Chapter 1: Rachelle

Rachelle

 

I don’t believe in the second sight. Those that say they’re Psychic are almost always just plain crazy. My mom has always said I was mature beyond my years, but does that mean it gave me the ‘second sight’? No! Divination isn’t real! My religion even teaches that. But, even with all of that, try to explain all that happened.

It all seems to have started when a new student and teacher came to Olympus High, my high school. Both came from Cairo, Egypt, or the Land of the Gypsy. The teacher was the father of the boy (named Alexander), who, might I say, was freakin’ hot. It was obvious he was up to something.

And why did you think that?

Officer Hallow, how do you expect me to tell you this story if you keep interrupting me?

Sorry, I just wanted to know why you thought it was obvious he was ‘up to something’.

(Eye roll) Sir, I can see stuff no one else can. Do you think I’d be able to tell if some really good-looking guy was up to something?

Okay. Sorry. It wasn’t my place.

No it wasn’t. May I continue?

Yes, you may.

Thank you.

Now, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, by none other than Officer Hallow. He’s that obnoxious little voice that keeps popping in. Shut up.

Alexander was 16-years old, a sophomore in Olympus High. The teacher was the history teacher, Mr. Habaloose. Yes, John Habaloose. And it’s very sad to say Alexander’s last name was also Habaloose. I had history fifth period, with Alexander. He was in my first four periods also, but I didn’t know about the next two until later.

It was a Wednesday, in January, the sixteenth or seventeenth. I was walking to history class where I was excited to meet the new teacher. The old one, Mr. Jones, had a nervous breakdown after a kid blew up his desk with dynamite. We never found out who the kid was. (Though I do have some suspicions)

I walked in the classroom and found it empty, except for a boy up front who I recognized from the first part of the day. I decided since he was the new kid that I’d make friends with him. And, after all, my friend Rilla was still trying to teach me how to find boys ‘attractive’. This guy was probably the best guy to practice on with his blonde hair with brown streaks and his blue eyes. I sat down next to him and put my binder on the floor.

“Hi, I’m Rachelle. You’re, Alexander, right?” I asked him with a smile.

This is where things start to get a little freaky. Women who are pregnant, kids who are sick, men with weak stomachs, you might want to leave the room.

Rachelle, I’m the only other one here.

Does it matter, Officer? No, I didn’t think so.

Oh, by the way, Hallow is rolling his eyes.

Just get on with the story.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was getting to that.

Right as Alexander opened his mouth, I could have sworn I saw a green mist curling out of his throat. I blinked hard, but it didn’t disappear. I tried not to stare, but it just kept getting weirder. His eyes started to change. One minute they were a pretty blue, next they were a blood red. His teeth sharpened and his attire started to differentiate. His red Aeropostle shirt and khaki shorts turned into a black cloak. I blinked again, and it all disappeared.

“Yeah, I’m Alexander, but you can call me Alex. You know, you’re the only person who’s talked to me today, excluding my dad,” he shrugged.

“Does your dad work here?” I asked, trying to get that image of evil Alex out of my head.

“Yeah, he’s the new history teacher. We just moved here from Cairo, Egypt two or three days ago.”

People started to walk in at that point, all talking with a friend or two. I noticed Rilla and Dani, my two best friends, and waved to them. They smiled and came towards me and Alex. It was obvious by their faces they thought Alexander was cute, too.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you around before,” Dani said as she slipped into the seat behind Alex.

“Yeah, who are you?” Rilla said with a slight grin on her face.

“Guys, this is Alex. Alex, this is Rilla and this is Dani-“ I started but Dani cut me off.

“Danielle,” Dani corrected me. I’ll bet she wanted to sound more feminine or something.

“Okay, this is Danielle, apparently,” I said to Alex, trying hard not to laugh.

“Hey, Rilla, Danielle,” he said politely.

Cute and polite! This guy was amazing. Though, I still couldn’t get that creepy picture of vampire-Alex out of my brain. I tried to push it away but it just kept coming back. Suddenly the bell rang and the class got totally silent. We all faced front, excited to see the new history teacher. We waited ten seconds and people started talking again. It was another ten minutes before he even got out of the hallway, and this is what he looked like:

You wouldn’t think Alex and Mr. Habaloose were even related. He was fat, black hair with a comb-over (as if that helped), brown eyes, and to top it all off, he had thick-rimmed glasses. We all gasped when he walked in. Behind me Rilla made a gagging sound.

Mr. Habaloose stopped in the middle of the floor and cleared his throat. “Sorry about the wait kids. I got lost on the way to the classroom. Okay, let’s take roll. Aldra, Tallia?”

“Here,” Tallia squeaked from the back. She’d always been shy, and she was especially shy around gross men (who isn’t?).

He went down the class list until he got to Alex’s. “Hey, Alex, by the way, you left your lunch at home. It’s in my office. Make sure to grab it before you go to lunch,” He said. Alex blushed.

Everyone giggled but me. I was still getting these visions. I looked up at Mr. Habaloose and saw another one. Instead of nasty and gross-looking, he was…well, hot. Not dad-hot, but hot hot. Like, ‘smokin’ hot’ (as my seminary teacher used to say), as in oh-my-heck-he-is-a-super-model hot. He had his shirt off and shorts on. He had an eight-pack, and boy was it a hot eight-pack. I shook my head again and then opened them. He was back to creepy Mr. Habaloose. I sighed.

“Rachelle, are you okay?” whispered Alex. “You’re covered in sweat. Is everything all right?”

I nodded. When Habaloose turned his back to write something on the board, I tried to calm myself down. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and took a deep breath. Everything would be alright. You just had too much cake for breakfast, I kept saying to myself.

You had cake for breakfast?

Well, excuse me for living. I eat cake and am proud of it.

Stop talking about food. I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch.

Why, do tell.

The reason is sitting right in front of me having a conversation with herself on a piece of paper.

Don’t mock me!

Well, too late. Besides, I’m hungry. Hey Clyde!

This is going to be a while. Oh, by the way, Clyde is Officer’s little ‘assistant’. He’s actually his intern, but he treats him like a slave.

I don’t treat him like a slave, he’s just a helper. Clyde, I need two hamburgers and three chocolate shakes. Oh, and an extra-large fry. Don’t forget ketchup!

I hope you ordered for me too.