Dr. Amory Saint, a man in his late fifties; his dark, almost black hair complemented his even darker eyes. He was handsome, or maybe more distinguished than handsome; but either way he seemed to be a man that got things done. He actually resembled one of the bad guys in a James Bond movie.
“Please sit down, Ms. Matthews,” He pointed to one of two, elegant leather, sitting chairs opposite his large, mahogany desk. Again, I did as I was told.
“Welcome, Eden. May I call you Eden?” I nodded my head, afraid to make a sound. I never felt more intimidated and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the thousands of books lining every available wall space and cluttering the gigantic, opposing desk, or if it was because I knew this man held my fate in his hands.
“I hope you are making yourself at home in our humble school,” he looked to me again, and I nodded, although I would have called Kingsley anything but humble. “That’s good…. I wanted to check in with you, just to see how you are adjusting,” Here he looked to me and paused; I could tell he was waiting for a verbal response.
“Um, yes, I’m adjusting, um, just fine. Thank you,” I stammered.
“That’s good.” he repeated. “And everything is to your liking?” again he waited for me to respond.
“Yes, everything is just fine,” I managed a small smile, hoping that maybe if this wasn’t a meeting to expel me, then I could go.
“So nothing strange has happened to you today? Nothing out of the ordinary?” his face remained perfectly calm, but I began to panic.
“What do you mean?” I asked in a barely audible voice.
“I apologize if I’ve confused you. I just want to make sure everything is going smoothly on your first day here. It is my job to make sure every student feels well-adjusted,” he smiled calmly, waiting again for my response. Was this some kind of test?
“Everything’s fine,” I blurted out. “If you mean the plant, I mean what happened in the hallway; Mrs. Truance said that it was just a prank. I didn’t do it. It wasn’t my fault. I don’t know what came over me this morning, I didn’t mean to faint. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. I guess I was nervous and….” he cut me off with a shake of his hand.
“Calm down, please. I didn’t mean to upset you, I was simply inquiring about your first impressions of Kingsley. You may go now,” he motioned towards the door and I got up quickly to leave. With my hand on the doorknob, he stopped me again. “Oh, Eden, one more thing, please don’t hesitate to speak with me if something is on your mind.”
Dr. Saint’s last comment caught me off guard and I hurried through the door, feeling very uncomfortable. I felt the anxiety growing inside of me, along with the electrical pulses. I was so concentrated on his last words that I was not paying attention to where I was going and ran face-first into the chest of none other than Kiran.
I looked up to apologize, but something happened when our entire bodies met. Quicker than I realized, the electrical pulses seized my whole body causing stronger and more painful sensations than anything I had experienced before. As a gut reaction I forced them out of myself just like I did before, only this time, their target was not a potted plant, but Kiran.
Kiran suddenly flew through the air and across the hallway. The strong impulses that exited my hands hit poor Kiran directly in the chest. He landed fifteen feet away on his back looking up at me. I stood there shocked, completely unharmed. At least he didn’t explode.
“What the hell was that for?” he demanded, scrambling to his feet and rushing over to confront me.
“I, um, I have no idea. Um, I am really sorry,” I was mortified; there was no way, I could ever explain that to him.
“How dare you!” he yelled at me. I hung my head, not having a clue how I could make any logical excuse for my behavior.
“Mr. Kendrick, please come into my office,” Dr. Saint, standing in his doorway, remained calm.
“Did you see what just happened?” Kiran shouted incredulously.
“What I saw, was an accidental collision. Ms. Matthews meant no harm, nor did she do it maliciously. In fact, I already heard her apologize to you. Now, please, come in to my office.” We both stood there, staring at Principal Saint. “If you please, Mr. Kendrick,” he asked again with less patience. Dr. Saint opened his arm wide, directing Kiran beyond his office door.
Shaking his head, Kiran walked by me, and as I made my way back down the hallway towards the staircase, I heard Kiran shout, “Who is she, Amory?” before Dr. Saint closed the door behind him.
Chapter Seven
Knowing at any moment he could demand the explanation I could not give him, I survived the rest of the day hiding from Kiran. To my surprise, he appeared to avoid me as well.
All of my extra “energy” was gone for right now, and I was able to relax. Because of Kingsley’s full, eight-period day, the afternoon dragged on. Lilly and I sat together in most of our remaining classes. Thankfully, our other classmates preferred to ignore us.
I understood why they wanted to avoid me; I was fully aware that I was a total freak. But I didn’t understand why Lilly had no other friends. She was drop-dead gorgeous and completely sweet, yet all of the other girls in the class acted as if she didn’t even exist. Only the teachers talked to her and even they seemed to do it out of necessity. The exception was Talbott, who found any excuse necessary to say something to her. Maybe the other girls were just jealous.
All of my teachers, demanding and irritable without exception, appeared to hate their profession in some unexplainable way. They showed favoritism to a select group of students; but no surprise, it happened to be the Seraphina-Kiran crowd. Oh well, I’d never been much of an honor student.
The students were the real enigma. They gravitated around Seraphina as if she were the sun. Even her supposed friends, Evangeline and Adelaide reverently worshiped her. So, it shouldn’t have been surprising to me that Kiran and Talbott were victims to her gravitational pull. It was disgusting really.
The constant flipping of her long, blinding-blonde hair and the incessant giggling were enough to make me want to burn down this school as well. If it weren’t for Lilly, I would have never made it through the day.
It was as though we were made to be friends, and similarly made to be outcasts. I wondered what she did before I came; and then I realized probably the same thing I did at all of my other schools: sit alone, stand alone, and eat alone.
Lilly could have been my exact opposite. She didn’t have to fill in the silence with needless conversation, like I did, but didn’t seem annoyed if I babbled on and on either. I lashed out at anyone who gave me a dirty look, but even though other kids bothered her, Lilly’s sweet demeanor remained unaffected.
Lilly and I said goodbye to each other after our last class, chemistry. She promised to save me a seat in homeroom tomorrow morning. With something now to look forward to, I watched her climb into an elegant, black SUV and drive away. She seemed much too small for the oversized monster truck she was driving and I imagined her barely able to see over the steering wheel.
Looking around the student parking lot, I realized that everyone drove an elegant, black something or other. All of the cars exhibited class and style; all of the students driving them were obviously born to privilege. The extraordinary colors the students exuded bore a stark contrast to the dark, glossy veneers of their automobiles.
I wondered if a black car was part of the dress code as Aunt Syl drove up in her cherry red convertible. I smiled widely, happy not to fit in, and jumped in the passenger’s seat. As we drove away, I felt slightly embarrassed for being picked up from school, but relieved that we were leaving the looming towers of Kingsley behind us for now.
“How was your day?” Aunt Syl asked, glancing at me from behind her oversized sunglasses. Her shoulder-length hair whipped around her face in the wind, but she barely noticed.