The Taste of Blood by Jon Athan

Author:Jon Athan [Athan, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The Bait

The classroom bustled with activity as students bickered and gossiped and studied. Their desks were pushed together, forming six groups with six students each. Most of them had completed their classwork, so they messed around with each other. Their teacher, Mrs. Goldberg, didn’t care about them anyway. She sat at her desk and graded tests from a different class—same ol’, same ol’.

Aubrey sat at her desk in the corner of the classroom, her textbook open to a chapter about the second World War and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The question: was dropping the bombs the right or wrong thing to do? She completed her assignment before everyone else, penning five short paragraphs in a matter of minutes. She stared at the other corner of the room.

While the other students chatted—some even sitting on top of their desks—Megan Blair sat by herself, slouched back in her seat with one arm crossed over her chest and the other dangling down near her lap. Her short blonde hair was barely long enough to cover her face. Her left eye was visible. Her dull blue eye looked devoid of life.

“Here goes nothing,” Aubrey murmured under her breath.

She approached Megan, taking a deep breath with each step. She leaned over the chair of the desk to her left, which was vacant.

She said, “Hey, Megan. How’s it going?”

Without moving her head, Megan looked at Aubrey. She didn’t look surprised, but she didn’t look angry, either. She looked bored—bored and sad.

She shrugged and said, “Okay, I guess.”

“That’s good. Did you, um… Did you finish your work?”

“Yeah,” Megan said slowly, dragging the word out as if she were annoyed or confused.

“Oh.”

Aubrey bit her bottom lip and looked around while tapping her foot on the floor. She watched as the other students continued chatting, ignoring the two social outcasts. Just say it already, she told herself, no, win her trust first, then say it.

She asked, “Are you excited about our field trip to the museum? It’s only, like, two weeks away. It should be fun, right?”

Megan nodded slowly and said, “I guess.”

“Yeah, I’m excited, too. It’s just us and… and history. I think that’s pretty awesome.”

“Yeah… Me too.”

Aubrey smiled at Megan. She didn’t sense any sarcasm or annoyance in the girl’s response. Megan lowered her arm and sat up in her seat. For the first time since the semester started, she looked comfortable.

Megan said, “I heard Mr. Huffman’s class is going with us, too.”

“Yeah, I know. I think there are some nice people in that class, though. It should be cool.”

“Isn’t, um… Isn’t Hailey in that class?”

Aubrey shrugged—so what?

Megan said, “I thought she hated you and that other girl, Genesis.”

“She’s not as tough as she looks. I don’t think we have to worry about her. Besides, her ‘posse’ isn’t in that class, so I don’t think she’ll try anything.”

Aubrey sat in the chair beside Megan. She kept smiling, trying her best to win Megan’s trust. Megan returned the smile, but the side of her mouth twitched.

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