Realm Keepers 01 - Realm Keepers by Garrett Robinson Page B

like the whole world was just a big joke and he was the only one who got it. He was pretty new at our school. Apparently he and his family moved around a lot. I actually felt sorry for him most of the time. I thought it must be pretty hard to make any real friends if you were at a new school every few months.
    Our teacher, Mister Roberts, looked up from his papers and let out an exasperated sigh.
    “Honestly, Mister Frederickson, I don’t know why you even show up after missing half the lesson. Care to tell us what was so important that it made you late for class—again?”
    Blade grinned that crooked grin he usually wore. “Explosive diarrhea.”
    Most of the class behind me exploded in laughter.
    “It was bad,” Blade continued, enjoying the reaction. “Too much hot sauce. That’s the last time I steal your lunch, Mister Roberts.”
    Mister Roberts glared at Blade, but he looked more disappointed than angry. Most of our teachers just seemed to write Blade off as a constant troublemaker and didn’t bother trying any more. That, too, made me feel sorry for him.
    “Well,” said Mister Roberts, “you can get caught up on the lesson after school in detention, Mister Frederickson.”
    “As long as I have access to a toilet,” said Blade, still lounging in the doorway. “I may get the squirts again.” There was another burst of laughter from the class.
    Mister Roberts’ eyes narrowed, his temper finally rising. “Take your seat, Winston.”
    The smile dropped from Blade’s face immediately. Suddenly I felt nervous. Blade wasn’t angry all the time, but when he did get angry, it was scary. The class had fallen silent behind me.
    “My name is Blade,” he said. “Get it right, moron.”
    Mister Roberts stood. “Excuse me?”
    “What? Problem?” said Blade insolently.
    “Sit down, Mister Frederickson,” grated Mister Roberts. “And you’re in detention for a week.”
    Blade held the gaze for a few moments, but finally he strolled over to his seat and dropped into it loudly. The tension in the room eased. I found myself releasing a little whoosh of breath I hadn’t known I was holding.
    I turned to look back at Blade for a second. He looked like he was staring at the ground, but I had a feeling he wasn’t looking at anything at all. He started to look up as he noticed me staring, but I quickly looked away.
    The rest of first period passed quickly. Second and third blew by in a rush. It seemed like the day should be taking forever as I waited for the election results before the final bell, but instead it was passing in a blur. Maybe it was because I was afraid I’d lost and was nervous to find out. If I’d been realistic with myself, the chances of that were slim, but it didn’t stop my nerves from getting frazzled.
    Fourth period looked to be passing as quickly as the first three, but then suddenly the loudspeaker clicked on.
    “Sarah Preston,” came Principal Jones’ familiar voice, “please report to the principal’s office.”
    The room fell dead silent. Slowly, all eyes in the classroom turned to me. I felt heat rising on my neck and ears, even though I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong.
    What did he want? Had I done something wrong without realizing it? A million possibilities flew through my head, but none of them made sense.
    I left the class with a hall pass and silence from everyone in the room, even the teacher. My lonely footsteps echoed loudly in the hallways as I wove through them to the big black door of Principal Jones’ office. By the time I’d reached it, the only thing I could come up with was that he was going to tell me who’d won the election. They weren’t supposed to announce that for another hour. If I’d won, he’d just wait for me to hear the announcement. I must have lost, and he was calling me into his office to break the news to me. He wanted me to brace myself before getting all of the sympathy from the rest of the school. That had to be it. My heart had