6.

The principal’s office was on the second floor of the Administration Building. The main floor was just the lavish lobby and space for the secretary. The stairs to the second floor sat right inside the door, I had not even noticed them when I entered the building earlier in the morning. The stairway was small and slightly winding; I felt almost claustrophobic as I followed Kiran, following Mrs. Truance upwards.

The small pricks I had felt near the cafeteria were growing stronger in the small space and I was getting very uncomfortable. The electrical pulses were buzzing inside of me and my blood was slowly rising to a boil. It was a different kind of energy though, an energy I felt I could almost manage. Since I was already struggling to contain myself, I tried to place the energy into a specific area of my body. My hands began to tremble. I clenched and unclenched my fists, struggling to gain control. The stronger the electricity grew however, the more I felt I could control it and 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 my fingers. I could feel the electricity through my palms and fingertips, almost like I was holding it.

By that point we were coming out of the stairway and onto the second floor. Teacher’s offices surrounded us on either side of the hallway. At the end of the long corridor was the principal’s office, the gold nameplate read “Dr. Amory Saint.”

Now that the energy was in my hands it felt too much for me. My entire body was trembling from the force, and I was struggling to contain the power of it. I had no idea what that meant, all I knew was that I would like for these people to continue thinking I was a normal teenage girl, especially if I was on my way to plead my case.

Two potted ferns sat on either side of Principal Saint’s doorway. As we approached, I thought of the only logical thing to do; although in reality, this entire experience was anything but logical. As casually as possible, I pointed my hands in the direction of one of the pots and let the energy go. This seemed the only natural course, although I was unsure of what was prompting me to do it.

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

My body had stopped shaking and the electricity was gone. I felt wonderful; this was the best I had felt in years. It was almost as if whatever had been building up inside of me and causing all of those terrible things to happen was finally gone. I couldn’t help but let out a small smile of triumph.

My elation however, only lasted a second. After being thoroughly proud of myself, and after I had realized how good I felt, I looked up to see that not only Kiran, but Mrs. Truance also, were covered in dirt and leaves.

They had turned around to look at me, waiting for an explanation, mouths tightly closed, mimicking each other. Mrs. Truance’s burgundy suit was covered in grime and her glasses were completely worthless. She let out an angry sigh and dirt spewed from her lips. Kiran’s dirty blonde tussles were turned black from dirt and he was covered head to toe in white dust and shrapnel from the ceramic. I held back a laugh when I noticed a fern leaf resting precariously on the top of his head.

“Oh my gosh. That was the weirdest thing I have ever seen! Are you guys ok? What happened?” words and lies rushed out of my mouth. I felt ridiculous, but I was just praying they bought it.

“You did this,” Kiran glared at me, angry and accusing.

“How could I have possibly done that?” I laughed out loud; hoping to pass myself off as incredulous, but soon realized I sounded more hysterical than anything. “I was way back here. How could I have done that?”

“Mag…” Kiran started.

“Oh my, must have been a prank. Those nasty little underclassmen are always pulling stunts like this,” Mrs. Truance cut Kiran off and physically pushed him out of the way of the office door. “Mr. Kendrick go clean up. Ms. Matthews since you are unscathed you will see Dr. Saint first.” Her voice was void of emotion and I could tell that she didn’t believe a word she had just said. I doubted Kiran did either.

I followed the direction of her pointed finger and entered Principal Saint’s office. Small bits of dirt and ceramic littered the floor. I was careful to walk over them.

“Close the door behind you,” a deep, sophisticated voice ordered me.

I did as I was told, moving the debris out of the way with the sliding door. The door closed with a final click and I turned to look at the man who had spoken.

Dr. Amory Saint was a man in his late fifties. He was tall, with dark, almost black hair and even darker eyes. He was handsome, or maybe more distinguished than handsome; but either way he seemed to be a man that got things done. He actually resembled one of the bad guys in a James Bond movie.

“Please sit down Ms. Matthews,” He pointed to one of two elegant leather sitting chairs opposite his large, mahogany desk. Again, I did as I was told.

“Welcome Eden. May I call you Eden?” I nodded my head yes, almost afraid to make a sound. I had never felt more intimidated and I wasn't sure if it was because of the seemingly thousands of books lining every available wall space and cluttering the gigantic and opposing desk, or if it was because I knew that man held my fate in his hands.

“I hope you are making yourself at home in our humble school,” he looked to me again, and I nodded; although I would have called Kingsley anything but humble. “That’s good…. I wanted to check in with you, just to see how you are adjusting,” here he looked to me and paused, I could tell he was waiting for a verbal response.

“Um, yes, I’m adjusting, um, just fine. Thank you,” I stammered out.

“That’s good.” He repeated himself. “And everything is to your liking?” again he waited for me to respond.

“Yes, everything is just fine,” I tried a small smile, hoping that maybe if this wasn’t a meeting to expel me then I could go.

“So nothing strange has happened to you today? Nothing out of the ordinary?” his face remained perfectly calm, but I began to panic.

“What do you mean?” I asked in a barely audible voice.

“I apologize if I’ve confused you. I just want to make sure everything is going smoothly on your first day here. It is my job to make sure every student feels well adjusted,” he smiled calmly, waiting again for my response. Was this some kind of test?

“Everything’s fine,” I blurted out. “If you mean the plant, I mean what happened in the hallway, Mrs. Truance said that it was a prank. I didn’t do it. It wasn’t my fault. And I don’t know what came over me this morning, I didn’t mean to faint. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. It’s just that I guess I was nervous and…” he cut me off with a shake of his hand.

“Calm down, please. I didn’t mean to upset you, I was simply inquiring about your first impressions of Kingsley. You may go now,” he motioned towards the door and I got up quickly to leave. I had a hand on the door knob when he stopped me again. “Oh, Eden, one more thing, please don’t hesitate to speak with me if something ever is on your mind.”

Dr. Saint’s last comment caught me off guard and I hurried through the door, feeling very uncomfortable. I could feel the anxiety growing inside of me, along with the electrical pulses. I was so concentrated on his last words to me that I was not paying attention to where I was going and ran face first into the chest of none other than Kiran.

At first I looked up to apologize, but something happened when our bodies came into full contact with each other. Quicker than I realized what was happening, the electrical pulses were seizing my entire body. They were stronger and more painful than anything I had experienced before and as a gut reaction I forced them out of myself just like I did before. Only, this time, their point of exit was not a potted plant, but Kiran.

Kiran was suddenly flying through the air and across the hallway. The strong impulses that exited my hands hit poor Kiran directly in the chest. He landed fifteen feet away on his back looking up at me. I stood there shocked, completely unharmed. At least he didn’t explode.

“What the hell was that for?” he demanded, scrambling to his feet and rushing over to confront me.

“I, um, I have no idea. Um, I am really sorry,” I was mortified, there was no way, I could have ever explained that to him.

“How dare you!” he yelled at me. I hung my head, not having a clue how I could make any logical excuse for my behavior.

“Mr. Kendrick, please come into my office,” Dr. Saint was standing in his doorway, as calm as ever.

“Did you see what just happened?” Kiran shouted incredulously.

“What I saw, was an accidental collision. Ms. Matthews meant no harm, nor did she do it maliciously. In fact I have already heard her apologize to you. Now, please, come in to my office.” We both stood there, staring at Principal Saint. “If you please, Mr. Kendrick,” he asked again with less patience. Dr. Saint opened his arm wide, directing Kiran beyond his office door.

Kiran walked by me shaking his head, and as I made my way back down the hallway towards the staircase I heard Kiran shout, “Who is she Amory?” before Dr. Saint closed the door behind him.