The students of St. Rosemunde tried to exhale the hostile air that had seized lunchtime. But where was this tension coming from? Was it because of Miren, the girl who had disappeared days ago without a trace?
Oh please, they couldn't have cared less.
The tension was coming from St. Rosemunde's Royalty. Artemis looked almost as miserable as Miren had, with most of the color drained from her naturally tawny beige complexion, and her amber eyes chillingly opaque. She was tired and numb, and she just wanted to give up. But there was too much at stakeâa life was on the line.
But it had been five days. And none of them offered any sign of Miren. No signs to prove, at the very least, that she were okay. Alive. Raking her salad with her fork, she let herself become captivated in thought.
Maybe Miren just went home. It could have been as simple as thatâtaking some time off to heal. She had suffered from social suicide, but Artemis couldn't shake the horrible that Miren had graduated to something more...deadly.
A shiver ran through her spine, but it did not leave her. Soren inched closer to his girlfriend, drawing her closer as he rubbed her back with his hand.
"Is everything alright, Artemis?" the blonde asked worriedly. He brought her into an embrace.
"Nothing," she replied. He hugged her harder as she stared out blankly. "I found nothing."
She buried her head in her hands. He tried to comfort her before one of the nuns hissed at them to remain a ruler length apart.
He sighed. "C'mon Artemis, don't think like that. Miren's not an idiot," he tried to reassure her, turning her to face him. "I'm sure she's fine, okay?"
Artemis slumped her shoulders in an attempt to shrug. She knew that Soren could be right, but she didn't have any proof. No sign to confirm his sweet words or reject her worst suspicions.
And this uncertainty was unsettling. It didn't seem possible that in the span of a few days, Miren seemed to no longer exist. The loss of what could have been a friend, coupled by the anxiety of what felt like trying to find a fragile piece of hay in a needle stack world, kept her on edge.
"Are you talking about Miren?" Klondike, a stalky young man with slanted eyes asked. Artemis nodded.
"I'm really worried about her," Artemis sighed, as his girlfriend, Jemma, came closer to comfort her.
"I'm actually worried about her too," Jemma said, reaching a hand out to Artemis. "When I handed her the award and she looked so grateful, actually happy for once." Her eyes then met Penelope's. "Then you fucked it up for her. You went too far. And that's coming from me."
Penelope released an exasperated scoff. But instead of returning her gaze at Jemma, she shot a glance at Parker, who was staring out into the vast space of the dinning hall. He, like the other boys had study hall this period. So he used it as a second lunch because who hated free lunch? But he was barely focused on his plate. Instead, a blank, almost troubled mask covered his normally exuberant face.
Perhaps Artemis's words were starting to get to him too...
Seeing that her boyfriend was unresponsive, the only thing Penelope could do was take fire on Jemma. Sliding her auburn bangs from her face, her eyes met hers.
"I am so sick and tired of everyone blaming me," she said in a low voice, rather than exploding. She clenched her fists against her lap, her demeanor stiff and unforgiving. "She left. I didn't push her out of the school. I didn't pay someone to pack her ugly bags and drive her sorry ass out of here." Her eyes narrowed, as if to adjust to the blinding light of her inconsideration on the matter.
"If I really wanted to do that, I would have," she said plainly. "But I didn't. So I don't know why you're looking at me like that. It's not my fault that she can't take a joke."
The queen bee had spoken. But Jemma wasn't too pleased with her words. Rolling her eyes and looking around the mess hall, Jemma started poking at her fruit compote in relative defeat. "Fine. Maybe you're right, Princess," she considered, leaning against Klondike. "But why don't you tell that to the rest of the students gawking at you?"
Looking around, she could see that their discussion had stolen the attention of some of the girls harmlessly eating their meals.
"You can't blame her for anything!" Artemis spat, now on her feet. Penelope brushed her hair over her shoulder, trying to remain undeterred.
"You don't know anything about what she did to me," Penelope spat back. "Her hands aren't clean either."
Artemis was fuming. She didn't give two fucks about The Incident. "But you're the one who ruined everything. Don't you even care that she's okay?"
Penelope narrowed her eyes at her, crossing her arms. "I'm not going to dignify that with a response."
Artemis scoffed. "You already did." She started collecting her things. "Screw this, I'm not going to tolerate your shitty behavior."
"Artemis! I've never heard you speak like that before," Jemma called out. A smirk landed on her lips. "You go girl."
Artemis nodded slightly, her riled spirits toning down a little bit. "I'm not going to mope around, wandering for Miren like a lost puppy when the diabolical princess over here is all smiles."
"The diabolical princess?" Penelope considered, before a snarky smile spread on her lips. "I love it."
"Stop talking, Pen," Parker finally said, rising up. "Artemis," he summoned, "I'll help you find her. We need to correct this wrongâ"
"Um, no?" Penelope objected. "What's the point of trying to find someone who doesn't want to be found? And furthermore, I forbid it! Yeah, I forbid it!" she exclaimed, bolting upright.
Parker stood his ground. "You can't tell me what to do," he said. "And if you continue with this, I'm going to have to strongly reconsider why I ever started dating you in the first place."
Penelope's head snapped up, as she eyed her boyfriend. "After everything I've done for you?" she said, her gaze unflinching against his. But his gaze only hardened.
"I need to go to class," he said, securing his backpack over a shoulder. "I'll talk to you later, Artemis."
"I'm not okay with this," Penelope said, turning to the girl.
"I'm not asking for your permission," she said before motioning to the table. "Will anyone else be helping?"
"Nope." Jemma and Klondike said, practically in unison. Artemis rolled her eyes. "We'll do what we can," she then offered, squeezing her boyfriend's hand. A nun cleared her throat.
"Will you be helping, Soren?" Artemis then asked. Soren gritted his teeth before facing his girlfriend.
"I know you care and all, but you're letting your search consume you. I'll help, but you have to calm down. I don't want you feeling responsible just because you can't find her." His brown eyes met her amber ones. "She's not worth it."
"You mean helping someone is bad? Suddenly Miren is worthless?" Artemis tried to refrain from crying out loud as the boy shook his head.
"I'm not saying that," he replied softly. "But seriously. If she mattered so much to you, why didn't you intervene before? What makes her so important now?"
Artemis merely stared at him. Tears formed along her eyes, but she didn't know if she were more disappointed with him or herself. He was right, wasn't he? She was trying to fix something that was shattered beyond repair. And she had been thereâwatching the irreversible damage unfold. Shame coursed through her veins as she grabbed her backpack and fled.
***
The first day was always the longest, but Miren was glad that it was finally the last hour of the school day. Applied Technology Lab.
She walked into a space designed like a research lab. It was an interesting environment, that was for sure, but she was curious about the need for such an advanced-looking research area in a high school. Taking a seat on a steel stool, Miren's eyes darted straight ahead. But it was a little bit hard, considering the fact that the "classroom" contained no windows, and the ultraviolet white color that bathed the walls was striking, almost to the point of blinding her.
"Here, wear these," a student said behind her, handing her a pair of goggles. She snatched them from his grip.
"Thanks," she said as her eyes readjusted. She blinked again. "Wallace? What are you doing here?"
He smirked. "You'll see."
As he walked up to the board, Miren rolled her eyes. He's the teacher?
"Hey, guys," he introduced the class, "As you all know, I am the student teacher of this class. But since Miles doesn't know that, please give him a friendly welcome."
Some 'hey's' and 'yo's' and 'who?' were thrown Miren's way as she waved her fingers weakly.
"Now Miles, why don't you come up here and tell us a little bit about yourself?"
Miren groaned. There went Wallace trying to "poke fun" at this whole situation again. But sheâheâwasn't going to fall victim.
"How about I don't?" Miren countered back, a bit of tease in her voice. Some of the guys beside her snickered. She couldn't help but smile back.
The happy spirits were apparently contagious, because Wallace also started grinning. "Well, I was hoping you could tell us how your first day was going. We all know what went down with Ms. Cowdry."
Feeling everyone else in the room respond positively, Miren smiled harder, shrugging her shoulders. "Then there's no need to repeat it."
Wallace nodded. "Fair enough," he said. "I'll stop patronizing you.
"Moving on," Wallace said, erasing something from the board, "since I'm busy doing a bunch of important thingsâ"
"Like texting your girlfriend?" Two guys shouted behind Miren, giving each other high fives.
Wallace shrugged his shoulders. "You hit it right on the nail. Anyway, this class is run like a study hall. You can ask me questionsâplease don'tâand you can work on whatever you desire, as long as it requires a technological apparatus. There are extra computers if you don't have a laptop, as well as other tools," he informed them. "Don't kill each other, and if you're going to watch porn, don't make it obvious," he joked, before adding, "so don't watch porn."
Miren couldn't help but laugh. Moving from the board, Wallace settled into an impressive looking desk in front of the classroom. "If you need me, don't need me." He reached for his cellphone.
Miren couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. For one, it kind of bothered her that the boy sitting in front of the roomâwith his feet crossed over his deskâwas texting during class. Yet he still managed to keep the number one position that she was imposing on. It made her question the quality of the students here. So far most of the males she encountered were a perplexing mix of reckless and serious.
Private school boys are still boys, she considered, rising to her feet. She was eager for something to do. Plopping in front of the iMac, Miren considered the icons before her. System Preferences. Safari. Word. iMovie. She stared at the screen blankly, hoping the computer would give her the answers she needed. But after ten minutes, she moved to the front of the classroom. She stood in front of the student teacher, who was still caught in a text.
"She, I mean, he, is doing fine. Stop worrying. This was your idea," he mumbled under his breath while typing. His eyes then moved to the person blocking his light. "Oh, hey. How's everything?"
"Not horrible," Miren admitted. "Could you sign my pass for the bathroom, teacher?" she asked mockingly.
"Actually, we don't have passes at this schoolâ"
"Don't you have any rules here?" Miren questioned, scratching her head.
"We do," Wallace said, still texting. "It's just that the more rules you try to enforce, the more likely they are to be broken. So we only have important ones," he informed her. "Plus, this is private school."
Miren raised an eyebrow. "So? Rosemunde is too."
"Exactly," Wallace said, before a buzz from his cellphone cut him off. Chara. Resuming his texting, Wallace shooed Miren off. "Go."
Sighing, Miren walked out of the room. Noticing that the hallway seemed darker than she remembered, she took off her goggles. The hall was losing its research lab quality as she noticed some black lockers against the walls.
Walking slowly and aimlessly, Miren came across a door that read RESTROOM. Her eyes widened as another reality set in. All boy school. There were probably urinals in there.
Exhaling, she opened the door, peering inside. There were urinals in there. Walking toward one of the few stalls, she stood, disgusted. It wasn't that the space was dirty or anything, its just that it had an odor.
Rushing out of the bathroom faster than she had come in, Miren gasped for air, slumping against the same lockers that lined the hallway. Making sure the coast was clear, she rose to her feet as a multitude of thoughts took over her brain. Is this my life now?
Can I really handle this? Miren considered as she began to walk back. Am I supposed to stay here for all of high school?
She shook her head, expelling these dangerous thoughts. She was thinking too muchâtoo far. She was here because it was the least painful option. Inhaling, her eyes fell on a bulletin board before her. She just had to get active. Make a positive name for herself.
Her eyes trailed along the fliers. Sports were out of the question. Most of the seasons had already started, and if she couldn't handle the restroom, how could she deal with a locker-room? She tapped a finger against her chin in contemplation. Scanning the board harder, her eyes fell on a vibrant green flyer.
"Homecoming design planner," she read out loud, examining the details. There was a meeting at Sampson Hall on Friday.
She pursed her lips. She didn't even know if she was artistic, but considering she was the only girl in Boyville, maybe they could use whatever creative charm she had. If it was used discretely, of course. There was still that male alter ego she was trying to keep.
With higher spirits, Miren walked into the room to see that most of the boys already had their backpacks over their shoulders. There was still ten minutes until class ended.
But it did occur to Miren that she could use this class to design homecoming if she were to land the job.
That solves one problem, Miren mentally acknowledged, pulling her backpack over her shoulder. Sort of.
Only a thousand more to go.