Chapter three

A teacher walked out of the door muttering “Where on earth could she be?” saw us and gasped, “New CC’s already? Holy crow. Come here children.” We obeyed, hurrying up to her. “Now, who are you? And Emleh dear, go back to the classroom, Miss. Haywith is looking for you again.” Emleh skulked off and the teacher turned to us.

“My name’s Emberlyn. Emberlyn Rose Flint.”

“Yeah, and I’m Laura Clark.”

“And I’m Finn White.”

“It’s nice to meet you all. Now, my name is Mrs. Smith, and I’m the head of Changing Class. You must know it is very small, and you can’t interfere with any goings-on, and just live your life. OK?”

“Yes Mrs. Smith.” We all answered. It seemed repetition of the morning. I couldn’t believe all this had happened in a day. Mrs. Smith led Laura and I to a small, white door.

“This shall be your dorm. Girls only.” She glared at Finn and pointed him at the opposite door. He sidled off, grinning slightly. We went inside and were presented with the loveliest room we’d ever been in. The sheets were clean and tinted blue, the walls were floral and the light was soft. There were four beds, two of which were freshly-made, with our nameplates on the ends. They had large, velvet hangings and hand-sewn quilts. I could see my amazed expression mirrored in Laura’s face.

“Do you like it girls? There are only four of you! There are five boys as well. Emleh demanded to go in their dorm, so it’s a bit of a squeeze there, but here it’s alright.”

“Alright? Alright? It’s amazing!” Laura squealed in delight.

“I’m glad to see you happy. Now, if you could please put on these uniforms.” She handed us each some massive lace-up boots and quirky dresses, and yet again I saw Laura’s face lapse into happiness. We struggled into them and followed Mrs. Smith through into the classroom.

“Where is that Finn boy? He should be here by now.” She spat.

“I’ll get him Mrs. Smith.” I volunteered.

“Go on then, but be quick.” I hurried back down the corridor and gently rested against the boy’s dorm door.

“Finn?” I whispered.

“Come in.” I pushed open the door and gasped.

 

The boys dorm was horrible compared to ours. The sheets were messy. The walls were plain and so was Finn’s uniform.

“Finn?” He was sat on the bed with his head in his lap, “Are you alright?” I sat next to him.

“No. I’m tired of being trapped in here. Nowhere to go, running in circles.” I could hear his voice shaking. He’d been crying. I took his hand. This would usually embarrass me, but it obviously soothed him.

“We’ll get out. We will.”

“No we won’t. Hear what Emleh said? No-one comes out, they all go missing.”

“Yeah, but we’ll get out won’t we. Us and Laura.” I heard him sigh. He straightened up.

“I’ve been here all my life Emberlyn, and never, not once have I…” Laura walked in and he stopped short and let go of my hand. Sneakily, I thought. She would have never noticed we were in the first place. Laura gasped as she took in the room, with the same reaction as I had had.

“Oh Me Gee Finn!” She came rushing up and sat between us. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m alright.” He never finished his sentence, and was looking past Laura at me.

“Come on guys.” I stood up shakily and walked over to the door. “We don’t want to be late!”

 

We tiptoed down the corridor and rested our heads against the classroom door. I knocked, three sharp raps.

“Come in!” Finn twisted the handle and we walked in. The room was well lit, with large, four person tables and a massive blackboard at the front. The teacher there, who I suspected was Miss. Haywith, greeted us.
“Ah, new students I see. Finn, Laura and Emberlyn I suppose? Sit here dears, and don’t fuss. Take notes on my lesson in these books and don’t disrupt. Alright?” We nodded and sat down. Many pairs of eyes followed us to our seats, and I could make out Emleh grinning at us and whispering to her friend. Once I was positioned between Finn and Laura, I squirmed, but felt a cool hand on mine, and turned to see Finn grinning at me from the corner of his eye. Smiling slightly, I relaxed and began writing about Precognition. I learned a lot in that lesson. I also met some other members of the class, like Sarah, Tommy, Dave and Tilly. Not once in that lesson did I let go of Finn’s hand, in fact, I think I held on tighter. I thought I was going mad; it was plain to see Laura loved Finn. I hated it; I didn’t know what to do. At the end of the two hour lesson, a girl named Amy stood up, walked out and returned with a tray of hot soup and a large jug of water. She placed four bowls on a table and poured the water into our drinking glasses. We ate and drank, and I was in a daydream the whole time, hearing snatches of a heated conversation between Laura and Finn. The bell rang, and we were dismissed.

 

My resolution was to ignore him. Laura was my best friend after all. For The next week, we continued to learn about Precognition, and I took to sitting with Sarah, leaving Finn with Laura and Amy. I was happy where I was. I ignored him during lunch, shunned him in the evening and didn’t listen when he attempted to talk to me. It was hard, stressful, but I managed it.

 

“Emberlyn.” Damn. I walked on, starting conversation with Sarah.

“Finn’s trying to talk to you.” She remarked.

“I know.” I muttered through gritted teeth.

“Emberlyn please.” I stopped dead. Motioning for Sarah to meet me at the dorm, I turned to Finn. It was recess, and we were all in the walled courtyard.

“What?” I asked.

“I know you’re stressed. I can sense it. I thought we were friends.”

“Finn, I knew you for a day. A day. You think I’m best buddies with you when I’ve known you for that long?”

“Yes.”

“Well you’re wrong OK? I’m best friends with Laura you know, I don’t want to give up our friendship for you alright?”

“I’ve talked to her. She wants you to sit with us again. She misses you.”

“Tell her she can sit with me and Sarah then.” Finn sighed and walked closer to me.

“You don’t get it do you?”

“Get what?”

“Laura doesn’t love me. She’s my only friend that’s all.”

“I thought boys didn’t understand girls.”

“We don’t, but I can tell.”

“Really? Well you can probably tell that I’m a little bit annoyed here.” My voice grew higher, strained. I glared at him, span around and went inside.

 

This pathetic behavior continued for two weeks. After that, something weird happened. Finn White went missing.

“Where is he?” This question flew in whispers through the classroom, and sent horrible waves of guilt pounding into my stomach and heart. My eyelashes fluttered, attempting closure.

“Do you know? I heard he liked you.” People asked me and Laura. My heart pounded, stuttering. Both of our answers were ‘No’.

 

It was during a rainy evening when I fell asleep on the sofa. My eyelids batted in vain to stay awake, but I fell into sleep all the same.

 

“Emberlyn!” Finn’s voice was screeching. “No! Get your hands off me you freaks! Laura! Emberlyn!”

“Finn!” My call was clear, emotional. My hand was pressed against the glass, my breathing steaming it up. I caught Finn’s eye through the glass and he stopped struggling. As he was dragged away, my eyes did not leave his. My screaming didn’t stop.

 

I woke up gasping as usual. I couldn’t get him out of my head, and it was slowly killing me, strangling me. I didn’t know what was wrong with me: I was in love with him? Scared from the dream? Scared of what happened to him? Who knew! I pulled off my quilt and poked Laura till she woke up. I talked to her for the first time in ages, explaining what was wrong, what I had seen in my dream. She said;

“Emberlyn, it will come. That’s why you’re a clairvoyant. If you act now, something will twist your dream, reality. You have to wait for your dream to come to you.” And then, “Emberlyn. I don’t love him. He’s just the only friend I’ve had here for ages. And he loves you.”

“I don’t care. It’s his problem anyway. I don’t love him back. I was only trying to be his friend and he tries to put me through this sort of pain. I hate him.” I may have said that, but my heart was doing back flips.