Lost. Amber Plum

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ title, it was not one I had read.

      I did not think of Ross as a Shakespeare connoisseur. I was definitely curious about what he meant by his comment. I wondered if they would have Twelfth night in the library here. I thought of how amazing the library had to be in this school. I felt a little joy fill me when I thought of all the books. I thought maybe I could go in during lunch and look around.

      I found my seat in the far back corner of my classroom. There seemed to be no familiar faces as I looked around at all the kids. I knew my middle school was one of the many feeder schools, so I would have thought I would find at least one familiar face. I had really wished Bitzy was there. As I studied the other kids in my class, they all were as alone as I was. There were only two pairs of people who actually did seem to know each other.

      The teacher announced himself as Mr. Crane. He looked like a Mr. Crane, tall and lanky with sunken in eye sockets. Under his eyes were dark and his hair was a silvery grey color; it was a big wavy mop on his head. His hands were wrinkly and slender with well groomed nails. His nose was big and pointy and he had a deep wrinkle going down his forehead. It was paired with many other wrinkles on his face but that one stood out the most. He seemed to fit as a perfect biology teacher. He began the class with attendance. It was a typical roll call until he got to me.

      “Seele, hmmm must be Levi’s sister,” he glared at me as I raised my hand.

      “Shall I assume you are going to be mischievous too?”

      My heart rate sped up and my chest tightened. I could feel the tears burning in my eyes. I could not cry on my first day!

      “Bite me!” It flew out of my mouth with annoyance and disbelief.

      I believe I shocked myself as much as I shocked the teacher. Mr. Crane scrunched in his eyes deepening his wrinkle, and pointed to the door. I gladly got up and went out to the hall. When I sat down on the hard floor I began to cry, I pulled my face into my knees. I thought it was low of him to say that. It wasn’t just what he said but how he said it too. He acted as if what he was saying was funny. I know Levi had a bad name, especially amongst teachers, but how could this guy have the audacity to just put it out there like that? It was disrespectful to Levi, to me and to my whole family.

      I felt my chest tighten more and more. My breaths became rapid. I closed my eyes and practiced deeper breaths. I needed to calm down. I slowly pulled myself out of my increasing panic attack. I wiped the tears from my face. I thought about Levi, I felt angry because I didn’t have a fair chance with these teachers because of him and his reputation. I lifted my head when I heard the door open and Mr. Crane walked out, shutting the door behind him.

      “Miss Seele, I expected mischievousness from you, but not disrespect. Levi always used manners in my class.” He glared at me with his sunken eyes, so harsh and cruel.

      I felt my tears burning in my eyes.

      “It is disrespectful for you to speak of my dead brother in the way you did.” I said it through gritted teeth. I began to sob uncontrollably. Mr. Crane reached his bony hand to my shoulder. I was shocked to feel his comforting grip. I calmed my sobs and looked at him, startled to see tears in his eyes.

      “I apologize, I did not know.” He shook his head to the ground.

      “Levi was one of my favorites.”

      I no longer saw the harsh cruel man I thought Mr. Crane was. I saw a tired old man who cared about Levi. I reached up to my shoulder and put my hand on his.

      “I am sorry too sir, many teachers did not like him. Thank you for seeing him differently.” I felt the tears burn again as I said it. His compassion gave me an odd, almost happy feeling. It was nice to feel a small bond with Mr. Crane. I took the time to explain Levi’s death. I let him know about the trip and the concert and the drugs. I told him how he was missing for almost a month. When I finished talking, Mr. Crane wiped at the tear that fell from his eye. He told me his sympathy was with me and my family. Then he told me several memories he had of Levi, and how smart Levi was. He apologized for not knowing about Levi’s disappearance and death. He had been out for part of the year last year. It made me feel like no matter what, Levi made sure to still be here today with me.

      Mr. Crane and I took a moment to breathe and collect ourselves. We walked back in to the room both with our heads down. All my peers looked at us most likely developing their own theories of how my talk with Mr. Crane went. I was thankful that I was allowed, unlike the others, to not have to fear that old man. I was able to see his true character.

      Mr. Crane cleared his throat and announced that he was going to pass out our books. He asked us all to read over chapter one and to be prepared to answer questions over our reading the next time we met. I had been out in the hall longer than I had thought; the final bell rang shortly after our books were dispersed. I left out of the class last and winked at Mr. Crane. He winked back and his eyes glossed over. I felt it was best to leave and let him have a moment alone before the next class.

      I pulled out my paper with my classes to see where to go next. I noticed a tall red headed girl was walking next to me. Her hair was in pig tails with the bottom half of her head shaved. Her ears were gauged out and she wore red All Stars. She was punk looking and wore too much eyeliner. When I met her eyes she smiled weakly.

      “Hey, that was pretty ballsy of you.” Her voice was pitchy and it seemed to tremble as she talked.

      I didn’t want to attract people over what happened in biology. “It’s complicated,” I said coldly as I kept walking. She nodded and respected my numbness almost as if it was a good thing. She followed behind me and walked into the next class with me. She already annoyed me. I sat in the far back corner and Red sat next to me. That seemed to set the pace of the way my morning went; I went and Red followed.

      Every class I went to the same kids were in it. Red always sat next to me without speaking a word. I remained silent and locked into my dark little world. I was relieved when lunch time hit. Not for food, but for a chance to find a hole to hide in and disappear for a little bit. The Library would have been nice but I probably needed permission. I was not opposed to locking myself in the bathroom stall if that was what I had to do.

      I was almost to the cafeteria when I felt a hand slip around my waist and I felt a kiss on the side of my face. I was startled and pulled away. I looked to see Linden beaming with delight.

      “Seriously Linden,” I was furious.

      This boy was going to be the death of me. I could not deny the chemistry between us but it would always be a no. Linden was chuckling to himself. He enjoyed teasing me. I swear he did and the biggest thing was I could never promise myself he wasn’t after sex. Linden was sweet and kind when he was being my brother figure. But truly, I knew he was a dog when it came to girls. I couldn’t be another one of his girls. It would be awkward. Even worse it could destroy my friendship with Bitzy. The thing that sucked the most about Linden was he really did drive me crazy. I wanted to give in to him and all his charms. He was the only guy I truly trusted. He didn’t make me cringe or trigger flashes of Em. I could dream of becoming his one and only and someday forever committing to him. But that was where the dream died. Linden just wasn’t a committed type. So I punched him in the arm.

      “Hey, what’s that about,” he had a swaggering grin and said it with extreme confidence.

      “You know what that’s about Linden, can it. Remember your promise?”

      He sighed.

      “Yes, but hotness, I am a guy and look at you.”

СКАЧАТЬ