Chapter 22 - Hallway: The Sea of Humans

2872 Words
            “I heard it but let me the fork go.” I angrily grab my hand back and he lets go, shaking his head. “Typical of Emily’s dolls, really.” He mutters just loud enough that I can hear him in a sea of people running to get to their respective classes. “Well, aren’t you a little bench?” I mutter purposely loud enough for him to hear. Let’s see how he likes it. “Look, I don’t have time to confront you right now. When we get inside this room, you have to pretend you don’t know me. Okay?” “That’s rude and offensive,” I call him out immediately. “I know but just trust me, okay. You won’t want to know me in this class.” He says when we arrive in front of a room. The doors were closed but there was a little window where I peaked and saw students perfectly seated. Not one hair was out of place. There was no teacher yet. We went inside and I notice another small detail. All the female students were wearing an orange jacket or blazer, or whatsoever. I was in a white blouse. Emily didn’t give me a jacket. Now that I think about it, she was bringing an orange jacket in her arm as we rode together. How could she forget this crucial bit of information? I sit in the only empty seat left which was, unfortunately, placed in front. The other girls looked at me with their snobby eyes and pretentious lips. Like that brunette could ever pull off thick lips such as mine. Not long after Emman and I sat down, an adult man walks into the room. He had an orange blazer on, paired with black slacks and a checkered bow. His face held a grimace as if he had just learned he was getting his second favorite toy for Christmas. “Looks like we have a new student today.” He lowers his glasses and I try my best to smile at him. I had practiced ‘smiling’ but never get it quite right as I can only smile at people who were nice to me. He screamed not nice. “And it looks like, our new student is a rebel. Not wearing the prescribed uniform. That earns you detention, miss.” I was right. He wasn’t forking nice. “I’m sorry, it’s my first day. I forgot.” I try to plead my way out of detention. If it was anything like detention on Hell, I was in very big trouble. Detention used to earn demons hundreds of years of silent torture. The worst torture of all, leaving a creature alone with their thoughts. “All I hear is reasons.” The gall of this fat, middle-aged man to dismiss me. I feel my stomach quenching in pain, and yet it burned with rage at the same time. Being a she-devil and human was taking a toll on my physiological being. I stay silent, not knowing how to properly vent out my emotion without accidentally ripping this man’s head off. “Science for today will be full of educational videos. You’ll have to write down your observations and reflection after the movie. Ahh, Mr. Johnson, I see you’re still here with us today. Had enough fun skipping classes, eh?” I turn around to see Emman in the back of the class. His feet were crossed in front of him and his lips turned into a smug grin. The professor’s face, however, was strongly crossed. His eyebrows meet as he rubs his glasses with a cloth. “Yes, Mr. Grumpy. I have had enough fun outside. I guess we have to meet sometime, eh?” Emman answers with the same tone the professor used on him. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume the professor’s name isn’t Mr. Grumpy. But that just made him look grumpier. Emman had the gut to stand up to this overly power-abusive man. “Students, this here is one good example of how you earn two hours of detention in the span of a few minutes. Abusive. No respect. Very well-raised. I hope none of you decides to befriend this jerk here.” I don’t know a lot about the human rules of being a human or being a teacher in a school, but I’m pretty sure he just broke a hundred rules with that statement. Nonetheless, no one spoke up. I guess that was why he didn’t want me to ‘know’ him in this class. I look back at him to see if he was okay and he winked at me. Emman held his smirk proudly with his arms crossed and a piece of gum in his mouth. “That chewing,” The professor turns back to him and widens his eyes at Emman. “Throw that out or I’m going to have to throw you out.” Emman keeps his smirk, all the while, spitting out his gum and throwing it perfectly through the open window. “What an ash-hole,” The professor utters under his breath as he returns to the front of the class. He motions for me to stand up and I do so. “Introduce yourself quickly. Let’s just get this over with.” This man was a hundred percent unfit to be a teacher. “I’m Santi Grahams,” How old am I supposed to say I am? Where am I from? I can’t tell the truth in this situation. “That’s enough introduction. You’ll take up all of our time.” Well, I guess I didn’t have to internally battle my whole self-identity in this class. “I’m Mr. Grumpy. This is Science 102.” He says in a rushed manner and pulls down a piece of fabric from the board and starts to play a movie from his computer. So, his name is Mr. Grumpy, oddly fitting. The videos he showed passed by in a blur. He showed animals in the wilds, snails, etc. It was very random and unrelated to each other. Yet somehow, “We have fifteen minutes left. I need you guys to start on your essays on what you learned today. Related the videos to our main subject for this class, Earth Science. Detention for anyone that can’t start at least ten sentences before the time ends.” And he said it all in one deep breath. “What a douche,” I hear someone beside me whisper. I turn to look at a girl with piercings on her lower lip. She looks back at me and rolls her eyes. Typical goths. Her hair was jet-black and her eyes dark. Her lips were also tinted black and her clothes, guess what color they were. Yes, they were black. I was a devil and even I didn’t dress up that dark. “Yes, remind me to give you detention later, Heather. That serves you right for not wearing your uniform and not taking off those nasty piercings.” The frog spouts. Emily had given me a backpack she had prepared herself. Due to the time pressure, she set this morning, I didn’t even get a chance to take a peek at what she packed inside. Everyone else had their yellow pads out on their desk. Even Emman was starting to scribble something. This is the one time I’m thankful for the hundred years in Hell that just cultivated boredom in me. Around 150 years since I was born, I began to take interest in human things. One of my developed interests was learning to write the human English alphabet. I was already familiar with the Latin and Greek languages as my father frequently used them. In fact, it was how we communicated early on. But eventually, my English language prevailed and he thought it was less complicated than Latin or Greek, so, he learned it with me. I had no problem writing an essay. I was just not used to human interaction and competition. And apparently, this professor was hell-bent on making his students compete. “The first one to submit ten sentences gets an early dismissal tomorrow.” He says with a grin, putting his feet up while sitting on the chair. I roll my eyes, annoyed at this poor excuse of a human. Heather must’ve noticed as she chuckled at me. I ignore her and start on my work. A good ten minutes passed and finally, I had something decent to show for my work. I’m not intellectually advanced when it comes to human or Earthly things but I think I knew enough and gathered enough information from the videos Mr. Grumpy showed us. “Class dismiss,” He exclaims as the bell rings along with his voice. The students instantly pick up their things and scramble out of the room. “Come on, meet me outside,” Emman whispers as I was placing my stuff in my borrowed bag. Mr. Grumpy gives Emman a stinky eye and I, genuinely, do not understand why not one single celestial being with power in the universe has not snapped this person’s spine. I think I may be the one to do it. I exit the room to see Emman waiting by the row of lockers. Speaking of, I think Emily mentioned last night I was supposed to get one assigned to me today. “I’m sorry you had to witness that.” He starts as I approach him. Was he crazy? “What now?” “That was rude of me, and I know. That man just got it for me since freshman year. He gets under my skin and I don’t mean for stuff like that to happen.” He continues to apologize. “What do you mean? That man was a jerk. He deserved it. Although, you were pretty mean.” I admit. In the hallway where dozens of students were making their way to their next classes. I see Kiki and Peter making their way towards us. “I know. I’ve tried to make my peace with that guy for the past four years. He’s just a big pile of carp.” “Hey,” Peter greets. “Hey,” Emman greets back. “Kiki will come with you to your next class. Will you be okay?” He asks. Maybe he’s just genuinely concerned as I was a newbie to all this, but I found it misogynistic as hell. Yes, I, a 300-year-old she-devil in the form of an 18-year-old girl can’t make it to her class. “Yeah right, because I need your knightly protection.” I roll my eyes at him, at which Peter and Kiki laugh. Emman sneers at me but I ignore it as Kiki was already walking away. “Peter has the second period with Emman.” He tells me as we walk down the hallway. “Second period for us is Trigonometry, by the way. Are you good with Math?” I know how to count my age, does that count? “I can’t say for sure, but I try my best? I guess.” I answer him and he chuckles. We arrive in the class and it was significantly better than the first. Time passed by smoothly. The teacher, Ms. Janet Sims, was kind and discussed throughout the time. I vaguely understood any part of it as I was not briefed not have any prior education in Math but I was a fast learner. By the end of the lesson, Kiki was scratching the back of his head and I was diligently scribbling mathematical equations on my paper. Similar to the first subject, the only remaining free seat was in front of the class so I had no choice. This made Ms. Sims frequently take interest in me. She called me often and I despised it. Fortunately, I was able to answer all her questions and dismissal was nearing. The class finished. Kiki and I walked silently to the next subject. I get the feeling that he wasn’t feeling so bright after Trigonometry. His face was also more disappointed than angry. But I don’t say anything about it as it was none of my business. “This is Pre-Calculus. Guess my excitement.” He says with a dismayed tone. We enter the room and I take the seat in the back, thrilled that I finally didn’t have to meet the teacher eye to eye in front. While Kiki seats in the middle of the room. “That’s my seat.” A low voice spoke as I was sorting out my things. I look up to see a buffed and muscular guy with his eyes looking down on me. He was even bigger than Kiki, and I thought Kiki was buffed. “Well, it’s taken.” I talk back. He doesn’t move from his spot of standing over me. This guy must think that just because he looked bigger than me, I would cower. “I sit there.” He begins again. “No, you don’t, man. You were absent yesterday. You just choose to bully Santi for that seat today.” Kiki interjects with an exhausted tone like he just desperately wanted the day to be over. As did I, and so I stand up at the extremely muscular guy and meet his gaze. Kiki was a bit shaken by this and stands up to my defense as well. But I motion for him to stop. “Listen up, pal. I sit here. I got here before you, and your muscles don’t scare me. If you wanted this seat, maybe you should stop spending all your damn time in the gym.” I say with my eyes burning with rage. Misogynistic pigs. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you better watch your back.” He answers back after a moment of silence. He backs away and takes the seat in front instead. Kiki looks at me with his eyes serious but amazed. “You never cease to impress me, Grahams.” He tells me. I sit back in my seat as the professor arrives just in time. “Miss Grahams, won’t you please introduce yourself.” He says as he places his books on the desk. Immediately, the entire class looks back at me. Well, isn’t this a nice new way of relieving the intense pressure I felt on my shoulders? I look at Kiki and he smiles at me encouragingly. Hesitant, I stand up and begin to introduce myself as instructed. “My name is Santi Grahams. I’m 19 years of age,” I guess. “That’s everything you need to know about me.” Because that’s also everything I know of myself on Earth. “Thank you for that sweet and short introduction. I am Dr. Manila. I will be teaching you physics. And no, I am not a medical doctor. Now let’s begin.” He says with a smile directed at me. He discussed various concepts I was not aware of at all. I mean, Hell didn’t have gravity working for it. It's just Hell. Not a very complicated concept to explain really. The class ended fairly short and Kiki places his hand near my back as he guides me out of the room and into a corner that wasn’t crowded with students. “That was cool what you did back there, standing up to Kirk the jerk. But you should know he usually takes revenge. Just be careful of any pranks that might come your way.” He starts. “I am not scared of him,” I tell him with all seriousness. “I know, you’re fierce. Just keep your head on the lookout for anything that might compromise you. Emily’s not gonna like it if he messes with you.” Wow, Emily must feel very protective of me. I don’t know if my heart should feel warm or concerned. “All right, I’ll steer clear of that bully,” I tell him, convinced he’s only saying this out of pure concern for my wellbeing. “Okay, now let me take you to your next class.” He says, taking my hand into his, which oddly felt new. I had walked alone all my life. I had taken care of myself alone for 300 years. Lucifer was a good father but he was still the devil, and his devilish ways were more instilled in him than fatherhood was. But Kiki’s sudden hand in mine made me feel like I wasn’t alone, for the first time in my eternal life. He looks at me as I stare at our intertwined hands weirdly. “It’s on the way to my next class, so it’s not any hassle, really.” I let him lead me to my next class, all the while feeling confused about my human form. I didn’t even know how to introduce myself in a sea of humans. I could have easily lied my way out of it as any human does. But even in a lie, I wasn’t comfortable about who I am. Or who I was.
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