Vampire Academy
Creep
Gerard’s P.O.V.
“Hypochondria, h-y-p-o-c-h-o-n-d-r-i-a, the excessive worry about one’s health.”
“Wow…very good, er, Gerald, is it?” Mrs. Leone commented, eyebrows raised.
“Gerard.” I muttered quietly as our English substitute fumbled through her papers to find the attendance sheet for the fourth time that day.
“Oh, oh, yes. Sorry. Jacob, your word is censure.” Jacob’s eyes grew wide. He thought for solid minute or two before attempting to answer.
“Er…Censure, s-e-n-s-u-r-e, er…any person who supervises the manners or morality of others?”
“I’m sorry Jacob; you spelled it wrong and gave the wrong definition. You may take your seat now.” Jacob, one of the only semi-intelligent kids in our class, shot me a frustrated glance before storming off to his seat. I was the only one standing now. I took a deep breath and just stood there in front of the entire class, unable to contain how much I wanted to go sit back down. “As you know, Gerald, you are the last person standing. If you get this right, you win our review game. If-” Review game bullshit. What the hell was this, junior high? “you don’t get it right, then Jacob will come back up here and you’ll both get another word.” She stood silent, nodding her head for me to go on. I cleared my throat as subtly as possible.
“Censure, c-e-n-s-u-r-e, to criticize severely; an expression of disapproval.” I said quietly, wincing slightly as the substitute, to my horror, broke out in applause.
“Well done, Gerald! I’m sure you’re going to do great on that test next week!” She said excitedly and smiled a wide toothy smile. I faked a smile back and hurried quickly to my seat at the back of the room, trying to dodge furious glares from the students that new they could never even make a B on Mrs. Willits’s test. I heard someone mumble “teacher’s pet”. That was followed by a girl whispering, “More like teachers bitch.” I ignored them, taking out my Catcher in the Rye book and practically shoving my nose in it.
“…okay, kids, we have about five minutes left before the bell rings and-” Mrs. Leone began to say, but was rudely interrupted by my little brother opening the door and coughing loudly. “May I help you?” Mikey was red and sweating, as far as I could tell. I cocked an eyebrow, but tried not to stare at him too much. I saw Dave and Matt wave at Mikey and then glance at each other in confusion when he didn’t wave back.
“They, uh, need to see Gerard…at the office…he needs to come down…and stuff” He said, his voice trailing off until it was barely audible. All of the kids shrugged and continued on with their business, as if they had been expecting something exciting to happen and were extremely disappointed. Mrs. Leone looked at me, nodded, and then continued what she was saying. I grabbed my books and my lunch bag and headed to the door.
“…if any of you don’t study you will more than likely fail…”
We were alone now. Just me and my brother. The walk down to the main office was silent. Both of us were avoiding each other’s gaze. I could honestly say it was almost awkward. But it was better off that way.
Then, for the first time, I wondered why exactly they wanted me at the front office. Maybe they wanted both of us? Maybe they’d found one of my Sandman comics, and wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to become criminally insane or something…while that was more likely it, this still didn’t feel right. Maybe they wanted both of us? Why else would they send my brother…
“Why do they want to see us?” I asked abruptly. Not really realizing that I was talking out loud.
“Dunno.” Mikey said quietly, staring at his shoes and walking on nearly the other side of the hall. I turned to give him a dirty look, but instead I stared at his face. It was the first time I’d seen him without glasses in a long time.
We walked down a flight of stairs, turned left, turned right, turned right, turned left again, and then finally reached the main office. I hated this school for being so large.
Mikey pushed open the small wooden door of the office, through the tiny square window of which I could see my parents. Fuck.
Mikey let the door go just as I was walking in. It was surprisingly heavy and slammed into me, nearly knocking my stuff out of my hands. I collected myself and growled under my breath. I turned and knocked the door open with my shoulder and then slammed my stuff on a brightly colored chair next to me.
I pushed my hair out of my face as I was greeted by mom and dad’s warm but worried smiles. My mom turned to sign some sheets as dad pulled two diploma type items out of his jacket pockets and handed them to me and my brother. The diploma was tied with a black ribbon and was fairly small. I cocked an eyebrow and began to untie it, only for my dad to tear my hand away. “Don’t open that until we get home.” My dad said firmly, avoiding eye contact with me and facing Mikey instead. “You two need to go get your backpacks and everything in your lockers and come back here.”
“But wh-” Mikey started.
“Just. Do. It.” And we were gone.
“Hypochondria, h-y-p-o-c-h-o-n-d-r-i-a, the excessive worry about one’s health.”
“Wow…very good, er, Gerald, is it?” Mrs. Leone commented, eyebrows raised.
“Gerard.” I muttered quietly as our English substitute fumbled through her papers to find the attendance sheet for the fourth time that day.
“Oh, oh, yes. Sorry. Jacob, your word is censure.” Jacob’s eyes grew wide. He thought for solid minute or two before attempting to answer.
“Er…Censure, s-e-n-s-u-r-e, er…any person who supervises the manners or morality of others?”
“I’m sorry Jacob; you spelled it wrong and gave the wrong definition. You may take your seat now.” Jacob, one of the only semi-intelligent kids in our class, shot me a frustrated glance before storming off to his seat. I was the only one standing now. I took a deep breath and just stood there in front of the entire class, unable to contain how much I wanted to go sit back down. “As you know, Gerald, you are the last person standing. If you get this right, you win our review game. If-” Review game bullshit. What the hell was this, junior high? “you don’t get it right, then Jacob will come back up here and you’ll both get another word.” She stood silent, nodding her head for me to go on. I cleared my throat as subtly as possible.
“Censure, c-e-n-s-u-r-e, to criticize severely; an expression of disapproval.” I said quietly, wincing slightly as the substitute, to my horror, broke out in applause.
“Well done, Gerald! I’m sure you’re going to do great on that test next week!” She said excitedly and smiled a wide toothy smile. I faked a smile back and hurried quickly to my seat at the back of the room, trying to dodge furious glares from the students that new they could never even make a B on Mrs. Willits’s test. I heard someone mumble “teacher’s pet”. That was followed by a girl whispering, “More like teachers bitch.” I ignored them, taking out my Catcher in the Rye book and practically shoving my nose in it.
“…okay, kids, we have about five minutes left before the bell rings and-” Mrs. Leone began to say, but was rudely interrupted by my little brother opening the door and coughing loudly. “May I help you?” Mikey was red and sweating, as far as I could tell. I cocked an eyebrow, but tried not to stare at him too much. I saw Dave and Matt wave at Mikey and then glance at each other in confusion when he didn’t wave back.
“They, uh, need to see Gerard…at the office…he needs to come down…and stuff” He said, his voice trailing off until it was barely audible. All of the kids shrugged and continued on with their business, as if they had been expecting something exciting to happen and were extremely disappointed. Mrs. Leone looked at me, nodded, and then continued what she was saying. I grabbed my books and my lunch bag and headed to the door.
“…if any of you don’t study you will more than likely fail…”
We were alone now. Just me and my brother. The walk down to the main office was silent. Both of us were avoiding each other’s gaze. I could honestly say it was almost awkward. But it was better off that way.
Then, for the first time, I wondered why exactly they wanted me at the front office. Maybe they wanted both of us? Maybe they’d found one of my Sandman comics, and wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to become criminally insane or something…while that was more likely it, this still didn’t feel right. Maybe they wanted both of us? Why else would they send my brother…
“Why do they want to see us?” I asked abruptly. Not really realizing that I was talking out loud.
“Dunno.” Mikey said quietly, staring at his shoes and walking on nearly the other side of the hall. I turned to give him a dirty look, but instead I stared at his face. It was the first time I’d seen him without glasses in a long time.
We walked down a flight of stairs, turned left, turned right, turned right, turned left again, and then finally reached the main office. I hated this school for being so large.
Mikey pushed open the small wooden door of the office, through the tiny square window of which I could see my parents. Fuck.
Mikey let the door go just as I was walking in. It was surprisingly heavy and slammed into me, nearly knocking my stuff out of my hands. I collected myself and growled under my breath. I turned and knocked the door open with my shoulder and then slammed my stuff on a brightly colored chair next to me.
I pushed my hair out of my face as I was greeted by mom and dad’s warm but worried smiles. My mom turned to sign some sheets as dad pulled two diploma type items out of his jacket pockets and handed them to me and my brother. The diploma was tied with a black ribbon and was fairly small. I cocked an eyebrow and began to untie it, only for my dad to tear my hand away. “Don’t open that until we get home.” My dad said firmly, avoiding eye contact with me and facing Mikey instead. “You two need to go get your backpacks and everything in your lockers and come back here.”
“But wh-” Mikey started.
“Just. Do. It.” And we were gone.