Chapter 7: School's In

"I swear Matt, if wake up one more morning to the stench of your socks, I'm going to make it my life's mission to ensure you wake up covered in my piss."

"Whoa! Simon. You're grumpy this morning. Come on get up!"

I groaned, "You must be the only stoner in the world that's a morning person."

We picked up Richard on the way to school. Kerry and Sarah both met us at the front doors as the five minute warning bell rang. Kerry started apologising again for her dad's behaviour Saturday night. She looked genuinely upset and seemed far more subdued than usual. I was glad she didn't know about yesterday's sparring match.

Morning classes were fairly uneventful. Sarah pouted when she saw that Richard had reclaimed his seat next to me during Math class. Katie, however, was glad to have her math-companion back. I did make a point of looking to see if I could spot Ms. Darraday's necklace, but it was nowhere to be found. The fact that she was, in at least some capacity, spying on me here at school cast her in an entirely new light to me.

Matt was too poor to keep buying pizza, so we brought our own lunches. Richard and I finished our math work quickly and rushed to the cafeteria in order to get our preferred seats. Our table was in the back corner next to the window. It kept us out of the way and put us right next to the window, which afforded us a good vantage of the soccer field. Being in the corner also gave us a view of the entire cafeteria which was an advantage for those days when we would people-watch and improvise the most ridiculous conversations we could think up.

Matt crowded into the lunchroom along with everybody else after class let out.

"Mr. Verdune needs some serious emergency surgery to get that massive stick out of his ass," commented Matt as he sat down.

"I take it physical education class was not to your liking today?" I said, adding my best impression of a posh British accent.

"Gym should be fun. Whoever invented rugby should be shot," said Matt.

"Yeah, Verdune's always been a bit over the top for rugby," said Richard.

"A bit?" asked Matt, "that's an understatement!"

"Well, it's just two weeks. You'll pull through," I said.

"God you're lucky you got this done with last semester," said Matt.

"Hey Simon, mind if I sit?" came a voice from behind me.

I turned my head and looked up to see who was talking to me. It was Jaelynn. The same girl who, a few days ago, threatened to stick her boot up my rear. Pure politeness aside, I wasn't going to anger her if at all possible. Saying no wasn't really an option.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Take a seat," I answered.

She smiled, "Thanks!" and then sat down next to me.

Just then, Derrick from history class and three of his friends went to take their usual seats at the other end of our table.

"Hey!" exclaimed Jaelynn, projecting her voice so Derrick and his friends could hear it, "Sorry boys, those seats are taken."

They stopped and looked at her. For a moment they were at a loss for what to do. Derrick looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders as if to say, 'I have no idea what she's on about'.

"You can't reserve seats, this isn't an airplane," said one of Derrick's friends.

"Yeah, but people are already sitting there!" said Jaelynn.

Derrick and two of the others looked too intimidated to annoy one of the popular girls. The guy who had spoken up was about to ignore Jaelynn and sit down when the rest of the socialites and a few guys arrived. Derrick and his friends didn't really say anything as they shuffled away to find somewhere else to sit. The lunchroom was busy enough today that it looked like they might not find anything else.

Kerry took the seat across from me so that she was next to matt and diagonally across the table from Richard.

"Hey, Jaelynn, scooch over," said Sarah, standing behind us.

"Do I have to? Just sit here," said Jaelynn, patting the bench next to her.

"No," said Sarah, "let me sit next to Simon. Come on please?" asked Sarah.

Jaelynn sighed, "Fine. But you owe me." Jaelynn shifted herself one spot further away from me and Sarah sat down.

We would never admit it, but I'm sure that all three of Matt, Richard, and myself had wondered, at some time or another, what it would be like to be one of the popular kids. It is, in part, why they're considered the popular kids. They hold a position within the high school social hierarchy that everybody else takes note of. It is natural to wonder how we compare and contrast to a popular kid. What is it that makes them popular but has left us as a nobody or even a loser?

There isn't a single something that all the popular kids have in common other than that, while they aren't all stunning by any stretch of the imagination, they are all reasonably attractive. A lot of the kids who didn't seem to qualify for admission into popularity met the 'reasonably attractive' requirement just fine.

I had hoped that lunch with the popular kids would give me some insight into their inner workings. While there were some differences, it seemed to me that they were mostly just the exact same as we were. They poked fun at each other, bantered, and told stories just like we did. Timothy had a flair for storytelling so that when he spoke, most of the table stopped talking at cross-purposes and would listen. I quickly realised that I liked most of this group.

I could feel, however, that I was not a part of their group. It was in the way I was unsure of how to contribute to any of their conversation and also in the way they did not expect any contribution from me in turn. Kerry was more silent than usual, which warranted a few comments throughout the meal. Richard never said a word, but his silence went mostly unnoticed.

I felt I had something to say when I was directly addressed by either Sarah or Kerry, but the general banter did not seem to include me. I knew that Matt and Richard felt the same way because our usual lunchtime antics were missing today. In fact, we didn't even talk to each other all that much, we mostly ate in silence.

I was struck by how easily conversation came when I was alone with my only two friends and how when I was surrounded by the popular kids, I could not seem to think of anything that fit into the flow of conversation at all. Part of it, I reasoned, was my comfort level. The other part was that their conversations did tend to be a little bit more gossip oriented.

That was a major difference between my trio and their group. They gossiped a lot more. It made sense when I considered that with just two friends there isn't really anybody to gossip about. Not only did they have a larger friend group, their list of acquaintances seemed rather extensive as well. I couldn't have much to contribute to a conversation when I had hardly ever talked to any of the people under discussion.

As much as I wondered what it was like to be one of the popular kids, I realised that sitting next to them and being one of them are two grossly different things. Somehow, I preferred lunch when it was just with Matt and Richard.

We weren't talking much so we finished our lunches faster than usual. Richard, Matt, and I all stood up to leave, but Sarah grabbed my hand. I looked at her.

"Stay 'till we're done?" she asked.

"Ah, I'm gonna go with Matt and Dick, catch up with you guys after?" I responded.

Sarah sighed and nodded her approval with a smile.

Kerry seemed distracted, "Huh? Oh yeah, see ya later."

I caught up with Matt and Richard.

"Where to?" I asked.

"Outside!" enthused Matt, pulling out a joint.

"Do you always have one of those things rolled?" asked Richard.

"Gotta be prepared," replied Matt.

I laughed. Seconds away from that table and our group dynamic was fully restored.

"Mind if we go find Derrick first?" I asked, "I feel kinda bad about what happened."

"Sure, they're usually in the upper atrium, yeah?" said Richard.

We went upstairs and spotted Derrick and two of the guys Jaelynn had chased away. They were playing cards at one of the tables. We weren't allowed to eat up here, so they must have finished their lunches somewhere.

"Hey guys," I said as we approached, they looked up but didn't say anything.

"Look, ummm, sorry about before. That was, I don't know, not cool," I said by way of an apology.

"Is she always like that?" asked Derrick.

"I dunno," I answered.

"Yeah!" answered by Matt and Richard at the same time.

We all laughed.

"You should have seen what she threatened to do to Simon last week!" said Matt with a grin.

"Yeah?" asked one of Derrick's friends, prompting us to continue the story.

Soon we were sitting down and playing a six-player version of Spades. We played cards for the next hour with Derrick and his two friends. Unlike lunchtime, though we'd never really hung out before, we had a fairly easy time talking with each other. The cards helped by giving us a common unifying topic of conversation. It may also have helped that both groups were the same size. Three of us and three of them. Mostly, however, it was probably the fact that we all considered each other social equals and so we felt less inhibited around one another.

When the warning bell rang, Matt grumbled to Richard about not getting the chance to smoke his joint. Nonetheless, he still accepted the invitation to come play cards again fairly eagerly.

Classes were as uneventful as usual, though during the last class of the day I made sure to sit down next to Kerry. Anna seemed a bit miffed that I had annexed her seat, but she didn't say anything as she went to find another place to sit.

"You okay?" I whispered to Kerry once class was well underway. Clearly her sour mood wasn't just about how her father had reacted to me on Saturday. Kerry had been moping about for most of the day.

We were in Grade 10 Law. The curriculum was about as ambitious as a hand-guided pony tour. I tried to keep my voice down, but didn't feel all too guilty about distracting Kerry who seemed far too out of it to concentrate well anyway.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered.

"You misunderstood my question, Kerry," I said, "When I ask, 'are you okay?' what I mean is 'what's wrong?'"

Kerry looked at me and attempted a smile, "It's not a big deal."

"Obviously you don't have to tell me," I said to Kerry, "but I'm willing to listen and if there's anybody you should be allowed to vent things to that 'aren't a big deal', your boyfriend, at least, should qualify."

Kerry looked at me for a while, "My parents were fighting last night."

"That sucks," I said.

"I guess it's normal for a married couple to fight now and then, but you don't know my parents, Simon. I don't think they've ever fought with each other ever before," said Kerry.

"Ever?" I asked.

"At least not that I know of. Before last night I wouldn't have been able to imagine it," said Kerry.

"Can I ask what they were fighting about?" I asked. My heart sank a bit. Mr. Malone had seemed naturally antagonistic to me, but maybe that was just me. Maybe I was at fault. They had been discussing me on Saturday night, maybe they were disagreeing about how to deal with me. The thought that I might be the cause of strife in Kerry's home life was deeply distressing.

"Oh, ummm, well. It's gonna sound stupid," said Kerry.

I nodded and waited.

"Some of mom's, ummm, friends are in town. Dad normally likes some warning before that happens. And, usually, mom's really good about letting dad know, but they didn't tell her they were coming so there wasn't really anything she could do. But dad, well, I think he's just stressed from work and this is just making it worse, I guess," said Kerry.

I nodded, "well, the stress can't last forever and your mom's friends are just visiting right? So, at least, on the bright side, this might be the worst of it. I know that doesn't really make it any better."

I seemed to me that Kerry's mother's friends must actually be other members of their organisation. Other Charms. Kerry's dad wants to know, for some reason, whenever other Charms are in the city.

This news made me want to start spying on them again, but I had already recuperated two days worth of blood and walking around without real human blood in my veins was inherently risky. Even if the risk of any accident which would cause me to bleed was fairly low, the resulting risk of discovery thereafter would be unacceptably high.

"I hope you're right," said Kerry, "I'm worried that it's a bit my fault too."

"It's not your fault, Kerry. Kids always think their parents fighting is somehow their fault and it never really is," I said.

"Yeah, but I," said Kerry and then suddenly stopped.

"You?" I asked, wondering if she was about to reveal something. Her parents were, after all, concerned that she had imprinted on me. I had no idea what that meant, but it seemed a cause for concern to them.

"Never mind, you're probably right," she said.

We whispered a bit more to each other throughout class. She seemed to cheer up a little bit now that she had talked about her worries. When class ended she quickly became distracted again and I thought perhaps talking about her troubles wasn't as therapeutic as I'd hoped.

"Sorry, Simon, you go meet up with Sarah. It's her day today," said Kerry.

"Kerry, for one; do I ever get a say in whose day it is? For another; even if it is Sarah's day today, I don't need to run away from you the moment that last bells rings. There's still plenty of time in the day," I said.

She shook her head, "Oh, no, that's not what I meant. I've, uh, got to talk to Darraday. It's kind of important."

"You don't have her this semester do you?" I asked.

"Yeah, no. It's about something else," she said.

"Well," I said, thinking quickly, "I'll walk you there at least. It's kind of on my way."

"Thanks Simon," said Kerry.

When we got to the math room, Ms. Darraday was by herself. She looked busy cleaning up her desk for the day.

"Thanks again, Simon" said Kerry as she kissed me on the cheek. She gave me a hug, walked into the math room, and closed the door behind her. I debated not staying and listening in. I knew that Kerry wanted to talk to Ms. Darraday in private. The only reason I could think of for Kerry to talk to Ms. Darraday was if it was about the secret society they had in common.

If they were about to start discussing Charms and Proselytes, then what I overhear may very well help me protect my identity. My safety before their privacy, I reasoned as I sat down in the hallway next to the door and closed my eyes. I isolated the noises of people walking down the hallway, lockers opening and closing, girls giggling, and boys laughing. It was to my advantage that not many people came to this part of the school since this hallway lead to a dead end. I isolated all the noise not coming from the math room and cancelled it out.

Silence.

I strained my senses and focused in on the cracks along the side and bottom of the door. I couldn't place who was saying any given thing, but their words echoed out of the room just well enough that I could make them out.

"Ah, Ms. Malone, just about finished up here, what can I do for you?"

There was some shuffling.

"So you know. I'm surprised your father told you."

"He didn't, but it's kind of hard to miss when they're yelling about you."

"Okay. Very well, Kerry, this doesn't change anything between us. You're still a student here and I continue to be your teacher. We will conduct ourselves accordingly, is that understood?"

"The Elders and the Council both agreed that any members who travel here would do so through Brenda. So how is it that you're here?"

"The Elders saw fit to make an exception. Child, I do not need to explain myself to you. I've had this conversation with your father already, go speak with him if you wish."

"Trust! You didn't even change your name, how did I not see this?"

"Ah, don't be hard on yourself. Charms are naturally trusting, you're still not a part of the trust, and you've never met a Darraday in person before. Which, I must say, is a shame. Most bloodlines your age have traveled the world. I don't see the sense in your father keeping you locked up here."

"He's not!"

"Well alright, child. It's an unfortunate thing that I had to come here in secrecy. I regret my role in deceiving your father, but your father knows now. I'm sure he'll have plenty of time to research my doings before I leave at the end of the semester. An apology is the best I can do for you Kerry, is there anything else?"

"No. I guess not."

"Kerry, don't forget your sap. That is one necklace you do not want to lose."

"Ah, sorry. Thank you."

"Wait..."

"Hey, give that back."

"One moment child."

"Touch that and not even the Elders can protect you!"

"Heaven's child! I know better than to touch it. But look for yourself, do you see what I see?"