Something Is Off

Cara tried her best to pay attention to Mr. Archenbrite's lecture. History was usually her favorite subject. But hard as she tried, today she just couldn't make herself focus. Honestly, she had struggled through her homeroom class and Mrs. Patterson's second period English class. Now her eyes kept drifting to the window. She could see the student parking lot from the window of this classroom. Kaylee's little yellow Volkswagen stood out amongst all the other vehicles like a sore thumb to her. Try as she might she just couldn't stop looking at it. The memory of their near fatal accident was fresh on her mind. How had Kaylee avoided not one but two fully loaded log trucks barreling at them at 60 miles an hour? Cara had been so certain that they were going to die when she closed her eyes and braced for impact. But there was no impact. Nothing. No sounds of rubber screaming on the pavement. No sickening sounds of metal crushing metal. No excruciating pain as her life was snuffed out. No bright light at the end of a tunnel. Hell, her life never even flashed before her eyes! How could that be? She had literally seen the two log trucks inches from either side of Kaylee's car just seconds before she had closed her eyes! Cara couldn't make sense of it. No matter how hard she tried to think about anything else, the entire incident just kept nagging at her. Nothing about the terrifying incident made since to her.

"Grrrrr. Come on Cara get it together. Nothing happened. We are OK. Let it go. Pay attention. You're being ridiculous and over thinking it, girl.", she scolded herself. After all the only thing that mattered the most was that they had made it unscathed to school. Regardless of how they had escaped the life ending accident, they did. All was well. Cara sighed trying to clear her head and calm her nerves.

Then forced herself to look again to the front of the class and listen to Mr. Archenbrite as he went on and on discussing the Great Depression. As he discussed the days lesson he walked back and forth at the front of the class. Waiving his arms and speaking animatedly as he did so. He was very passionate about history. This was one of the reasons why he was her favorite teacher. The fact that he was easy on the eyes was another reason. He was a young man, in his late twenties, jet black hair, and sky blue eyes. The man had a strong jaw and broad shoulders. He was kind of noticed by all the girls for wearing the painted on polo shirts that clung to his chiseled muscles. The man was a God!

Cara was having a very hard time focusing. She desperately tried to follow his trek back and forth across the room. She usually found it quite easy to follow his movements. Mr. Archenbrite had gone near the exit and was turning to head back across the room still discussing the economic stresses on the American people of the 1930's. When, as he turned and walked back towards the the far side of the room, a movement in the little window in the door caught her eye.

There looking into the classroom directly at Cara was a very familiar face. A face Cara saw every day of her life. When the girl in the window realized that Cara was looking back at her, her face lit up with a wide, toothy grin. The girl had emerald green eyes, porcelain skin, and flaming red curls. Upon noticing the girl at the door, Cara did a double take. Her eyes went wide with shock and her jaw hung open. She watched as the girl smiled sweetly and waived excitedly at her. Cara was taken aback. She blinked repeatedly and shook her head. When she looked at the door again no one was there. The face was gone. She continued to look at the vacant window in the door, blinking and her jaw slack. Who was that? It shook Cara to her core. The physical similarities between herself and the stranger at the door were really bothering her. It was like looking in the mirror. Had she imagined it? She had had an extremely traumatic experience that morning. She had heard that when one goes through something very stressful one might experience strange things. Maybe her brain had been playing tricks on her. Her thoughts were racing in her head at a thousand miles per hour.

She was suddenly brought back from her stooper by the sound of her peers laughing. Looking around quickly she realized that everyone was looking at her smiling and chuckling about something. Confused, her eyes drifted to the front of the class. There she saw Mr. Archenbrite leaning against his desk. His arms were folded over his chest and he was staring expectantly at Cara. She quickly realized that she must have missed something. Had he called on her? She could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she quickly apologized.

"Cara, is something wrong? You kind of spaced out there.", the teacher questioned.

"Uhm, no. No, no, I'm fine. Sorry, Mr. Archenbrite. My mind had wandered. It won't happen again.", Cara apologized.

"Alright, Miss Magdalen. I know your birthday is this Friday and I'm sure you have a lot on your mind. But you still have to make it through this week. Everything that is discussed this week will be on the quiz Friday. You're a good student, Cara. Try to stay on task." He told her before addressing the class again. Moments later the bell rang, signaling that it was the lunch hour. Mr. Archenbrite quickly reiterated that everyone needed to review their notes and read the next twenty-five pages in their history books before Wednesday. Cara closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. She was grateful for the bell and ready to escape the embarrassment of History class. Shaking her head she scolded herself mentally as she gathered her things and raced to her locker to drop off her books. Before running to meet Kaylee in the cafeteria. She tried hard to push all thoughts of the girl in the window to the back of her mind.

As Cara walked into the cafeteria she immediately spotted her bestie sitting at a table across the way. Kaylee was waiving her over to the table. She smiled as she approached because Kaylee held up a grilled chicken salad that she had grabbed for her. Knowing just how much Cara really liked it.

"You're a life saver, Kaylee!! Literally twice today!", Cara said with a chuckle and a wink as she plopped down into the chair next to her best friend.

It wasn't long before their friends, Jessica and Mandy, joined them at their table. The four girls had been close friends since kindergarten. They had all grown up together. Their families all lived within a block or two of each other. And their parents regularly all hung out, throwing parties or having barbecues. The girls all spent the remainder of their lunch break eating their salads and excitedly discussing Cara's upcoming birthday. They were all super excited that another member of their little clique was coming of age. Jessica and Kaylee both had birthdays in May. So they both had been driving all the summer before. Mandy, being the youngest of the group would have to wait until the end of November to have her 16th birthday and gain her driver's license.

Cara was shoving the last bite of her salad into her mouth just as the fourth period bell rang. The girls quickly gathered their trash before heading to the exit where the trash cans were located. After tossing their garbage away they said their goodbyes and headed off to their fourth period classes. Kaylee and Cara shared fourth period. They both were in Mrs. Lopez' Spanish II class. Mrs. Lopez was a friendly woman. Although Spanish II wasn't one of their favorite classes, the girls enjoyed themselves. Mrs. Lopez had a great sense of humor and a way of getting everyone involved. The girls made it to their seats just as the tardy bell rang.

Spanish II proceeded with out any issues. Cara had surprised even herself when she was asked to go before the class and have an impromptu conversation with a fellow student. She hadn't realized just how much she had learned. The words flowed from Cara almost as easy as if Spanish was her native language. Mrs. Lopez was even surprised and commented repeatedly that even though English was Cara's first language her accent was barely audible. She was impressed with how fluent Cara had become. Cara had been doing well enough in the class, but she hadn't been doing that well before. She was glad to receive praise and acknowledgement from her teacher though. So she didn't dwell on it. With a wide toothy grin Cara returned to her seat.

Before Mrs. Lopez could call the next couple students to the front of the room for their turn to practice conversing, there was a sudden knock at the door. All heads spun in unison towards the sound. There looking into the classroom was Mr. Taylor, the school's principal. His facial expression showing that this was most likely something serious. He was usually a very cheerful smiling man. Mr. Taylor was well liked by his staff and most of the student body. Because although he was firm he was also fair. Their Spanish teacher wasted no time hurrying over and answering the door. Cara just could hear Mr. Taylor ask Mrs. Lopez to step out into the hall and speak with him in private. Obviously, she wasn't the only one to hear it because several other students' eyes went wide and a low murmur started to drift around the room. It was a known fact that Mr. Taylor took their education very seriously. This must be very important for him to interrupt class.

After a moment, Mrs. Lopez turned back to the classroom.

"Everyone pair off, please, and continue to practice your conversational Spanish. Mr. Taylor and I will be right outside the door listening. So please maintain a low volume and stay on task. I will return momentarily and resume our lesson." She said before stepping back out into the hall. As she stepped out she closed the door behind her.

Kaylee immediately jumped to her feet and raced to Cara's desk.

"What do think that was all about?", she lowly asked Cara. Cara shrugged her shoulders while biting her bottom lip before stating, "I don't know. But it must be important for the principal to interrupt class over it." The girls looked at each other and then around the room. It was obvious that their classmates were just as perplexed as they were.

The girls had just opened their Spanish II books to practice conversing when Mrs. Lopez came waltzing back through the door. Without saying a single word to her students she went directly to her desk and grabbed her coat and purse. Just as quickly, and again without a word, she waltzed right back out the door and was gone. The students were looking back and forth at one another in confusion, unsure of what to do. When in walked Mr. Taylor. He strode quickly over to the front of the classroom and cleared his throat.

"Class, I regret to inform you that something of a personal matter has come up. Mrs. Lopez won't be returning this week. She may require more time away. I will update you all as I am updated. I ask that you all continue your studies and we will be assigning a substitute teacher for all of Mrs. Lopez' classes. I expect you all to be on your best behavior and not give them a hard time. I will sit with you for the remainder of this class today. Please continue working on today's assignment until the bell rings."

With that he walked around behind Mrs. Lopez' desk and sat down. The students looked around at each other wondering what in the world was going on. Then slowly they paired off again and continued practicing conversational Spanish. Cara had an uneasy feeling. There was tension in the air. As she glanced nervously around the room, it was obvious that she wasn't the only one feeling that way. She and Kaylee continued speaking with each other until the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Cara startled at the sound of the bell, making Kaylee jump as well. The girls laughed at each other as they stood and gathered their belongings. Once in the halls they gossiped about what had happened in Spanish II and how they wondered what had happened with Mrs. Lopez while on the way to their lockers.