Miren stopped running after a while, feeling dread and panic paralyze her legs. She shook her head, forcing herself to move. She couldn't afford to waste any more time.
Finally, she found the door leading to the outside and burst through it. But the sight before her did little for her nerves; the campus was practically empty.
That meant that almost all the students were in their respective hallways, their respective classes, not about to face the punishments of being late. Like she would if she didn't get a move on!
Twirling around in circles like a drunken ballerina, she tried to see if she could get some sense of where she supposed to go. Realizing this was a foolish tactic, like connecting her headphones to her alarm clock, she gave up trying to make sense and resumed sprinting.
Her shoes shuffled against the pavement at a rapid pace as she ran. After a little while she could see a building forming in the horizon. Plastered along the brick wall of the building, dull gray lettering confirmed that maybe she was going the right way. Covington Hall. It sounded familiar.
Prying the door open, she couldn't stop her pace. She tried to remember the classroom number. There was no time to dive into her folder to search. Slamming her eyes shut, she tried to force the crucial number to come to her. But it didn't come.
So she stopped.
Taking in her surroundings, she saw two cherry colored doors opposite of each other. They both had glass windows aligning the sides of them so that she could see students. The two doors cracked open, but not everyone was in her seats. She exhaled. That meant class hadn't started. But based on the emptiness of the hallways, she had maybe thirty seconds until the bell rang.
And I thought I was making progress. She immediately turned her head to the right. On the glass window, the class hours that the teacher taught were written on paper. First Period-Honors World History.
She shook her head. That wasn't it. Turning to the next classroom, the teacher had done the same thing. Scanning the paper desperately, her eyes relaxed. This was it.
Opening the door wider for entry, the moment Miren set one foot in, the bell rang. Her head fell. Fail.
"You're late." She heard a female voice state. Miren raised her head up, cocking a brow. A female teacher? This fact wouldn't have bothered herâit could have calmed her, actuallyâexcept she could hear annoyance on the instructor's voice. Double fail.
"I'm sorry," Miren said in a low voice. Part of her was annoyed too. Technically, she made it to the classroom on time. Any laid back teacher would have let it slide. Especially since she was a new student.
This wasn't the welcoming committee she was expecting.
"No excuses. Be sure that it doesn't happen again," she said, her dark blue eyes boring into Miren's. "Name?"
Miren gulped, making sure to get it right on the first try, "Miles Ellison."
The instructor, a rather young, slender woman who had honey-brown hair, led her to the front of the classroom. Miren tried not to stumble over her oversized loafers.
"Class, we have a new student," she said, authority ringing through her voice. Although Miren wasn't looking at anyone in particular, she could tell that the whole class was being attentive. Staring at her.
Fuck.
"His name is Miles Ellison," she said, "Please make him feel welcome." Her request came out like a demand.
Even though her teacher seemed rather restrained, Miren could feel herself relax lightly. But her eyes remained fixed on a poster of the presidents on the back wall. She didn't want her classroom audience to unnerve her.
"However," the teacher, Professor Cowdry began, "even though you are a new student, I do not take tardiness lightly."
Miren turned to her teacher, afraid of what she would say next.
"Mr. Ellison, you will have to complete a two paged, single spaced report on how thisâ" Ms. Cowdry strutted over to her desk, and Miren almost wished that she would trip on her heels. The woman then handed her a paper filled with political cartoons."ârelates to the Industrial Revolution. Due tomorrow morning. Five minutes before class. And if you even consider being late again I will have you removed from this class and placed in regular history."
Miren blinked rapidly, unable to process everything that the maniacal teacher was demanding. She didn't think that this school would be easier than Rosemunde, but the mostly relaxed nature of the males here had misled her. Here was the woman keeping them straight.
Ms. Cowdry then proceeded toward a large Promethean board on the wall. Effortlessly clicking a button to turn it on, her eyes darted at Miren, who was still standing frozen in the front of the classroom. She was hogging Ms. Cowdry's limelight.
"Do you have any questions?" she asked sharply, as Miren unfroze, reanimating with a slow headshake. "Then you may take your seat." The teacher motioned to one of the desks.
Slowly, Miren plopped down a random deskâshe didn't even fuss over the fact that she wasn't sitting in the front. Both absorbing and recovering from the blows the teacher had given her, Miren brought out a pen and pencil to begin taking notes.
"Glad you made it," Levi said from behind her. Miren turned her head slightly, facing him with a closed smile. "Now you see why I left so quickly," he humored her, his eyes looking ahead to see if the teacher could overhear him. "Ms. Cowdry's an utter monster."
Miren cupped a hand over her mouth, fighting the urge to laugh. But it couldn't be helped.
"Now," the teacher started, commanding silence from the room once more. "The Feminist Movement." She wrote the words in red on the board. Miren rolled her eyes. There was nothing wrong with being a feminist, but being a bully was another thing. And Miren waltzing in all brute and boy-like was probably enough to make Ms. Cowdry's ovaries boil. Miren tapped her pencil against her desk, focusing ahead. If only Professor Cowdry knew that the two of them had something in common...
"We're starting the first chapter of the section today, so bring out your laptops and log onto your online textbooks."
Miren began to brighten up. She remembered her laptop. The students stopped laughing. Tension was fading. Opening her gray backpack, however, she frowned.
It wasn't there.
Miren closed her eyes, releasing an exasperated sigh. But it was just there! She didn't remember bringing it out in the lobby. But she did remember taking it out in the dorm room. She rubbed her temple. If it wasn't for Jeno being such a toolâ
"Ellison!" the teacher barked. "So you forgot your laptop, didn't you? It seems like you like having all of the attention," she teased her, the way snarky teachers taunted students when they were irritated over nothing.
Miren gave a mental scoff. Only because you're giving it to me!
Professor Cowdry motioned her hand, beckoning Miren forward. "Come here."
Miren rose quickly, leaving her caution and timidness at her desk. The teacher was being a bitch. And Miren had a feeling that she'd never please her. "
"Yes?"
"I want you to verbally state what led to the United State's Suffrage Movement, the women directly involved, the documents passed, as well as an example of how the actions of the past have impacted women today," she listed, the glow in her blue eyes confirming that she was quite proud of the punishment she had conjured up.
It was the same look Penelope wore the day of the battle.
Miren tried not to clench her fists. She wasn't mad about thisâno, this was easy. She was mad that the frustration she was trying to remove from her life had manifested itself in a new form.
Well, the joke was on Ms. Cowdry. St. Rosemunde's was an all girls' school; she learned about this stepping into the school. Miren smirked a little, it fading as she turned toward the class. She knew this. She had this. She parted her mouth to tell the instructor that the women's suffrage movement in the United States was a gradual process that occurred at state and local levels during the late 19tth and early 20th centuries, culminating in 1920 with the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. With the amendment stating that citizens of the United States could not be rejected by the U.S government due to their sex.
However, it was the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 that created the demand for women's suffrage. In 1869, the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave black men the right to vote, divided the movement. Campaigners such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were not happy because it didn't give voting rights to women. Others, such as Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe saw it as a stepping-stone to their goal. Either way, the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association emerged. After the 19th Amendment was passed, the NAWSA became the league of Women Voters, and Alice Paul's National Women's Party started fighting for full equality and the Equal Rights Amendment which would not pass Congress until the second wave of the women's movement in 1972, which was never ratified.
Miren stopped. That had to be enough. She studied the baffled crowd before her.
Ms. Cowdry had messed with the wrong boy. Girl.
Miren could see some of the boy's faces, some of them wincing at the magnitude of information they would never be able to answer, and others in tickled enjoyment, eager to see how this would all end.
She took a deep breath before turning her attention to Ms. Cowdry, who looked unnaturally surprised at her intellect. "As for you," Miren began, meeting the teacher's gaze, "Being able to teach a group of young men such as ourselves conveys that you are a prime example of how the feminist movement still has a powerful, lasting effect today. However, there are more steps that need to be taken for women to be taken seriously in this world" Miren finished. "Is that enough? I mean, I could go onâ"
"That won't be necessary," Ms. Cowdry practically sighed in defeat.
With that, Miren could hear the students cheering, giving off nods and thumbs of approval in her direction. Ms. Cowdry shook her head, before trying to regain her ascendance over the classroom audience. But Miren had stolen the show.
"Thank you, Mr. Ellison." She was back to her Promethean board. "Now sit down."
"I'd be delighted to." Miren took her seat. But not without a smile. Receiving a few whispered congrats, other words of support, and even a pat on the shoulder from Levi.
But she practically exploded when she saw Parker. Seated in the center like an Abercrombie & Fitch model taking part in a prep-school photo-shoot. But instead of posing for a camera, he was looking at her. Smiling at her. Impressed. Good job out there, he mouthed.
Her mouth quivered, searching for a response. She could only offer a smile before turning back to her notebook, her heart throbbing against her chest.
Maybe this won't be so bad after all.