Page 23 of Akarnae

“Sorry, sir,” she mumbled.

“No matter,” he said, waving her apology aside. “And none of that ‘sir’ business. Call me Fletcher.”

She nodded and waited for him to continue.

“Memory loss is common after a dillyberry overdose,” Fletcher told her. “I’ve treated you with some medication to dissolve the excess sugar in your bloodstream, and your nap should’ve taken care of the rest. As to how you ended up here, you’ll have to ask your friends.”

Yeah, there was no way she was going to do that. She would be keeping what little self-respect she had left by repressing the entire episode.

“You should be fine to head off to class now,” Fletcher added. “We’re halfway through third period. Plenty of time for you to catch up.”

“Thanks so much for your help, Fletcher,” she said, jumping off the bed. “And sorry for the, um, marriage proposal. I don’t suppose we can forget that happened?”

“Consider it eliminated from my memory, Alex,” he said with a warm smile as he escorted her out of the Ward. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon.” At her confused expression, he sent her a wink and explained, “Your friends mentioned that you’re in Epsilon Combat.”

Alex groaned. Just how bad was that class going to be?

She decided not to respond to his statement and instead pulled out her timetable to find that she was meant to be in Medical Science, her only age-based class that day. “Fletcher, any chance you can tell me how to find Laboratory Three?”

Following his directions, Alex headed up two flights of stairs and down a long corridor before she reached the solid door labelled ‘Lab. 3’. She hesitated outside, wondering whether she should knock before entering. But the decision was taken out of her hands when the door sprang open.

“Are you going to stand there all day, Miss Jennings?”

Startled, Alex quickly entered the classroom. She was surprised to discover that—for some inexplicable reason—the door was completely transparent from the inside, like a one-way window.

“Are you done with interrupting my class?”

Alex turned away from the see-through door and searched for the owner of the sharp voice. It took her a moment to move her gaze past the curious glances from her classmates—and the amused looks from Jordan and Bear—but when she found the short woman close to the front of the room, Alex had to clamp down on a burst of laughter. It looked like a washing machine had thrown up a rainbow and plastered it all over the woman’s lab coat.

Alex blinked a few times in the hope that it would help fade the sight—which it didn’t—and then she hesitantly stepped forward. “I’m—”

“I’m well aware of who you are, Miss Jennings,” the woman interrupted, levelling her strict gaze on Alex. “I’m Professor Luranda, head of Medical Science, and tardiness is not acceptable in my class.”

“I didn’t—”

“Fortunately for you, your friends explained your absence,” the professor interrupted again. “Since it’s your first day, I’ll be lenient. In the future, arrive on time or face the consequences.”

That was hardly fair. It wasn’t as if Alex had deliberately planned to end up in the Medical Ward. But she would have to let her indignation go, since the professor appeared to be waiting for a response. “Uh, sure thing, ma’am.”

“Professor.”

Alex jerked. “Pardon me?”

“The correct response is, ‘Sure thing,Professor’. Lack of respect is something else I will not tolerate in my class, Miss Jennings.”

Alex nodded, not wanting to further aggravate the short, crazy-coated woman.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Professor Luranda said. “Go and find a seat so I can continue my lesson.”

Unfortunately, the only spare seat was next to the red-headed glaring girl from Alex’s Archery class.

Alex waited until the professor disappeared into the storeroom before she turned to quietly introduce herself. Sure, the entire class already knew who she was thanks to her late entrance, but she hoped striking up a polite conversation with her moody desk partner would ease some of the weird tension between them. “Hey, I’m—”

“I don’t care,” the girl interrupted, not even looking up from her textbook.

Alex’s eyes widened. Talk about rude. But even so, she tried again, “I’m—”

“I still don’t care.”

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