“You know, if you actually programmed your alarm clock earlier, you wouldn’t always be running late,” Nia said, calmly reviewing her English class notes. “It would also help if you didn’t hit the snooze button a thousand times.”
“Who asked you?” I grumbled. “I made it.”
“Only because I asked the driver to wait,” Nia said in a super annoying singsong voice. “I’m always saving your butt.”
“I’m ignoring you now,” I snapped. “Just...read your notes.”
Nia chuckled but left me alone for the rest of the trip.
Mrs. Temely’s class couldn’t come soon enough. I was curious to see how she acted now that she was out in the open as a Turgorian spy for the Council. It wasn’t like she could kill me in broad daylight, and I couldn’t skip school without them alerting Grandma. And if my grandmother found out, I’d have to do some fast talking to explain how I knew that Mrs. Temely was out to get me. It was a no win situation.
I walked in and nodded at my group before sitting at my desk. Everyone filed in and got settled, but Mrs. Temely still hadn’t shown up.
We sat patiently for five minutes until Principal Seaver walked in. He was a round man with rosy cheeks and a bad toupee. He peered at us over his glasses. “Hello, class.”
“Hello, Principal Seaver,” we all responded dutifully.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, but there’s been a change to this class,” he said. A young woman walked in wearing a blue dress with white lapels and tan loafers. Her brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun. The woman gave a friendly wave.
Principal Seaver turned back to us. “Mrs. Temely is ill and will be out on medical leave indefinitely.” He waited for us to react, but we all just stared at him. It wasn’t like Mrs. Temely was a beloved staff member. In general, all of the kids in all grades hated her.
Finding that none of her students cared, Principal Seaver adjusted his glasses and continued. “Ahem. Well, this is Ms. Johnson. She will be teaching in Mrs. Temely’s place for the foreseeable future. Please give her a Riverwoods High welcome and show her how talented our students can be.” He looked around the room. “I expect you all will be on your best behavior. Right?”
“Yes, Principal Seaver.” came our monotone response. He glared at us for a few more moments before sweetly smiling at Ms. Johnson and walking out.
Ms. Johnson clapped her hands. “So! I read over Mrs. Temely’s notes and it seems like there should be a project presentations today.”
She looked around expectantly but no one raised their hands. She laughed. “OK, I guess I’ll just call on the group...let’s see here. Oh! Abby, Nathan, Jacob, and Kathleen.” I groaned but walked with my group to the front of the class.
Ms. Johnson gave me a dimpled smile. “Kathleen, do you prefer your full name or do you have a nickname?”
The question caught me off-guard. “Uh, people usually just call me ‘Kay.’”
“Excellent. ‘Kay’ it is.” She clapped her hands again. “Dazzle us, team!”
Jacob rolled his eyes but began. Our presentation lasted fifteen minutes and went very well. We gave a summary of all of our interviews and their fields of study, as well as the design of our own experiment with the spoon.
“In conclusion,” Jacob said, pointing at the picture of the spoon he was holding, “we found that although there might be some evidence that humans can use their will to affect change in our world, there is not enough to be proven by science.”
I bit my tongue to stop from blurting out that the spoon was indeed alive. Our experiment had worked, much to my internal horror.
Ms. Johnson was impressed. “Good job, team!” she exclaimed. “Take your seats. I’ll be sure to mark this down as completed extra credit.”
I slumped down in my chair, relieved. At least I would be able to get Grandma off of my back for another semester. I’d take all of the help I could get in that department.
After class, Abby caught up with me. “Hey! Want to go to the mall during study hall?”
“Nah, I think I’m going to skip math and go home early. Not feeling well.”
She shrugged. “No worries, I hope you feel better! Call me later!”
I smiled back. “Thanks. I will.”
We parted ways and I headed home. I didn’t really feel sick; I was just not into staying at school. I walked in to find Grandma vacuuming the dining room.
“What are you doing home?” she asked, shutting the machine off.
“Not feeling well,” I mumbled. Grandma walked over and put her hand to my forehead.
“Well, you don’t feel warm, but you look tired. Do you want to go lie down?”
I nodded, hoping the bags under my eyes would win me some extra sympathy.
Grandma clucked her tongue. “Go on upstairs. I’ll check on you later. Did you present your project?”
“Yep, I got the extra credit,” I said, moving to the stairs.
Grandma smiled. “Good girl. I’m very proud of you. I know that’s not how you want to spend your free time, but it’ll help you in the long run.”
“Thanks, Grandma,” I said, walking up the stairs. “I’ll talk to you later.”
I could hear Grandma turning the vacuum back on as I walked into my room and shut the door. I slung my backpack on my bed and pulled out the spoon.
This time, there was a complete face on the spoon without me even having to poke it.
I plopped down in disbelief at my desk.
“How long have you been...uh...alive? I mean, this time?”
“I know things about you,” the little spoon rasped. I gave a nervous laugh. Yep, I was going crazy. This was it. I knew the day that I would snap would come and here it was.
“Oh yeah? What things?”
Its tiny voice was so faint, you could barely hear it. The spoon’s eyes bore into mine. A feeling of dread began to settle in the pit of my stomach.
“Important things,” it said. “Please take me seriously. You’re my friend.”
“What things?” I repeated.
“You and your friends need to be very careful. Pay attention to the signs.”
“Signs?” I resisted the urge to shake the spoon. “What are you talking about? Who are you? How are you even talking right now?”
The little spoon’s mouth turned downward. “I saw your death. I saw when you will die.”
“What?!” I whispered. “My death?”
The spoon nodded, which would have been disturbing if I weren’t dealing with the fact than an eating utensil had just told me it had seen me die.
“I can’t stay any longer,” it rasped. “I am not supposed to be here.”
“How did you get here?” I gave in to my urge to shake it, but it didn’t seem to bother the spoon. “Did the Council send you?”
“Focus on your powers, Kathleena,” the spoon rasped. “You are powerful...even on this planet.”
I gaped at it. Before I could ask it anything else, the spoon’s face disappeared.
Great, the thing I used to eat breakfast cereal had just informed me that I was going to die soon.
I could not catch a break.
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Alisha Howard lives in the middle of America with her husband, daughter and a handful of animals. She enjoys watching old Charmed episodes, reading Wikipedia articles and writing epic adventure series.
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Transference (The Two Worlds, #2) Page 17