Lucifer's Angel

I ducked behind my best friend as my science teacher’s eyes moved over the class filled with 17 and 18 years olds. I knew the answer to the question, of course, but I avoided being called on like it was the plague.

Before Mr. Ridgemen called on someone to answer, the bell for lunch rang and I shot out of that stuffy classroom like a bat outta hell. I stopped quickly at my faded blue locker and threw the heavy, useless, gold science book in and slammed it shut. When the door closed, it revealed Riley standing there with a grin on his face.

‘’You really hate that class, don’t you,’’ he asked, shaking brownish blonde hair away from his face.

‘’Don’t you,’’ I asked as we walked.

‘’Mr. Ridgemen has hated me ever since I aced that test that he’d meant for everyone to fail. He’s still convinced I cheated some how and the fact that he knows my foster parents makes it even worse,’’ I continued, annoyed as we walked down the hall. Riley just laughed, shaking his head.

‘’It just sucks to be you, doesn't it Miss Ali Smith,’’ he replied with a grin. I punched him in the arm, but my hand retreated when it came into contact with the muscle. The hit hurt my hand more than it did his arm. Not only was Riley on the football team, but he was also loved archery and played drums. Riley was strong enough to pick me up and throw me a good few feet, if he wanted, all one-hundred and thirty two pounds of me. That thought alone was the soul reminder I had to be sure I never pissed him off.

‘’Why don’t you go on to lunch, Riley, I’m gonna go talk to Mr. Myung,’’ I replied as we neared my favorite teachers room.

‘’Yeah, you don’t even have to tell me. You always go to Mr. Myung’s room for lunch,’’ Riley laughed. What he said was the truth. World History was my favorite subject and Mr. Myung was my favorite teacher. I usually would skip lunch and go talk to him because he was way more interesting than pretty much everyone my age. I helped him grade papers, make different assignments, rearrange things from time to time, and on some days, when the two of us were too lazy to do any of that, we’d talk about everything the many mysterious things surrounding ancient history, to science theories, to religion, to the latest football or basketball game. Whether or not we talked about sports depended on the time of year. As well as talking, Mr. Myung had also decided to teach me Korean and Japanese after he discovered my liking for both languages. Regardless of what it was, if any information was passed on from Mr. Myung, I absorbed it like a sponge.

I smiled to myself as I walked through the door to Mr. Myung’s room. That smile fell though, when I saw him talking to two other people. The room fell silent as I appeared and I turned to Mr. Myung, smiling slightly, hoping I hadn’t interrupted something. It seemed as though I had. The two strangers turned to look at me and I realized immediately that both of them were soldiers. One was male, with black, slightly shaggy hair, and the other was a woman with a pretty face and jet black hair that was pulled back into a bun. I looked to the collar of their uniform jackets on the left side to see if I could figure out their ranks. I recognized the man’s as a Lieutenant Colonel, and the woman’s, I wasn’t so sure. I could tell though, by the gold aiguillette that adorned her left shoulder that she was an officer like the man next to her.

‘’Oh, hello, Ali, aren’t you going to lunch,’’ Mr. Myung asked, moving from his desk where he’d been sitting.

‘’You know I never go to lunch, Mr. Myung,’’ I said, sitting on the edge of a nearby table.

‘’Allison, this is Colonel Roy Michaels and Lieutenant Maria Barrett. Roy, Maria, this Allison Smith, she’s one of my students,’’ Mr. Myung i3ntroduced, faint reluctance in his voice. He’d tried to hide it and had done an excellent job, but I’d still noticed it. What I wanted to know was why it was there in the first place.

‘’It’s nice to meet you both,’’ I replied politely. The Lieutenant smiled, but the Colonel’s face remained straight, almost bored.

‘’Allison, you really should go get some lunch, they’re having pizza today, you know,’’ Mr. Myung spoke out in the silence that had started to fall. I could tell he wanted me to leave. He had a polite, extremely subtle way for asking certain things that only I seemed to pick up on.

‘’Alright, Mr. Myung, I guess I’ll go grab something to eat, I am a little hungry. Arigatō, Mr. Myung,’’ I replied with a small smile, moving towards the door. Mr. Myung smiled and nodded me off.

I left the room after that and made my way down the hall. I watched the floor beyond me as I walked; wondering why on earth two officers from the military would be visiting Mr. Myung. It was obviously meant to be somewhat formal, because they were both still in their uniforms. If Mr. Myung was friends with them, then they would’ve visited him when they were off duty, and it was obvious that they still were.

The floor tiles were a boring white color with grey and blue specs placed randomly. In turn, of course, they had no luck keeping my attention and thus my curiosity ran amuck. I stopped for a moment, understanding the faint apologetic look that had been in his eyes. He knew that my mind was going to get worked up over this and was sorry for it. I smiled to myself with a barely there laugh. Realizing that I was losing time to hang out with Riley and other friends, I quickened my pace and turned the corner. As I did, I nearly walked right into Mr. Ridgeman.

‘’Oh, hello Allison,’’ he said with a smirk.

‘’Hi,’’ I said flatly.

‘’It’s rare to see you down here,’’ he continued.

‘’Yeah, I know, I usually go to Mr. Myung’s room,’’ I explained.

‘’Mr. Myung?” he asked. I nodded.

‘’He’s one of the world history teachers on the 3rd floor, so you probably don’t know him. I usually help him teach other classes when I have nothing to do in my own.’’

‘’Ah, that explains it. You certainly are a bright young girl. You remind me much of my son when he was your age,’’ he replied.

‘’Anyways,’’ he continued.

‘’I’m going to go and let you eat lunch. Have a nice day, Allison.’’ He finished speaking and without another word, he walked away. I turned and quickly made my way into the lunchroom to find Riley.