Afflatus

Despite all of the teacher’s imperfections Avery was a bit of a teacher’s pet. She was so keen on getting good grades (mostly because her father expected it) that at one point she had even placed herself in detention because she got a B on a math assignment. Her math teacher, Mr Parceled, had given her an advanced fractions assignment (he loved fractions) and she did not understand the concept at all and so decided to stay after school until she got it. The others, as she liked to call them, mocked her endlessly for that move. “Avery, Avery, Apathy Avery!” they would chant. To which she would retort, “You obviously don’t even know the meaning of the word!” “Apathy, apathy, apathy Avery!” the others would just mock. Bunch of boneheads, she would think to herself. Apathy meant not wanting to do something. The only physical activity that she enjoyed was fencing. A year earlier, she had managed to persuade her parents to enrol her in the sword fighting technique. They only agreed because they believed physical activity outside of school would help her train her mind and body. Although, they were not keen on her choice of activity – it was too violent! It was just after a bombardment of mocking slurs from another student that caused Avery to skip her next class and head straight for the atrium. She had been hurrying through the halls, not watching where she was going when she bumped into Jarred Swagger, the biggest jerk at Jeerson Junior High. The boy was slightly older than Avery was, because he had repeated grade five. Jared was the biggest bully in the seventh grade and he looked mean. His hair was dirty blond and very seldom combed. Even though he had gone through puberty, he acted as if he belonged back in elementary school. His eyes were brown, and in most cases that would make a person adorable – yet on him the brown made him look even meaner. He was also the tallest boy in grade seven; standing at around five feet seven inches. He would pick on the kids smaller than him, make fun of almost everyone and most especially, he seemed to have it out for Avery.