“Are you ok?” I asked, trying to beas nonchalant as possible.

“Um, it’s just that, well, I don’tusually sit with anyone else at lunch,” her voice quivered slightly. She wasembarrassed because she assumed I would think less of her. However, I couldn’thave been more thrilled at the news.

“Oh thank God!” I blurted out. Weboth immediately started laughing and got in line for lunch.

After picking our way through thelarge buffet-like selection of food, which resembled more of a Thanksgivingfeast than cafeteria food, we found an isolated table and took our seats. Ilooked around at the lunchroom full of people, sitting together in their ownrespective cliques. I noticed that Kiran and Talbott found a table near themiddle of the room surrounded by girls, including Seraphina and severalseniors, all giving Kiran their undivided attention.

“So what’s the deal with that girlfrom earlier?” I tried to sound casual.

“Which girl?” Lilly looked up fromher apple.

“The one that could be Kiran’stwin,” I mumbled, allowing the sarcasm to drip into my tone. I was embarrassedby the pang of jealousy punching me in the stomach.

“Oh, that girl,” Lilly rolled hereyes and took another bite of apple. “Well, her name is Seraphina Van Curen.Her family has been part of this school forever, like since it opened athousand years ago,” Lilly was obviously not impressed with her either, and Ibreathed a sigh of relief.

“Huh,” I said a little distracted,wishing I were brave enough to ask Lilly to spill all of the dirt.

“Apparently Talbott is impressed withher,” Lilly looked over at the table and the blood immediately rushed to hercheeks.

“I don’t think it’s Talbott thatshe’s after,” I said sardonically, hoping to reassure Lilly that Talbott wasstill available, although I had no idea what she saw in him.

“Those girls are the rest of thegirls in our class. The one with short black hair is Adelaide Meyer, and theone wearing all of the diamonds is Evangeline Harris. They and Seraphina, makeup the holy trinity,” she rolled her eyes again and I laughed. I’d been inenough high schools to understand the social order of things. “The rest of thegirls are just followers, with no minds of their own.”

“Wonderful,” I mumbled under mybreath.

“Just steer clear and they won’tbother you…. most of the time,” she looked down at the table, in a way thathinted they probably bothered her more times than she would like to admit.

“Well, this is the side of thecafeteria I prefer to sit on,” I smiled at her reassuringly; it could not havebeen more truthful.

The bell rang before I finished butwe got up to clear our things anyway. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to get backto all of the humiliation. We double-checked to make sure we had the next classtogether, Calculus, something I was destined to fail at, and made our way tothe exit. Mrs. Truance was standing in the doorway eyeing me. Great, the schoolboard had already decided I didn’t fit in and should be expelled promptly.

“Ms. Matthews, Principal Saint wouldlike to see you in his office please; wait here and you can follow me there,”she directed, appearing less than happy to be running this type of errand. Istopped to wait beside her; I waved to Lilly, as she walked by, giving me anapologetic smile. “Mr. Kendrick, please come with me as well.”

Kiran and Talbott approached uswith their group of lackeys; Kiran rolled his eyes when he left them. Kiranwalked over to us slowly; I noticed his eyes were looking me over approvingly.Unexpectedly, a wave of nausea and a tingle of excitement ran up and down myspine; slowly, but surely, I began to feel the tiny prickles I knew would soonoverwhelm me.

“Mr. Angelo, your services will notbe needed, unless, of course, you are not able to continue on to class alone?”Mrs. Truance’s snide and demeaning voice addressed Talbott, and I couldn’t helpbut let out a small snicker that got me a very dirty look from everybody.

Mrs. Truance turned on her heel andstalked off toward the Administration Building. I allowed Kiran to pass, andfollowed in step behind them. What had I done now?

Chapter Six

The Principal’s Office, located onthe second floor of the Administration Building, was accessed by a stairwayright inside the front door. I had not noticed it when I entered the buildingearlier in the morning. The small and slightly winding stairway triggered aclaustrophobic sensation as I followed Kiran, who was following Mrs. Truance,to the second floor.

The small pricks I felt while nearthe cafeteria grew stronger in the small space, and I was getting veryuncomfortable. The electrical pulses buzzed inside of me; my blood was slowlyrising to a boil. This was a different kind of an energy that I felt I couldmanage. Struggling to contain myself, I tried to place the energy into aspecific area of my body. My hands trembled. I clenched and unclenched myfists, struggling to gain control. The stronger the electricity grew, the moreI could control it, so the logical place for me to concentrate was on my hands.As I did this, the collective energy rushed down through my body into myfingers. I experienced the electricity through my palms and fingertips, almostas if I was holding it.

By that point, we exited thestairway and entered onto the second floor. Teachers’ offices surrounded us oneither side of the hallway. At the end of the long corridor stood thePrincipal’s Office with a gold nameplate that read “Dr. Amory Saint.”

Now that the energy saturated myhands, it felt too much for me. My entire body shook from the force, and Istruggled to contain the power of it. I had no idea what that meant; all I knewwas that I wanted these people to continue thinking I was a normal teenagegirl, especially if I was on my way to plead my case.

Two potted ferns sat on either sideof Principal Saint’s doorway. As we approached, I thought of the logical thingto do, although, in reality, this entire experience lacked any kind of logic.As casually as possible, I pointed my hands in the direction of one of the potsand let the energy go. This seemed the only natural course, although I wasunsure of what prompted me to do it.

A bright light shot from my hands,and to my shock and horror, the potted plant exploded. Dirt, leaves, and shardsof ceramic flew everywhere. I let out a loud scream and stopped dead in mytracks. That was not at all what I had expected to happen.

My body stopped shaking; theelectricity was gone. I felt wonderful, the best I had felt in years. It was asif whatever had built up inside of me and caused all those terrible things tohappen was finally gone. I let out a small smile of triumph.

My elation however, only lasted asecond. Thoroughly proud of myself, and realizing how good I felt, I looked upto see that not only Kiran, but also Mrs. Truance, were covered in dirt andleaves.

Mouths tightly closed, mimickingeach other, they turned around to look at me, and waited for an explanation.Mrs. Truance’s burgundy suit and her glasses, covered in grime, were completelyworthless. She let out an angry sigh, spewing dirt from her lips. Kiran’s dirtyblonde tussles, turned black from dirt; white dust and shrapnel from theceramic covered him from head to toe. I held back a laugh when I noticed a fernleaf resting precariously on the top of his head.

“Oh, my gosh. That was the weirdestthing I have ever seen! Are you guys Ok? What happened?” Words and lies rushed out of my mouth. Feelingridiculous, I just prayed they bought it.

“You did this,” Kiran glared at me,angrily and accusingly.

“How could I have possibly donethat?” I laughed aloud, hoping to pass myself off as incredulous. I soundedmore hysterical than anything. “I was way back here. How could I have donethat?”

“Mag-” Kiran started.

“Oh my, must have been a prank,”Mrs. Truance interrupted Kiran. “Those nasty little underclassmen are alwayspulling stunts like this.” She physically pushed him out of the way of theoffice door. “Mr. Kendrick, go clean up. Ms. Matthews, since you are unscathedyou will see Dr. Saint first.” Her voice, void of emotion, confirmed that shedidn’t believe a word she had just said. I doubted Kiran did either.