The bell rang and Amber scrambled towards her first period history class. She slid into her desk smoothly and realized that she was feeling a little better. Sure, she still desperately wanted and needed the spell to work, but some of the heaviness that had plagued her for days had disappeared.
Amber was running late to math, because she stopped at the vending machine to buy a flavored water. She slid into her desk just as the bell rang. The guy from the bus waved from across the room and Amber smiled at him despite the butterflies that were swarming in her stomach.
“Why does he do this to me?” Amber asked herself.
“What a warm welcome you offered Amber, Mr. Kirk,” Mr. O'Bannon said, leaning against his desk holding a stack of papers, “I can only hope today's pop quiz will receive the same warm welcome.”
The class groaned in unison and cleared their desks, keeping only their pencils. Mr. O'Bannon was strict about quiz and exam etiquette. He was cynical and distrusting of his students and was always trying to figure out new ways to stay one step ahead of them.
“Take one and pass them back,” Mr. O'Bannon said handing the front of each row a stack of quizzes, “Keep them face down and no peeking!”
There was a ruffle of noises as the quizzes were passed back.
“Does everyone have a quiz?” Mr. O'Bannon asked.
“Yes,” the class answered in unison.
“Were there any extras?” he asked.
“No,” the people in the back answered.
“Good,” Mr. O'Bannon said, wearing a smug smile, congratulating himself on his always perfect counting, “You will have exactly eighteen minutes to finish. If you finish early, turn your quiz face down and stare at the chalk board. Do not allow your eyes to wander. When the timer sounds, put your pencils down and pass your quizzes up. You may now begin.”
Amber turned her quiz over and let out a sigh of relief. The questions were similar to the ones she spent the weekend working. She was happy that the material was still so fresh in her brain. She had a better chance of acing it that way.
Amber was one of the first to finish the quiz. She turned the paper face down and looked up, chancing a look at Mr. Kirk, as the teacher had called him. Kirk was an interesting last name. She had never heard it before. Mr. Kirk was still hard at work on his quiz, his brow burrowed in concentration. What was so special about him that he would keep drawing her attention? Why did he make her feel nervous? What was it about him?
“Eyes on the blackboard,” Mr. O'Bannon mouthed at her.
Amber rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to the chalkboard. She glanced at him again, after checking to ensure that their teacher had returned his attention to the papers he was grading. Most likely pop quizzes from his first class.
He had put his pencil down and was staring at the blackboard. Amber looked away before he could notice her watching him. She had never sneaked peeks at anyone who wasn't Joshua Nelson before. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him smile. Amber briefly met his glance and smiled. Something strange was happening between them. Did he know about the spell? Was he some sort of witch or warlock or whatever you would call a male witch? Impossible!
“Stop being paranoid!” Amber scolded herself.
“Miss Atkins and Mr. Kirk, if you could please wait until after class to pursue your romantic interests it would be most appreciated,” Mr. O'Bannon said, startling them, as well as a few other students.
Giggles and chuckles sounded from her classmates, but Amber didn't join in. She locked her eyes to the blank side of her quiz and focused on breathing. Her cheeks were flushed and she wanted to run. Why did Mr. O'Bannon have to jump to assumptions and announce them to the rest of the class?
The timer sounded and the class passed up their quizzes. Amber didn't look up at Mr. O'Bannon when he collected the quizzes from her row. She didn't look up at all until it was time to copy her homework assignment down. When the bell finally rang she darted from the room only to run into Tamara who was waiting outside of class for her.
“What is wrong with you?” Tamara asked, helping Amber catch her balance.
“Nothing, let's go,” Amber sighed, “Let's just get to drama!”
“Okay,” Tamara squeaked, as Amber grabbed the crook of her arm and forced her to follow along.
“O'Bannon is such a jerk!” Amber sighed when they entered the
empty drama classroom.
“Damn,” Tamara said shaking her head after Amber filled her in, “He really said that? What did the guy say? Was he smiling or…?
“I don't know,” Amber said.
“What? How do you not know?” Tamara asked.
“I didn't look at him after that. I didn't look at anyone. I was too embarrassed, Tamara!” Amber said.