8 Miserable Comedy - 8

[Observer]

She looked very strict.

A skinny, fit woman who looked to be in her early 30s, her hair was a dark brown tight bun and her eyes were a stormy gray. She wore a dark gray solid suit and large, dark gray spectacles, and looked beautiful, even if "stern" and "strict" were taking precedence in Seth's mind.

As the door slammed shut behind her, she told the boys in a brisk tone, "When meeting an authority figure for the first time, I would find it appropriate to defer some respect." Seth hastily stood up and bowed, feeling the others around him slowly doing the same.

"Sit," she commanded them, taking her place at the seat at the head of the table rather than behind what was likely her desk. They slowly settled on the plush couches, Seth and Anthony on her left, Argus and Grant on her right.

"You two," she suddenly said, peering at Anthony and Argus. "What are you doing here?"

Gesturing towards Grant, Argus replied, "This one arrived late at the school-"

"Good," she interrupted him. "He's impossible to deal with in the morning."

After a second's pause, the large boy responded indignantly, "Wait, you two know each other?"

"No," the woman replied. "I read his file."

"File? So he's a student here after all?" Anthony interjected.

"No. He is a test subject, and a student on a provisional basis," she told him curtly. "I am in charge of hearing out his demands for compliance, and he has come here to negotiate terms."

Argus paused much longer before responding this time. "Negotiate? What's he negotiating?"

"He wants to attend this school, but only the classes that interest him. My job is to convince him that all of the classes here are interesting, so that we can keep an eye on him at all times and he can be occupied at all times. Unfortunately, talks are going poorly," she said.

"Um, I'm sorry, but ma'am, what's your-" Seth started, only to stop mid sentence as the woman's eyes met his.

"You must be Seth," she told him after his last word trailed off. "My name is Toria Blanche, and I will be your headmistress for the next four years. You will address me as Headmistress, or Headmistress Blanche. I do not tolerate nonsense."

"Yes, m-Headmistress Blanche," he said, bowing again on instinct.

Grant stood up, his knees bent slightly. He had somehow located another sandwich in his pocket, this one a BLT containing a fried egg. Shoving a corner into his mouth, he went to leave, muttering something about being bored.

"Mr. Wisteria! We haven't finished speaking yet," the headmistress called out to him.

"Got it. I'll take all the normal classes," he replied nonchalantly, raising a hand and wiggling it as a farewell, reaching for the doorknob.

Seth blinked just in time to catch another flash of light. When his eyes opened, Grant was twisting at a doorknob that seemed to have fused with the door, to no avail.

Blinking again, Seth shook his head violently, standing up. "Okay, what the fuck is going on? What's that fucking light? Why am I here? What's going on? Why is he a test subject? What. The. Fuck?"

Headmistress Blanche slowly stood up from her seat and walked over to her desk, which was very sparsely decorated and heaped with papers. Slumping into her chair, she leaned back and sighed deeply, pushing up her glasses to rub her eyes.

"Firstly, Mr. Lee, I would expect the pupils under my care to come here with some sense of deference-" she started.

"I sat here and fucking deferred for an hour, lady. I've been waiting to be told literally anything since noon. I'm starving, I'm dying to know what's going on, and you're setting aside my burning curiosity because answering my questions would somehow be less boring and is less important than negotiating with some psychopath?" Seth exploded, gesturing violently with his hands with every sentence.

This time, the flash of light was brighter. Much brighter. Seth didn't have to blink this time. When his vision had cleared, he was seated back on the couch, Headmistress Blanche was sitting at the table, Grant was sitting opposite Anthony, and a plate of scones next to a glass of milk was sitting in front of him.

"Lee. Give me some time. You do not want your explanation to be rushed. Trust me, it will not work in your favor. I assume you've already developed some idea of what I plan to say, but you will need time to think about it even with mental preparation. With that said, let's get back to Wisteria," she said briskly.

Turning to Grant, she asked, "What made you decide to take our offer?" Her piercing eyes penetrated his cowl, but he only grinned in reply.

"I didn't, lady", he said, giggling wildly a little as he said the last word. "I told you that if I was going to be here, I wanted to have fun."

Gesturing towards the other three boys, he continued, "These three, they're my request. They're my counteroffer. Put me with those two so that I can beat them, and put me with him so that we can do great things together. Let me eat however much I want in class, pay for the extra food, and hear out my requests when I ask. You do all that, and that's good with me." Once again, he stood up, going for the door.

For a moment, Seth saw the vague outline of a hand of light grasp the back of Grant's hoodie, pulling him back into his seat. Grant exhaled sharply, clearly irritated, but didn't attempt to get up again. One of his suspicions was starting to feel like it had been confirmed.

"Sit for a second, Grant. I want you here to answer one of the questions our Mr. Lee had earlier, angry though he may have been when he asked them," Blanche told him, gazing at him intently. Once he settled back into his seat, she turned to Seth.

"What I'm about to do is going to be very disorienting for you. However, I want to assure you that this is for the best, at which point I will explain the situation," she said, slightly quieter than her other words. It could've been his imagination, but Seth could swear she seemed conflicted about what she was going to say next.

Then, her gaze was locked onto his, and before he could react in shock, they began to glow, seeming to stare directly into his soul. He could see sparks out of the corners of his eyes, sparks in a thousand colors, even gray and black and white. And as more time went by, as time seemed to slow to a crawl, he could see those sparks clearer and clearer, as if they had always been there, but he had never looked for them.

Abruptly, the glowing stopped, and there was a crackling noise. The headmistress said something angrily in a language he wasn't familiar with, and then rubbed her eyes again. Before he could ask about anything, Seth's world went white.

- - -

[Seth Lee]

I have no idea what's going on.

From what I can see, it looks like I'm floating in some white space, like normal nothing-in-it space except everything is stars and none of them are really bright. I can't see any end to the white, and don't think I'd know what it looks like even if there was any nearby.

There's some things being shown in colors, though. Some murky memories I have of being a kid, except everything keeps shifting between different colors, like a bunch of different tinged lenses are flashing in front of my eyes. There's starting to be more and more images going further and further forward. Damn, I looked tiny back then! Look at that!

It feels like it's moving forward through time, and I'm starting to get used to this kaleidoscope kind of-

- - -

[Observer]

Seth gasped for air.

The other four people in the office were staring at him, enraptured by his reaction.

He looked up at the clock. It had been around half an hour since he had last checked it while Grant was getting up. It was 1:43 now. And he didn't know what they'd seen.

Peering into each of their eyes in turn, wildly, Argus was taken aback by the mixture of fear and fury they could see in Seth. He was clearly panicking, breathing heavily, and had adopted a hunched, defensive stance. Anthony and Blanche, meanwhile, didn't react, and Grant was grinning widely at him.

Settling back down, Seth picked up the glass of milk and drained the entire thing in one swig, noting with displeasure that it had gone lukewarm. Setting it down, he bored holes into the Headmistress with his gaze.

"So, tell me," he said slowly, crooning in a tone that suggested danger. "What did that just do?"