King Of Bad [Super Villian Academy Book 1] by Kai Strand Read Free Book Online Page B

to himself. “Even in this
circus act of a place, I’m still the freak show.”
    Jeff dumped his scorched and frostbitten sandwich
into the trash and grabbed another and scarfed it
down on his way out of the cafeteria.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Chapter 10

 
    Snores from the room next door rattled the walls all
night long. Jeff barely slept and went to his first class crabby. It didn’t
matter. It seemed to Jeff that all the S.V.’s were crabby. After all the hoopla
to get him to the new school and yet he sat in normal, boring algebra. Jeff
studied his schedule and groaned. Algebra was followed by history, and then social
studies. He didn’t have any unusual classes until the afternoon.
    As slow and boring as the morning was, Jeff mourned
the loss of it when it was over. Taking a deep breath, Jeff followed a group of
kids into the cafeteria, the single worst place to have to go on your first day
at a new school. He plodded through the line dragging his tray along the metal
countertop. He got a plate heaping with turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing
all smothered in steaming brown gravy. His stomach growled at the appetizing
smell. Near the end of the line he grabbed a small bowl of applesauce and a big
glass of milk. Then he turned and faced the room swarming with teenage super
villains.
    Why am I doing this? Each table seemed to
overflow with kids. Jeff spied a table that was only half full. He bee lined
for it and slid onto an empty seat before anyone had a chance to tell him no.
He started eating right away and when the kids at the table realized he was
there, it looked as if he’d been there a while. They grimaced at him, but
didn’t tell him to beat it.
    He stuffed his mouth full of turkey smothered with
mashed potatoes and looked around the crowded room. Kids laughed with each
other and glared at others. They greeted one another with smiles and handshakes
and then sneered as soon as the kid turned his back. Jeff ate slowly and tried
not to make direct eye contact. When the cafeteria was nearly deserted, he got
up, tipped the bowl full of applesauce into his mouth and slurped it down. He
dropped his tray in the return window on the way out of the room, feeling
successful having made it through his first lunch hour unscathed.
    He had a hard time
finding his next class, Basic Abilities. It was in a completely different wing.
The hallways were narrower. The walls were a utilitarian gray. The few doors he
passed were heavy metal. Finally at the end of the hall a single doorway stood
open with a small brown sign identifying it as the classroom he was looking
for. Jeff paused in the doorway. A lack of lighting just inside the room left
Jeff disoriented. The cavernous room sloped downward in stadium seating. Where
the slope leveled out the room was brightly lit, lending a stage-like effect.
Half a dozen kids milled around a large open space waiting for the teacher to
begin the class. Jeff’s eyes adjusted to the darkness on his end of the room so
he entered and walked down the sloping aisle toward the others, ignoring his
churning stomach.
    The teacher, identified on Jeff’s schedule as
Sherlock, spotted Jeff approaching and nodded enthusiastically. Jeff almost
turned around and left. It was the first nice welcome he’d received since he
arrived and already it felt out of place and awkward.
    “Ah, I’d heard we were getting someone new today.
Terrific,” Sherlock said.
    The students were bunched into a couple of groups,
whispering about Jeff as he approached. Jeff half expected
Sherlock to ask him to introduce himself and tell a little about what he’d done
on his summer vacation. He was relieved when Sherlock got right to
business.
    “You guys know the drill. Go through the stations,
carefully and purposefully, while I work with our new student.”
    The kids paired up and moved off to different tables
around the room.
    Sherlock turned to Jeff. “You and I will begin
determining your main abilities