Chapter Three
~Punishment~
Laura dragged her feet as she made her way to the math classroom after school. Thankfully, she hadn’t had any classes throughout the rest of the day with “Mr. Sutherby” – she didn’t know his first name – so there wasn’t any awkwardness between them. Not yet, anyway.
She wasn’t looking forward to the arrangement that her math teacher had set up for her, and thought that the punishment she received what completely out of proportion with anything she may have done. All she did was look back at him for a second! Mrs. Millburn was known for a harsh demeanor, though, and Laura was caught experiencing it firsthand. She hadn’t bumped into Brady today, either, which only worsened her mood.
And then she had to endure her friends’ ominous projections of what being forced to spend time with the new student was going to be like. They had picked up all sorts of new, swirling rumors about him, and now that some of them had put a face to him, it only made them exaggerate the tales even more.
“Have you seen him?” Molly asked Laura at lunch, before shaking her head quickly. “Of course you have. You had class with him this morning, after all. He’s scary, isn’t he? Looks like an axe murderer to me. Like those creepy guys you see in the movies. And he’s quiet, too. Secretive, maybe. Like he’s hiding something.” She laughed uneasily. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, though.”
“I heard he started a massive fire at his old school,” Kelly added, “that nearly killed half the students. And he jammed the doors so that they couldn’t get out. Luckily, the sprinkler system kicked in to stop it. He looks like the type to do something like that, doesn’t he? That’s just crazy.”
Before Laura could interrupt, her friend Stacy jumped in, adding all the bits and pieces that she had heard. And on and on it went, despite Laura repeatedly trying to assure her friends that it wouldn’t be that bad, that he couldn’t have possibly done all those things, and that people were just excited by a new student in school so couldn’t help but spread those rumors.
In the end, Laura just gave up, and did her best to ignore the more disturbing pieces of gossip that came her way during the day. But despite being absolutely certain there was little truth in the rumors, she still found herself feeling apprehensive as the clock ticked closer and closer to 3:15 PM. Which was exactly the time her cell phone showed, now.
Laura sighed and pushed open the door to the classroom. It was empty, except for Mrs. Millburn seated at her desk.
“You’re early, Miss Cubus,” Mrs. Millburn said without looking up. “Take your seat, please, and wait quietly for Mr. Sutherby to arrive.”
“Yes, Mrs. Millburn,” Laura sighed, and walked over to a seat at the far back of the classroom. If she was going to be spending time with this new kid, she wanted to at least be able to talk to him without Mrs. Millburn overhearing every word.
Laura didn’t have to wait long before he burst through the door, hair frazzled as if he’d been running. Laura looked, and saw his face for the first time.
If her friend Stacy could be considered too-tanned, he was the polar opposite. His skin was pure white, and reflected the light strongly. It wasn’t a sickly white, though; rather, it reminded her of the strong, clean white she could imagine on a horse or unicorn. His eyes were sharp and dark, and set deeply into a strong, lean face. If Laura hadn’t known that he was her age, she would have guessed him to be in his early twenties. And he looked more a man than a boy.
His face looked strong – proud. At least, that’s the first impression she got. Although at this particular moment in time, it looked like all his strength and pride had drained away, and he felt every bit the young boy of sixteen or seventeen that he was in an unfamiliar school.
“You’re late,” Mrs. Millburn said sharply, and he dropped his head, looking right at the floor. He mumbled something, but Laura couldn’t make it out.
“What? Speak up, boy! There’s no shame in being loud enough to be heard.”
“I said, I’m sorry,” he repeated, louder this time. “I got lost in the hallways on my way here.”
“Yes, yes, that’s perfectly understandable,” Mrs. Millburn said waving him away with one hand. “The only one you’re harming by being late is your friend over there, sitting at the back. Every minute you’re late is an extra minute she’ll have to stay.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“Bah! Don’t apologize to me, boy. It’s her you should be saying sorry to. But that’s neither here nor there. Miss Cubus?”
“Yes, Mrs. Millburn?” Laura said.
“For your first day at Mr. Sutherby’s personal tutor, I want you to go over all the chapters we’ve completed so far this year. Take note of anything he may have not seen before, and make sure he learns it well.”
“Yes, Mrs. Millburn.”
“Hmph. Good, then. Well, Mr. Sutherby? You’re not going to learn anything standing up here. Go say hi to the nice girl at the back, and get started.” Laura knew that Mrs. Millburn knew how awkward this whole thing was going to be for her, and figured it was just a way of punishing even further. “Go on, she won’t bite. Although I’m not sure how good her attention span is.” And with that, Mrs. Millburn turned her attention back to her desk.
Laura switched her gaze to “Mr. Sutherby,” who still stood at the front of the room, looking at his feet. A bag – the same one that hit her this morning – hung slumped over his shoulder. Finally, she saw him shake his head, and start to make his way over to her. He walked slowly, and every step he took looked like it was one step closer to agony.
In spite of herself, Laura began to feel a little nervous, too. Her heart started beating faster, and she could feel her palms start to clam up. He sure was taking his time coming over. Was he always like this? Was there something wrong with her that he didn’t like? Was he just shy? Questions raced through her mind as the distance between him and her closed ever-so-slowly.
Finally he came up to her desk, pulled out a nearby chair, and collapsed heavily into it. He still hadn’t made eye contact with her.
“So…” she began unsteadily after a moment’s silence, not sure of what to say, “…are you, uhm, any good at math?”
He shrugged his shoulders in reply.
“Do you… know what we’re doing in class?”
He shrugged again, eyes glued to the floor. Laura swallowed. She felt like she was talking to a wall. She didn’t know what else to say. The silence stretched, growing awkward.
“Thanks for dragging me into this,” he finally mumbled. Laura could barely make out the words, but when they registered, she was taken aback.
“What?” she demanded.
“I said, thanks for dragging me into this,” he shot back, and rose his eyes to meet hers. His eyes were fiery, ablaze with untold emotion. For the first time in her life, Laura felt truly scared. It looked like they pulsed – angrily or not, she couldn’t say – and wielded supernatural power. She felt cold, lost, and alone. Isolated from everyone else in this world, stuck forever in his unnatural gaze, helpless to ever escape.
Then he blinked, and all that died, and her fear disappeared. His eyes were normal again, and he as looking at her askance.
“Why are you looking at me that way?” he asked.
“What way?” she answered. “And what’s wrong with your eyes?”
“My eyes?” He looked perplexed. “There’s nothing wrong with my eyes.”
“But just now, when you looked at me, they were…”
“—they were what?” he asked.
“They were… raging.”
“Raging?” He laughed. “I’ve never heard that one before.”
“Ah! So you do know what I’m talking about.”
“No, I’ve got no idea.”
“But you said ‘that one,’ like you’ve heard things before?” she answered slowly.
“Did I?” he mused, and smiled at her. “No, I promise you, I’ve got no idea.”
“Then why’d you say it?”
“Say what?”
“That you’ve never heard that one before.”
A wide smile slowly spread across his face, and she suddenly understood. He was teasing her!
“Very funny,” she said drily. He spread his arms in response. “So, Mr. Funny-man, it looks like we’re both stuck here for what remains of this week, and potentially this whole semester. So I think we’d better start this relationship by exchanging names.”
“Logan,” he said simply.
“Logan?” He nodded. “That’s funny, you strike me more as a ‘Jonathan’ or ‘Steve.’ I’ve never met a ‘Logan’ before. My name’s Laura.”
“Nice to meet you, then,” he said. “I’ve never met a ‘Laura’ before, either.”
“So it’s something new for the both of us.”
“Looks like it is.”
“Ahem!” An angry voice at the front of the room interrupted, causing both of them to look up. Mrs. Millburn stood behind her desk, frowning. “You two lovebirds are here for a reason, and that reason is to learn math, is it not? Laura, why do I not see your textbook, or a single worksheet, on your desk?”
“Sorry, Mrs. Millburn,” Laura said, thinking quickly. “I was just… asking Logan how much math he’s done in the past.”
“Well, you’d better start to show him what we’ve done in the past. Unless you want me to extend your stay here?”
“No, Mrs. Millburn. I will, Mrs. Millburn.” Laura hated being so subservient, but it wasn’t like she had much choice. She reached down in her bag to pull out her math textbook, and put it on the table.
“She’s a bit of a hag, isn’t she?” Logan asked, eyeing the desk where Mrs. Millburn stood warily. “What’s the history with you two? Did she always hate you, or did that just start today?”
Laura sighed. She didn’t feel like explaining all of that to Logan right now. “Never mind that. We need to at least start looking through this math book, or else she’s going to yell at us again.”
“Yea, alright.” He looked down again, and for a second Laura found herself admiring Logan. There was something about him, something… different. Something mysterious, maybe. The way he walked around, shoulders slumped, was a stark contrast to the way he had just teasingly interacted with her. He was probably just shy, coming to an entirely new place, and found it easy – for whatever reason – to open up to her.
And now that she’d talked to him, she thought it even less likely that he could possibly have been responsible for any of the horrible things that were being said about him. He seemed like the shyest, most peaceful kid ever.
In any case, Laura didn’t think she’d be dreading coming here afterschool anymore. She thought Logan might develop into somewhat of a friend.