LAMIAE

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: SECRET PASSAGE

In the morning, she was almost late for school, because when her alarm clock alarm rang, she half-consciously turned it off, promising herself that she would get up soon. Unfortunately, she was so tired that she fell asleep again. And she spent twenty minutes like that until she heard the pounding on the door.

"Get up, we have to go soon!"

Such a rush she had not experienced in a long time. She got dressed in three minutes, and the breakfast she usually ate quietly in the kitchen, had to be consumed in the car.

"It's good that one of us isn't a sleepyhead," Casper commented, stepping on the gas in the driveway as she got into the car. Today she didn't have the slightest objection about going faster.

She wondered if she should ask him about her grandmother, but he made it clear yesterday that she was away somewhere. And he even repeated what he told her from Alan.

"Thank you, I don't know what I would do without both of you," she mumbled. Tie, who accompanied her and her the boy as usual, straightened up in the backseat as if he thought he was being talked about.

"Both of us?" Casper laughed. There was no trace of yesterday's outburst of melancholy.

"Without you and your car," she explained. Even though yesterday she wanted to get from school to the residence herself, since then she perceived the possibility of a ride differently. The cat meowed loudly and fell into the seat resignedly.

"I think Tie is angry with me," she said, looking back just as the animal put its head on its paws and looked at her sideways.

Dagmara laughed, and Casper, if it was still possible, added more gas.

It was Friday, the end of the week. She silently thanked that the plan for today started at eight fifty. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn't have made it. She had four lessons as planned, and although she enjoyed the classes assigned to Thursday and Friday, the thought of what awaited her next week terrified her. Since Thursdays and Fridays were relaxed days in her schedule, how many hours would she have to come in on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays? After all, classes per week usually range from thirty hours upwards. You don't have to be an expert in mathematics to know that the beginning of the week will mean sitting at school from the morning for seven or eight hours.

As she ran into the school, she noticed that it must have been after the bell, because most of the students were already in their classes. She sped up, subconsciously imagining the teacher as an old woman with an expression as if she had squeezed a lemon with her teeth. She didn't know why, but that was exactly how the teacher looked in her imagination - as a bitter old maid, and one of those people was not allowed to be late for class. She negotiated the stairs, jumping three steps at a time. As it turned out, she didn't have to rush at all, because the teacher wasn't there. Just like most of the class.

"Everyone dispersed because someone spread a rumor that the teacher wouldn't come until two," said a brown-haired girl with lots of freckles on her face, who passed for one of the school nerds. She and a few other girls stayed outside the classroom, patiently waiting for the teacher to come. Dagmara recognized two more faces, because she talked to them briefly yesterday, right after the English test.

"Aha," Dagmara muttered. Even though she would have preferred to sleep longer if she had known that the teacher wouldn't be there, she was happy with this turn of events. At least she didn't have to explain in front of the entire class why she didn't arrive on time.

"Then can you tell me where Arleta might be?" she asked the same girl politely, but she shook her head, letting her know that she had no idea where the blonde was. Dagmara sighed with resignation, because just when she wanted to talk to the girl, she wasn't there.