The Problem Page 2

  A voice descends over the intercom, "Good morning students, today is a special day. We will be having a mandatory assembly at ten with a special guest. I expect you all to be on your best behaviors and to represent Huntington with the highest regards," Professor Maycomb announces with a slight warning in his tone.

  My fists clench at the very thought of seeing E. R. Fletcher.

  Quincy and I make eye contact, she tries to give me a reassuring smile. While I'm not surprised to see her munching on a bag of chips.

  Today is quickly proving to be a trying one.

  TWO

  As the clock ticks on, I can feel the sweat forming all over my body. Tapping my foot against the floor nervously my eyes never leave the clock until the moment I have dreaded for comes.

  Beep, beep, beep, the alarm chimes informing us of the end of class.

  I throw my case into my bag, preparing to finish it later. Maxwell and Jamison approach me both seeming nervous. "Thanks for that Gemma you saved our asses with Harvey," Jamison speaks for the both of them, but Maxwell nods in agreement.

  I nod back, "No problem I think corporal punishment should be banned, but I guess they think it teaches us discipline."

  "Yeah don't let Harvey hear you say that you might be a Knightly but even your name won't protect you when he's really angry," Jamison whispers before they both shuffle out the door.

  Sighing, I anxiously finish packing my bag as Quincy comes to stand by my side looking at my cheek.

  "Well on the bright side it's hardly noticeable," she gently rubs it.

  I give her a pity smile, "Yeah well if only I can face down a cute guy from my past as easily as a teacher in the wrong."

  "Gemma if you weren't my best friend I would ask you why you did it, but I know," she grins proudly.

  "Thanks Quincy," I smile and throw my bag over my shoulder cringing at what is to come.

  "Come on girl stop freaking out, it happened years ago. I'm sure he's over it now can you please get excited Dmitri texted me he says that Fletcher is going to be making some big reveal. I wanna get a good seat," she bounces excitedly.

  I smirk, "Dmitri texted you huh, did you give him his pesos or maybe some other kind of payment," a knowing look crosses my face.

  She rolls her eyes, "It's never going to happen so take that idea and throw it out a window," she walks ahead of me, me trailing behind.

  The halls quickly become crowded with people trying to get to the auditorium in time to hear the famous E.R. Fletcher. Word seems to have spread fast about him being our mystery guest.

  Two girls gossip in front of me, "I hear he looks even hotter than when he went to school here," Phoebe remarks.

  "I don't think that’s possible he was a God," Dana looks away dreamily. They giggle slipping into the auditorium.

  Quincy leads me up the bleachers and over to the far corner where nobody is sitting. The auditorium quickly fills with students and faculty, whispers and gossip spread like wildfire throughout.

  Professor Maycomb enters the auditorium and everyone falls silent. He's a very old, very scary man that can silence anyone with a simple look. He has these hard dark eyes that are like looking into the dead soul of someone who has seen too much. Eventually, I’ve heard that all hunters' eyes begin to look like that.

  Approaching the microphone he looks out at all of us to make sure that everyone is in order.

  After a moment of inspection he finally addresses us, "Welcome everyone, I am pleased to inform you all that we have a new teacher joining our staff. He was once one of this school's finest and now he shall prove as a role model and representation that all of you should strive to be, everyone, E. R. Fletcher."

  Without hesitation the room erupts in applause. I hesitate, as Professor Maycomb's words register with me, looks like I'm gonna have to get used to seeing Fletcher around here.

  He steps up to the stage looking more put together then he had during his time at Huntington. His hair is cut short a considerable difference with what used to be long blond hair. He's also no longer sporting a black eye and looking as rugged as he once had. Now he's dressed in a finely tailored suit with three brand new scars maring one side of his face. One looks to have just barely missed his eye.

  "It's no fair he even makes scars look sexy," Quincy brings me out of my head as I turn to find her eating a powdered donut.

  I gave her a look, "What you know how I get when my blood sugar starts to run low."

  Laughing, I turn my attention back to Fletcher, "Thank you Professor it's truly an honor to be back here, among my peers. I just wanted to say how excited I am to be joining the Huntington Academy staff as we prepare the next generation for a task that few can handle," he murmurs the words of his very clearly rehearsed speech.

  I wonder if he wrote it himself or if he was able to get one of the other teachers to support his efforts.

  "I'll be teaching Stakes and Daggers an expert level course to be added as an elective for Juniors and Seniors," he adds.

  Lucky me, he's going to be my Professor, that’s even worse.

  Professor Maycomb takes the microphone back from Fletcher, "Alright everyone time to go to your next class if you have any questions Professor Fletcher and Myself will be staying for a few minutes after the assembly ends.”

  Everyone gets up hurrying to get out the doors except for a few choice girls who have decided to go take their chances with Maycomb to get to Fletcher.

  "Come on G let's go get changed for Combat and Stealth Class," Quincy drags me along.

  The locker room is just like most, each of us is assigned a navy blue locker which happens to match the workout uniforms. We wear blue shorts and maroon shirts.

  Professor Dayton, waits for us outside on the training grounds.

  The training grounds are covered in obstacle courses ranging from beginner to expert, sheds all around that house various weapons and the appropriate protection. A large portion is designated to a shooting area with various targets. Surrounding the whole of the Academy is a large black fence, that electrifies at night and with giant lights and sensors. I assume that at night the Academy must look like a prison yard looking for anyone trying to escape, or rather in our case anything trying to get inside.

  "Alright you bunch of degenerates pair up", Dayton orders.

  Quincy and I quickly fall into step beside each other, "No way Knightly, I want you with Blake you need a challenge and no way are you gonna be full force when you're all worried about hurting your poor sweet little friend," Dayton yells.

  Quincy reluctantly moves to stand beside Savanna's partner Beatrice, "Hurtful," she whispers as she moves along.

  Savanna smiles wickedly, "Well looks like it's just you and me Knightly.”

  Rolling my eyes, I look away and laugh slightly as Dmitri has two of his "followers" remove Beatrice from her place in front of Quincy where he takes her place. Beatrice kicks and screams her way through it only to end up across from Hudson Burrows, a cute senior boy, she goes silent at the mere sight of him.

  Quincy huffs not giving Dmitri the satisfaction of seeing her smile, it's only a matter of time before Dmitri breaks through Quincy's walls and gets into her heart.

  "Are we doing this or what?" Savanna huffs drawing my attention back to her.

  Savanna holds both her fists up ready to fight. I mimic her movements as I draw my hands up. She swings her left fist at me, followed by the right. One towards my face the other my abdomen, moving my head to the left and my body back the hit misses my face and just grazes my stomach.

  We continue, with her throwing punches at me and me dodging. I wait for an open spot on her body when I can go on the offensive. Waiting for the moment when she will inevitably make a mistake or slow down. It takes a while to get down her routine, but after a while I see it. She throws a lazy punch, and I thrust my hand towards her face. She dodges my hit and continues to launch more assaults at me growing angry at not landing a clear hit.

  Deciding to have
some fun with her I swing my leg out hooking it around hers and tripping her, but she sees it coming and pulls me down with her. She hits the ground first taking the impact on her back, I fall beside her onto my shoulder. She recovers bringing her arm down towards my face, rolling away I just barely miss the hit. We both stand and she begins to circle me.

  My eyes follow her every movement, trying to predict her next move. I can see in her eyes that she thinks she is winning, that she believes she has the upper hand, that's how I like my opponents. They make the mistake of believing me to be weak, and that is truly where they go wrong. When they think I am willing to be beaten, but I'm not, in fact I'm mostly angry, all the time and that makes me dangerous.

  My attention draws away from her for a split second as Professor Dayton blows her whistle signaling a pause in the hand to hand combat and I stifle the rage that has been brimming, thankful for the distraction.

  The seconds of my distraction are enough though for a fist to collide with the side of my head hitting me right below my left eye. Pain spreads across my face, the slap from Professor Harvey seeming like a whisper of pain compared to this.

  "Blake what the hell was that you know the rules whistle blows all fighting stops." Professor Dayton yells as she comes to my side.

  Savanna does her best to look guilty, but it comes out more as a smirk, "Sorry it was a reflex." Bitch

  “Reflex, I’ll show you reflex,” Quincy flings herself towards Savanna. Dmitri intercepts her just in time and pulls the struggling girl away as she flings insults his way.

  Clutching my face, I try to reel in my reaction to the sudden burst of pain that shoots through my face. My hands form into fists as anger burns, an almost unstoppable urge to fight back comes over me. Yet, I find myself taking a deep breath, hatred in my eyes as I glare at Savanna.

  "You alright Knightly?” Dayton bellows, breaking me from my murderous thoughts.

  Strongly resisting the urge to punch something or rather someone I look up defiantly and nod.

  "Good now everyone get to lunch except you Blake we're going to have a chat,” Dayton grips Savanna's arm and drags her towards one of the sheds, no doubt for punishment.

  I sigh, "Professor Dayton," I shout and she stops turning back to me. "It was an accident, she doesn't deserve to be punished.”

  Dayton turns her head to the side inspecting me, "You sure Knightly?”

  "I am,” I confirm.

  “I’m not, you b...,” Quincy shouts from far off, Dmitri places his hand over her mouth silencing her mid sentence.

  Dayton lets Savanna go, but not before whispering, "Be more careful next time Blake, I don't take cheaters lightly on my field.”

  Savanna nods, glaring at me, as she escapes towards the locker room.

  Quincy elbows Dmitri in the stomach and comes to my side looking at my eye, "You alright it looks like that's gonna bruise? Stupid Dmitri should have let me beat her to a pulp the evil witch.”

  "I'm fine Q, I’m sure Savanna will get her own, and I appreciate your willingness to beat people up for me, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t get yourself into trouble. I'm just gonna go get an ice pack from the Med Bay," I breathe walking away from the training field and towards the nurses office.

  Quincy slaps Dmitri’s shoulder as he walks up to apologise, little does she know he’s only protecting her from getting hurt. I may dislike Savanna, but she packs a hell of a hit.

  Around here misbehaving in class is seen as a serious offense, Maxwell and Jamison were only going to receive a taste of the punishments allowed at the discretion of the Professors. If I hadn't intervened Savanna may have a few fingers broken or have to kneel on a sharp rug for hours until her knees bleed. They take fair play, following the rules and hierarchy serious around here.

  She’s always had it in for me since I'm a Knightly. My family is one of the oldest lines of hunters and hers is only a few generations. She thinks she needs to be the best to prove something to everyone, I know she's good and I respect that, but I hate it when people unnecessarily hurt others. I wish that Savanna wouldn't be so willing to do anything to be on top, there are some things that even I won't do in the name of the Creed.

  Nurse Louvier smiles as she sees me enter the Med Bay, "Ahh Miss Knightly I see you've gotten into another tussle," she hands me an ice pack.

  "Thanks," I move the pack over my eye trying to keep the swelling down. The Med Bay has several cots lining the walls with first aid equipment on either side.

  "You remind me so much of your Father I remember when he used to fight three at once just to see if he could take them and each time he came here with less and less injuries. Of course, that all stopped when he met your Mother she was the light of his life," Louvier remembers happily, she has worked at the school for almost forty years and seen many hunters go on to do great things, but she has also had to watch them pass on from this life.

  "Well I'm sure he always gave his opponents a run for their money, me I'm still trying to keep a teenage girl from beating me up," I sigh sitting down.

  She smiles, "I'm sure you gave her a run for her money too.”

  She moves the ice pack away from my face to take a look at the bruise, "It will probably take a week to go away fully. Here's some aspirin for the pain,” she hands me a cup of water and pills.

  I swallow them quickly and stand moving towards the door, "Thanks Nurse Louvier for the aspirin and for talking about my parents most people think it's easier to not mention them.”

  "My pleasure, if that eye starts giving you any trouble you come see me ya hear,” she looks at me pointedly.

  I nod, agreeing, and head towards class.

  Rounding the corner to Anatomy of Vampires class I find myself gazing at none other than E.R. Fletcher. Fighting the urge to run, which isn't surprising seeing as how this is the moment I've been dreading for the past three years. I hoped I would never have to see him again. Not since I ran from the car, leaving him a groaning mess.

  He stands next to Professor Macomb whispering about something, trying to shield my face with my hair. I can feel my stomach filling with butterflies at the very sight of them.

  This may be the most embarrassing moment of my life, no scratch that the second most embarrassing day of my life, the first still goes to the day that I set the kitchen on fire after trying to bake a cake and got banned from using the oven ever again. I shudder at the mere thought of that unspoken day.

  Skurying past them I just make it past when my name stops me dead in my tracks, my stomach sinking.

  "Miss Knightly, Professor Dayton informed me of the unfortunate event that took place this afternoon between you and Miss Blake. I have been assured that it was an accident and that it will never happen again,” Macomb says trying to give me a reassuring look.

  I avoid making eye contact with Fletcher, "Thank you Professor Maycomb, it was an accident that anyone could have made. I'm sure Savanna will be more careful next time,” I lie. More like being more careful of getting caught.

  Macomb looks at me doubtfully, I think he understands Savanna's need to be the best, to compensate for her family's low standing among hunters, "I'm sure you're right.”

  I nod, moving to go to class, "Miss Knightly may I have a word,” Fletcher Stops me dead in my tracks.

  Fighting the urge to panic, something that I very much feel like doing, I plaster a smile on my face, at least while Macomb is watching, "Of course Professor,” I wait for him as he whispers a few last words to Macomb and approaches me.

  Macomb looks at Fletcher and I with interest, before reluctantly walking away.

  Fletcher clears his throat and looks around uncomfortably before making eye contact with me, fidgeting with my hair I look away, turning anywhere that he isn't.

  "Listen I know we haven't spoken since that night and I meant to it's just that with graduation and then being sent by the Creed right out of school on missions I never got the chance to tell you that I'm sorry if I ever did anything that made
you uncomfortable or hurt you in some way,” he says apologizing.

  "No listen you never did anything I'm just kind of messed up and I panicked. So you honestly have nothing to apologize for I'm sorry about the whole kneeing you thing. Can we just pretend that it never happened?" I say trying to reassure him that it wasn't him.

  He sighs relieved, "Of course, completely blocked out.”

  I sigh, "Great so you and I are cool Professor?"

  He nods, "Yes, completely, I really didn't want things to be awkward now that I'm one of your teachers and we have to see each other every day.”