Status: On-going
Take My Life, I'll Hand It to You
Chapter 9
Rian showed me the way to the class and I stepped in awkwardly, hoping I’d know someone, anyone in the class. No such luck though. Well, I could see Travis and Cassadee at the back, but I knew better than to try and sit with them, so quickly sat at one of the small two person tables at the front of the room. Then I sat there worrying that I looked too eager right up until Pete practically glided into the room. How could someone who wore skinny jeans look so gracious? I’d never know. He scanned the class, counting heads and the scowled for a moment, until the door opened and in walked Jack, looking surprisingly sheepish. “Sorry Pete. I got held up. I really didn’t mean it.” Pete sighed. “Okay, just, take a seat next to Alex.” Jack looked horrified at the thought, before clambering to the seat mumbling about “Fucking Hayley and her fucking advances making me late.” I turned to look at him as Pete went to his desk. “Why are you friends with her but give the impression you hate her?” I couldn’t help it, it was torturing my mind. He looked taken aback, yet didn’t ask or tell me to keep my nose out. He seemed thoughtful for a moment, like he was choosing an answer carefully. Was he gonna lie to me? “Just, keep your nose out, you might find out something you don’t want to.” He mumbled and glared before looking me straight in the eye. I froze, captivated by that chocolate brown colour. Wait, what? I totally wasn’t captivated by them, I was… eh. Intrigued? They were deep, like he was hiding so much behind them and yet baring his soul in them at the same time. I turned away quickly. “Ooh. Cryptic messages.” I muttered back my voice bustling with sarcasm, before the sound of a heavy book slamming distracted me.
“Good Evening!” Pete greeted the class, then he stepped over and slid me a copy of ‘The Fledgling Handbook 101’ and headed back to the front of the class. He was everything a teacher needs to be really, he wasn’t strict but he didn’t have to be, he had complete control of the class. Everyone’s attention was on him, even if he didn’t make the class as interesting as he did, I think he’d still hold everyone’s attention for the fact everyone was scared his power. We were learning about ancient vampyre warriors known as ‘The Amazons.’ and I don’t think I’ve ever paid attention so much in class. Jack kept muttering under his breath next to me and he kept averting his eyes from the front, looking down at his lap. I could see him from the corner of my eye, but I was paying too much attention to what Pete was saying to become distracted by it. Once an hour was up I wanted to stay longer, like a little child who wants to stay awake to hear the whole of their bedtime story. Jack just snickered at my obvious desire to continue listening to Pete and was one of the first to exit the class room. Pete stopped me on the way out of the room and asked me if I was settling in okay, to which I nodded and glanced around, I was going to be late to next lesson. As if on cue, Pete piped up his “Right, you best get going, you don’t want to be late to drama.” When I left to room Jack and Hayley were talking in quiet voices by the door, having some kind of heated dispute. They both looked up at me as I left, the last the leave the room.
“Hi, Alex!” That sickly sweet voice, prominent in falseness. “Hello, Hayley.” I hoped I sounded as cold as I had done in my head. “I wanted to ask you about The Dark Daughters and Sons’ meeting…” “Oh, yeah, I’m going to that…” I smirked. She couldn’t even do a thing to un-invite me seeing as Pete had suggested it. “You know where the rec-hall is?” She asked me too nicely, her voice dripping with candied venom. “Yeah. Rian will show me.” I informed her, to prevent her attempting to give me the wrong directions. Jack was looking at the ground once again. He’d done nothing but act like a douche-bag to me, aside from the first time we’d met back in the infirmary and yet, I couldn’t help feel sorry for him. He had a secret that for some reason he felt he had to keep from the whole school and the fact he was stuck with Hayley was even worse for him. I bit my lip as a watched him staring at the floor and Hayley emitted a sound that was a lot like a hiss, before she snapped out a quick “Let’s go, Jack!” and pulled him away. What just happened? Did I some how piss her off even more? I couldn’t help but wonder.
My next two lessons flew by in a blur, I had double drama, to which I was late for, because I couldn’t find my way around for the life of me. I shared the class with Josh and Jonathan, Jack was also in our lesson but he kept well away. I could tell that it was going to be a fun lesson to do. The professor was so funny and an amazingly good actor, but like I said, I didn’t care too much for drama. I went to lunch with Josh and Jonathan and the others soon joined us at the table and I told the group about what happened with Hayley and then a question that had been playing on a loop since the end of Vampyre Sociology came back to mind. “How did Pete know I was going to take Drama? I only decided this morning!” Rian laughed at me. “The vamps know everything. Sometimes too much. Especially a High Priest like Pete.” I nodded, but inside I was filled with a flash of intense fear; what if he knew I was keeping my vision from him? The fear was more than that though, it was unsettling that people could know so much about me.
After lunch, English Lit also flew by quickly, I was actually good at English and so was Rian, who was in the class with me, along with Ryan and Brendon. There was just one incident where this kid called Dougie kept coughing and purposely interrupting the professor as she spoke. She gave him such a lecture I started to feel sorry for the poor kid. Spanish went by even more quickly. That left one more class. Equestrian Studies. AKA, Horse Studies. I didn’t know how I was going to feel about that class. I’d never even properly been near a horse before, let alone anything else. I trudged down to the stables alone as it appeared none of Rian’s friends or anyone from my previous class took the lesson. I quietly stood at the back of a small group of kids, glad that neither Jack or Hayley were in sight and soon a vamp appeared from one of the stalls in the stable. He had short spiky hair and a piercing through his lip, really not the kind of person you‘d expect to see as a teacher. His vampyre tattoo wouldn’t have been out of place in a Disney movie, something like Fantasia, with all it’s intricate swirls, curls, small stars and leaf-shapes. “Good evening, class. I’m Professor Flyzick, but you’re best off calling me Matt. Matt, another name that didn’t sound fit for a vampyre. And yet there he was, Matt the vampyre. “This is a horse.” He told us, making me feel quite patronised, just as a horse approached him. He didn’t have to lead it over or anything. “You‘ve all been specially selected for this class because we thought you might possibly have an aptitude for riding.” he told us. I didn’t dare ask him exactly who the ‘we’ were that chose me for this class, but I really thought they‘d chose the wrong person. “Horses aren’t just perfect little pets, they require work and dedication, patience and intelligence. We‘re starting with the work part.”
Basically he was trying to tell us that he wanted to muck out the stables, actually he left us and said he was going to return in ¾ of an hour to check on our work. Mucking out stables didn’t really sound like my idea of a lesson. I wanted to find whoever decided I had a so-called aptitude for this lesson and cut them. But of course violence is never the answer. I got to work shovelling shit into the wheelbarrow. Such a pretty picture, don’t you think? Yeah, I know, I should drop the sarcasm. I was thankful to have been given ‘mucking boots’ to wear while doing this though, I couldn’t imagine standing ankle deep in horse poo in my converse. I was filling the stall with sawdust by the time I heard someone enter the stall behind me. “Well done, Alex.” I jumped a little and turned to face Matt. “Did you mind cleaning out this stall?” “Not really, I didn’t really think about it.” “Good. I’d like you to meet Trace, our finest horse. It was his stall you just cleaned.” A dark horse was being lead back into the stall by Matt. I stroked him tentatively. “Hi, Trace.”
Matt let me stay after lesson to groom the horse I’d apparently be working with in this class. I’d never really been a horse person, but I didn’t want to say no to Matt when he‘d asked. I’d noticed it was practically impossible to say ‘no’ to any of the adult vamps. I was humming a tune under my breath and brushing Trace’s coat when I heard the stall open then whoever had entered gasped and took a step back. I glanced up and my eyes met Jack’s. Not really the person I’d wanted to see while in such a good mood, however his words surprised me. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be here…” I instantly wanted to know what Jack had been creeping around the horse stables for, my face must have shown that I was questioning his prior intentions, because he looked around the place before sighing and quietly saying. “Sometimes I like the chill with the horses, okay? They’re caring creatures and they don’t judge you for what you say…” His eyes were shining with honesty, but at the same time hostility as though daring me to tell another soul. It appeared that Jack had lots of secrets.
“Good Evening!” Pete greeted the class, then he stepped over and slid me a copy of ‘The Fledgling Handbook 101’ and headed back to the front of the class. He was everything a teacher needs to be really, he wasn’t strict but he didn’t have to be, he had complete control of the class. Everyone’s attention was on him, even if he didn’t make the class as interesting as he did, I think he’d still hold everyone’s attention for the fact everyone was scared his power. We were learning about ancient vampyre warriors known as ‘The Amazons.’ and I don’t think I’ve ever paid attention so much in class. Jack kept muttering under his breath next to me and he kept averting his eyes from the front, looking down at his lap. I could see him from the corner of my eye, but I was paying too much attention to what Pete was saying to become distracted by it. Once an hour was up I wanted to stay longer, like a little child who wants to stay awake to hear the whole of their bedtime story. Jack just snickered at my obvious desire to continue listening to Pete and was one of the first to exit the class room. Pete stopped me on the way out of the room and asked me if I was settling in okay, to which I nodded and glanced around, I was going to be late to next lesson. As if on cue, Pete piped up his “Right, you best get going, you don’t want to be late to drama.” When I left to room Jack and Hayley were talking in quiet voices by the door, having some kind of heated dispute. They both looked up at me as I left, the last the leave the room.
“Hi, Alex!” That sickly sweet voice, prominent in falseness. “Hello, Hayley.” I hoped I sounded as cold as I had done in my head. “I wanted to ask you about The Dark Daughters and Sons’ meeting…” “Oh, yeah, I’m going to that…” I smirked. She couldn’t even do a thing to un-invite me seeing as Pete had suggested it. “You know where the rec-hall is?” She asked me too nicely, her voice dripping with candied venom. “Yeah. Rian will show me.” I informed her, to prevent her attempting to give me the wrong directions. Jack was looking at the ground once again. He’d done nothing but act like a douche-bag to me, aside from the first time we’d met back in the infirmary and yet, I couldn’t help feel sorry for him. He had a secret that for some reason he felt he had to keep from the whole school and the fact he was stuck with Hayley was even worse for him. I bit my lip as a watched him staring at the floor and Hayley emitted a sound that was a lot like a hiss, before she snapped out a quick “Let’s go, Jack!” and pulled him away. What just happened? Did I some how piss her off even more? I couldn’t help but wonder.
My next two lessons flew by in a blur, I had double drama, to which I was late for, because I couldn’t find my way around for the life of me. I shared the class with Josh and Jonathan, Jack was also in our lesson but he kept well away. I could tell that it was going to be a fun lesson to do. The professor was so funny and an amazingly good actor, but like I said, I didn’t care too much for drama. I went to lunch with Josh and Jonathan and the others soon joined us at the table and I told the group about what happened with Hayley and then a question that had been playing on a loop since the end of Vampyre Sociology came back to mind. “How did Pete know I was going to take Drama? I only decided this morning!” Rian laughed at me. “The vamps know everything. Sometimes too much. Especially a High Priest like Pete.” I nodded, but inside I was filled with a flash of intense fear; what if he knew I was keeping my vision from him? The fear was more than that though, it was unsettling that people could know so much about me.
After lunch, English Lit also flew by quickly, I was actually good at English and so was Rian, who was in the class with me, along with Ryan and Brendon. There was just one incident where this kid called Dougie kept coughing and purposely interrupting the professor as she spoke. She gave him such a lecture I started to feel sorry for the poor kid. Spanish went by even more quickly. That left one more class. Equestrian Studies. AKA, Horse Studies. I didn’t know how I was going to feel about that class. I’d never even properly been near a horse before, let alone anything else. I trudged down to the stables alone as it appeared none of Rian’s friends or anyone from my previous class took the lesson. I quietly stood at the back of a small group of kids, glad that neither Jack or Hayley were in sight and soon a vamp appeared from one of the stalls in the stable. He had short spiky hair and a piercing through his lip, really not the kind of person you‘d expect to see as a teacher. His vampyre tattoo wouldn’t have been out of place in a Disney movie, something like Fantasia, with all it’s intricate swirls, curls, small stars and leaf-shapes. “Good evening, class. I’m Professor Flyzick, but you’re best off calling me Matt. Matt, another name that didn’t sound fit for a vampyre. And yet there he was, Matt the vampyre. “This is a horse.” He told us, making me feel quite patronised, just as a horse approached him. He didn’t have to lead it over or anything. “You‘ve all been specially selected for this class because we thought you might possibly have an aptitude for riding.” he told us. I didn’t dare ask him exactly who the ‘we’ were that chose me for this class, but I really thought they‘d chose the wrong person. “Horses aren’t just perfect little pets, they require work and dedication, patience and intelligence. We‘re starting with the work part.”
Basically he was trying to tell us that he wanted to muck out the stables, actually he left us and said he was going to return in ¾ of an hour to check on our work. Mucking out stables didn’t really sound like my idea of a lesson. I wanted to find whoever decided I had a so-called aptitude for this lesson and cut them. But of course violence is never the answer. I got to work shovelling shit into the wheelbarrow. Such a pretty picture, don’t you think? Yeah, I know, I should drop the sarcasm. I was thankful to have been given ‘mucking boots’ to wear while doing this though, I couldn’t imagine standing ankle deep in horse poo in my converse. I was filling the stall with sawdust by the time I heard someone enter the stall behind me. “Well done, Alex.” I jumped a little and turned to face Matt. “Did you mind cleaning out this stall?” “Not really, I didn’t really think about it.” “Good. I’d like you to meet Trace, our finest horse. It was his stall you just cleaned.” A dark horse was being lead back into the stall by Matt. I stroked him tentatively. “Hi, Trace.”
Matt let me stay after lesson to groom the horse I’d apparently be working with in this class. I’d never really been a horse person, but I didn’t want to say no to Matt when he‘d asked. I’d noticed it was practically impossible to say ‘no’ to any of the adult vamps. I was humming a tune under my breath and brushing Trace’s coat when I heard the stall open then whoever had entered gasped and took a step back. I glanced up and my eyes met Jack’s. Not really the person I’d wanted to see while in such a good mood, however his words surprised me. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be here…” I instantly wanted to know what Jack had been creeping around the horse stables for, my face must have shown that I was questioning his prior intentions, because he looked around the place before sighing and quietly saying. “Sometimes I like the chill with the horses, okay? They’re caring creatures and they don’t judge you for what you say…” His eyes were shining with honesty, but at the same time hostility as though daring me to tell another soul. It appeared that Jack had lots of secrets.