Chapter 12

Tessa’s POV

I woke up early so I could make some finishing changes and revisions to my short story before I sent it in by the 10 am deadline.

Ruby left her room, already fully dressed.

“Good morning,” Ruby said with a smile. “Have you been up all night?”

“No, I got a few hours of sleep. I just want this paper to be perfect,” I explained to her.

This was the first time I had written so fluently in the process of creation. Stories like this had never come so effortlessly before. I was nervous about sending this in, but at the same time, I was also excited.

Ruby grabbed a pop tart and sat at the kitchen table while I finished.

“Did you already finish your paper?” I asked, peering over at her.

“I submitted it last night,” she told me, but I could see the worried look on her face. “If I continued working on it, I would have ruined it. I just wanted to get it over with.”

I thought about asking her what she wrote about, but I thought it might have been better if neither of us knew too many details about one another’s papers.

I finally finished my paper and was ready to send it to Joseph’s email, which was listed on the paper he had given us.

By noon, Joseph sent a link to my email where all the other student’s papers were located so I could read them and cast my vote.

There was a memo from Joseph on the homepage of the website saying, “Hello students. This is where you will be reading and voting for your favorite short stories, written by your very own peers. Each one of you has five votes and each one of you is expected to cast your votes today before class, which could include your own work. Final decisions will be made this evening. I’ll see you all at 6 pm tonight.”

As I read through all the other papers, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. These papers were so good, and it seems he took our names off them so the voting would be done anonymously and fairly.

I used all 5 votes on other people’s work and skipped over my own.

I just hoped that others would read my paper and like it. I couldn’t help but be nervous over these results.

“I’m sure you did fine,” Ruby said once she finished her voting as well. “Get dressed so we can go to school. The bathroom is all yours.”

She said that last part with a mouthful of pop tart.

I laughed at my friend and grabbed a new pair of clothes that Ruby let me borrow and went straight towards the bathroom.

My mind was racing at the idea of Joseph Evergreen being some kind of superhero.

I knew what I saw and what I saw was Joseph being incredibly strong and stealthy. He was so strong that he was able to stop two motorcycles with his bare hands.

I thought about telling Ruby what I had seen last night, but remembering the looks on the cops’ faces when I told them what happened silenced me.

I didn’t want Ruby to look at me like I was crazy like they did.

But then again, she was my best friend.

Would she believe me?

I brushed the thought out of my mind and quickly took a shower. Once I finished, I dressed in Ruby’s clothing and joined her in the living room.

“How do you always manage to look good in anything?” Ruby asked with a light chuckle, shaking her head at me.

I stared down at the jeans and sweatshirt I was wearing and then I shrugged. Ruby and I had similar tastes in clothing.

By evening time, I was so nervous I felt like I was going to shake out of my skin. My entire body trembled for most of the day until it reached 6 pm.

I sat beside Ruby in the same seat we sat in on Monday. All the other students were piling in quickly and excitedly. Each of them is more eager than the last to get their results.

“The stories were so cool,” someone nearby had whispered to someone else. “Everyone here is so talented.”

“I know, voting was so difficult,” the other student replied. “Did you read the one with the superhero that is hidden amongst the humans but moves after he saves people?”

“But then he saves a girl he couldn’t leave?” The other student chimed in, excitedly.

My heart fell into my stomach listening to them talking about my paper.

“It was so interesting. I really loved it,” another student said fondly. “I wonder who wrote it.”

“It definitely got my vote.”

I grew excited hearing those words and for a moment, I was relieved. It seemed as though more than one student read my work and they actually enjoyed it.

A smile tugged at the corner of my lips hearing this news.

Soon, Joseph appeared in the classroom, and everyone was quick to silence. He set his briefcase on his desk and rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for.

It was a black notebook.

He placed it on his desk and then walked around his desk to face his students.

“I got a chance to read all your papers and they are certainly very interesting pieces. You each did a nice job,” he began to say. “Some things I would like to address though is that some of you were trying really hard to fit logic in some of these fantasy pieces. This isn’t a place for logical explanations. Fantasy is about thinking outside of the box and putting things together that wouldn’t usually go together. Once you get out of the habit of having to explain how certain things logically work, and just letting your imagination run wild, your fantasy writing will greatly benefit.”

As Joseph stood before me, the memories of last night kept rushing back to my head. I know for a fact that I didn’t imagine any of that.

I briefly glanced at Joseph’s neck, remembering that he had sliced it on a shard from one of the motorcycles. But unfortunately, his high collar concealed his neck.

Joseph grabbed the black notebook off his desk and flipped through some pages.

“Your votes have been submitted and are in my hands, I have the top 15 students that will be joining this class. Number one is the best. I will start with number 15, Abigail with her story ‘Gremlin.’

Everyone clapped and the girl, Abigail, who sat in the front row, looked incredibly relieved to hear that she had made it.

“Number 14, Jacob, with his story ‘Amongs Wolves.’”

Everyone clapped for him, and he gave the air a fist pump as he silently celebrated his achievement.

“Number 13, Ruby, with her story ‘Alpha.’”

I clapped the loudest for Ruby and she laughed with excitement. I was so proud that she made it. I also remembered reading her story while I was casting my vote and I really enjoyed it, so much so that I gave it a vote.

Joseph finally reached number 10 and my heart sank when my name didn’t come up in the 15-10 range.

The fewer places were left, the more desperate I was starting to feel. I was seconds away from having a panic attack. Maybe Brian was right, and this wasn’t a plausible career choice.

Maybe I wouldn’t make it as a writer after all.

Just as I was about to get ready to pack up my things to get ready to leave…

“Number 3, we have Tessa, with her story ‘Superhero.’”

My entire body froze.

Did he just say my name?

I came in third place?

Everybody clapped, including Ruby. I got a few eyes in my direction once they realized I was the one who wrote the story they were gossiping about only moments ago.

I felt a sense of relief flooding through me.

I made it.

I’m in the class.

He finally finished reading the list and everyone who wasn’t called had already left the room leaving the remaining 15 students.

“Tessa, your story was incredible. What inspired that?” One of the students asked, turning to face me.

I realized now that everybody was looking at me, including Joseph who was leaning against his desk.

“My inspiration was my real-life experience,” I answered with a shrug, making everybody laugh, everybody except for Joseph who kept his eyes on me.

Most everybody thought I was joking.

“Professor Evergreen, do you believe me?” I found myself asking, keeping my eyes on his.

His body visibly tensed, and he stared at me silently for a long while. Everybody’s laughter had silenced as they stared between the two of us, feeling the obvious tension that lingered in the air.

When it was obvious, he didn’t want to answer me, I felt the need to further my explanation.

“Actually, something interesting happened last night. I was attacked by this motorcycle gang, and I imagined this entire scenario while being rescued by a kind stranger.”

Everybody gasped in amazement before clapping.

Joseph kept his eyes locked on mine for a moment longer before turning to the rest of the class. He started to discuss this semester’s curriculum and what would be expected from us.

Once class ended, only a few students stayed to speak with Joseph. I sat in my chair waiting for him to be available while Ruby packed up her things.

“Aren’t you coming?” She asked, peering over at me. “I’m starving and want to grab dinner on the way home.”

“I’ll meet up with you later,” I told her. “I need to talk to the professor.”

She frowned, but she didn’t argue.

Everybody soon left and I finally stood up from my seat. I made my way toward his desk, hoping that he couldn’t hear the sounds of my heartbeat.

“Do you have a minute to talk?” I asked him.

He glanced up at me and narrowed his eyes.

For a moment, I thought he was going to refuse.

But then he stood up and said, “Come to my office.”