Page 19 of Echoes of Us

Grace still has her arm looped in mine and hasn’t shut up since we started walking. She is going on and on about what the different Halls are and how advanced their curriculum is. Normally, I wouldn’t let someone I don’t know keep touching me; but after seeing how annoyed princess was, I figured I could deal with it.

We turn down another hall and through two large wooden doors. The walls in this hallway are lined with old, extravagant paintings of various cities, people, and landscapes. As we walk down the hall, she explains that the Language and Humanities Hall is where all language, art history, cultural studies, philosophy, and religion classes are held. She boasts that all of the paintings in this hall were hand-selected by a world-renowned curator from Italy.

“Religion classes?” I ask.

“Yeah... Everyone takes a religion class one semester a year. It takes the place of your elective that semester,” she replies.

Grace stops and removes her arm from mine. “Here is the Latin classroom. I will be out here to take you to your next class…”, she looks down at the schedule and huffs, “… AP Physics C.” She looks up at me and asks, “How smart are you? This schedule is literally impossible to do all at once without drowning in homework.”

I look at her and scowl. “Is it so hard to believe someone like me can be intelligent?”

“That isn’t what I meant, so don’t get defensive. I am genuinely impressed this is your schedule. I wouldn’t have the balls to do all of these at once,” she admits.

“Okay, well thanks for babysitting,” I say and walk past her into class.

How is the classroom just as ridiculous as the school? The desks are white with dark blue chairs. Each desk has a charging dock for laptops and a basket on the back of the chair for books. In the front of the room, there is a large screen that mirrors the teacher’s monitor. I sit in an empty seat in the back as students pile into the room. A girl leans over and mutters, “First of all, that is my boyfriend’s seat, and second, did you take that uniform out of the trash? It is disgusting.” She mutters.

I roll my eyes and grab my stuff to move. The only seat available is in the front left of the room, closest to the teacher’s desk. I walk up and take the seat, throwing my books onto the floor. The teacher looks up from his desk and frowns at the disruption. He is a thin man with salt-and-pepper hair. He is wearing a sports coat with a sweater vest and button-down underneath. His big, round glasses are sitting on the tip of his nose as he looks down at his papers. The nameplate on his desk reads ‘Travis Blake, PhD.’ Is everyone who works here a dorky old guy?

Dr. Blake stands up as the bell rings and starts teaching right away. I have no clue where we are in the book or what he’s talking about. Whatever. I don’t care. I zone out, staring out the window and thinking about how to get back at Emmaline for stopping me from sneaking out last night.

Why is it so quiet? I face the front to see Dr. Blake frowning, staring directly at me. “I understand you are a new student from another…school, but I assume they taught you that it is rude to ignore someone’s lesson?”

I don’t reply.

He goes on, “I see. Well, let’s see if you can keep up with our institution’s curriculum. I foresee you being knocked out of the AP course with your inability to speak. Pop quiz, everyone!” The entire class begins to groan, scowling at me.

Dr. Blake goes to his computer and pulls up a blank Word document that displays on the large screen. He begins to number and type out many phrases and words on the document. “Go ahead and begin to translate the first half of the quiz into English, then you will translate the second half into Latin. Once you are done, read chapter fourteen in your books until the bell rings. Leave the quiz on my desk as you exit.”

Forty-five minutes pass and the bell rings. I wait for everyone to file out before I go up to Dr. Blake’s desk. I slap the quiz on his desk, startling him. He meets my eyes, fire rising in his.

“I am sick of everyone here thinking I am an idiot because of the school I attended or the neighborhood I grew up in.” I say through gritted teeth.

He looks up at me. “With how you act, Ms. Parker, can you blame anyone for making this assumption? It is clear you were mistakenly assigned to this class. I’ll be sure to place you in the correct one before tomorrow.”

“You can shove your quiz and your opinion up your ass.” I turn to grab my stuff and leave, feeling his glare as I walk away.

I guess that is one way to get kicked out of this school.

Chapter 20

Emmaline

This has been the longest day ever. I haven’t stopped thinking about Grace taking that girl by the arm, like she is about to become her new best friend. I don’t put it past her to make that happen. I did not hide my face very well and Grace has little minions everywhere, so she definitely knows it bugged me. I really don’t care if that girl is friends with someone or who she hangs out with, unless it is Grace Hoffman. I can’t have my… enemy? Nemesis? I don’t know what to call her… be friends with a girl that lives in the room attached to mine.

AP Government is one of my favorite classes, but today it drags on. Mrs. Campbell starts the class by separating us into three groups: the executive, legislative, and judicial branch. Normally, I would be all in on a group lesson, but today everyone is annoying me, so I just keep quiet. I didn’t get a good look at Teagan’s schedule, but Grace mentioned she was in a lot of AP classes. I only have two more AP classes left, so there is a chance she is in one of them. How horrible would that be? The bell rings and I stand to leave when an even worse realization hits me. I was thinking so much about whether that girl is in one of my next classes that I didn’t realize what class is next: Calculus.

I exit the class when Mills stops me at the door. “Hey bestie!”

Shit. I still I need to tell her not to do whatever she has planned for that girl. Mental note: I really should start calling her by her name or I will accidentally say ‘that girl’ in front of my parents. I start to tell Mills to call off the prank when, again, we are interrupted by Gabe. “Ladiesssss. Who is ready for some calc today? Joseph said Mr. Roberts is in a baaaaad mood today!”

Great. I really wanted to put effort into class today and see if he would change his mind about helping me. “That is the last thing I need today, an angry Mr. Roberts making my already shitty time in calculus shittier.” I say to both of them.

As we begin to walk toward the Mathematics Hall, Mills begins rambling about Grace and that gir…Teagan. “…and don’t worry, Em, I have everything set for trash panda today.”

“Mills. About the prank you...” I pause as I turn the corner and see Teagan. She is walking out of the Calculus classroom with Mr. Roberts, who is smiling and patting her on the back. “Ms. Parker it is such a pleasure to meet a student who has a deep understanding of mathematical concepts. You are a breath of fresh air!” She smirks and nods her head as she walks away to meet Grace in the hall.

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me. That girl not only is in AP Calculus, but she got Mr. Roberts, the meanest teacher in school, to smile at her. I can’t even pass regular calculus or get him to talk to me for more than five minutes and I have been at this school since kindergarten. This is absolute bullshit.

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