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Description
Tip tap.  Tippity tap.  Tiptitaptaptap.  Natalie's fingers drummed out a sporadic song on the brick wall she was idly leaning against.  The rhythm slowed and was lost, however, when she paused to tuck a wavy strand of chestnut hair behind her ears.  On the way back to the wall, her hand made a detour to rub at the familiar ache in her chest.  The ache had begun so long ago that she couldn't even remember the cause.  According to her parents, she had been in no accidents, had never been seriously ill.  She'd just started complaining of an ache without cause when she'd been about five.  Now, ten years later, it still bothered her almost constantly.

A brief sigh escaped the girl as she looked up and down the street for the cause of her wait.  One minute passed, then five.  Finally, a very breathless girl could be seen dashing down the street, her barettes barely restraining the longish dark hair threatening to fly away with the wind.  "Gah!  I'm sorry...how long've you been waiting, Nat?" the girl gasped out as she reached her friend and put a hand up against the wall to steady herself.

Natalie shrugged.  "Only about half an hour, Naomi.  No longer than usual," she answered teasingly.  She then pushed off from the wall, slinging an arm around her friend and kind of skipping into a brisk walk in one movement that was fluid from practice.  Naomi was from before even the pre-ache days.

Naomi allowed herself to be dragged along for a few yards before she pulled out of Natalie's grasp and started walking on her own power.  "You know that I don't try to be late every morning...  Things just-"

"Come up, right?  Don't worry about it.  After the same thing every morning since grade school began, I'm starting to get used to it," Natalie interjected, finishing the well-worn sentence and adding the same reassurance as usual.  "Let's just get going before we're both late, 'kay?"

Naomi nodded amiably and the two walked along in a comfortable semi-silence that was broken at random intervals by equally random comments.  'Did you see that new movie?'  'Wow, look at that car!'  'I LOVE Fridays!'  The type of things that would not be remembered in detail, but fondly all the same.

The friendly atmosphere lasted long, longer than usual--until they got to school, even.  It was there, though, that that familiar feeling came back.  That ache in her chest that felt like all the muscles were tightening and being loosened by heat all at once.  The one that was almost always accompanied by cold shivers running down her spine.  Naomi gave her a sympathetic look.  "Your phantom again?" she asked kindly, pausing and waiting for the shivers to subside.

Natalie swatted at her friend half-heartedly.  "Phantom?  Hardly.  I just feel...like I'm being watched.  As usual," she said wryly.

Naomi shrugged in reply.  "Natalie, if you were really being watched half as much as you believe, then we would have seen the reality show based on your life on Fox by now."

Natalie ignored her and simply walked inside the school, purposefully ignoring the eyes that she knew were following her.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The class stared dumbly at their teacher, a short, kindly man who was balding slightly, but did not try to hide his encroaching age.  His name was Mr. Norton and most of the students had older siblings that had been taught by him, and just as many were expecting their younger siblings to be taught by him as well.  "Y-yes, I'm sure that it does come as a shock to you all.  After all, I have been teaching at this school for almost thirteen years!  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end...as it is, my family has been struggling to make ends meet for quite awhile now.  This new job would make all the difference.  Don't worry--I'll make sure to email your new teacher frequently with messages to pass on.  It's not as if I'll be fading from your lives, no not at all!  Not at all..." he said, trailing off as he realized that they did not believe his obvious white lie for even a minute.  "A-all right, children.  It's true.  This is most likely goodbye...  At the very least, I would have liked to finish out the year with you, but...but my new employers have given me express orders.  I begin next week," he admitted, his voice becoming low and sorrowful.

Naomi raised her hand tentatively.  "But Mr. Norton...have they got a new teacher for us?  I mean, it's not as if teachers are that plentiful..." she said, her voice fading away uncertainly.

Mr. Norton gave her a kindly look.  "Don't worry, Miss Harpsen.  The school officials have already assured me that they have many applicants, and that it's only a matter of selecting one at this point in time," he answered firmly.

The girl bit her lip, but nodded passively and looked down at her desk.

Mr. Norton watched her for a moment, then looked up at the class with a surprisingly fake grin.  "Well, now that that nasty subject is out of the way, let's get onto the Romans, shall we?"

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Many applicants' might have been a bit of an overstatement, the principal of the school mused later.  It was so strange.  There had been many applicants, but they'd all fallen to the wayside.  Well, at least one had the decency to actually show up when he was needed... he thought, extremely thankful for this fact as he eyed the man sitting across from him.  All at once the principal was very grateful that there was a desk separating the two of them and incredibly heartbroken that he couldn't be closer.  The man just gave off that aura, what with his young, delicate features and piercing green eyes that gazed at him evenly through glasses just large enough to be effective.  The hair was slightly longish--the hair along the nape almost licking the collar of the man--and in need of a haircut perhaps, but he couldn't bring himself to disapprove.  The hair itself was too fine, too bright.  It seemed a crime that it was shorn as short as it was.  The clothes lent some strangeness as well.  They were a very strange cut that reminded him almost of the medieval tunics--and yet they were wholly elegant and almost clung to his lithe form.  Mostly, though, it was just the way the stranger held himself.  He lounged in the chair, surveying the man who would soon be his boss much the way a sleepy cat would a mouse, with sleepy sharpness and vague curiosity that seemed to be satisfied a little more with each passing moment.

"And...and your name, sir?" he stuttered out, trying not to imagine a tail twitching at the man's side.  It just seemed to fit all too well.

The man looked thoughtful for a moment, as if the question were one that he'd never been asked before in his life.  "Adon...Smith," he finally answered, looking directly into the principal's eyes in a lazy manner that just dared him to question.

He quickly cleared his throat and let his eyes flit down to the application sheet he was filling out for the man, looking the part of the mouse as much as Adon did the cat.  "Is that A-I-D-E-N?" he asked, keeping his eyes away from his visitor's.

Said visitor let his eyes slip shut in amusement.  "No.  A-D-O-N.  S-M-I-T-H, if you need help with that, too..." he added, his voice betraying none of his mirth.

The principal looked up at him hesitantly, not sure if his intelligence was being insulted or not.  "That...that's not necessary...  Um...well, according to what your references say, you are more than qualified for this job.  I'll be honest with you, Mr. Smith.  We're in a bit of a pickle right now, and we can't afford to be choosy.  Unless you give me reason to take it from you, you've got the job.  Now...I know that this is short notice, but could you possibly start Monday?  One of our teachers...pressing business..." he stammered out, realizing exactly how disorganized the school seemed.

Adon smirked.  "But of course.  In fact, that fits in with my plans perfectly..."

Description
Tip tap.  Tippity tap.  Tiptitaptaptap.  Natalie's fingers drummed out a sporadic song on the brick wall she was idly leaning against.  The rhythm slowed and was lost, however, when she paused to tuck a wavy strand of chestnut hair behind her ears.  On the way back to the wall, her hand made a detour to rub at the familiar ache in her chest.  The ache had begun so long ago that she couldn't even remember the cause.  According to her parents, she had been in no accidents, had never been seriously ill.  She'd just started complaining of an ache without cause when she'd been about five.  Now, ten years later, it still bothered her almost constantly.

A brief sigh escaped the girl as she looked up and down the street for the cause of her wait.  One minute passed, then five.  Finally, a very breathless girl could be seen dashing down the street, her barettes barely restraining the longish dark hair threatening to fly away with the wind.  "Gah!  I'm sorry...how long've you been waiting, Nat?" the girl gasped out as she reached her friend and put a hand up against the wall to steady herself.

Natalie shrugged.  "Only about half an hour, Naomi.  No longer than usual," she answered teasingly.  She then pushed off from the wall, slinging an arm around her friend and kind of skipping into a brisk walk in one movement that was fluid from practice.  Naomi was from before even the pre-ache days.

Naomi allowed herself to be dragged along for a few yards before she pulled out of Natalie's grasp and started walking on her own power.  "You know that I don't try to be late every morning...  Things just-"

"Come up, right?  Don't worry about it.  After the same thing every morning since grade school began, I'm starting to get used to it," Natalie interjected, finishing the well-worn sentence and adding the same reassurance as usual.  "Let's just get going before we're both late, 'kay?"

Naomi nodded amiably and the two walked along in a comfortable semi-silence that was broken at random intervals by equally random comments.  'Did you see that new movie?'  'Wow, look at that car!'  'I LOVE Fridays!'  The type of things that would not be remembered in detail, but fondly all the same.

The friendly atmosphere lasted long, longer than usual--until they got to school, even.  It was there, though, that that familiar feeling came back.  That ache in her chest that felt like all the muscles were tightening and being loosened by heat all at once.  The one that was almost always accompanied by cold shivers running down her spine.  Naomi gave her a sympathetic look.  "Your phantom again?" she asked kindly, pausing and waiting for the shivers to subside.

Natalie swatted at her friend half-heartedly.  "Phantom?  Hardly.  I just feel...like I'm being watched.  As usual," she said wryly.

Naomi shrugged in reply.  "Natalie, if you were really being watched half as much as you believe, then we would have seen the reality show based on your life on Fox by now."

Natalie ignored her and simply walked inside the school, purposefully ignoring the eyes that she knew were following her.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The class stared dumbly at their teacher, a short, kindly man who was balding slightly, but did not try to hide his encroaching age.  His name was Mr. Norton and most of the students had older siblings that had been taught by him, and just as many were expecting their younger siblings to be taught by him as well.  "Y-yes, I'm sure that it does come as a shock to you all.  After all, I have been teaching at this school for almost thirteen years!  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end...as it is, my family has been struggling to make ends meet for quite awhile now.  This new job would make all the difference.  Don't worry--I'll make sure to email your new teacher frequently with messages to pass on.  It's not as if I'll be fading from your lives, no not at all!  Not at all..." he said, trailing off as he realized that they did not believe his obvious white lie for even a minute.  "A-all right, children.  It's true.  This is most likely goodbye...  At the very least, I would have liked to finish out the year with you, but...but my new employers have given me express orders.  I begin next week," he admitted, his voice becoming low and sorrowful.

Naomi raised her hand tentatively.  "But Mr. Norton...have they got a new teacher for us?  I mean, it's not as if teachers are that plentiful..." she said, her voice fading away uncertainly.

Mr. Norton gave her a kindly look.  "Don't worry, Miss Harpsen.  The school officials have already assured me that they have many applicants, and that it's only a matter of selecting one at this point in time," he answered firmly.

The girl bit her lip, but nodded passively and looked down at her desk.

Mr. Norton watched her for a moment, then looked up at the class with a surprisingly fake grin.  "Well, now that that nasty subject is out of the way, let's get onto the Romans, shall we?"

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Many applicants' might have been a bit of an overstatement, the principal of the school mused later.  It was so strange.  There had been many applicants, but they'd all fallen to the wayside.  Well, at least one had the decency to actually show up when he was needed... he thought, extremely thankful for this fact as he eyed the man sitting across from him.  All at once the principal was very grateful that there was a desk separating the two of them and incredibly heartbroken that he couldn't be closer.  The man just gave off that aura, what with his young, delicate features and piercing green eyes that gazed at him evenly through glasses just large enough to be effective.  The hair was slightly longish--the hair along the nape almost licking the collar of the man--and in need of a haircut perhaps, but he couldn't bring himself to disapprove.  The hair itself was too fine, too bright.  It seemed a crime that it was shorn as short as it was.  The clothes lent some strangeness as well.  They were a very strange cut that reminded him almost of the medieval tunics--and yet they were wholly elegant and almost clung to his lithe form.  Mostly, though, it was just the way the stranger held himself.  He lounged in the chair, surveying the man who would soon be his boss much the way a sleepy cat would a mouse, with sleepy sharpness and vague curiosity that seemed to be satisfied a little more with each passing moment.

"And...and your name, sir?" he stuttered out, trying not to imagine a tail twitching at the man's side.  It just seemed to fit all too well.

The man looked thoughtful for a moment, as if the question were one that he'd never been asked before in his life.  "Adon...Smith," he finally answered, looking directly into the principal's eyes in a lazy manner that just dared him to question.

He quickly cleared his throat and let his eyes flit down to the application sheet he was filling out for the man, looking the part of the mouse as much as Adon did the cat.  "Is that A-I-D-E-N?" he asked, keeping his eyes away from his visitor's.

Said visitor let his eyes slip shut in amusement.  "No.  A-D-O-N.  S-M-I-T-H, if you need help with that, too..." he added, his voice betraying none of his mirth.

The principal looked up at him hesitantly, not sure if his intelligence was being insulted or not.  "That...that's not necessary...  Um...well, according to what your references say, you are more than qualified for this job.  I'll be honest with you, Mr. Smith.  We're in a bit of a pickle right now, and we can't afford to be choosy.  Unless you give me reason to take it from you, you've got the job.  Now...I know that this is short notice, but could you possibly start Monday?  One of our teachers...pressing business..." he stammered out, realizing exactly how disorganized the school seemed.

Adon smirked.  "But of course.  In fact, that fits in with my plans perfectly..."