[ 24 ] 2014

-

"I wouldn't mind taking a class taught by him."

-

"He has this really weird platinum ring around his middle finger, I don't know why it bothers me but it does." Dempsey continued on the topic of the new Chemistry teacher and his daughter, pausing to take something out of her pocket. She opened her closed hand to reveal a platinum ring rested on her palm. It was about a half inch thick platinum band with strange symbols covering the entirety of it. In the middle was a large black stone with the number 51 engraved in white. 

Harley gasped at the sight of it. "Dempsey, you stole his ring?"

Dempsey shook her head. "I'm a shape shifter remember? I can shift into anything I want, but I can also shift other objects to look like anything I want. This is just an ordinary key chain ring that I shaped to look like his ring."

Niall reached for her hand and took the ring from her, observing it with attentive blue eyes. "Maybe he's fifty one years old and he got that ring for his fifty first birthday." He took a guess after about a minute of observing the large ring. It would have seemed like any other ring to them, but the strange symbols had caught Dempsey's attention, as well as the rest of the people in her class, and now her friends were equally as interested in it.

"I doubt it. He looks like he's in his early to mid thirties, I'd say mid since he has a fourteen year old daughter. One of my classmates asked him about the ring and he said it was a state championship ring from his alma mater. He said he used to play American football." Dempsey explained with a shake of her head, but as she did, it was clear that his story hadn't convinced her. Crinkling up her nose, she added, "I think that's all bullshit, and I honestly don't have such a great feeling about him. This is going to sound totally paranoid, but he kept looking at me throughout class. I sit in the front corner of the room, so its hard to casually look in my direction without making it obvious. He was very specifically looking at me."

Paúl immediately piped up after not having said anything through the entire conversation. "Well if he bothers you don't hesitate to let me know. There's a welcoming party for after school today with all the other staff. I'll keep an eye on him and see if there's anything strange I notice."

"Oh my gosh, that's him." Dempsey hissed, sinking down in her lunchroom seat, as though wanting to hide under the table. 

On this day, they had decided to sit inside, but it had mostly been because all of the outside tables were taken. Also, lower classmen were not allowed on the outside lunch pavillion, and that would have left out Dempsey, since she was a year younger than all of them. 

They all looked in the direction that she was looking and they saw a man pass the front office doors. The lunch area was in the very center of the main school building, and from it branched different hallways that led to other parts of the school. He was a tall man with dirty blonde hair combed to the side, bright grey eyes, and fair skin. He was dressed in a professional look with a navy blue sweater vest, black slacks, and a white lab coat which made it obvious that he was the new science teacher. Just from looking at him, Harley could only find one thing in common with his daughter Michella. The grey eyes. Everything else about them was entirely opposite. Perhaps, Michella had gotten her looks from her mother. From the moment he entered the lunchroom with his lunch bag in hand, several eyes were on him, mostly female eyes. Many of Dempsey's classmates had agreed that he was a goodlooking man, but she couldn't get past the fact that she thought there was something off about him.

The other thing they noticed as he inched closer, walking down the middle of the lunch room, was the platinum ring. It was snugly wrapped around his middle finger, sparkling in the lights that bounced off it in the room.

From their table, Andrea let out a sigh. "Why are you so worried, pet?" She asked in her English accent. "I wouldn't mind taking a class taught by him."

"Hey!" Niall pouted from beside her. "I'm right here, Andy." He waved a hand in front of her face.

"Sorry love." She smiled, still watching the new teacher. "I love you, but that doesn't mean I can't feast my eyes on other beautiful men. What do you think, Harley?"

Harley shrugged her shoulders. "He is handsome."

Right as the teacher was about to pass them, they all quieted down. Dempsey snatched the ring out of Niall's hand and stuffed it into her pocket before he could see it. He paused in his stride, his eyes focused on one person, and one person only. "Dempsey Johannsson, right? You're in my first period class." He said to her smiling with his perfect American pearly white smile.

She nodded her head. 

"I'm going to need you to see me after school today." He continued. "It'll just be a few minutes."

Dempsey shook her head no. "Sorry Dr. Barnes, I can't. I have cheerleading practice."

"It'll be just a few minutes." He repeated with the same smile still present on his face. "I noticed that you have a B grade in the class, but none of your assignments are in the cabinets. Its like your teacher took them when he left." The truth was that with everything happening, the teens often times didn't have the time to do their homework. Dempsey would solve that problem by mind controlling her previous teacher into giving her a passing grade. The new teacher would never find her old assignments because she had never done them.

"Whatever you want to talk with her, you can talk with me." Paúl spoke up with an overprotective tone to his words. "I'm her legal guardian."

The teacher nodded his head. "That's not a problem. We can meet as well, just drop by my classroom during my free period later today and we'll schedule a meeting. But I need to talk to the student first." Pointing an index finger at Dempsey, he finished with, "Don't forget to come see me after school, Miss Johannsson." Then he walked away, disappearing into the science hall where his classroom was located.

"Do you think he's onto us?" Harley leaned forward onto the table and whispered to Dempsey. "Like...do you think he knows what we are?"

"I don't know." Dempsey said, "But I'm not going."

-

That afternoon once classes were done for the day, Harley  went to cheerleading practice with Dempsey and Andrea. They were doing their stretches out on the sidelines of the soccer field when Cindy walked up to them. Plopping down beside the three girls, she groaned, "It really sucks that Hazel moved away. Now we need to find you guys a new girl to complete your stunt group." Looking at the three of them, she asked, "Do you know if there's another new girl who would like to join the squad? We're cheerleading for Monday night's basketball game against St. Agnes, and we'll be incomplete if we don't find someone."

Halrey thought of the new girl, Michella, but said nothing. She didn't want her on the cheerleading squad with Calum just a few yards away at soccer practice.

He had actually gone to practice that day. The soccer coach had given Calum another chance to join when he heard of what happened to him. He didn't have the heart to kick him off the team despite the month after his return in which he didn't show up to practice.

Speak of the devil, Harley thought when Michella walked up to the group of girls doing their stretches before practice. And she was accompanied by none other than Calum, which made Harley's heart sink. How were they such good friends on her first day of classes? She and Calum had taken at least a couple of weeks to get on with each other.

Cindy shot up when she saw them approaching and hurried over to them with excitement. She figured Michella was a new student for the same reasons that Harley had noticed. "Are you here to join the squad?" Cindy Hemmings asked her.

Michella nodded her head with a friendly smile. "Cal told me you had an open spot."

Cal. 

Harley grimaced. Now she was giving him a nickname. She looked away from them and went back to her stretches. She kept her ears attentive on their conversation, while still looking away. 

Cindy nodded her head. "Yeah, Hazel left about a month ago and we need someone to fill her spot. You'd be in the same stunt group with Dempsey, Andrea, and Harley. Say hi, girls!" The cheer captain called to them cheerfully. The three turned in their direction and waved awkwardly. But Harley was less than amused. 

"Do I have to try out?" The new girl wondered.

The blonde thought about it. "If you're a freshman, yes. If you're upper class, then no."

"I'm a freshman." Michella informed her. 

"Okay, come with me." Cindy instructed.

Michella looked back at Calum before following Cindy to the blue tumbling mats. Calum nodded towards her, "I'll see you later, Misha." 

Misha. 

Harley grimaced again. He returned to his soccer practice without so much as glancing at Harley or even saying hello to her.

"Ouch." Andrea whispered to Harley, noticing how he had coldly ignored her.

Harley remembered Calum once telling her to expect a snowstorm, when they went to the school's winter formal so long ago. She was now feeling the snowstorm. The snowstorm of his indifference.

But Harley ignored her friend's comment and pretended it didn't bother her. Cindy led Michella towards the three girls who were an incomplete stunt group for the time being. The three girls got back on their feet and Cindy began to explain. "Hazel was a base, so Michella can take her spot since she's about her height. Your flyer will still be Dempsey, and your back spot is still Andrea." Turning from cheerful to serious in one second, she warned, "Drop Dempsey, and I will kill you. You never let your flyer touch the ground if something goes wrong. You must always catch her, no matter what." 

The girls got into position for their stunt group with Michella and Harley standing on either side of Dempsey, and Andrea behind her. Both bases squatted down so that Dempsey could climb better, and Andrea helped to lift her onto the waiting bases. From the very first moment, Harley felt Dempsey's entire wight on her arms. They had barely lifted her a couple of feet off the ground when the problems began.

"Michella," Harley complained, "Lift! You aren't doing anything."

It didn't help that Harley was already in a sour mood.

"I'm trying." Michella huffed. But it didn't feel like she was trying at all.

Dempsey felt her legs shake and she leaned more onto Harley in an attempt to stabilize herself. Both girls felt like Michella was pushing her to the right, in Harley's direction, instead of up. "Bring her down!" Cindy yelled, but it was too late. Dempsey was already coming down, but she fell on top of Harley, both of them falling onto the blue mat. But Dempsey had Harley to break her fall. Harley hadn't been so lucky.

"Shit, I'm sorry, dude." Dempsey apologized, moving off Harley. 

Harley felt as though she had the wind knocked out of her. She was laid out on the mat for several minutes, limp as a noodle, and without saying anything. When she finally regained her strength, she was able to sit up with some difficulty. She had gotten hit in the face with Dempsey's elbow on the way down and she knew there was bound to be a bruise in the morning.

Even through all of that, Michella never apologized. 

"Very good!" Cindy smiled encouragingly at the new girl. "You just need some more practice. Welcome to the team, Michella."

But Harley Quinn knew she would already dread cheer practice even more.

-

damn, cal and misha. misha and cal. cisha (pronounced like keisha). or mal. yes? no? maybe? i would be pretty upset too.

anyway, i added a picture of michella and her dad at the top. yes, they are american, supposedly. but i chose latino actors to play them because i only watch latino shows and they embody the character i thought up. and also i think latino actors are cute as hell. and horacio pancheri (the man i chose as the chemistry teacher) is beautiful. he's in that new univision novela where paulina goto plays that gardener's daughter who goes to a catholic school and she plays the violin. i internally scream everytime the bae is on camara. and the girl playing michella is also an argentine actor (horacio is argentine), and she's paler in real life. its just the picture she looks tan.

question of the day: is harley jealous? why do you think so, or why don't you think so? also, what do you think that teacher wants? is he onto them? do you think he knows? and did michella purposefully push dempsey onto harley? we might never know. leave me some lovely comments!

thank you for reading. i love you allll. happy friday!

-clary xx