Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 19

The office was a dozen steps from the doors — not that Vivian hadn’t memorized a map of the school in hopes she wouldn’t get lost — and she soon found herself waiting at the receptionist’s desk while the woman chatted away on the phone.

From the one side of the conversation Vivian could hear, someone’s parent was worried about their child not having enough extra curricular activities, or assignments for extra points? It sounded like the person on the other end of the line would fall into the category of helicopter parent, which made Vivian hold back a wince.

Luckily, parents weren’t allowed past the front office without an escort, and weren’t supposed to show up out of the blue; you had to make an appointment, unless called in by the principal. Whichever student’s parent was on the phone probably enjoyed school just to get away from them.

It was only the sound of first bell that allowed the receptionist to end the call with a small sigh before turning to face Vivian, a frown now on her face. “Yes? Shouldn’t you be in class?”

Had she made the call last longer than necessary in hopes Vivian would prioritize getting to class on time? *Jokes on her.*

“I’m new,” Vivian told the woman, whose name plaque resting on the desk had ‘Rose Gardener’ engraved on it.

*I bet she didn’t like her name growing up,* Vivian figured, watching said woman shuffle through some papers on the desk before pulling out a stapled packet.

“Vivian St Peter?”

“Yes.”

“You’re late…”

This made Vivian frown. Late? If she hadn’t stalled on the phone for fifteen minutes that wouldn’t be an issue. But Vivian kept her mouth shut, not bothering to argue with someone who seemed more focussed on not giving a damn about a student.

“Here is your welcome packet,” Rose passed the packet to Vivian as she spoke, “Make sure to read it through, as it will cover all the school rules and regulations, what’s expected of each student, as well as your class schedule.”

It took a lot of effort for Vivian to stay quiet, to not tell this woman that this same packet was on her desk at home. She had spent the previous day reading through it, memorizing her schedule and making note of any rule that might cause issues. After all, she was accustomed to public school rules, not private; though a fair amount were the same, a few differed enough it would require Vivian to actively remember said differences.

The only reason Vivian had even bothered to stop at the office that morning was because in that same packet was a note saying she would be assigned a student guide for the day and to go to the office to meet them.

Flipping through the packet, Vivian stopped on the page with that specific paragraph and turned the page to show the receptionist. “It says I’m supposed to have a student guide.”

“That’d be me!” A chipper voice came from behind Vivian, causing her to look over her shoulder.

It was a girl of same age, but with beautiful auburn hair that stopped at her chin; it was curly to the point it didn’t lay remotely flat and Vivian wondered how long it took her to get ready in the mornings to have it so well maintained.

Bright green eyes looked Vivian up and down as she did the same in return. Freckles were splattered so heavily across a face tanned from the summer sun that they didn’t seem as prominent as they would be when the tan disappeared over winter.

“I’m Miriam, and I’m your student guide for the day!”

“Miss Wilson is one of our top students,” the receptionist told Vivian, who didn’t really care about the girl’s position in the school, so long as she didn’t get too clingy. Once the day was done, Vivian expected to be left alone. “She’s also here on an academic scholarship and works very hard to keep it.”

A bit of pink coloured the guide’s cheeks as she shifted from foot to foot, embarrassed. “Yeah, something like that. You must be Vivian?”

“Yes.”

“Awesome! Mind if I look at your class schedule?”

Vivian flipped back through the pages and held out the schedule.

“Hmmm. We have a few classes together, so those will be easy… The ones we don’t share I can still get you to easy peasy.”

As she spoke, Miriam walked out of the office, linking an arm through one of Vivian’s. “We share first period together, so that’s good. We won’t get a tardy for being late since Mrs Gardener is known to motormouth on the phone specifically for that reason.”

Vivian raised her eyebrows at her guide, who laughed. They said little else before Miriam drew them to a stop in front of a wall of lockers. “Yours should be… number three-oh-four… There!”

The lockers were painted the school colours — maroon for the top ones, navy for the bottom. Vivian’s was a bottom locker, which she wasn’t pleased to realize but didn’t think it worth complaining about; half the student population had bottom lockers, so why would she be exempt?

Kneeling on the ground, Vivian pulled out what she’d need for first period before storing her school bag in the locker, closing it before regaining her feet.

“Next stop, mathematics. The teacher is Mr. Stuart. Generally a decent guy, most students like him, just don’t try and prank him and you’ll be fine.”

“Prank him?”