Ertifferrah Written By: Elay Understood CHAPTER 10 THE OFFICE ... Elay TV Content Creator

 

[Earth]:

At Tarsus High, Erica’s following along in class as they discuss a chapter in Government.

“Erica, here, you have a pass to go to the principal’s office,” Mrs. Portice calmly whispered to her.  She was one of the kindest teachers at the school so, getting out of this class wasn’t what Erica was hoping for. This was the only class in which she held above-average grades. 

*

At the front desk of the main office, a secretary waved Erica over to check her pass. “Okay, go down the hall and make-“

Someone interrupted, loudly clearing their throat. “I’ll take it from here, thank you.” A tall, slender, almost emaciated woman voiced. Her hair was black and pinned up will what seemed like thousands of hairpins. Even though she tried to smile, it was painfully obvious that it took her more strength to mask her irritation with a smile than anyone she’s ever seen before. Between the thousands of hairpins and the lady trying to smile, it put a smile on Erica’s face, cheering her a bit.

Placing a small stack of papers in a tiny metal tray, attacked to a closed door, the tall lady proceeded to Erica. 

“Now, if you would kindly excuse us.” She said to the lady she interrupted. After placing her chilled palm on the back of Erica’s shoulder, she stiffened as she felt how freakishly long and thin the tall lady’s fingers were.

“Ahh, Erica, just the young lady we had in mind to see, but oh, not so soon…”

“What do you mean, ‘not so soon’?

“Ah, that you will see in time, my darling, now sit here, and the Principal will be with you shortly.”  Before leaving, she patted Erica on the right shoulder and a gleam sparkled in her eye.

The tall lady headed to the lobby area of the main office turned the corner and was out of sight. 

After seeing how the impression stayed deeply embedded into the leather chair after a rather large woman got up to go to a side office, Erica shuttered at the thought and decided to just stand up and wait her turn. She didn’t want the same embarrassing results to happen to. Just her luck, the office assistant, also known as, Jake the pervert, would be watching her and the minute she got called into the office, Jake would come to look at her butt impression that remained in the seat. She couldn’t stand him, and of all people the people here at Tarsus High, he had to be the only guy in the world who ever knew she existed. To make it all worse, he has a major crush on her!

Deviously plotting to herself to somehow set Jake up so that he written up for sexual harassment, so then, maybe he’d quit eyeing her every time he see her. Laughing, she thought, hay, it’s all in the name of fun and hay, sometimes girls just gatta have it too!

 

“Erica,” an airless voice spoke out. 

“Yes.”

“Wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.”

“Not so soon...?” Pondered Erica. “Here we go again with the ‘not so soon’ charade.”

“Humm, follow me.” Principal Veedra directed her into the poorly lit office.

Something large, four-legged, and furry jumped out of nowhere, knocking a heavy object to the floor.  

“Woah, what was that!”  Erica yelped.

 “That’s my cat.”

“That’s not a cat.”  Erica said shaking her head; “it’s way too big to be a cat!  It’s as wide as a Semi-truck tire! It’s just too big, too big! She stressed over and over, staring at the supposed cat as it now tried to squeeze between a table and a large potted plant.

“Sure he is! Principal Veedra interjected.  And he’s so spoiled too. I feed him whatever he wants.” 

“Yeah, like all the bad students,”  Erica grumbled. 

“Although that is a good idea, I am not that cruel, but kudos on a great suggestion.”

Noticing that Erica was still a bit uneasy with the ‘cat’ throwing its weight around the office, Principal Veedra spoke. “Now don’t mind him, he’s just a little overweight, but he won’t bite. Please have a seat.”

 

Principal Veedra grunted as she tugged open a long, black drape that drifted from the top of an extremely tall window. The light that shined in was still somewhat inadequate because of the trees and vines that crowded the window.

Getting a quick glimpse of her layout, Erica noticed some things she wished she hadn’t, like how there were so many strange looking plants and hundreds of vines running up the walls and really tall trees scattered around her office that sat in huge clay pots. Not wanting to draw attention, Erica averted her eyes someplace else but could have sworn one of the vines behind the Principal moving. It was as if it had its own heartbeat.   

Erica spoke. “I thought I was supposed to stop at the front desk and get my new schedule there?  That’s what the letter said.”

“Oh, great, you brought it.”

“Yes, but the secretary lady kept it.”

“Did you sign it?” She quickly asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good. Since that has been taken care of, I’m quite sure you’re aware of which type of accelerated class you’ve been promoted to?”

“Oh.”  Erica said trying to keep her eyes focused on Principal Veedra; a difficult task because her so-called cat, was chasing a mouse, and unfortunately caught it.

“Erica, your excellent grades in Government has impressed me, and I am highly intrigued in finding out how well you will result in our accelerated course.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she briskly responded, short on words as she watched the cat finish eating the poor mouse. Aww, it didn’t stand a chance against it. The poor little thing.”

The office was becoming a little too much for Erica, and to make things worse, she started to feel as though the two of them were not the only ones in the room.

“Uhh, it’s a little warm in here, isn’t it? Maybe we can go talk outside...” Erica tried to steer an end to the meeting so that she could get the heck out of the office.

“Yes, I am grateful for how effectively the greenhouse effect is working on my plants.”

“Oh…kay…um, yeah.” Erica’s voice trailed a bit as she rose to her feet.

Picking up on her vibe, Principal Veedra chose to end their meeting until another time.  Standing up and extending a cold hand, she said, “Then I guess we are finished here, Erica. It's been a pleasure meeting you one on one and I hope to hear more of you.”

“Likewise.”  

Principal Veedra sat back down behind her desk as Erica walked to the door. Once out, Erica moved to the side of the office door to tie her shoe. Wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, she noticed for the first time, a rather large painting with a shiny, reflective background. “I guess whoever chose the piece wanted this side of the office to have some kind of artistic feeling.” Thought Erica.  The picture had golden swirls all over it and nothing else. Studying the picture, she noticed that she could actually see into Principal Veedra’s office through the reflection. 

Erica just had to stay there for as long as she could. Wanting to spy around on the Principal without her even knowing it is a once in a lifetime deal!

In the office, Veedra was still sitting at the desk, and was talking to someone, but who…? Maybe she had them on speaker-phone, maybe she was just talking to herself. But she doesn’t seem like the type who’d go around doing that. -Though the last principal did. His name was Principal Schultz. What a wacky guy. The only thing, he was just too nice and so of course the student body ran over him.

“Ah-choo! Woops.” Erica sneezed. 

A voice of a man shouted from out of the office “someone’s out there!”

Erica continued looking through the reflection to see Principal Veedra extend her arms and flick her wrists. A strong gush of wind blew from her office and slammed shut the heavy door. 

The painting mounted on the wall now had a large crack in it. Erica stood to her feet and tapped the glass. The crack grew longer and a huge chunk of it fell out. Erica quickly stepped back right before it hit the ground and shattered. The next piece fell, hitting the ground.

Erica figured it was a pretty good time to leave.

**

Inside Principal Veedra’s office, the vines stretched and slithered across the walls. The cat pranced around, scurrying this way and that.

“Cut the charades, Brinks, she’s gone!” Shouted Principal Veedra. “You were over the top, chasing that mouse.  The poor girl turned two shades of green as she watched you devour it!” 

The cat violently shook and elongated, its paws transformed into hands and feet, revealing a very handsome man.  “Sorry, it’s been a while since I've had some fun around here. Want me to keep watch on Erica...?” He asked.

“No, that won't be necessary Brinks. Thank you. ” She brushed a tree with her hands and sighed as two of the branches gently patted her on the head.

“Very well, My Lady, I'll see you on the other side.” He walked to the windowless wall and right through it, the wall rippled and then as if nothing ever happened, solidified.