And more importantly, what the hell had just possessed my mother?
Chapter Two
Although I wanted to stay with Mom, I had no choice but to get to work today. Alfred, the owner of Joe’s Diner, had equal amounts of love for ironic statements as he felt hatred for people who called in sick at the very last moment. I tried to tell him my Mom wasn’t feeling well, but before I scarcely made it mid-way through my first sentence, he already threatened to fire me. Since I desperately needed this summer job—my funds were so low that I probably couldn’t even afford an ice cream cone—and Mom insisted I go and that she’d be fine, I headed to the diner anyway.
Frank, Mom’s boss, completely understood she wasn’t feeling well and agreed to let her stay at home all day. I liked Frank. He was a hard worker, but a reasonable man.
Alfred was neither of those things, I realized for the billionth time while I contemplated how difficult it would be to find a different summer job. Any job would be better than this. In the soaring heat, because Alfred refused to put on the air-conditioning although it was working perfectly fine and had cost him a good chunk of money to install, I had to rush from table to table to get through the breakfast rush hour. All the while, Alfred sipped from a cup of coffee and discussed the weather with one of the regulars, without a care in the world. But whenever I raced past them, trying to grab something from the counter, take an order from a customer, or clean up a table, Alfred barked at me to hurry up and that I shouldn’t slack off.
I should’ve been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for my patience. My feet were sore, my back hurt, I was still agonizing over what had happened with my Mom this morning, and while I tried to focus on the customers and their orders, my mind kept wandering back to the ‘Academy for the Wicked’, wondering what the heck it was. I did all that without messing up a single order, and that on my own freaking birthday. But when morning rush was over, Alfred couldn’t even give me a simple ‘thank you’; he just snapped at me that I would have to handle lunch by myself as he was heading out for a business meeting.
A ‘business meeting’ meant he would hang out at the local pub and drink himself into oblivion. Handling lunch by myself was no biggie as Alfred never lifted a finger to help anyway. In fact, I enjoyed lunch hour a lot more—it was a bit calmer than during breakfast, and with Alfred being gone, at least I didn’t have to worry about his snarky comments every time I passed by.
All through lunch hour, I’d managed to push the ‘Academy for the Wicked’ to the back of my mind, but when Cassie showed up, I practically jumped on her to tell her.
“Happy birthday!” She shouted at me from halfway across the diner. God, I was glad that Alfred had left hours ago to set himself a new drinking record. If he was still lingering around, Cassie’s excited scream would’ve resulted in me having to listen to one of Alfred’s long and insanely boring, not to mention hypocritical, sermons about work ethic.
Cassie practically flew toward me and wrapped me in a hug.
“Thanks,” I said as she let go of me. “I’m starting to think I’m ready for retirement. Today was hell.” With a sigh, I gestured for her to sit down. “Milkshake?”
“Of course,” Cassie replied as she took off her jacket and sat down. My best friend and I were two opposites of the same coin, but for all our similarities we also had our fair share of differences. For starters, I usually dressed in dark colors, even in the heat of summer. Cassie on the other hand, looked like a Barbie doll. Long, straight blonde hair that seemed to glow in the sunlight, a short, pink dress that made her look like a goddess, and classy high heels. Being able to walk on high heels without looking like a goose was one of the few skills of hers that I envied; I usually kept to sneakers for fear of breaking one or both of my legs.
I put the banana milkshake, Cassie’s favorite, down in front of her and slumped down on the seat opposite hers. I’d poured myself a milkshake too—on the house, because as long as Alfred wasn’t here, he wouldn’t notice. Besides, he underpaid me any way, so I figured he might as well buy me a milkshake.
“So, what’s up?” Cassie asked while she took a sip off her drink. “You didn’t sound too happy for someone who is supposed to celebrate her eighteenth birthday?”
“This morning the weirdest thing happened. Like insanely weird.” I leaned closer to her so the other customers wouldn’t overhear. Telling my best friend that my Mom seemed possessed this morning was one thing, but I didn’t want the whole town to know. News travelled fast in town, and gossip spread like wildfire.
“When I woke up, Mom was still home, while she should’ve been at work. The moment I saw her, I realized something was wrong with her. Very wrong. Then, she turned toward me and her eyes… They were just blank, with no irises. Like in a freaking horror movie.”
Cassie stared at me, unblinking, the color slowly draining from her skin. “What happened next?”
“She told me the strangest thing. Something about me being invited to the ‘Academy for the Wicked’, whatever the heck that is.” I shook my head. “And the worst part was, this wasn’t a nightmare or anything. I was wide
