School Spirits - By Rachel Hawkins Page 0,13

could it be navigating high school? All I had to do was go into the main office, hand the secretary my (fake) paperwork, get a schedule, and then…go to class. Mom and I had agreed I shouldn’t start asking questions about the attack on the science teacher too quickly, but I could definitely keep my ear to the ground.

I’d studied a map of the school last night, but that didn’t prepare me for the crush of people and confusing warren of hallways and stairs and classrooms as I walked through the giant double doors. It was so…loud. To my left, a group of girls shrieked and laughed about something, while just in front of me, two boys were shouting at each other, earbuds jammed firmly in their ears.

Pushing my shoulders back, I tried to move with the same sense of purpose that everyone else seemed to have, but that wasn’t really helpful since I didn’t actually know where I was going. I wandered down one hallway, only to have to double back when it dead-ended in a row of lockers. Then I thought I’d found the main office, but that was actually the attendance office.

“The main office is in the east wing,” the harried attendance lady had told me, and I’d nodded and mumbled, “Thanks,” like I knew where the heck the east wing was.

Well, other than east, obviously.

By the time I found the main office, it was nearly time for first period, and the secretary hardly looked at my papers. “Here,” she said, shoving a folder at me. “Schedule and list of extracurricular activities. Now get moving before third bell.”

Third bell? There hadn’t even been one so far.

At that moment, a harsh buzzing filled the air, and as I stepped out into the corridor, kids suddenly began to sprint for the staircases and other hallways. Pressing myself against the wall, I struggled to open the folder and not get run over. As I did, I kept up a running monologue with myself. Oh my God, chill out. Your heart is going a million miles an hour over a bunch of kids? You fight monsters. Get a hold of yourself, Brannick.

And I’d almost managed to do that when a boy nearly a foot taller than me collided with my shoulder, sending the folder spinning out of my hands, papers scattering everywhere.

My muscles tensed, and before I could stop it, my hand had darted out to…I don’t know, grab the guy, or punch him, or who knew what. Thank God he’d already moved too far past me, and my hand just flopped harmlessly in midair.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm down. The last thing I needed was to let my instincts take over before I’d even set foot in my first class. I knelt down and started to pick up my papers.

“Hey, you okay?”

A boy about my age stood in front of me. Sandy brown hair fell in his eyes, which, I noticed, were dark brown. “Just, uh, dropped some stuff.”

Crouching down, the boy gathered up my schedule and list of school clubs while I fished the map out from under the water fountain. “You must be new,” he said, and my head shot up.

“How did you know?”

“Um, the folder saying ‘NEW STUDENT’ kind of gave it away.”

Oh, right. Now that he mentioned it, that was scrawled across the top. “Ah,” I said, unsure of what else to say.

“And according to this,” he continued, brandishing my schedule, “you and I have first period English together. Come on, I’ll walk you.”

As I followed him, the boy adjusted his dark green backpack covered in various badges that read things like, “Rusted Nail,” and “The Filthy Monkeys.” I figured either those were bands, or this kid was in the weirdest Boy Scout troop ever.

“I’m Adam,” he threw over his shoulder. When I just nodded, he stopped. “I’m assuming you have a name, too.”

“Oh. Yeah. Izzy. My name is Izzy.”

Adam inclined his head. “Well, nice to meet you, Izzy.”

There was another bell, the second one, and I heard doors begin to close. “Is that—” I started, but Adam waved a hand. “You’re new and I was showing you around and being a good citizen. We’re good. So.” Still walking, he held up the list of extracurricular activities. “Have you picked which of our fine organizations to join yet?”

I took the paper back. “Seeing as how I’ve been here all of five minutes, no. And besides, I’m not much of a joiner.”

“Fair enough,” he