Interference (ON HOLD)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Class, I’d like to introduce you to a new student.” The teacher glanced down at the paper in front of her. “Dam…Damni…”

“It’s pronounced Dav-net. It’s Gaelic,” She grinned at the older woman, “but everyone calls me Davey.” The head that popped up at the back of the room did not escape her attention. The girl was thin, scarily thin, her cheekbones straining against her skin. The sweater, too heavy for the weather, hung from the girl’s shoulders, stuck out in a classroom full of people in gothic style clothing similar to Davey’s. The brunette seemed to be the only girl in the class not in a cute Victorian style dress.

“Welcome to FauleryValley. You look like you’ll fit right in.” She took in Davey’s outfit before gesturing towards the rows of desks. “There are some empty ones at the back.”

Davey casually scanned the room before sauntering to the desk beside the thin girl with the stringy hair. She slid into the seat and turned to look at the other girl. Up close, she appeared even thinner and more unhealthy than she had from the front of the room. But even without the extra weight and nervous determination Davey had known, it was obvious that this was Carly.

“Hey, Carly,” she whispered.

“Davey? Is that really you?” Carly’s voice had deepened to a soft, buttery sound. Coming out of another body, it would have been seductive, but out of this sad excuse for a person, it was unsettling.

“Sure is.” Davey smiled at her old friend and reached over to squeeze her hand. The fingers were bony and sharp in her grip. Carly pulled her hands away and placed them in her lap.

“What are you doing here?” Carly kept her voice low as the teacher turned back to the board to begin the lesson.

“Long story. Can you come over tonight and I’ll tell you all about it?” Davey pulled a notebook out of the bag and pretended to be paying attention.

“I have a thing right after school.” Carly muttered, still facing the front of the room. “Write down your address and I’ll come over around 6:30. Will your parents be okay with that?”

“Charlotte. Davey. Would you like to share with the rest of the class?” Their teacher asked without turning from the chalkboard where she was scrawling equations Davey didn’t recognize.

“No, ma’am.” Davey replied with resignation.

“You seem to be having quite the conversation back there, and it doesn’t appear to have anything to do with vortex theorem.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Falcone. Davey used to live here a long time ago. We got excited about seeing each other again.” Carly’s voice was quiet, barely loud enough to carry past the end of the desk, but the teacher heard every word.

“You got excited about something?” Mrs. Falcone glanced over her shoulder at Carly before scanning the rest of the students. “I find that hard to believe.”

Carly’s face turned red and she looked down into her lap. Her fingers began to pick at her cuticles. A crust of blood had formed on the rim of her third nail. The rest of the class chuckled along with the teacher and ignored the pain clearly written across Carly’s face. Davey felt a rush of rage, but she pushed it down. She’d been here for a couple hours. It wasn’t time to rock the boat yet. Not until she knew what was going on.

Carly’s pen curled across a piece of paper that she slid across the desk to Davey. ‘What’s your address’. Davey scrawled the address of her motel room below the question. ‘What the hell is going on Carly’. She slid the paper back to the other desk. Carly folded the paper and slipped it into her pocket. She shrugged and refused to meet Davey’s eye. Neither girl talked for the rest of the class. When the chimes rang to signal the end of class, Carly was up and out of the classroom before Davey had even put her book away.