I Must Be Electro-Charged

 

 

In the distance, I heard Agnes calling my name.

 

Slowly, my eyes opened to find a crowd standing around me.

 

“Give her some room students.” A beautiful woman with dark black hair stood over me, her face full of concern. “What's your name?”

 

I opened my mouth and sucked in a huge breath. “Harper,” I said. The sun was bright and I squinted against it. “What happened?”

 

“I'm Mrs. King,” the woman said. “You fainted, but I think you're going to be okay. Do you think you can sit up?” I nodded, mortified. And, oh, God, I was wearing a skirt. I pulled down on the lace, hoping I hadn't flashed anyone on my way down.

 

“How are you feeling?” Mrs. King asked.

 

“Embarrassed,” I said, trying to laugh it off. The crowd around me began to disperse, and I was grateful. In a town this small, though, I knew it wouldn’t take long for word to get around that the latest Shadowford freak fainted on her first day of school.

 

Agnes took my hand and helped me to my feet. “I can't believe that just happened. I mean, I was standing there talking to you one second, and the next you were down. Bam! Just like that.” She slapped her hands together. “Thank goodness Mrs. King was walking up.”

 

“Thank you,” I said. “I think I'm going to be fine.”

 

Mrs. King smiled and took my hand. I felt a shock of static electricity and pulled away. I laughed it off, but Mrs. King eyed me suspiciously. The serious look on her face startled me, and I wondered if I had done something wrong.

 

“Sorry,” I mumbled, thinking about how the doorknob in Mrs. Shadowford's office had shocked me the other day too. “That's been happening to me a lot lately. I must be electro-charged or something.”

 

“It's fine,” Mrs. King said. She took my hand again and helped me up. “Let me walk you to the office and make sure you get checked in okay.”

 

I tried to take my hand back, but something had caught her eye. She stared at my chin with a seriousness that sent a cold shiver down my spine. “Is everything okay?”

 

“Yes,” she said absently. “That's a beautiful necklace.” She let go of my hand and reached out to touch the sapphire pendant around my neck. “Where did you get it?”

 

“It was my mother's.” On instinct, I grasped the pendant between my thumb and forefinger and ran it back and forth across the silver chain. The necklace was the only thing I had ever known of my real mother.

 

Mrs. King stared at me for a moment, then she shook her head and smiled again. “Well, then, let's get you to the office, shall we?”

 

“Wow, she was super nice to you,” Agnes said once Mrs. King had left us by the entrance to the office. We watched as a sea of students parted to let her pass.

 

“Is she not usually nice?”

 

“No, it's not that, it's just that she's kind of hard to get close to. She heads up the cheerleaders and they're just so exclusive. I've been trying to get on the squad for the past two years.”

 

“You make it sound like the cheerleaders are some kind of goddesses around here,” I said, pushing my way into the office.

 

Agnes mumbled something under her breath that I didn't quite catch.

 

“What?” I asked her.

 

“Nothing.” Her attitude changed, like I had offended her or something. “I gotta get to class. Hope you're feeling better.” I shook my head and sighed. Was no one in this town normal?