“Nothing. No jacket. No pants. No shoes.”
Gigi winked at me. “She’s like a detective. This is catnip for her.”
I blinked and nodded. I had no idea what catnip was. Or detective, really. I knew it was some form of police officer but the differences gave me a headache. And I didn’t need any more confusion today, Riah was proving too much for me to handle on his own let alone school.
We stopped at one of those metal contraptions in the hallway that Gigi had referred to as a locker. I fought the urge to pull out my notebook to write down all the things I was learning. Instead, I scanned the next rush of students going by, but he wasn’t one of them.
Savannah spun a dial then pulled a door open to reveal stacks of books and two small bags. She glanced over her shoulder and narrowed those blue eyes at me. “Any birth marks? Scars? Tattoos?”
“Oh…” I bit my lip and hesitated, though I didn’t know why. It wasn’t something to be embarrassed about. Then again, maybe it was. I reached down and pulled up my left sleeve to reveal the bold black letters marking my pale skin. “Well, I do have this.”
Savannah gasped. “OH MY GOD. Ma’am. You have a tattoo?”
“This is getting juicy,” Gigi whispered as they both leaned down to my arm with wide eyes. “It’s a Roman numeral thirteen.”
Savannah cocked her head to the side. “It’s not uncommon. But there’s usually a significant reason for a tattoo like that. I wonder what it means…”
“Me too.”
Savannah shrugged and pulled one of the bags out of her locker, then handed it to Gigi. “Class time.”
My heart skipped a beat. Class. Butterflies fluttered in the pit of my stomach. This was my first class ever…or as far as I knew. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. What would I have to do? Would I have to know things? Would I have to talk to people? I was praying for a no to all those questions.
As we headed down the hallway, we passed door after door and even though I wanted to pretend I wasn’t, I scanned each one for Riah. But it seemed like he’d just disappeared. Just like he had that night on the wharf.
Gigi bumped my arm. “How are you doing? You can tell us if you’re too overwhelmed.”
“Umm…” I wanted to tell her that I was. My hands shook and my palms were sweaty. But I had to be strong. If I gave in now, I’d crumble and shrivel up. “I’m nervous, but I-I think I’m okay.”
“That’s normal. But we’re here for you and we’re going to help you.”
As the hallway around us emptied until it was just us, my pulse skyrocketed. “So…um, what class is this?”
“Photography,” they both said at the same time.
We walked down to the very end of the hallway to a set of double wooden doors that Gigi yanked open like it was no big deal. Like this whole class thing wasn’t something to be afraid of. My stomach tightened and turned. A little voice in my mind was screaming at me to turn and run and never leave the house again. Which only made me want to conquer this whole school thing even more. I took a deep breath and pushed my shoulders back…then walked inside.
Everything was white, from the ceiling to the floor. Right in front of me was a wide wooden table which I somehow knew was called a desk, though I had no idea why I knew that. The chair behind it had four wheels and was sitting empty. On the wall behind the chair, the word narrative was scribbled in black ink. That meant nothing to me. Like most things.
Before I let it frustrate me, I forced my gaze to move along to the wall straight across from me. A row of windows let the mid-day sunlight pour into the room and offered a wonderful view of some pine trees. In front of the windows were about a dozen computers. I had absolutely no idea what a computer was but Landreia had one and she’d tried to explain it to me last night…until I got so frustrated I’d burst into angry tears. Those damn butterflies danced around in my stomach again at the mere thought of having to use one of them.
Savannah cut in front of me and walked over to a long, jet-black sink with a bunch of bottles, jugs, and canisters sitting on top and underneath. “Don’t let it overwhelm you, we’re gonna do this one step at a time.”
I bit my lip and nodded. “Okay.”
“Oh, who do we have here?” an unfamiliar feminine voice said from my right.
I looked over just as a beautiful woman with the brightest purple eyes I’d ever seen strolled up to us. Her hair was as red as mine and fell in waves down to her hips. She grinned and it made her eyes light up. I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans and swallowed down the rush of nerves clawing their way up my throat.
Savannah jumped forward next to the woman, then pointed to me. “This is our friend Saraphina Proctor. She’s new here.”
The woman’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, how lovely. And beautiful name, Saraphina.”
The fact that Savannah didn’t tell this woman to call me Saffie made me happier than it probably had any right to. She was respecting me even when I hadn’t asked her to. “You can call me Saffie.”
She smiled so wide it dimpled her pale cheeks. “Nice to meet you, Saffie. I’m Ms. Kelly.”
“She’s new here, too.” Savannah leaned her head on Ms. Kelly’s shoulder and made a goofy face. “But we adore her.”
Ms. Kelly chuckled. “So, Saffie, what brings you to Salem?”
“Oh, well—"
“That’s a good question.” I sighed and waved my new friends off. “It’s okay, there’s no use in pretending or being weird about it. I have amnesia, so I have no idea.”
Ms. Kelly’s violet eyes widened.
A loud bell sound ripped through the room and stung my ears.
“Oh, dear, that is the bell. Time to start class…” Ms. Kelly stepped forward and put her hand on my forearm. Her eyes were soft and kind, but there was an intensity in them I couldn’t explain. “Stick close to Savannah and Gigi, okay? Then we’ll talk when we break.”
I nodded. She winked, then turned and started to walk away when Savannah snapped her fingers.
“Oh, she needs a camera.”
Ms. Kelly paused and glanced over her shoulder. “Right. Gigi, dear, why don’t you grab mine for her to use?”
“On it!” Gigi spun and hurried to the back corner of the room then disappeared out of sight.
“Come on, let’s grab seats,” Savannah said as she took my hand and tugged me forward.
I spun and stumbled to catch up with her quick steps – then realized for the first time since walking in that there were other students in the room. Somehow I’d missed two dozen students sitting at the long tables in the middle of the room. Fortunately, none of them were paying me any attention. They were all focused on Ms. Kelly. Savannah dragged us up to the front table to where there were a handful of empty stools.
Savannah sat in the one in front and patted the one behind her. “Sit here.”
I did as she asked and noticed a few students nearby glanced over at me with confused expressions. I tucked my hair behind my ears, then leaned forward and whispered, “what happens now?”
“Ms. Kelly is explaining our assignment and then we’ll be dismissed to work on it,” Savannah whispered back. “Just hang tight, I’ll explain everything when she’s done.”