St.Luke's

Tuesday dawned all too soon and the sun did not greet Anna on this morning. Her alarm went off and she glared at the glowing red numbers. ‘Not today.’ she thought in anger ‘wake me in another century.’ she glowered at it another moment and fisted the snooze button. She threw off her warm comforter and she swung her legs off the side of her bed and headed for the bathroom that she had to share. The shut the door with a silent snap and locked it. She stopped in front of a mirror and stared. Heaving a huge sigh she turned on the cold water and washed her face. She stopped after rubbing the soap off of her face. She stared into the unfamiliar eyes that gazed critically back at her. ‘Its going to be one of those days.’ she thought and got dressed.

Staring at her reflection she wondered if her parents would notice anything. She had checked her email the night before and came to find that she had a note from her older sister and also her parents. She glared at the one from her parents. How dare they send her to a boarding school that they obviously knew nothing about. Damn them for it. She had glared at the one from her sister too. Sam hadn’t had to come to St. Luke’s, why her? After another few moments of glaring she opened the one from Sam, she could practically hear her voice :
Hey chicka! How’s the whole boarding school thing going? Well I have GREAT NEWS!! Well I guess you should first know that Benjamin is coming to visit you on parents day along with the rest of us. Well Ben finally asked me to marry him!! I know I was shocked. But I know he is the one you know? Well I guess not, but hey have you found Mr.Perfect yet?? Drop me a letter if your not too busy
Lots of Love and Hugs
Sammy^^

Anna had stared at the letter for a few minutes and went to read the one from her parents:

Hi Honey! Your father and I are looking forward to Parents Day and don’t worry we won’t embarrass you too much when we meet your teachers. Hope you are behaving and having some fun too, we got your report card and maybe you should look into a tutor in pre-cal? A 72 really your father and I expect a little more out of you. But you know we love you Baby
Hugs and Kisses
Mom

‘Your father?’ Anna thought in astonishment ‘Something is going on.’ Now standing staring at her self in the mirrored wall she pondered the letters. Sam getting married her mother’s awkward reference to the man she loved. She looked down at her watch and almost jumped out of her skin she had been standing there for at least twenty minutes. She could hear all the other alarms start to go off.

With another quick glance she noticed the claw marks from her battle the previous day. She sighed in memory of seeing the hurt on the faces of her victims. ‘Yeah that’s what they are. Victims. They deserved every thing she I dished out.’ she smiled at the memory of seeing Imani and Aaron on the ground bleeding.

“Hey are you coming out any time soon or do we need to break down the door? A voice called,

“Hold your horses!” Anna ordered back “God I can’t get any privacy.” she took one last look in the mirror and stalked over to the door. She yanked it open and scowled at Claire.

“What?” she scowled right back “I need to pee.”

Anna grabbed her backpack and her tie. She made a rather unnoticed dramatic exit, in which she bowed lowly and curtsied for each member in her member. She did a graceful leap and twirled out of the door just to see if anyone would notice, no one did.

Anna did not head straight for the dinning hall. She walked out of the main entrance and into the gardens. The flowers and trees were beginning to wither from the cold weather. She absently tied the neck tie round her neck and stared at the clouds. ‘Man,’ she thought depressingly ‘I was hoping I could eat outside today.’

Thunder rolled and crashed somewhere in the distance. Anna reluctantly walked back inside, she really had no desire to deal with people today. Despite the eagerness to disappear she walked into the hall and sat without a word. She could feel the eyes of the other students on her and she felt heat rise in her cheeks. She heard a whispered word and then a phrase and then a conversation. The hall was bustling about her little brawls yesterday.

“She’s the one right?” “Did you see that scrape on her neck?” “Can you believe she wasn’t expelled?” “I heard her parents are friends with the headmaster so he can’t exactly kick her out can he?” “That’s not what I heard. . .” “Can you believe it?”

Anna’s mind was buzzing as she tried to ignore the comments but the last one hit a nerve and she stood. The tears that seemed to always be right on the brink of her eyes threatened to spill. She grabbed her bag and without a single bite to eat walked out of the hall with her head held high. She headed straight for her first period class and sunk into the desk at the back of the room. She laid her head down on her arms and took deep breaths. History was always boring but she needed less human contact and more alone time, not that she was ever going to get that, but she could always dream.

Her class filed in and took their seats but no one really paid much attention to ‘that girl’. Her professor seemed to drone on for months before the bell rang. Anna had been resolved to take notes on the Spanish-American War, but when the bell rang and she looked down at her note book she found tons of doodles and random words. She packed up and made a move to exit when the professor called her back.

“You seemed a bit distracted today Miss Vaughn is there something you would like to tell me? You usually take exceptionally good notes.”

“I am sorry Professor,” she said not quite meeting his eyes “I didn’t sleep well last night, and I am feeling a little on the woozy side, but thank you for your concern. I promise it won’t happen again, sir.” she said hurriedly. “I need to get to math now, excuse me.” she bowed quickly and left while the next class was filing in. She glanced back once to find her professor still staring at her in a concerned manor and she smiled at him.

Anna practically sprinted to her pre-cal class. She was in the final stretch when the final bell rang and she saw the door closing. If she was locked out. . .she blocked the thought. It was hard enough having to keep up even when she was there. She slid and grabbed the door with in an inch of closing. She caught her breath and entered to find Professor Trout already beginning the lesson. A short bald man with a flamboyant manner and an oversized stomach turned as he heard the door clip shut.

A very disconcerting smile crossed his face and his eyes flashed. He really did look like a bug eyed fish. “Ahh Miss Vaughn has decided to join us today. Welcome Miss Vaughn.” the class turned and stared. Anna turned scarlet and sat down at a desk “Oh no no no Missy, stand. You will recite the trig circle starting with the angle and then the sine and cosine. Go ahead Miss Vaughn.”

Knowing that he would not let her get away with not knowing she glanced around to find the class snickering and laughing openly. Her eyes strayed and found Alex sitting in a corner. She began from memory the circle and stared straight at him. He did not look up until she was done. When he did he half scowled half smiled at her, as if he was saying ‘ Good job but I have a bone to pick with you.’

Anna glanced at her professor and found him scowling rather nastily at her. “Yes well,” he said in a huffy voice obviously upset she had not embarrassed her. “Let’s continue then shall we?” he asked the snickering teens. Throughout the entire class period Professor Trout kept trying to get Anna to answer wrongly and she kept proving him to be the fool. At the end of class there was a quiz, which Anna felt she aced. The lunch bell rang and everyone packed up. Anna was feeling a little cocky and smug. It felt good to have proven someone wrong.

“Miss Vaughn,” someone called out to her as she made her way toward the exit. She turned and saw Alex working his way toward her.

As odd as it felt to feel her heart flutter, she knew he was not happy with her. Even when he smiled and took up her pace beside her on the way to the dinning hall, she could sense his discomfort. Her ears heard the noisy hall and her feet automatically changed directions. She was headed toward the library again. Her sanctuary. They walked in silence all the way there and entered into the glass doors. They went to the second floor and found an empty corner surrounded completely by towering oak shelves and ancient dusty volumes begging to be read.

“so is there something you want to tell me before I say anything stupid?” he asked in a serious tone.

“Yeah,” she said mischievously “I creamed Aaron.” she smirked at the astonished look on his face. “And your dearest Imani too.” she bragged.

“Are you looking for a way to get expelled?” Alex didn’t need to shout to get the point across. The fire and rage burning in his eyes was proof enough for any sensible person. “Didn’t I tell you to stay the hell away from Wise? Who do you have detention with tonight? Jesus Christ! How the hell am I supposed to protect you if you keep getting yourself landed in detention?” he was angry and hurt and concerned and everything in between. He had no idea you could feel so much for one person, all at the exact same time.

“Aaron is screwing with my English grade.” she protested in a hushed tone “The one subject I care about and he is fucking around cause I won’t screw him. That’s not right, but it sure as hell explains why Kenya is passing. That brain dead wretch doesn’t know the first thing about vocabulary or grammar and. .”

Alex put up a hand and stopped her. “You couldn’t have just let it go?” he asked exasperated.

“No.”

“Fine.” he got up to go. “Come see me after your detention. You remember where my commons are right?”

“Yeah I can manage.” she didn’t move.

“Okay. See you.” he walked away.

Anna slumped in her chair and stared at the rows and rows of books. ‘There must be at least ten times as many than at my other school.’ she thought in wonder, laying her head down and staring at the wood grain.

“Well this is a fine mess you got yourself into again Vaughn.” she said out loud to herself. She hadn’t even realized she had done it.

“Isn’t talking to yourself a sign of insanity?”

Anna jumped a mile in the air and turned to see Alex standing behind her. “I forgot something.” he said “Do you want to go to the Halloween dance with me next weekend?”

“And who else would I want to go with?”
“Is that a yes?”

“I think it is.”

“Pick you up at eight? Your commons.”

“Don’t be late.”

Alex kissed her sweetly and smiled at her. He kissed her once more on the forehead and turned to go. “Oh do you already have a costume?”

“Yeah my sister is bringing it this weekend.”

“Okay see you.” he walked away and left her standing there bewildered.

‘Does that mean we are boyfriend-girlfriend?’ a part of her mind said hell yeah and the other part said to wait and see. She was leaning toward the hell yeah at this point.

The rest of her afternoon classes went by smoothly. Gardening and AP biology. By the time dinner came around Anna was floating. Alex, she considered, was her boyfriend. She kept sighing the entire day and kept having looks thrown her way. She could focus with her smile still in tact and she did as much. It wasn’t until dinner when she realized that she had a ton of homework and also she still had detention with the headmaster.

‘Damn.’ she cursed herself for not having more control over her anger. ‘Why don’t I ever listen to my reason?’ she sighed and decided to grab a sandwich and go. She was doing homework in the library all during dinner. Her pre-cal homework kept nagging at her to finish it, but she knew the history could get done a lot quicker. She heard the library clock chime seven before long and she ignored it, concentrating much to hard. By seven fifteen she had started on the tedious task of her pre cal homework that was likely to take a two hour bit out of her sleep.

The bell chimed eight and Anna was gathering her things and trying not to trip down the library’s stairs. “Bloody stairs.” she cursed out loud skipping the last four and hitting the ground at a full sprint.

“Hey you need to sign out!” the librarian, Ms. Stovey yelled at her.

Anna ignored her completely and sprinted out of the glass doors. She rounded the corners with her arms pumping at her sides. She was never late for anything. She was darting around people who yelled at her to watch it. She called an apology over her shoulder to anyone she almost ran down. She skidded to a halt outside of the beautiful oak doors at exactly 8:07 pm. She caught her breath and tried with much difficulty to compose herself before she knocked.

“Enter, Miss Vaughn you are late.” the headmaster’s voice called in an icy tone.

Though the last time she had been here it had been for a ‘lesson’ she hoped and prayed to God that he would try again. She needed another reason to beat the living shit out of someone, even if it was the headmaster. She walked in and saw the headmaster sitting rather formally at his desk.

“Well Miss Vaughn close the door and have a seat.”

Anna did as she was told. She noticed that the headmaster was using an unusually formal tone with her and she did not like the way there seemed to be anger boiling behind his gorgeous eyes. ‘No.’ she commanded herself ‘not gorgeous, evil. Dangerously, lushly evil, no damn it.’ She sat dispite the nagging feeling she had to run out of the room screaming that the head master was a master mind criminal and that he was a danger to society.

“Now Miss Vaughn are you aware of why you are here?”

“Yes sir.”

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure sir.” she said a bit confused ‘What are you getting at you bastard?’ she wanted to shout, but kept the words inside her mind.

“Well Miss Vaughn,” the fact that he wasn’t using her first name was both a relief and a disturbance in her minds eye. “I am sure you are aware that there is a rumor going around about a marriage law.”

“Sir?”

The headmaster went on to explain about the marriage law. (A/N: I know you already know so I wont make you re read it again.) Anna sat dead still in her chair. She was staring open mouthed at the headmaster who she loathed with a passion that burned brighter than a thousand suns at this point.

“With all do respect, sir.” she growled through clenched teeth “Why tell me this? I am not head of a dorm nor can I be one for the next year.”

“You see my dear,” he saw the realization strike her. She looked like she had been hit by a bus. “You are lucky. You have received three petitions. I am not happy to say that the government is not letting men have more than one wife, so I am sorry to report that I am not a petitioner.”

Anna’s sigh of relief was not meant to hurt him but she saw the slight wound she had inflicted on his ego. “I am sorry.” he said “Had I known earlier. . .”

“It would not have stopped you.” she was back to being a tiger. Vicious and growling, ready to pounce on the next victim. “It would not have mattered at all.” her temper was simmering and beginning to boil. “You would have had one of your little pawns play me and then hand me over to you so that you can have sloppy seconds.” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Sit down you ignorant little child!” the headmaster’s voice easily overpowered her own, but that did not stop her.

“Did it feel good to have me begging you? To take an innocent ‘child’? Is that all this is, a game? You are sick! A sick old pervert.”

Not for the first time her back meet a wall and it bruised. She still had scratches from the night Aaron had used her. One hand rested at her throat and the other was on the side of her head. “Don’t.” he whispered “Ever.” he inched closer “Call me that.” he closed his fist tighter around her air pipe.

“Go ahead.” she challenged “Go the hell ahead! Save me from this fucking law and the disgrace of having to live my life knowing that you were my first.” she spat at him and growled as he released her. She rubbed where his hand had been.

“Sit down Miss Vaughn.” he said taking his seat and drowning the cup of whiskey that had been sitting on the desk.

“So we’re back to formalities, Jason?” she asked.

“That’s how it has to be.”

“Fine.”

“You’ll have to tell your parents. About the law. I will be making an announcement on Parents Day. They will be shocked and angry, but try to help them see the good in it.”

“How when I can’t do that myself?”

“Horrible things will happen if you don’t marry. If anyone tries to flee this law then bad things will happen. Bankruptcy, scandals, schemes, murder make your parents see.” he was staring her straight in the eyes. He was begging she realized.

“Who are my suitors?”

The headmaster smiled and pulled out three packets.” There is level three, James Sasser. Fifth levels Aaron Wilson,” Anna visibly winced at the name “and Alex Serrano.”

“I don’t need time, I know who I want.”

“Don’t be so anxious. Think and talk it over with your parents.

“But. . .” she didn’t finish

“Please take the full month. I will allow a date with each boy and a trip to the Strand (an outlet center an hour away from the school.) Please choose wisely.” he begged her again.

“It is not your concern, Jason.” she was calling him by his first name just to annoy him.

“That is all, little Anna Banana.” he said “Unless you wish to think it over in the comfort of my bed.” he raised his eyebrow suggestively.

“No thank you, sir.” she walked out of the door and was tempted to run to the Azure commons.

She did run part of the way there and then stopped when she saw him dozing by the fire. She shook him and he looked up at her with sleep deprived eyes. He smiled at her and started to say something, but she kissed him lightly and shook her head. He took her hand and lead her to his room. She changed out of her school clothes and wore one of his t-shirts. He changed into his pajamas and slid under the covers.

She snuggled against him and he wrapped a protective arm around her waist. She closed her eyes and after a few moments she felt sleep coming. “I love you.” he barely breathed into her hair. Her breath caught and she sighed. ‘I bet he doesn’t even realized he said it.’ she thought amused and touched. She whispered into the darkness. “I love you too.”