You're Not Alone!

There's Something Fishy Here…

Hey people!

This is just a short intro to see what people think about the idea. Hope you like it!

April Johnson sat at the back of the class with a book propped up to cover her face in the hopes of avoiding eye contact with the teacher. Another benefit of the papered shield was it let her write out one of her "Faction Lists" (Faction being a combination of fact and fiction, which she thought was rather clever if she said so her self). She drew two lines shaped like a 'T' and immediately started filling out the left sides with everything she knew about Charlotte Mieswetzski. After every bit of information she knew was in print she switched gears to the detective work. Admittedly, the right side was much fuller than the left. What are you hiding?

April wasn't usually the agitated type, but she was very observant. When people started dropping like flies last year only she made the connection to Charlotte and Zee. Her biggest helper for that conclusion was Mr. Metos. She had tried for a long time to understand how she instantly distrusted him. Besides the fact he was a teacher he seemed like an okay guy. She finally settled on the fact he was just plain creepy. It was this mistrust (or rather Mr. Metos himself) that made April watch him close enough to see his treatment of Charlotte and Zee. He looked so protective. Then he left and she though that was the end of it. But she couldn't have been more wrong.

When Charlotte didn't appear in school for weeks April began asking around. She heard all sorts of things, but the general agreement was that she had an "accident of some sort". Yah right and the day she decides to come back is the same day Mr. Metos magically reappears. She sensed something very fishy about the whole situation.

Then there was Charlotte herself, who was currently sitting right next to her talking to Zee. April cringed when she looked at Charlotte. She had many cuts and scrapes. Not to mention little bruises that looked like she had been attacked by angry elves with mini-hammers. Very suspicious she though. Two words that just about summed up the world right now. April had all the facts thanks to the Internet, but she couldn't put it all together.

The best answers are always the simple ones she had read somewhere. Unfortunately, she didn't have an answer, yet alone a simple one. It's right there! She sighed and started putting her stuff away before the class ended.

Since she had no more classes with Charlotte that day, April though she had seen the last of her. But it was not to be. As she was suffering through the mandatory hour of math she caught a glimpse of something outside the window. It looked like…Charlotte? She turned in her seat for a better look, which unfortunately annoyed Mr. Crapf. "Ms. Johnson, perhaps you should share with the class what you find so much more interesting than negative exponents? Especially since you and half the class bombed the last test." Everyone else (or at least the half not wallowing in self pity for failing their math test) had by now abandoned his or her notebooks to look gleefully at this small standoff.

"I-I was j-just stretching Mr. Crapf," she stuttered. She let out a mental sigh as Mr. Crapf started walking to the window with a curious look on his face. She was a horrible liar.

Her embarrassment and disappointment quickly turned to shock when she heard Mr. Crapf say, "Charlotte?" April was confused, so she was out the window? As this bizarre scene played out April's brain was buzzing from the sudden turn of events. She barely heard Charlotte's excuse about needing fresh air or something. Everything is more or less normal at school, then Mr. Metos comes and suddenly Charlotte is scaling the side of the building? It seemed apparent that it was time to visit the new teacher.

Waiting after school outside Mr. Metos's office is exactly what April would consider an unfun experience. She absent-mindedly wondered where the old school tutor was now. She could picture him suspended above ink black water in a solid cage attached to the ceiling. Her imagination added in a group of fish he was trying to explain factoring to, which undoubtedly would understand his metaphors and examples better than she had. She was just about to shift uncomfortable in her seat when the door opened. "Ms. April Johnson?" the towering figure questioned.

"That's me," she said getting up and grabbing her backpack. She walked by the pale former English teacher without a word and sat herself down on one of the two uncomfortable chairs facing the only desk in the room.

Mr. Metos started walking away from the door when his phone rang. He looked down, probably checking the caller ID, before excusing himself. April hesitated before she ran over and clicked the mouse to access the computer.

Snooping other people's personal computer wasn't really her style. She felt a sense of guilt, but it was quickly eclipsed by her growing suspicion and curiosity. Spying the familiar Internet icon, she clicked again and waited. She cast a nervous glance at the door, but all was quiet (if you ignore the obnoxious sound of the generators) except for the occasional noise of Mr. Metos's conversation through the door. When the window popped up she quickly clicked history and started reading. To her surprise she saw something useful immediately. At the very top there was a search for a 'Greek to English translator'. There was something about that…Greek to English translator. Greek to English translator.

Then, very suddenly, the pieces fell into place. All of the weird phenomenons are happening in the Mediterranean, Zee borrowed a ton of books about Greek Mythology (she only knew this because she worked at the library and remembered questioning him about this, to which he replied he was in a mythology club. She didn't stalk the guy, jeez), it all fit! But there was one more thing she had to check… She quit the program and went to his mail inbox. Low and behold there was a strange looking email. When she opened it up she discovered her suspicion was right.

Her knees were shaking and she felt slightly faint. She sunk into the old cushioned chair trying to take it all in. No one will believe me. She had already accepted that almost all myths were based on some truth, but this? What if the Greek had it right? What if there is a Zeus, Hades, and Olympus? It was mind-boggling. April took a deep breath and searched for some wisp of logic and sense. "Now I know what Charlotte and Zee have been going through," she grumbled.

"I don't think you do," said a voice from the door. Because of the basement generator it had opened without her noticing. Standing there was Mr. Metos.