TO LIGHT MY FIRE

TEN

EVE’S POV

Last period seemed to go slower as the days passed.

However, today was not so bad because Mr Collins was standing in for Mrs George who was having a baby right this second.

We weren’t exactly learning anything today since Mrs George didn’t leave a lesson plan, and also Mr Collins knew nothing about Trigonometry.

He allowed us to do whatever we wanted while he sat writing in his black notebook which he carried everywhere.

My phone buzzes and I realize that it’s Cassie.

Cassandra: Do you want to explain why I have blood on my favourite sneakers?

That’s the one thing I didn’t tell her.

When Oz finished his story last night, I demanded that he let us go. To my surprise he did.

Before I was able to drag me and Cassi’s sleeping figure out the door he grabbed my arm.

‘If anything happens, call out for me.’

I thought that was so strange even after witnessing Lucy’s death and Oz’s eyes changing colours.

Thankfully when I got home last night Mom was too drunk to walk and Dad was too tired to see.

Eve: I’ll talk at lunch.

Turning my phone off, I shoved it in my skirt pocket. These uniforms were also something that I was getting tired of along with the long school days. We all have to be here from 7:30 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon.

A loud squeal came from the front of the room.

‘Clark Jaxx is staying in the Peterland Boatel!’

Loud conversation arose about the topic. The same statements were swimming around the room.

I have to see him. He is my soul mate.

Why would he stay here?

We have to see him after school! This will get me some extra followers if I post a pic with him!

The thundering sound of a book slamming hushed every teenage girl in the room.

Mr Collins has closed his journal and was up at the board now drawing a horizontal line across the length of it.

‘I have decided that I am going to teach today.’ He put on his spectacles and wrote numbers at the beginning of the incredibly straight line.

‘Can any tell me something important that happened in the 1600’s?’

I’d almost forgot that Mr Collins’ previous job was as a history college professor.

Bridget, the smartest and the most obnoxious in our grade, confidently rose her hand.

When Mr Collins realized that no one else was going to volunteer themselves for failure he called on her.

‘The 1600’s were the ‘Age of Religious Wars and Absolutism,’ Bridget said this like the little robot she was.

‘Correct, and what exactly happened toward the end of this period?’

‘The Salem Witch Trials.’ I realized I had burst out the answer when Bridget sneered at me and pulled her oily hair into a pony tail. Did she bathe in chicken grease?

Oh yeah, did I mention that she didn’t like me? I honestly don’t remember why she didn’t, but maybe I’ll come up with it later.

Mr Collins beamed my way and wrote ‘The Salem Witch Trials’ in capital letters on the chalk board.

‘Between the 1500’s and 1600’s, more than fifty thousand people were assumed and convicted of being worshippers of Lucifer,’ he checked through the window of our classroom. I guess he was trying to see if there was anyone listening since we weren’t really supposed to be talking about the god of hell in a Catholic school.

‘All of these victims were put to death in Europe. Either they were burned or the courts decided to water test them.’

Everyone seemed to be paying attention now. Even the usual sleepers in the class.

‘Mr C, what do you mean by ‘water testing’?’ Annabelle- a usual napper - spoke up.

His face hardened and his green eyes became clouded with pique. It looked like he was recalling a moment as if this question was a pain to answer.

‘They would tie up the witches,’ he put up air quotes when he said ‘witches’, ‘Toss them in a lake, and if they came back up to the surface they were pronounced witches.’

‘And what if they didn’t… come back up to the surface?’ Another girl asked.

I have never seen this look on Mr Collin’s jolly face before. He never walked around without his teeth showing, but he was tight lipped and his jaw clenched.

‘They died.’

‘What about Grace Sherwood?’ History wasn’t exactly my most - liked subject, but it’s what I excelled at. Half the books I read are either romance or mystery, but from time to time I pick up a boring history book because I get bored with my usual books.

Yes, I read boring books when I’m bored.

Mr Collins sharply looked at me which made me flinch slightly.

‘If you don’t mind, can you explain who that was, Eve?’

‘Grace was said to be one of the most famous witches in Salem’s History.’ I twiddled my thumbs when everyone’s attention was on me.

‘She supposedly murdered her neighbour’s pigs and hexed their cotton.

They turned her in for that and also they claimed to have seen her turn into a cat.

She later had to take the water test to prove if she was innocent or guilty not that it would matter if she was innocent because she would be dead already,’ I rambled but stopped to continue when Mr Collins’ nostrils flared like he was being filled with rage.

‘Anyway, she was proven guilty because she didn’t sink in the water,’ I glanced at Mr C, ‘That’s all I know.’

‘Was she burned at the stake?’ Bridget asked anxious to hear the ending to the story. Every girl seemed to be at the edge of their seats waiting for the answer. I was too.

Right as Mr C opened his mouth we were saved by the bell. However, not one person rose from their seats to go to fifth period.

‘Mr C?’ Annabel urged him to answer the burning question.

He sucked his teeth and the next class came hurdling through the door.

‘We’ll have to wait till tomorrow. As for now, research the 1700’s. I will be quizzing you on your knowledge once you walk in.’

Huffs came from the class, but we all pulled out our phones to find out what happened in that time period. I immediately wandered the internet for the answer to Bridget’s question….