Strains

Chapter 15

It's Friday, and after classes today, I'll finally be free to hide in my room. Still, I have another twenty minutes stuck in dead language class with Korma. I still haven't managed to get to class early enough to get a seat in the back row, so every day, I've endured her constant nagging. I can't say I'm used to it, but I don't get close to bursting into tears anymore.

It's odd how quickly you can give up and stop caring. I've had to resign myself into failing all of my classes. I came to that conclusion yesterday, when Mr. Crowe, my Ceramics professor, decided not a single piece was worthy of being fired. It's like the courses were designed to be impossible to pass. That didn't stop Korma from assigning homework though.

I send up my rows assignment and hand them to her. She snatches them, as she always does, and walks back to the board. She hates me just because of Matthew. I wonder if she'd treat me better if she knew how much disdain he had for me right now. He hasn't spoken to me all week, and now that I have a routine, I don't even get his handwritten notes. On Wednesday night, I tried to apologize to him after dinner. Even then, he didn't respond, and the following day, he left the table first.

Is this the punishment he had mentioned? The cold shoulder treatment doesn't really feel like his style. Throwing people off of cliffs is his M.O.

Korma's ruler cracks against my desk. I blink a few times to get out of my haze.

"Well, Miss Elizabeth? Your answer, and be quick about it!"

Not this again. She must get joy from humiliating me in front of everyone. It'd be nice if Matthew's rep got everyone to cut me some slack but nope.

"What are you daydreaming about in my class? Did you honestly think your facilitator's name would earn you a pass?"

"Wow, Ms. Korma are you a psychic too?"

The ruler slams against my desk again. Truth be told, I didn't mean to say anything, it just slipped out. She leans forward, glaring at me.

She's still inches from my face as the door opens. It's Matthew. She looks over her shoulder and smiles.

"Ah Matthew, so good to see you again."

Crap he's pissed. I can see it hidden behind his smile.

"Good morning, Ms. Korma. I just came for my student." The smile fades as he looks in my direction. "Elizabeth, let's go."

I begin packing my things. Man, I can feel the heat coming off Korma. She's going to bite my head off again on Monday. Especially if she has something due. "Ms. Korma? May I have the weekend's homework assignment please?" She looks back at me and glares. Stupid jerk of a woman, I'm trying to be responsible. Give me a break already.

"Elizabeth, we're leaving!" His roar makes the entire class jump in their seats. Why the hell did he just yell at me like that? Everyone snickers around me as I hurry to his side. "Ms. Korma, if you could please have any weekend assignments in my office before dinner, I'd really appreciate it." He places his hand on my shoulder and leads me out. I want to breathe a sigh of relief, but now it was just me and the Prince of Darkness again.

"Come with me, quickly," he says.

I guess I'm finally being punished. I briefly flash back to our trip to the beach. Matthew did say that it's normal for facilitators to kill their students. I look at his hands and shiver.

I follow him back to my room and he stands aside. I guess I'm not worth the chivalry today. I open the door.

"After you, sir," I say. He walks in a few steps, then stops. His back is still facing me. I pass him to put my bag on my desk, but instead, I drop it on the floor.