks in the cooler air blowing in from the corridor. “Did you enjoy your first day?”
“It was eventful,” I say. “Did you?”
The corner of her mouth curls into a grin. “Yes, mine was eventful, too.” She puts her hand on the door and glares at Maz. “See you tomorrow, Mr. Collins.”
