Ch. 12 Stay away

                                    

                                          
*Hello everyone! Hope you have a Happy Halloween!

Looking around, I saw a couple of other students rushing inside too. I guess we weren't the only ones late. Once at my locker, I quickly threw my backpack in and grabbed my stuff for the first period. 
Finn already said goodbye in a hurry to his first class. Once I had everything in my backpack, I booked it to my classroom and got in just as the bell rang. 
Sliding into my seat in the front row, I quickly organized my books and notebooks. 
"Good morning class!" 
Jolting up in my seat, I looked up to see Mr. Messenger the history teacher. Today he had a snazzy black suit on with black shinny shoes to match. I wonder why he's all dressed up today?
"Today as you all know is the second day of school. On the second day I usually like to skip ahead a couple of chapters to the history of the royal family."
He looked proud to be discussing such a topic to a class full of sophomores. Ahh, that must be why he dressed up today, to honor the diseased Royal Family.
A few students started to murmur as conversations broke out, everyone seemed excited to hear about a familiar topic on the second day. They were probably hoping to have no homework if we were to only be lectured.
I watched as Mr. Messenger quieted the voices with a raised hand. "I would like you all to open up your history book to page 456, chapter 9." The only sound to be heard was the flipping of pages as everyone listened. 
Grabbing my book, I flipped through it and instantly found chapter nine. A very old picture of the royal family's portrait was copied onto the first page. 
A list of the family members from order was written in cursive letters at the bottom of the page. This was the last descendants of the royal family's lineage.
Looking closely at the Queen, I noticed she was smiling as her husband stood to her left with a hand on the young prince's shoulder. Her majesty then held the princess's hand who stood to the right of her. 
The daughter looked exactly like the majesty. Her long blond hair fell in soft curls just like the Queen. Except the Queen had her long blond hair up in a bun with a crown adorned with diamonds.
I noticed how the son looked exactly like the King with his stoic face and dark raven hair like his father. I can definitely tell who takes after their parents. The royal family was a very picturesque and handsome family. It was cool to see the Royal Family as if they were still alive.
I unintentionally started to smile seeing how the Queen must have loved her family very much. I don't think I have ever seen a royal picture where someone was smiling.
Like someone heard my curiosity, the girl behind me asked, "Mr. Messenger. Why is the queen smiling? Isn't it a custom to not smile in portraits?"
Surprised at the question, he turned to look at the girl and said, "Why do you think the queen chose to smile in this painting?" 
A couple of seconds of silence followed before a classmate raised her hand.
"Yes, Sabrina?" Mr. Messenger expectedly asked.
Turning to look at Sabrina, I noticed she was one of Aubrey's friends from the other day. "I think I was told that she was the first queen who would smile in portraits. She said something along the lines that she wanted to be seen as who she was as a ruler and not be fake in the paintings."
Mr. Messenger enthusiastically exclaimed, "That's right! She was the first queen in history to smile in all her paintings. She wanted her people to see who she truly was since that was the only time most of her subjects saw her. She even wrote a letter to the painter telling him to not paint her a serious face. Let's then turn the page and continue onto the Timeline of Rulers."
After about 40 minutes of lecturing the bell rang. Immediately students packed up and started to head out. 
"Wait everyone, I'd like you to choose a member of the royal family and find as much information on the one you chose. We will be discussing this more on Monday. Have a great weekend."
Some students sighed at the thought of having homework over the weekend. I however grabbed my schedule and quickly wrote the assignment down before following everyone out the door.
I quickly went back to my locker since I didn't want to continue walking around with the heavy book. Just as I closed my door, I jumped in surprise to see Aubrey standing with a smile on the other side of it. Glancing around I don't see her friends with her. 
Questioning why Aubrey is in front of me I tentatively said, "Hello?" 
In a sweet double meaning tone of voice, she asked abruptly, "Do you know Aiden!?"
Startled at the question I answered, "Sorry no I don't. I am new here." 
'Remember?' I didn't dare say this out loud though.
Seeming like she was impatient she said, "Aiden, the one who caught you yesterday in the cafeteria? Does it ring a bell?"
She half mocked. Distaste evident on her face as she talked down to me.
"Oh, that was him." 
She replied with a flick of her hand like she was dismissing  how I came to know him. "Yes, anyway you should stay away from him. Not just anyone can be with him...Just remember your place human." 
With one last look, she whipped around with her red curls bouncing as she headed in the opposite direction. Her heels clacking away from where I have to go. 
Sighing with relief, I started to walk to my next class on shaky feet. What did I ever do to get on her bad side. It's not like I intentionally fell into his arms. 
I never thought it would be a big enough deal to have someone to practically tell me he is out of my rank for me to be around him. With a half-hearted laugh, I walked right into my English class.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful as I had Math, AP Environmental Science and gym class after English. The only class that gave us homework was history and I am fine with that. 
Although, Mrs. Fassler from my environmental class did tell us to go outside and learn about the different trees and leaves. She gave us a list of trees to document what type of leaf they had. 
I'll have to see if Jake or Jared would like to come with me to hunt for leaves. I still can't go out into the forest too far away by myself and all the different types of trees are father into our territory. 
When I told her my mom says hi at the end of class she immediately smiled and started to gush about their old friendship. I was almost late to my next class since she talked a lot, but it was nice to listen to her conversation.