ONE
“Poe was twenty-seven at the time, and his cousin-a.k.a, fiancée-Virginia, was fourteen.”
“Actually, she was only thirteen.” The teacher-Mr. Nett-turned, throwing a vicious glare at the interrupting intruder.
“And who,” he said, pulling down his glasses, as if to get a better look. “are you?”
“My name is Raven Emerson,” the girl said, stepping into the classroom. She was a small, very slim girl, not five feet tall, with long, jet-black hair, alabaster skin and piercing purple-blue eyes surrounded by thick black eyeliner. She was wearing knee-high combat boots, skintight black jeans, a black army jacket that was a few sizes too big, and a t-shirt that said, “I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity” in purple, gothic font. She had a ring in her nose and two in her purple lips. The class was, at first, taken aback by her eccentric style, then she saw them all turn their gaze towards a guy sitting in the seat in the very back of the classroom. All, including Mr. Nett and Raven, could see the uncanny similarities in the two. Raven’s lips turned up slightly in a small smile at seeing another student like her. Then she turned back to Mr. Nett. “I’m new. I just started here today, and this school is gigantic compared to my old school, so, yeah, I got lost.” She flashed an apologetic smile at Mr. Nett. He stared at her for a long while before finally saying, “Yes, I got an email about a new student. Have a seat anywhere. I can see you are a Poe enthusiast,” he continued as Raven sat in the only open seat: the one way in the back, next to the boy dressed like her.
“Yes, I love Poe. He is my literary idol. It is infuriating how the people of his time did not recognize his staggering genius.” Mr. Nett nodded, uninterested.
“Well, I am glad you are interested in his works, but I do not need a student correcting my lesson.”
“But your lesson was wrong.” This enticed the class into loud hooting and “Ooh’s!” Mr. Nett’s face flamed tomato-red, from embarrassment and fury.
“Maybe,” Mr. Nett said through clenched teeth. “You need to go meet our principle, Mr. Clark.”
“So… I’m in trouble for being right?” More hooting from the class.
“You are in trouble for back-talking!” Raven threw her head back, laughing energetically.
“You consider that back-talking? Oh, wow,” Raven said, wiping a tear that had slid down her cheek from all her laughter. “Seriously, if that’s back-talking, Mr. Clark is going to be my new best friend!” Raven called from the hall as she left the classroom.
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