The Turn: Chapter Three

The Turn

Chapter Three

~He’s Seriously Sirius~

Three Years before the Turn

The man in white sat them all down in the main office. The bullies sat on one side of the room and the rest of them were on the other side. Zara sat beside the bully boy in front of the large desk where the man in white sat. The other man stood on the man’s right side.

Zara tried not to look at the boy beside her. She stared at her lap and tried to focus on who the man in front of them was. The smile on his face didn’t seem to fade in the least while his assistant looked even more serious that before, if that was possible. She had the sudden feeling that someone was watching her and looked up. Her eyes met with the man’s blue eyes. His smile widened and he looked around the room once more. He seemed to be waiting for something.

Kaiba, his assistant, was busy at his tablet. He held one end of the thin glass in one hand as he used a pen in his other hand to work. Soon he handed the glass to the man in white. The man looked at it, occasionally looking up at different people. He nodded and handed back the tablet.

“Hello, everyone,” the man started, “My name is Sirius Galaxy.”

Zara felt the air in her lungs contract. This was the head of the Tower, the most powerful person not only on the Island but in the entire world, and he caught her in a fight with some bullies. It wasn’t the best of introductions, especially on assessment day.

Sirius smiled, “So, who wants to explain what just happened here?”

No one answered. Zara’s voice seemed caught in her throat.

“Simon?” Sirius asked the boy sitting next to her. The bully shook his head. He wasn’t about to admit that he started the whole thing. Sirius’s eyes scanned the other faces.

“Hina? Naru?” he looked at the brother and sister. Naru looked down at his hands while his sister, Hina, stared Sirius dead in the face.

“Deontay?” he asked the black boy. Deontay slouched in his chair.

Sirius called a few of the bully’s names. Naturally none of them answered.

“Chaud,” he called the bleached haired boys name. The boy didn’t even stir at the call of his name.

“Vicky?” Sirius asked the girl in glasses. She shook her head and pushed her glasses up her nose.

Finally, he looked at Zara, “Zara.”

“Yes, Sir,” Zara practically shot up from her chair. She stood with her feet close together and her arms straight at her sides. When he called her name she had been unable to stop herself from having the reaction. She had gone through the scenario when she would meet Sirius over and over again in her head. When she finally gained control of her anxious body it was too late. The others in the room were looking at her like she was some kind of nutcase. She stood her ground, literally, until Sirius told her otherwise.

His smile widened again as he forced himself not to laugh, “Thank you, Zara. You may sit down now.”

Awkwardly, she did. Simon, the bully, snickered. Zara did her best to ignore him. She looked directly at Sirius waiting for what he would say next. Sirius leaned forward and propped his head on one hand.

“Do you know what happened?” he asked.

Zara quickly sorted the facts in her head. She was about to tell exactly what happened when she stopped. If she told what really happened then they would all get in trouble most likely and if that happened, not only would she be perceived as a snitch or a tattletale but she would be the most hated person in the school. Even just in the room, telling the full truth could ruin the lives of the others who deserved to be here at the school. She sighed.

“It was my fault,” she stated.

Sirius tilted his head to one side, “How so?

“I stepped on Simon’s foot and he got mad,” Zara felt more comfortable with her lie, “The others were just standing up for their respective sides.”

Sirius looked at her for a few good minutes then he slowly nodded. He looked at Simon, “Is that true?”

Simon sat back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head, “That just about sums it up, I’d say.”

The corner of Zara’s mouth twitched as she refrained herself from hitting Simon in the stomach. Sirius looked at them both a while longer. His smile widened as if he were satisfied with the answer.

“Kaiba,” he said, glancing to his right, “would you take the rest of them to the gym please while I talk here with Ms. Uzek?”

Kaiba nodded silently. The others in the room stood up quietly and walked out. Zara waited patiently. When the door closed, a dead silence followed.

“So, are you going to stick with your story?” Sirius asked.

Zara nodded, unsure of where this was going.

“Well, in that case, you will have to be punished in some way. How does going home sound? It looks like you might need it too. You will not be able to do the individual assessment today.”

Zara’s jaw clenched. She forced herself to nod in agreement. After all, the punishment could be worse.

“You can still do the group assessment but you will be at a disadvantage because you didn’t take the individual assessment,” Sirius stood up, “but I’m sure you can make up for it. Oh, one more thing, you all would have been expelled if you hadn’t taken responsibility for everything.” Sirius looked down at her, “Be sure to shine.”

Sirius walked out of the room. Zara stayed where she was. She forced herself to breathe normally and to keep her mind clear. She stood up and walked out of the office. Zara slowly walked through the empty hallways. Her mind was in a frantic rush to figure out what to do next. Yes, save the five others who were completely innocent but she also saved the butts of those no good bullies and after she trained for years for this day she couldn’t even show them what she could do. Did life have to suck so much?

Zara walked out of the main building into bright sunlight. She looked around for the bike rack and stopped. Puppetmaster was standing at the bottom of the stairs, a large smile across his face. Shuppet, in his arms, was waving a wooden hand at her. Puppetmaster held out one arm toward her. Zara ran down the stairs and ran into his open arm.

At least there were people like Puppetmaster who made life suck less.

IOIOIOIOIOI

Zara pushed her ice cream around in her bowl. She had walked her bike alongside Puppetmaster the entire way back to Transaction square. Puppetmaster sat across from her and Shuppet sat, slightly slumped, in between them. Zara hadn’t said much the entire way back and Puppetmaster didn’t push for her too. She had had a rough day. He watched her barely eat her ice cream. Several times she opened her mouth as if to say something but them closed it without saying a word. He looked to the doll equivalent of himself. Even Shuppet was quiet.

“It’s not fair!” Zara said at last.

“It isn’t?” Puppetmaster responded.

Zara sighed, “No, it is. It could have been worse. It should have been worse.”

“You think so?”

“I mean we broke school property, we should be expelled,” Zara paused a moment, “Now, I guess I can focus on finding a team then.”

“I guess?”

“Will you stop that?”

“Stop what?”

“That!”

“What?”

“Answering my statements with a question?”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“There! You did it again!”

“Did what?”

“Now you’re just doing this on purpose!”

“Am I?” Puppetmaster said with a smile.

Zara stared at him for a long moment. But after a while she sighed. There was no way on earth a way to resist his smile for very long. Besides, she appreciated his way of letting her talk out her situation with herself. Still, he could have done it a different way.

“Thanks for coming to get me,” Zara said.

“You’re welcome,” Puppetmaster nodded, “I got a call that said you might need some company.”

“A call?” Zara looked up, “When?”

“Before I left.”

“When did you leave?”

“A while ago.”

“Stop it!”

“Alright, alright!” Puppetmaster chuckled. He stood up and grabbed his empty bowl and her almost empty one and placed them on the counter. As he walked back, Zara stood up and picked up Shuppet. She was glancing at the hat on top of its head when Puppetmaster walked up.

“Shall we go?” he said, guiding her to the door.

“You made this?” she asked as they walked out of the store, “What about the ones you’re wearing? They look old.”

Puppetmaster smiled, “I inherited them from one of my uncles or great uncles can’t remember which really.”

“Like that stone in your hair?” Zara pretended not to be too interested.

“My, my, look at the time,” Puppetmaster looked at an imaginary watch on his wrist, “Shouldn’t you be getting home?”

Zara looked at the sun in the west. It was already very low in the sky. Almost as if he knew her thoughts, Puppetmaster handed her some money in coins.

“That should be enough for the bus fair,” he said with a smile.

Zara handed Shuppet off and found her bike, “Thanks, I’ll pay you back.”

“No need,” Puppetmaster smiled, “just travel safe.” Shuppet shifted into a more comfortable position.

“I will,” Zara mounted her bike and biked off to the nearest bus station. One day, she vowed, she would find out the secret behind the purple sphere. For now, she needed to find a group.