Night School

Lessons

Delilah quickly shuffled from the class as soon as the bell rang, trying to avoid Nicholas. He seemed too unstable to be around with his anger; his explosion at the other boy was moderately understandable but extreme in her opinion. She thought Jonathan would help her find her next class, but when she approached him he marched off without looking back. She wondered if he blamed her for Nicholas' outburst. It was the only explanation she could think of for why he gave her the cold shoulder just then. One of the girls she had been talking to in class, a brown-haired girl with a freckled face and dark eyes smiled at her. "Don't mind him, he's just upset. What class do you have now?" she asked in an almost over-friendly tone.

"English with Mr Moreau," Delilah answered. The girl, Jennifer, scrunched up her face dramatically.

"Good luck. Go left here and it's the first door on the third right hall," Jennifer directed before she gracefully turned and walked away. Wondering why Jennifer had wished her luck with Mr Moreau, Delilah followed the instructions and came to a classroom where the students were already filing in. Delilah saw Eva walk into the class, and though she was needlessly cruel to her, Delilah decided she would sit with her, if only because she was the only familiar face.

The two girls sat in one of the back corners of the room, and Delilah couldn't help but notice a few other students looking at her expectantly and motioning towards empty chairs beside them. One student looked at Delilah with a strange and unreadable expression on his face. He made to join the pair but was stopped by Eva's glowering stare and a sharp shake of her head. Delilah wondered why everyone seemed so friendly and welcoming to her except her roommates. Delilah wished she had sat with one of the other students.

Eva didn't speak to Delilah, leaving the girl to wonder why she had allowed her to sit with her in the first place. Mr Moreau walked into class and almost instantly grimaced and looked as though he could smell something foul. He looked around and his eyes held over Delilah for a lingering moment. "Ah, our new student. I expect you are somewhat familiar with Shakespeare's works? We are currently studying Hamlet. I will provide you with handouts I have handed out yesterday on the subject. I expect you to start reading Hamlet, then the handouts. For further detail you will speak to one of the other students."

Delilah wondered if being landed with homework as soon as she stepped into class was a step up or down from get-to-know-you activities. At the moment it felt like a step down. Still, it was interesting to see how invested Mr Moreau was with Shakespeare. He frequently stopped the lesson to tell stories Delilah had never heard about the poet, speaking about him as though he was an old friend. No one seemed to pay attention to these tales which left Delilah wondering if these were things he spoke about often.

Roughly half way through the class one student abruptly rose from his chair, kicking his seat behind him. He swiftly fled the room with an almost tortured look on his face, but Mr Moreau didn't seem to care. He just gave the student a quick nod and returned to teaching. Another student followed him with a matching expression, and Delilah wondered what in the world was going on. No one else even looked up from their work.

It was a relief when the bell for lunch pealed. Delilah put her book away and looked up to see some of the class was already out of sight. She wondered how hungry they had to have been to escape class so quickly. Mr Moreau glowered out the door in obvious displeasure. Delilah followed Eva out of class and together they walked briskly towards the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was mostly empty, and most of the people who were inside sat without any food in front of them. Nicholas was already seated in the corner of the room, and Delilah wondered if she should join him or try and sit at someone else's table. Any conversation in the room quieted down as they glanced over at Delilah as they noticed her. She eventually followed Eva towards him without realizing it. She figured it would be best to try and get along with them as she was living in their dorm, despite how hard that would probably be.

Delilah sat opposite Nicholas while Eva sat beside him, and she felt a bit like she was in a job interview. "Well you've certainly drawn attention," Nicholas said dryly.

"Yeah, looks like it. Any idea why?" Delilah asked. It was uncomfortable with how everyone had looked over at her, but it seemed now they were actively avoiding her gaze.

"Well your did new friend cause quite a stir." This just confused her further.

"Jonathan? I thought you caused the stir," she responded half-jokingly.

Nicholas made a strange noise and she thought she saw his lips upturn. "I merely retaliated in defence of my honour."

"I guess you forgot about wit and went straight to hulking out, huh?" Delilah teased, wondering why she suddenly felt so comfortable. He seemed less intense for the moment, and she supposed her fright before had faded away.

Nicholas scoffed and her ease with him was gone as was his unusual demeanour. "Jonathan? Wit? I'm capable of more intelligent conversation in my sleep than he every will be."

Delilah dropped her gaze. "I-I only meant -" she couldn't believe she had forgotten what he was like.

Eva sighed. "She's accusing you of not using your wit to shut him down and going straight to anger, which is really not surprising. No one is stupid enough to accuse Jonathan of having wit."

Nicholas rolled his eyes. "I'm aware I'm not being accused of anything, I was pointing out facts about our dear friend Jonathan."

"Then you ought to have been more clear on the fact. Little Delilah looked oh so very confused." Delilah wondered if Eva was trying to defend her, insult her, or insult Nicholas. It was probably a mix of the latter two.

"I'm sure she'll live," he said whilst looking around at the rest of the cafeteria. Though no one was looking at them Nicholas scowled. Delilah looked around as well. A few more people had come in, but the few that had food didn't seem to be touching it. Delilah's stomach growlled.

"What's the food here like?" Delilah asked, noticing Nicholas didn't have anything either. They must serve pretty nasty food here.

"You can't get above rare." Eva laughed heartily at Nicholas' joke, but Delilah was lost.

Delilah, unsure of what to say, just stood. "I think I'm going to go get whatever they're serving." She didn't wait for a response, just left and got a plate at the small kitchen. They were serving pie and potato, and when she took it back to the table she nervously took a bite. It was not super delicious, but it wasn't awful, so she looked back around and saw everyone's plates were still untouched. "Why is no one eating?"

"Most just keep food in their fridges and just come here to talk to everyone," Nicholas answered. Delilah nodded.

"I guess that's understandable. I prefer to eat and talk, though."

"So long as there is more eating and less talking," Eva stated, looking bored and unamused.

Nicholas said nothing as he pulled his jumper up to reveal a frayed and ancient looking watch. He looked at the time and seemed surprised, but then held it up to his ear and sighed, quietly saying to himself. "Blasted thing."

"You really should consider getting a new one. When was the last time that thing worked?" Eva questioned.

Nicholas gave up and sighed. "Quite a while."

"There's no place in the city you can take to get it repaired?" Delilah asked. Surely he would have taken it one weekend or on the holidays to get fixed.

"The city is too dangerous for us to wander around in." Eva nodded her head in agreement.

Delilah hadn't considered that. "What kind of danger is there?" she asked, hoping there wasn't a lot of murder at least.

"The boogeyman. What do you think?" Eva responded sarcastically.

"We don't mix well with the locals so for our protection we all stay inside the school walls." Eva looked amused, but did not laugh this time. Delilah wondered if her mother even cared about her daughter's safety.

"Fair enough. Oh, what class do you both have next? I've got history with Miss Brookes."

"I have the same and we should probably head off soon."

Delilah nodded and rose from her seat. "Lets go, then," she said, following Nicholas from the room. "What are we learning about?"

"Have you ever heard of the woman who would drink and bathe in virgin's blood? I think she lived in Romania."

"Elizabeth Bathory? Hasn't everyone?"

"Yeah, we're studying her."

"Morbid," Delilah laughed. "Are we learning about serial killers next?"

"Only those from history."

"This is without a doubt the weirdest school I've been to." Delilah's old teachers used to skip over the more gruesome details, but it seemed here they were diving right into it all. Next the would probably be learning about Ed Gein or Albert Fish. There was nothing ordinary about this school, Delilah realized. Nothing at all.

Nicholas opened the door to the classroom, letting her walk in first. "You have no idea."