Fleur shot up in bed and looked at her clock. She groaned. It was 2:38 A.M. She went back to sleep before waking up again at 7:25. That was more like it. She took forever to get ready, finally leaving for school at 8:38, so she got two brown sugar cinnamon PopTarts at school to stop her stomach from growling again. She had a while before first period history, so she washed down her food with some hot chocolate. Much better.

     In history, her teacher, Mrs. Paul, was finally back. Mrs. Paul had been out for over a week and Fleur was starting to get tired of the substitute, Mrs. Smolarski. Fleur said hi to some of her friends, like Hayley Silver and Shadoe Eldritch, before taking her seat at the front of the class, right in front of the teacher's desk.

     Mrs. Paul's classroom had two teacher's desks and six student desks. One teacher's desk was on the left side of the classroom right under the window. The other desk was set precisely in the middle of the room. All six student desks were at a diagonal facing the middle desk. Almost no one had changed seats since the beginning of the year.

     Fleur's teacher collected everyone's board games that were supposed to have been due on Monday. It was now Wednesday, February 24.