Chapter 5

Just finished Chapter 5 of "Pearson".

Valley Academy is divided into two houses; Wilfred and Phillipson. Wilfred takes up half the dorms, Phillipson the other, and there has been a running competition between the two ever since they were invented in 1922.

            That’s what Violet tells me, anyways. Its history class, and we’re sitting at the back of the class, in a pod of desks facing the window. We’re supposed to be reading our textbooks about the revolution or the evolution or something like that, but I’m too distracted. It’s snowing, and fat white flakes are covering the mountain tops like a wedding cake.

            “How can you get used to this?” I ask her. For the most part, Violet is uninterested towards the mountains. But I can’t stop staring at them. It doesn’t matter whether I’m running down the staircases towards other classrooms, or walking back to the dorms; they always have my constant attention when there’s a window in view.

            “You’ve only been here for three days,” Violet tells me, leafing through her textbook. It doesn’t matter whether she reads about it or not, because Violet already knows everything. It’s like every date since the 1800s are tattooed into her brain. “Give it a few more weeks, and they’ll be a regular occurrence. Nothing to get excited about.”

            “A regular occurrence,” I say. I gesture towards the window, at the mountains, at the glowing white caps with the peak standing on top looking proud and majestic. “I don’t think that can ever be a regular occurrence.”

            “Miss Croftlin!” says a voice, strict and icy. I slowly turn around to find myself face-to-face with Mrs. Reid, my history teacher who scares me as much snakes do. Maybe not quite as much, actually. “What did I tell you about talking in class?”

            “Not permitted,” I say.

            “Then why,” she slaps her meter stick onto the chalkboard to emphasize her point, “Are you talking?”

            “I’m sorry, Miss. It won’t happen again, Miss.”

            “Better not.” Mrs. Reid turns around to start terrorizing another student, and I let out a sigh of relief. I’m used to teachers getting annoyed with me- I do have a tendency to talk in class- but none of them are quite as terrifying as Mrs. Reid.

            Violet smiles at me. “You’re lucky you’re with me,” she says. “Or else you would have gotten detention.”
            It’s true. All the teachers love Violet. Just standing with her gives me a stamp of approval, even if I do get the occasional scolding. But Violet’s perfect when it comes to academia. Her print is neat and block-style, and she knows every fact about every little thing in history. Plus she’s polite, full of yes-ma’ams and no, sirs, and her parents donated ten-thousand dollars a year to the Valley Academy charity committee. There’s not much to complain about when it comes to Violet Josafin.

            A sharp knock at the door brings my attention to the front of the classroom. Standing in our classroom doorway is Pearson, his hair extra messy and his grin extra wide. If Violet’s a teacher’s favorite, Pearson gets the silver medal. He doesn’t get particularly good grades but his confidence and charm wins everyone over eventually. Even, unfortunately, me.

            “Hello, Mrs. Reid,” Pearson says, his voice polite and sincere. “I just ran into the Dean, and he informed me that Violet and Holly are both needed in the office right now.”
            “Oh, Pearson, hello,” says Mrs. Reid, smiling fondly at Pearson. “Yes, of course. Go ahead, girls, go along with Pearson.”
            The dean’s office? Why would we possibly have to go to the dean’s office? I didn’t do anything, I hadn’t misbehaved, I did not need my father to hear about this-

            Once the door clicks shut behind us, Pearson tells me to relax. “You look like you just swallowed a slug,” he tells me. Leave it to Pearson to find the most accurate description possible. “Calm down. You’re not in trouble. I was just bored of Latin.”

            “Pearson!” says Violet. “You can’t just skip-”

            “Can, did,” Pearson interrupts absentmindedly. “You know they don’t care, Vi.”

            That was also true. Pearson had been at Valley Academy long enough, they couldn’t kick him out. They wouldn’t, anyways, because he was a positive contributor. More positive than any of the snooty girls in my P.E class, that was for sure.

            “Where do you want to go?” I asked. Skipping class was an entirely new idea to me, and the sheer concept of it filled my lungs with excitement. I was free! I was a bird, ready to take flight, along with Violet and Pearson. We could soar through the air, and no one else could catch us.

            Pearson and Violet lock eyes, and I know I’m going to like the answer. “The mountain,” Pearson tells me.

***

It’s a crazy idea, but it’s so thrilling that I forget about the weirdness. We fly out the back doors, down a fire escape Pearson calls his “secret exit”, and jump straight onto the powdery white snow. My dress shoes are soaking in a matter of seconds, and my navy blue cardigan is covered in flakes soon afterwards. But I don’t care. The experience is worth it.

            Looking from side to side, it’s like we’re in a white wasteland. I can see the mountain, distantly, and the school, a little closer. But I just ignore that, focusing only on my friends and the snow. After years of having my mind pulled in different directions, like silly putty, there’s finally something concrete I can think about. Something that’s not going to harm me.

            Pearson dives onto the ground, twisting onto his back, and makes a distorted snow angel by flapping his arms back and forth. “That’s the skinniest snow angel I’ve ever seen,” Violet tells him. It’s true; the snow angel has scrawny wings and scrawny legs, and it reminds me exactly of Pearson’s slender figure.

            “Yeah, well.” Pearson jumps up again. “Maybe my snow angel is on a diet.”

            It’s ridiculous, not very funny at all, but Violet and I burst out laughing anyways. And we don’t hear Pearson’s “secret exit” door open and close, our giggles are so high.

            And we don’t see a man crunching through the snow towards where we’re standing.

            And we don’t hear the Dean until he’s standing right beside us. 

Reviews

[Bailey C. Writing]

The ending was great xD I love and hate being kept in suspense. You did a good job with making your readers want to read more. Some of your metaphors you use are good too, accurate comparisons. I'll enjoy reading the next chapter when you get it up here :) Take your time---good writing normally does take time. Don't rush. But at the same time don't keep us waiting too long ;D Bravo :)

[T. Logan]

Cliffhanger much? I'm beginning to like Pearson more with every chapter. Keep going!

[BillyGirl]

Ooh, a little bit of an adventure, skipping class. I wonder what the Dean will do to them :) Looking forward to the next chapter!

[Talismanic]

what a great read, you have an obvious eye for detail and talent for capturing scenes so that they are fun, engrossing and full of life. You can probably actually cut back a bit, (i've been hit with red-lines and word limits so bad i've had pages axed to a single sentence), so don't change your style or go nuts or anything, but for e.g, 'reminds me exactly of Pearson's slender figure,' goes without saying - it's just a little too much over-emphasis on details we already know - so we start to lose interest and get the urge to skip ahead. But you do a remarkable job of showing characters through their mannerisms and speech; that sort of sophisticated subtly has the strongest impact when we feel like we're not getting spoon-fed. I really like how you weave action into dialogue so that even the most predictable of daily conflicts (aka facing tight-lipped creepy teachers) feels interesting and immediate, like we're right there along with your characters... ' “Then why,” she slaps her meter stick onto the chalkboard to emphasize her point, “Are you talking?” ' You've used point-of-view and present tense with wit and maturity. Can't wait to see what's next -:)

[Harley (arbiter)]

Haha! Wow. Well they got caught. Kinda their own fault. When ya sneak ya always gotta be on guard for stuff like that. Good chapter. Keep going. Getting interesting!