The world is full of strange things.

People with curious minds and adventurous spirits usually find these things in their search for more and more and more. But, what they find is sometimes exactly what they're supposed to find. And sometimes the world hides what is meant to be concealed. There are thousands of universes all around us, some right in front of our faces that we simply ignore. Our minds ride a single wavelength that approves what we find to be acceptable and rejects that which can't help but to be different, to be more than what we want it to be. So, it would be perfectly understandable to believe in things that we can't see.

Things we weren't meant to see.

♡♡♡

Ms. Tanya Jerry was a new teacher at Pearl Grove High. She'd never been married, didn't bother with relationships and always dreamt of traveling the world. For five years, she'd been in the business and truly thought there was nothing that could surprise her. Oh, if she could go back in time and become the lawyer her parents always wanted her to be. Grumbling and mumbling under her breath, she pulled her lunch out from the fridge in the teacher's lounge and sat at the big round table with a loud sigh. Another fellow co-worker, Mr. Redford who was one of those older men that expressed their feelings through different pitched grunts, bent the corner of his newspaper to look at her.

"Something happen in class?" He asked gruffly.
Tanya looked up in shock at the burly man. It wasn't that he never spoke, rather he had never spoken to her willingly.

"What?"
"You look tired today."
"I—I didn't know you noticed."
"I have eyes."

He lapsed back into silence, returning to his newspaper before looking up at Tanya expectantly.

"Oh! Uh, well, a couple of students have been causing trouble in class today and I had to give them after school detention."

"Really?" Mr. Redford raised an eyebrow. Tanya thought it was the first time she'd ever seen him do so. "Who were the kids?"

"Abel Hughes and Kaia Roberts."

"Kaia Roberts?" He said in a surprised tone. "I understand the Hughes boy, but the girl's never been in an ounce of trouble before. Now I'm interested."

"I—"

"Oh, you two would never believe the day I've had!"

Mrs. Wilkes was a spirited teacher if there ever was one as she burst through the door. Coming in at four years Tanya's senior (31 although she'd hardly admit it carrying a soul much older than that) with a gossip hotline in use 24/7, Tanya thought Mrs. Wilkes was a real firecracker. Quite opposite of the classy and extremely strict Ms. Johnson who was widowed at 45 and deprived of the blue blood life in less than two years.

The first woman sat at the table in a dramatic fashion, palms down and eyes darting between Tanya and Mr. Redford, who withdrew behind his newspaper the minute they entered. Ms. Johnson moved with a little more grace to her although Tanya didn't see how much more graceful she could be in a floral print dress with a neckline that looked like it would choke the life out of her.

"Now, you both know the Woods boy and the Favreau girl?"

"Jasper and Jenevieve." Mr. Redford mumbled in correction.

"Well, they happen to be very, very close and I've noticed," she shook her finger at Tanya, "Melanie Weston has been hanging out with Jasper a lot more. But, that's not all! I have the whole lot in my second period. One of the other students, a real horror this one is—David is his name—was making trouble to the Weston girl while my back was turned. And what do I see when I turn around?"

"A virgin being sacrificed?"

"Boys don't like funny girls," was the sharp accusation of Ms. Johnson. Mrs. Wilkes patted Tanya's hand with an amused smile.

"Noted."

"You are very strange. Anyways! When I look at the class, David is on the floor and there's blood—blood!—spouting from his nose with Jasper, Jenevieve and Melanie standing above him! I don't know who hit him although I'm terribly sorry I missed it, he's such an annoying child. Naturally, I had to give them all after-school detention, so I guess it'll be very full tomorrow. Mr. Redford, what do you think?"

"Hm."
"Ah, yes. The primal muttering of men."

"Actually," Tanya piped up in the hopes of continuing her previous conversation with Mr. Redford to stop him from glaring evilly at Mrs. Wilkes, "I had a fight in my class, too."

This caught both womens attentions.
"No!" Mrs. Wilkes gasped. "Who?"

"Abel Hughes and Kaia Roberts." Mr. Redford answered curtly.

"The Roberts girl? She couldn't possibly get in a fight—"

"Oh, you misunderstand me. Abel was the one who initiated the fight with another boy. He knocked him out cold, but I'm pretty sure it was in her defense. I had to send the boy to the nurse's office, a couple others carried him there."

"Well, if this is a competition, I surely take the crown." Ms. Johnson said smugly, continuing before Tanya could tell her it was no such thing. "I caught Liam Goodman and Anastasia Mercer skipping class. Detention. Logan Bennet was sleeping in my first period. Detention. Miriam Bishop was tardy to my fifth period. Detention."

"Miriam Bishop?" Tanya said curiously. "I never thought the day would come where that girl would be late to class."

"Well, it was her first, but I don't easily forgive. Plus," she raised her chin, "Stella Bridges and Asher Bringham? The theater boy? Disruptive, the both of them."

"Let me guess," Mr. Redford interrupted with an annoyed face, "detention."

"Precisely."

"We've had quite the day, haven't we, Ms. Jerry?" She said with a tittering laugh. "And what about you, Paul? Anything happen in your classes today?"

"Samuel Grant came to school drunk. Lucky kid." The last part trailed off into a mutter, but clear enough for Tanya to catch the laughter in her throat.

"Was that a joke?" The older woman asked, her tone of voice sharpening just a little.

"What do you think, Eugenia?"

Tanya felt her jaw would hit the floor as Ms. Johnson let out a little hmph, Mr. Redford sending her the slyest of winks before lifting his newspaper higher.

"Well, it was...interesting talking to you." She said stiffly.
"Can't say the same."

Ms. Johnson promptly got up at the abrupt dismissal of the only man in the room and disappeared out the door with Mrs. Wilkes on her heels, leaving behind an icy chill that Mr. Redford broke by putting down his paper and taking a noisy sip of his Coke. Tanya smiled a little as she peeled her yogurt open, pulling a spoon out of her bag.

"So...drunk, huh?"

He looked her right in the eye without even the smallest expression of humor.

"As a virgin the day before her sacrifice."

♡♡♡

i struggled so bad to figure out how to introduce the
characters without it being overwhelming and now that
i have teachers, i had the deep need to give them faces. they won't be major components to the story, but they'll be around.
throwing everyone in detention, no doubt—

so!

TANYA JERRY
portrayed by Marisa Tomei

PAUL REDFORD
portrayed by Scott Patterson

ANDIE WILKES
portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter

EUGENIA JOHNSON
portrayed by Jane Fonda