Circumstellar by J.W. Lolite Read Free Book Online

I stuffed the note back inside the envelope and glared at the stick-dot thing. Was it so much to ask that I actually got a break every now and then? Shit. What was that? Like two whole sentences?  And it wasn’t even on a full piece of paper, either. Just some little cheap-ass note card . . . when did it get so dark?
    Startled, I looked up and into soul-stealing black. Mrs. Mizar was standing beside me, her ominous shadow casting over my desk. Her eyes moved down away from mine. I looked down and saw what caught her attention. The envelope laid in full view right over my notebook. I contemplated snatching it up for a second before deciding that would probably only land me in more trouble. Besides, if she really wanted to read my little love note and embarrass me in front the class, she was going to be disappointed.
    “I, uh –”
    “Well, well, Miss Fairheit. I’m glad to see you’re finally taking an interest in the sciences. Unfortunately, it seems that while you are up in space, the rest of us are still here on Earth mastering classification,” she quipped, turning and walking back towards the board. “But I assure you, astronomy will come soon enough. Right after genus and species. Kings play chess on fine green sand, children.”
    Relief washed over me, and I pushed the envelope back under my notebook. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lesia looking at me. Ignoring her, I spent the rest of the period lost in taxonomy land with Mrs. Mizar, determined not to get caught again.
     
    I managed to make it through the rest of the day without much incident, but it wasn’t like I had to keep sneaking a peak at the note to know what it said. It was pretty straight to the point on what I had to do. I’d been waiting for Lesia to ask about the letter, but she didn’t say a word about it. It was a bit unnerving, to tell the truth. I knew she was fully aware that something was up, but all I got was feigned ignorance. It crossed my mind that she was probably trying to respect my privacy or wait for me to bring it up, but the more exciting part of my mind concluded she was just waiting for the right moment to spring. Either way, the suspense was really starting to get to me, and her patience far outweighed mine.
    The more I thought about all that happened, the more I wanted to spill everything to my friends. They had always been there for me, and I for them. This time was different; I knew they would only freak out if they found out about the attack and stop me from going to that temple. I couldn’t let that happen now that I was so close to potentially finding out something about what had happened last night. I would tell Ty and Lesia everything soon, but right now, I needed to do this more than anything. I needed to know about those strange guys, and maybe I might find out something about myself. A surge of determination flashed through me as I resolved to go seek out the temple. I just hoped the note wasn’t some bogus lead.
    We made our way down the hall and out to the front gates when Ty turned to speak to us. “So, ladies, what do you want to do for the rest of the afternoon? I managed to find some spare change around the house ‘ cause I know a certain someone’s been dying to go to the arcade,” Ty sang out while pulling a bag of change from his pocket. It was so true. I’d been itching to get on the joystick and earn some respect. There was nothing more satisfying that kicking some poor arcade junky’s ass with a sword-wielding Chinese girl to the beats of a Japanese dance machine. Resolve, Ingrid, resolve. No! I had to go to the temple. I already decided! It’s a shame determination didn’t come with the same entertainment value as a video game.
    “Sorry, Ty,” I declined, my voice laden with disappointment. “I can’t. I already planned to go . . .um,” I paused, trying to think of, well, anything, “home.” That was hard. “My aunt. I didn’t see her this morning, and I need to go check on