Free Good vs. Evil High by April Marcom Page A

shoulders
and telling her goodnight.
    “Can we have a few more minutes?” Harmony
asked when she came to us. “We were about to pick out Kristine’s
wake-up call.”
    Miss McCree smiled. “Of course, just make
sure you go to bed when you’re through. Good-night, girls.”
    She turned the lights out as she left the
room so that the only thing keeping us from being in total darkness
was the light cast by my con. It only took a couple of minutes to
pick out the sound of bubbles being blown underwater. I thought it
would be a fun way to wake up every morning. And, even though we
both climbed into bed right after that, we did end up spending most
of the night whispering about whatever we wanted to.
    * * * *
    Luckily, Roman was busy with practice most of
the time after that night, so I only saw him at lunch and in
Algebra during fifth hour. Breakfast the next morning was
uncomfortable enough that I told him I preferred to sleep in and
skip that meal on school days. I didn’t have the guts to tell him I
wasn’t interested. Well, I had the guts, just not the heart. I’m
not big on hurting people’s feelings.
    The next couple of days flew by. Sassy and I
picked out my dress, bundled up and walked around outside, and I
helped her with some studying, which was something she really
struggled with. Nadine had soccer and Harmony had activities
committee, so it was mostly just us.
    North Haven wasn’t like any school I’d ever
been to or heard of before. It was as much the students that made
it different as the castle. Everyone was so good and nice, like
Harmony had said. I honestly hadn’t expected it since teenagers can
be so cruel.
    And then it was Saturday morning.
Miraculously, my hand was nearly healed. Only the palm still had to
be wrapped up and medicated. It was also time to go see Headmaster.
I still had no idea what I was going to tell him. But I threw my
notebook, con, and the tube of mascara Sassy had gotten me totally
addicted to in the navy blue shoulder bag I’d gotten out of the
secondhand room, and went downstairs for breakfast. I was the only
one in our room awake at seven a.m. on a Saturday morning.
    The cafeteria was pretty empty when I got
there. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and a banana to eat before I took
the elevator up to Headmaster’s Tower. I was early. Hopefully, that
would help make up for the fact that I still didn’t have any
answers for him.
    As soon as I stepped out of the elevator and
heard the voices, I froze. Somehow, I knew they were talking about
me.
    “But sir, no one’s even tried. Someone should
at least talk to her about it; try to convince her to do it. She’s
a guaranteed win.” I recognized that as Coach Beckham.
    The responding voice belonged to Headmaster.
“Come now, Charles. You know she only just got here and wants no
part in it. It wouldn’t be right to deprive her of finding her
place in our school. She needs time to settle in. Why try to
pressure her?”
    “To win. Isn’t that what all this Winter
Competition stuff is about? You haven’t seen what she can do,
Headmaster. It’s not just the fifty-yard sprint. There are a number
of sports her speed could help us win. The girls’ tennis team could
use her. Unless the Cinders are worse than us, that’s a guaranteed
loss.”
    “I want to win as much as you do, but the
well-being and happiness of the student comes first. For now,
Kristine isn’t ready. And she’ll be here any minute. You should
probably go down and have some breakfast before the students begin
waking up. It can get pretty hectic in there on a Saturday morning,
as you know.”
    A pause was followed by a, “Yes, sir,” and
then Coach Beckham was walking toward me.
    I didn’t want him to know I’d heard them, so
I hurried down the curved hallway away from them. I waited around
the corner for him to climb on an elevator, but his footsteps kept
getting closer. He would see me any second.
    My hand moved over the door I was pressed
against and turned