NaNo 2008 - Chapter One - Part A
Something Strange at Saint Sebastian's
By: Heather Lane
Chapter One - Everyday Secrets: In Which Elle Learns that "Gifted" Has Many Meanings
"Where the hell are my pants?" This was the first thing Elle heard as she opened the door to Mister Larabee's minivan. She paused and looked around in surprise. Of course, as is nearly always the case when someone says something potentially embarrassing, the crowd of students had suddenly and inexplicably gone silent just as the boy had said those words.
Ken, the boy who'd asked the leading and personal question, laughed and bowed at a crowd of girls, who giggled behind their hands. Elle glanced at her brother and grinned. "He's quite the charmer," she said.
Oliver's eye squinted in amusement. "Seems like," he said.
"Him and his brother both," Shysie said, as she gathered her book bag and lunchbox. "They've practically got fan clubs!"
Darian laughed. "I think they would have fan clubs, if the girls could make it official," he said. He pointed at the crowd of girls and said, "They're Ken's fans. Shin has fewer, but his are more militant."
"Militant fans?" Mister Larabee said, looking surprised. With his golden blond hair, he looked to be a more likely candidate to be Darian and Shysie's father or even Oliver and Elle's. The children he'd actually fathered got their looks from their mother, a Hispanic beauty he'd met while going to college in Australia.
Jake chuckled. "Seriously, Papí," he said. "You don't mess with Shin or they track you down."
Oliver adjusted his glasses and grabbed his school bag. "Come on, or we'll be late," he said, glancing around at the other six students. He couldn't imagine what Mister Larabee had been thinking, adopting two children and taking on two foster children, on top of the three he already had. However, it was far preferable to living with his uncle, so he wasn't about to complain.
"I'll be back to pick you up at four," Mister Larabee said. "Enjoy your first day." He chuckled softly as Marisol kissed him before hurrying off.
"Come on, guys," she said to the animal crackers in her jacket pocket. "I want to introduce you to Luke. He likes to eat elephants too!"
"She's strange," Rafi said. He pushed his dark hair away from his face and looked at his brother. "Elephants?"
"You know she only eats the elephants, Rafi," Jake said, shaking his head.
"Whatever," he replied, shaking his head as if to clear it. He turned to Elle and Oliver and said, "Welcome to Saint Sebastian's Academy for Gifted Youngsters, where the other students are so odd they make Marisol seem normal."
"She's not that bad," Jake said. As he scrambled out of the minivan, Jake nearly collided with Professor Stanford, who'd paused to look when Ken had asked his odd question. "Sorry, Professor," Jake said.
"It's fine," Professor Stanford said. He was not a very tall man, but he had a sort of presence that made the students respect him, in spite of that.
As Jake bounded away with his friends, the professor spotted Ken chatting with his brother and Michael. The crowd of students parted, so that he could get a full look at Ken. With a bit of trepidation, he looked the boy over. He was relieved to note that Ken at least seemed to have his pants. He sighed in relief.
He pushed thick brown curls away from his face and slipped through the opening to stand behind Ken. Michael was the first to notice him. His pale blue eyes widened and he tugged at a lock of blond hair. Professor Stanford smiled at him and then arched an eyebrow at Ken, who was still chattering away.
When it seemed like the boy would not notice him, he cleared his throat. "Kentarou Takamura," he said, his voice soft, but no less demanding of attention than if he'd shouted. "I trust you have some sort of explanation for using words you are well aware are not permitted on school grounds?"
Shin, Ken's brother, chuckled softly. "You cursed in front of the teacher, loser," he said, in a soft voice. He gave his brother a gentle shove and added, "You! In the hall!"
"That's what she said," Michael murmured, more out of habit than anything else.
Shin chuckled softly, mostly because Michael rarely managed to get the joke correct. This time, it just barely fit.
"Yeah, a fail of epic proportions, no?" Ken replied. He looked at the teacher and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Right, um... I meant to say, 'Where the veg are my pants'."
"Of course, of course," Professor Stanford said. He smiled and folded his hands in front of his chest. "What I meant to say was, 'You now have three demerits.'" He grinned at the other students then and added, "Lovely way to start the new school year."
The students chuckled. It was always funny when someone else was getting in trouble. Ken's nose wrinkled. He didn't care about getting into trouble and he enjoyed being the center of attention. "Sorry," he said, eliciting a few excited giggles from the girls yet again. He chuckled softly and said, "We were talking about my new video game. You start off in your underclothes and you have to find clothing and armor and stuff."
"Fascinating," the professor said. He shook his head in amusement. He sighed and left the three boys to their discussion of video games.
For a moment, he scanned the crowd of students, until he spotted the girl he'd seen with Jake earlier. She had light brown hair tied back in the twin ponytails that all the girls seemed to favor. They helped her look her age, working directly counter to her figure, which would have made some of the middle school girls jealous.
He shook the thoughts away and stepped over to her. "Danielle Sullivan, right?" At her nod, he smiled and said, "I'd like to introduce you to the class before the start of homeroom. Would that be all right?"
"Yes, Professor," Elle said.
He chuckled softly and said, "I must say, it's lovely hearing someone from my own neck of the woods, my dear." He waved and then headed towards the school building, to lean against the wall and watch the crowd of students.
Jake tapped her arm and then smiled at her. "We've got Professor Reeves for homeroom, so we won't see you until probably lunch." His brows furrowed. "You gonna be all right till then?"
"I imagine so," Elle said, nodding.
"I got science second period," Darian added, "with Professor Murray." He chewed on his lip thoughtfully and then blew on a lock of dark red-brown hair that had fallen into his eyes.
Elle looked down at her own schedule and nodded. "So have I," she said. She looked up and grinned at Darian. "So I'll see you then!" She was relieved. They'd only been living at the Larabee's home for a couple months now, but she'd already gotten close to her foster brothers. She was sure that Oliver felt the same way.
Elle looked up when a small, mousy looking man scurried up to Professor Stanford. The distressed look on his face made him look even more like a rodent. Her brows furrowed and she listened closely to what he was saying.
"We found the groundskeeper," he said, in a soft, wheezy voice.
The professor's brow furrowed. "May I assume that he was unwell, considering that you seem even more squirrelly than usual?" he said.
The mousy man grimaced. "He was dead, Professor," he said. He glanced around quickly and then looked up once again. "Shovel, sir."
Professor Stanford's face screwed up into an expression somewhere between a look of revulsion and amusement. "The local authorities were called, I assume?" When the mousy man nodded, he said, "Circle Society?"
"The headmaster thinks so. Called a faculty meeting for lunchtime."
Nodding, the professor patted his shoulder and said, "Tell him I'll be there, a bit late, but there." As the mousy man scurried away, Professor Stanford looked across the schoolyard at someone and made a circular motion. Then he pointed over at the building.
There was a strange, rhythmic clap over the chatter of students. Elle's brow furrowed when Jake and Darian echoed it immediately. "It's how they make sure everyone's payin' attention," Darian whispered.
Elle nodded. She could guess that she wasn't supposed to know anything about the dead groundskeeper, at least not yet, and she was certain that she wasn't meant to know about anything called a Circle Society. For now, she'd just file the information away and ask about it later.
"Time to head inside," an adult said. She was a pretty woman, with long dark hair. Unlike any of the other teachers Elle had encountered, she was dressed in rather casual clothes.
"Thank you," a boy said. He sounded either bored or tired, but his hazel eyes darted from one spot to another, as if were trying to take in every sight around him.
A girl beside him,, made several rapid motions with her hands. Elle didn't doubt that they were siblings. Both had the same dark hair and hazel eyes. The girl grinned and waved at him.
"See you at lunch," he said, nodding in agreement. Then he turned around and headed inside, while she hurried towards another door.
"Can she not talk?" Oliver said, nodding at her, as she headed into the building.
Jake shook his head. "Hanako talks just fine, but Hitoshi doesn't hear very well, especially in crowds, so she signs to him." He looked at Elle and said, "You've got homeroom with Hitoshi, so your class will learn sign language."
"Great!" Elle said. She waved at her brother and scampered towards the door that Professor Stanford was directing students through. She called back over her shoulder, "See you this evening, Ollie."
Elle realized as soon as she stepped inside that this wasn't the main entrance. She could only assume that she'd been directed through there because it was closer to her homeroom. The halls were congested with students moving towards their classes. She paused for a moment and looked around.
"Looking for Professor Stanford's class?" the woman who'd told them to go inside said. At Elle's nod, she pointed towards a room two doors down. "Right there."
"Thank you," she said, grinning. She headed into the room and paused. Most of the students were hanging up their jackets or sweaters in cubbies along the wall, but she hadn't worn a sweater. She shifted her schoolbag to her other hand and frowned.
"Danielle," a familiar voice called.
She blinked and looked over at the teacher's desk. "Hello, Professor," she said, grinning brightly.
"Hello, Danielle," he said. "Just stand here for now. Believe it or not, the other students already have assigned seats, in spite of it being the first day." Elle nodded, but all she wanted to do was sit down. She wasn't especially shy, but she didn't really like having to stand in front of everyone like this. She shifted from one foot to the other and bit her lip. At least, for the moment, attention was focused on things besides herself.
Professor Stanford turned his attention to the kids that were milling around the classroom and just outside of it. "All right, take your seats. Take your seats." He waved at them to emphasize his point.
"It's early," Hitoshi said in a soft monotone. "We've still got a few minutes until homeroom actually begins."
Professor Stanford nodded. "Indeed it is, Hitoshi," he said. He waved at the students to sit down, just the same. Then he stepped over towards Elle. "This is Danielle Sullivan, who's joining us from Robert E. Lee Elementary in Georgia."
"Hello, Danielle," the class chorused.
"Hello," she said, "I prefer just Elle, if y'all don't mind." She grinned at the other students and then looked up at Professor Stanford. "Is that all right, Professor Stanford?"
"That's fine. I'll adjust my attendance list accordingly. Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" he said. "Whatever you want." In a softer voice, he added, "It doesn't need to be anything personal. Just something to let them know what your interests are and help you make friends quicker. Right?"
"Sure, thing," she said. She could guess, from his words, that he knew the situation she and her brother were in - why they were living with the Larabee's, rather than their family and why they'd transferred to this school from Georgia. She looked back to her new classmates. "I've got an older brother named Oliver, but we all call him Ollie, and I like crocheting and knitting and all sorts of needlework." She looked at the professor. Was that a good enough introduction?
"Thank you," Professor Stanford said. "Why don't you take a seat behind Caleb there." He looked up and said, "Raise your hand, Caleb, so she knows who I'm talking about."
"Oh, aye, 'cause empty seat behind me won't be clue enough," a blond haired boy said, raising his hand.
Somehow his comment went unnoticed by the professor, or at least it was ignored. For which Caleb was grateful, because if Professor Stanford had noticed, he would have gotten even more demerits than he already had. Sometimes, it was a pain to live on campus and be under the watchful eye of the faculty and staff constantly. The only benifit that he could see was that he was able to sleep in a little more than the day students, because he only had to walk across campus to get to class.
Elle headed over to the empty desk. There were probably a dozen kids in the class. How long would it take her to make friends? She sat down in her seat and flipped open the desk. She dropped her books inside and then closed it.
"You crochet?" Hitoshi, who was sitting behind her, said. When Elle turned to face him, his cheeks reddened slightly. "I like to crochet. I mostly make clothes for my sister's dolls, but I made earphone covers and scarves too."
"I make stuffed animals," Elle said. Elle was careful to look directly at him as she spoke. Since she was using a soft voice, she was worried he wouldn't be able to hear her. She grinned and said, "Maybe we can start a craft club or something."
Hitoshi's eyes widened. "Yeah," he said, nodding. He grinned and looked away. "Yeah, maybe we can."
"So," Shin said, from behind her, catching her attention. "What classes do you have today?"
Elle was shocked by how similar the twins looked, now that she was close enough to get a good look at them. Both had the same red-blond hair and pale blue eyes. In spite of their names, they didn't look at all Japanese. She shook the errant thoughts away and glanced at her schedule again. "English, General Science, Algebra and something called Enrichment," she said. She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure I like algebra."
"I'll do you one better," Ken said, chuckling. "I know I don't like algebra. Algebra is evil, like peas."
"Peas aren't evil," Caleb said. He laughed then. "Can you imagine evil peas? What would an evil pea look like?"
"Little mustache," Hitoshi said, smirking. "Maybe a general's hat - those helmets from World War Two."
Elle laughed and shook her head. "I'd think they'd be stained red with little devil horns," she said.
Ken laughed and shook his head. He looked over at his brother. "Can't you just see Uncle Tomo's reaction?" he said. He pretended that he was examining a plate of peas. "What is wrong these pea? They are red and they have horns."
"They're evil," the twins said together. They began laughing then and Professor Stanford looked up from his paperwork.
"All right, all right, simmer down," he said. He stood up, just as the National Anthem began playing over the public address system. He waved his hand and, as the singer began the first words, the students also stood up. Most of them sang along, as well. Hitoshi, Elle noticed, signed the words as well.
The Pledge to the Flag followed after the anthem and then morning announcements. Most of them were fairly routine warnings of upcoming school activities and the like. They concluded with, "It saddens me to announce that Mister Smith, longtime groundskeeper here at Saint Sebastian's, was found dead this morning. At the moment, it appears to be an accident involving a shovel. However, the police are investigating. Students are asked to stay out of the Northeast courtyard until further notice. The pandas are asked to meet with Professor Patterson after school today in the north conference room. The rats are asked to meet in the Science Room to go over the report for Project 789."
There was much chatter among the students regarding the dead groundskeeper. However, Elle had something else on her mind. "Pandas? Rats?" she said. Her brows furrowed and she looked around. "Aren't pandas those bears in China?"
"They're more closely related to raccoons, actually," Ken said. He pulled his glasses out of desk and put them on. Then he grinned, eliciting a few sighs from some girls in the back of the room.
Hitoshi rolled his eyes. "Ignore the fangirls, Elle. They're always like that." He shrugged. "They don't mean that kind of panda," he said, sounding either bored or tired. "I'm a panda."
Elle looked confused and shook her head. "No," she said, "you're a little boy."
"Yeah," Hitoshi said, "that too." He sighed and looked over at the professor. "She hasn't even been read in yet?"
"She will be," Professor Stanford said. He clapped his hands together in the same strange rhythm the woman outside had and class echoed the rhythm with their own claps. This time Elle knew what to expect, so she joined in.
Professor Stanford smiled and picked up a piece of chalk from his desk. "Let's get started, shall we?" he said. He turned to face the chalkboard.
Something Strange at Saint Sebastian's
By: Heather Lane
Chapter One - Everyday Secrets: In Which Elle Learns that "Gifted" Has Many Meanings
"Where the hell are my pants?" This was the first thing Elle heard as she opened the door to Mister Larabee's minivan. She paused and looked around in surprise. Of course, as is nearly always the case when someone says something potentially embarrassing, the crowd of students had suddenly and inexplicably gone silent just as the boy had said those words.
Ken, the boy who'd asked the leading and personal question, laughed and bowed at a crowd of girls, who giggled behind their hands. Elle glanced at her brother and grinned. "He's quite the charmer," she said.
"Seems like," Oliver said. He adjusted his glasses and grabbed his school bag. "Come on, or we'll be late."
"I'll be back to pick you up at four," Mister Larabee said. "Enjoy your first day." He chuckled softly as Marisol kissed him before hurrying off.
"Come on, guys," she said to the animal crackers in her jacket pocket. "I want to introduce you to Luke. He likes to eat the elephants!"
"She's strange," Rafi said. He looked at Elle and Oliver and said, "Welcome to Saint Sebastian's Academy for Gifted Youngsters, where the other students are so odd they make Marisol seem normal."
"She's not that bad," Jake said. As he scrambled out of the minivan, Jake nearly collided with Professor Stanford, who'd paused to look when Ken had asked his odd question. "Sorry, Professor," Jake said.
"It's fine," Professor Stanford said. He finally spotted Ken chatting with his brother and Michael. With a bit of trepidation, he looked the boy over. He was relieved to note that Ken at least seemed to have his pants. He sighed and arching an eyebrow at Ken, then cleared his throat. "Kentarou Takamura! I trust you have some sort of explanation for using words you are well are not permitted on school grounds?"
Shin, Ken's brother, chuckled softly. "You cursed in front of the teacher, loser," he said.
Ken rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and said, "Right, um... I meant to say, 'Where the veg are my pants'."
"Of course, of course," Professor Stanford said. He smiled and folded his hands in front of his chest. "What I meant to say was, 'You now have three demerits.'" He grinned at the other students then and added, "Lovely way to start the new school year."
The students chuckled. It was always funny when someone else was getting in trouble. Ken's nose wrinkled. He didn't care about getting into trouble and he enjoyed being the center of attention. "Sorry," he said, eliciting a few excited giggles from the girls in the back of the room. He chuckled softly and said, "We were talking about my new video game. You start off in your underclothes and you have to find clothing and armor and stuff."
"Fascinating," the professor said. He shook his head in amusement. He looked at Elle and said, "Danielle Sullivan, right?" At her nod, he smiled and said, "I'd like to introduce you to the class before the start of homeroom. Would that be all right?"
"Yes, Professor," Elle said.
He chuckled softly and said, "I must say, it's lovely hearing someone from my own neck of the woods, my dear." He waved and then headed into the school building.
Jake tapped her arm and then smiled at her. "We've got Professor Reeves for homeroom, so we won't see you until probably lunch." His brows furrowed. "You gonna be all right till then?"
"I imagine so," Elle said, nodding.
"I got science second period," Darian added, "with Professor Murray."
Elle looked down at her own schedule and nodded. "So have I," she said. She looked up and grinned at Darian. "So I'll see you then!" She was relieved. They'd only been living at the Larabee's home for a couple months now, but she'd already gotten close to her foster brothers. She was sure that Oliver felt the same way.
There was a strange, rhythmic clap over the chatter of students. Elle's brow furrowed when Jake and Darian echoed it immediately. "It's how they make sure everyone's payin' attention," Darian whispered.
"Time to head inside," an adult said. She was a pretty woman, with long dark hair. Unlike the other teachers, she was dressed in rather casual clothes.
"Thank you," Hitoshi said.
A girl beside him, his sister Hanako, made several rapid motions with her hands. Then she grinned and waved at him.
"See you at lunch," he said.
"Can she not talk?" Oliver said, nodding at Hanako, as she headed into the building.
Jake shook his head. "She talks just fine, but Hitoshi doesn't hear very well, especially in crowds, so she signs to him." He looked at Elle and said, "You've got homeroom with Hitoshi, so your class will learn sign language."
"Great!" Elle said. She waved at her brother and scampered towards the door. "See you this evening, Ollie."
There were teachers inside, directing students towards their homerooms, so Elle didn't have any trouble finding Professor Stanford's class. "Hello, Professor," she said, grinning brightly.
"Hello, Danielle," he said. "Just stand here for now. Believe it or not, the other students already have assigned seats, in spite of it being the first day." Elle nodded, but all she wanted to do was sit down. She wasn't especially shy, but she didn't really like having to stand in front of everyone like this. She shifted from one foot to the other and bit her lip. At least, for the moment, attention was focused on people besides herself.
Professor Stanford turned his attention to the kids that were milling around the classroom and just outside of it. "All right, take your seats. Take your seats." He waved at them to emphasize his point.
"It's early," Hitoshi said in a soft monotone. "We've still got a few minutes until homeroom actually begins."
Professor Stanford nodded. "Indeed it is, Hitoshi," he said. He waved at the students to sit down, just the same. Then he stepped over towards Elle. "This is Danielle Sullivan, who's joining us from Robert E. Lee Elementary in Georgia."
"Hello, Danielle," the class chorused.
"Hello," she said, "I prefer just Elle, if y'all don't mind." She grinned at the other students and then looked up at Professor Stanford. "Is that all right, Professor Stanford?"
"That's fine. I'll adjust my attendance list accordingly. Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" he said. "Whatever you want." In a softer voice, he added, "It doesn't need to be anything personal. Just something to let them know what your interests are and help you make friends quicker. Right?"
"Sure, thing," she said. She could guess, from his words, that he knew the situation she and her brother were in - why they were living with the Larabee's, rather than their family and why they'd transfered to this school from Georgia. She looked back to her new classmates. "I've got an older brother named Oliver, but we all call him Ollie, and I like crocheting and knitting and all sorts of needlework." She looked at the professor. Was that a good enough introduction?
"Thank you," Professor Stanford said. "Why don't you take a seat behind Caleb there." He looked up and said, "Raise your hand, Caleb, so she knows who I'm talking about."
"Oh, aye, 'cause empty seat behind me won't be clue enough," a blond haired boy said, raising his hand.
Somehow his comment went unnoticed by the professor, or at least it was ignored. For which Caleb was grateful, because if Professor Stanford had noticed, he would have gotten even more demerits than he already had. Sometimes, it was a pain to live on campus and be under the watchful eye of the faculty and staff constantly. The only benifit that he could see was that he was able to sleep in a little more than the day students, because he only had to walk across campus to get to class.
Elle headed over to the empty desk. There were probably a dozen kids in the class. How long would it take her to make friends? She sat down in her seat and flipped open the desk. She dropped her books inside and then closed it.
"You crochet?" Hitoshi, who was sitting behind her, said. When Elle turned to face him, his cheeks reddened slightly. "I like to crochet. I mostly make clothes for my sister's dolls, but I made earphone covers and scarves too."
"I make stuffed animals," Elle said. Elle was careful to look directly at him as she spoke. Since she was using a soft voice, she was worried he wouldn't be able to hear her. She grinned and said, "Maybe we can start a craft club or something."
Hitoshi's eyes widened. "Yeah," he said, nodding. He grinned and looked away. "Yeah, maybe we can."
"So," Shin said, from behind her, catching her attention. "What classes do you have today?"
Elle was shocked by how similar the twins looked, now that she was close enough to get a good look at them. Both had the same red-blond hair and pale blue eyes. In spite of their names, they didn't look at all Japanese. She shook the errant thoughts away and glanced at her schedule again. "English, General Science, Algebra and something called Enrichment," she said. She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure I like algebra."
"I'll do you one better," Ken said, chuckling. "I know I don't like algebra. Algebra is evil, like peas."
"Peas aren't evil," Caleb said. He laughed then. "Can you imagine evil peas? What would an evil pea look like?"
"Little mustache," Hitoshi said, smirking. "Maybe a general's hat - those helmets from World War Two."
Elle laughed and shook her head. "I'd think they'd be stained red with little devil horns," she said.
Ken laughed and shook his head. He looked over at his brother. "Can't you just see Uncle Tomo's reaction?" he said. He pretended that he was examining a plate of peas. "What is wrong these pea? They are red and they have horns."
"They're evil," the twins said together. They began laughing then and Professor Stanford looked up from his paperwork.
"All right, all right, simmer down," he said. He stood up, just as the National Anthem began playing over the public address system. He waved his hand and, as the singer began the first words, the students also stood up. Most of them sang along, as well. Hitoshi, Elle noticed, signed the words as well.
The Pledge to the Flag followed after the anthem and then morning announcements. Most of them were fairly routine warnings of upcoming school activities and the like. They concluded with, "The pandas are asked to meet with Professor Patterson after school today in the north conference room. The Rats are asked to meet in the Science Room to go over the report for Project 789."
"Pandas? Rats?" Elle said. Her brows furrowed and she looked around. "Aren't pandas those bears in China?"
"They're more closely related to raccoons, actually," Ken said. He pulled his glasses out of desk and put them on. Then he grinned, eliciting a few sighs from some girls in the back of the room.
Hitoshi rolled his eyes. "Ignore the fangirls, Elle. They're always like that." He shrugged. "They don't mean that kind of panda," he said, sounding either bored or tired. "I'm a panda."
Elle looked confused and shook her head. "No," she said, "you're a little boy."
"Yeah," Hitoshi said, "that too." He sighed and looked over at the professor. "She hasn't even been read in yet?"
"She will be," Professor Stanford said. He clapped his hands together in the same strange rhythm the woman outside had and class echoed the rhythm with their own claps. This time Elle knew what to expect, so she joined in.
Professor Stanford smiled and picked up a piece of chalk from his desk. "Let's get started, shall we?" he said. He turned to face the chalkboard.
"For the month of November, we are going to be engaging in a fantastic voyage," he said, as he wrote out the words, "National Novel Writing Month" on the board. "That gives you about two months to plan your novels. Today, we'll begin examining different possible genres that you might choose for your novel."
Elle's brow furrowed and she bit her lip as she began taking notes. She'd never written a novel before - or even a short story. How did someone even come up with an idea for a story? Where did you start?
"We'll start with the horror genre," the professor said, as he leaned back against the edge of his desk. "A horror story is one intended to elicit fear in the reader, so, we'll start with the simple question of, 'What is your greatest fear?'" He glanced around and said, "Ken."
"Evil peas," Ken said immediately. He giggled, and the three girls in the back of the room echoed the sound. When Professor Stanford crossed his arms over his chest, he said, "For real, though, my worst fear is that it's the dead of winter, and I go out to get something out of the car when it's dark. I slip and fall, and no one comes out to help me because they're watching, like, Grey's Anatomy or something."
The professor nodded. "So," he said, "let's brainstorm a bit. How could we turn that around and make a horror story out of it? Or, if not an entire story, how can we make that a scene in such a story?"
For a moment, no one said anything. Elle glanced around at her classmates. Ken shrugged. He'd given them the starting point. Hitoshi's brows were furrowed, as if he were deep in thought. Shin looked as lost as she did. Caleb was scribbling in his notebook, looking for all the world as though he wasn't paying attention to the discussion.
"Anyone?"
That was the teacher. If no one answered, he'd call on someone. Elle bit her lip. "Maybe... maybe something's out there and attacks him?" she said. Her voice came out soft and filled with uncertainty.
"That's a good start," the professor said, nodding. He walked over to the chalkboard and started writing. "Let's keep going along that vein. So, our character goes out to his car at night - it's the dead of winter and pitch black. He slips and falls. Is that when something attacks him?"
"No," Hitoshi said, "that's not scary enough." His brows furrowed even more. "Maybe he sits there a bit, like he hurt himself, and he tries to call for help."
"But his friend doesn't hear him," Caleb piped up, "'cause he's watching Grey's Anatomy." He looked up from his notebook and grinned.
"Then he hears something moving in the bushes," Shin said, leaning forward in his seat.
"That would be a good moment for a classic horror tool called a cat scare," the professor said. "The reader is expecting something to happen to him, especially with the strange noise in the bushes, so instead, a cat would run out into the open."
"Oh," Elle said, grinning, "maybe, he finally gets up - after the cat scare - and gets inside and his friend has been attacked by something!"
"Like an evil pea!" Ken said, sounding excited. He chuckled and ducked his head. "or not..."
"It came from cupboard," Caleb said, in a low ominous voice. There was scattered laughter around the room.
"That's actually a very nice twist on a classic tool," Professor Stanford said. He smiled and jotted down the notes from their brainstorming. "And the evil pea is actually not a bad idea," he said, earning scattered laughter from the class. "There have been horror movies based on the idea that produce might attack people. The question is, why are the peas attacking and how did they become animated?"
"Maybe they're possessed," Shin said. He bit his lip and said, "I read something about vampire pumpkins once. If squash can be vampiric, why not any vegetable?"
"So the peas are possessed - vampire peas," Professor Stanford said, jotting that down with the rest of the notes. "Why do they attack? What are they after? What is the form of their attack? What does our character see when he returns from his adventure with the cat?"
"Just... nothing," Hitoshi said. He straightened in his seat and said, "That'd be way scarier than a dead body or blood everywhere, 'cause his friend didn't come outside, or the other guy would have seen him."
`"Very good," Professor Stanford said. He smiled and set the chalk down. "I want all of you to take this as your starting point. Write the story as far as you can take it and try to get it to some sort of ending - happy or sad, it's up to you."
Elle nodded and began writing. She started with what they'd already decided and went from there. By the time the bell rang to tell them that class was over, her character had discovered his friend's body in the dried vegetable patch behind the house. "That was fun," she said, as she gathered her English books and put them away.
Caleb nodded. "I never thought of writing any kind of story," he said, "but I think working on the beginning together made it even better."
They looked up when Professor Stanford clapped to get their attention. "For Monday," he said, over the sound of students folding up their books, "I'd like you to finish your stories. I'm not setting a length requirement, but don't be afraid to leave the ending unknown - with room for a sequel perhaps - if you find that you're running out of time. These are supposed to be short stories, after all."
"You have science next, right?" Caleb said.
Elle bit her lip and nodded. She wasn't quite sure where the science class was. They never switched classes in her old elementary school, except for things like gym or library, where they simply couldn't have the class held in a normal room.