*Cornelia! Not-Will!*
The two of us jerked upright in the middle of class, fortunately not while either of us was holding any of the chemistry apparatus we'd been working on.
"Careful girls," the teacher warned. "You're going to be working with an open flame in a minute so sudden movement like that could cause problems."
"Yes, professor," we chorused obediently.
Cornelia brushed at her hair out of habit, although it wasn't really necessary since she had tied it back with a pony-tail for safety during the lab. *What is it, Taranee?*
*Miss Randolph is back from Metamoor!*
*Who?* I asked, paying more attention to measuring out the acid we were supposed to be working on this class into test tubes.
*Our old maths teacher,* explained Taranee. *She's a sort of..."
*She's a lizard-monster from Metamoor,* Irma explained. *She tried to lure Will off to her house for some gnarly scheme but Hay Lin and I were on to her!*
*Hehe,* Hay Lin laughed nervously. *Actually she caught us sneaking around and Will had to rescue us. But she helped us when we went to Metamoor to rescue Hay Lin.*
*Well what's she doing here?* asked Cornelia. *Is she after Will again?*
*Worse! She's teaching us algebra!*
I almost dropped the pipette I was using when Taranee squealed: *Irma!*
*What? She's a fiendish alien. I'd think she'd have standards!*
Cornelia picked up a jar of metal filings. *Girls? Could you drop any more bombshells before we're actually working with fire?*
*Well she wants us to go to to her house for tea and cookies after school,* explained Hay Lin. *I think we should - she says that she wants to help us. Plus she's way cooler than the substitute teacher.*
Irma sounded petulant. *I don't trust her.*
*She helped us in Meridian. If she hadn't, we might not have managed to rescue Taranee. And... we need someone who can tell us about Metamoor. Since grandmother died we haven't had anyone who can tell us what's going on.*
I nudged Cornelia as I saw the teacher heading back in our direction. We quickly started following the directions on the board.
*Hay Lin's right,* Cornelia decreed, drawing up a chart to record our results as I picked up the first spatula of filings. *But we'll go together, so someone has to let Will know to come. If she is up to something then having all five Guardians together should be enough to take care of anything that comes up.*
Taranee sounded embarassed. *I can't talk to her like this when she's so far away.*
*We'll call her or something. Now if you don't mind, I do have a class to complete.*
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
The two of us jerked upright in the middle of class, fortunately not while either of us was holding any of the chemistry apparatus we'd been working on.
"Careful girls," the teacher warned. "You're going to be working with an open flame in a minute so sudden movement like that could cause problems."
"Yes, professor," we chorused obediently.
Cornelia brushed at her hair out of habit, although it wasn't really necessary since she had tied it back with a pony-tail for safety during the lab. *What is it, Taranee?*
*Miss Randolph is back from Metamoor!*
*Who?* I asked, paying more attention to measuring out the acid we were supposed to be working on this class into test tubes.
*Our old maths teacher,* explained Taranee. *She's a sort of..."
*She's a lizard-monster from Metamoor,* Irma explained. *She tried to lure Will off to her house for some gnarly scheme but Hay Lin and I were on to her!*
*Hehe,* Hay Lin laughed nervously. *Actually she caught us sneaking around and Will had to rescue us. But she helped us when we went to Metamoor to rescue Hay Lin.*
*Well what's she doing here?* asked Cornelia. *Is she after Will again?*
*Worse! She's teaching us algebra!*
I almost dropped the pipette I was using when Taranee squealed: *Irma!*
*What? She's a fiendish alien. I'd think she'd have standards!*
Cornelia picked up a jar of metal filings. *Girls? Could you drop any more bombshells before we're actually working with fire?*
*Well she wants us to go to to her house for tea and cookies after school,* explained Hay Lin. *I think we should - she says that she wants to help us. Plus she's way cooler than the substitute teacher.*
Irma sounded petulant. *I don't trust her.*
*She helped us in Meridian. If she hadn't, we might not have managed to rescue Taranee. And... we need someone who can tell us about Metamoor. Since grandmother died we haven't had anyone who can tell us what's going on.*
I nudged Cornelia as I saw the teacher heading back in our direction. We quickly started following the directions on the board.
*Hay Lin's right,* Cornelia decreed, drawing up a chart to record our results as I picked up the first spatula of filings. *But we'll go together, so someone has to let Will know to come. If she is up to something then having all five Guardians together should be enough to take care of anything that comes up.*
Taranee sounded embarassed. *I can't talk to her like this when she's so far away.*
*We'll call her or something. Now if you don't mind, I do have a class to complete.*
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.