Peculiar Minds discussion

Toby sat at an empty desk in the back of Mrs. Dubose's classroom. He took notes on the content of cells as Mrs. Dubose droned on about them. He laughed quietly with the rest of the class at a joke another student made, then watched, mesmerized, as Mrs. Dubose pulled out her lap top and powered up the SmartBoard. He had been to this class, as well as others plenty of times, but this part always amazed him. He stood up from the desk and walked over to the glowing SmartBoard and touched it, leaving two colored lines where his fingers were. "Stupid board" said Mrs. Dubose, "It acts up like this everyday! Don't worry class, I promise I'll call the tech guy soon, I just haven't gotten around to it yet." Toby smiled to himself, sometimes he loved being a ghost.

Kiara sat quietly at the back of the class, staring out he window. She didn't even look up when the class laughed or when the smart board started acting up. Normally she just tuned out the class and did he sheets right in front of her. School was we least favourite part of the day, so she just kept herself content by looking out the window and waiting for school to end.

Toby drew some more scribbles on the board just to annoy Mrs. Dubose. He laughed again with the class as her face pinched with agitation, one more line and she'd be yelling in frustration at the board. Toby smiled just imagining it. He didn't really know why he found so much pleasure in frustrating Mrs. Dubose. She was a kind, fairly old lady, and he enjoyed her teaching. He came to her class usually twice a week, to learn new things and get a few good laughs (that's rather necessary to keep your sanity as a Peculiar Mind). He glanced around the room at the laughing children and noticed a girl staring out the window. Her name was...Katie-no, keirnan? Kiara! That was it. He had heard Mrs. Dubose call her out a few times. She always seemed uninterested in any classroom affairs. He walked over to her desk and followed her gaze out the window to try to see what she was looking at.

As Kiara watched a crow fly from the tree to the power line out the window, she felt the hair on he back of her neck stand up. This happened rarely, sometimes when she saw her mother it happened. Was she here now?
Kiara slowly turned her head back to the class room, trying to make it not obvious he was looking around the room. She didn't see anything, but then again it was very difficult to concentrate with the class snickering and the teacher getting angry at the smart board.
Wait...the board. Was her mother trying to tell her something through writing? Kiara could hardly contain her excitement. This has never happened before, the writing. Some people might think she was crazy, believing her mother was a ghost, maybe she was. But right now she needed her mother and wasn't prepared to give her up. So Kiara stared at he board with such intensity, as if she might move the pen herself, waiting for it to do something again.

Toby watched Kiara curiously. She didn't seem like the other students. Toby was still trying to see what she was looking at out the window when he glanced back down at her. "Wait-she's not looking out the window anymore. Now it's...Mrs. Dubose? Man, that is an intense stare. No-wait, not Mrs. Dubose...the board!" Oh man, the board. Toby froze "She can see me...she knows! Oh man what do I- but wouldn't she be looking at me?" He thought. "I could write a message, but that would be to obvious....no I'll just pass my hand through her arm. That way, if she knows I'll be able to tell, if not she'd simply shiver and ask Mrs. Dubose to turn up the heat." Toby bit his lip as he executed his plan and waited for her reaction.

Kiara stiffened. Goosebumps rose on her arms and she could swear she felt something... It had to be her mother, what else could it be? Turning her head she stared beside her, willing herself to just see something, anything. After a few moments of simply staring at the air beside her, she thought she could maybe see...
"Psst!" Someone hissed. Kiara focused her eyes in he real people in the room, loosing her focus. "Yeah you," one of the girls in the desk across the isle beside her said. "Stop staring at me, freak."
Kiara just rolled her eyes and turned her attention back on the window. She didn't exactly like the girl, Emily was her name, so Kiara didn't care what she thought.

Toby stood still as Kiara stared at him, and hunched his shoulders as if to conceal himself. He sighed with relief as he heard Emily talk to her and saw the concentration leave Kiara's eyes. "Okay so she knows...she definitely knows. But can she actually see me?" He didn't think so, but he knew he still needed to be a little more careful and maybe visit some different classes from now on. But first...he swept his hands through everyone's arms in Emily's aile, just as he had done to Kiara. Then smiled to himself as they all requested more heat from Mrs. Dubose. He didn't like causing major trouble or freaking people out, but just little things like these brought him occasional amusement.

Before she could concentrate anymore on the strange feeling she had gotten, the bell rang. Everyone scurried out of class and grabed their stuff and went home. It was the end of the day so Kiara hurried out as fast as she could so she would have more time to detour by the graveyard.
She wanted to visit her mother again today before she went home to her vacant father. Almost half way to the graveyard though she remembered she had forgotten her books. It was for an important biology test on Tuesday and she couldn't afford not to study. It would only take her a few minutes to run back to the school...
After convincing herself, Kiara dashed back to school. It was now empty if kids, all of them eager to get the weekends started. She made her way to the other end of the school and to her locker.

Toby stood by the door as the students rushed out of the classroom, some walking right through him. He sat down at a desk near the door as Mrs. Dubose tidied up. Before she powered off the SmartBoard he drew on it one last time, and smiled slightly and she cursed at it under her breath. But he didn't do anything else after that, he just didn't feel up to it. He'd gotten a burst of loneliness as the students rushed past without seeing him. After sitting for a little while longer, staring off at nothing in particular, he got up and moved his way into the hall. He wandered the halls for a little while and almost ran right into Kiara at her locker. He was holding his breath and about to slip away when his lonliness got the better of him. "If she really knows I'm here, maybe I can get her to see me." He debated this thought for a while, and finally decided he might as well go for it. So, without knowing if it would even work, he mustered up some courage and gulped before saying, "Hi".

Kiara reached into her locker to grab her text book when she felt that odd chill go down her spine. It wasn't the same one you got when a breeze blew by, she could tell the difference by now. It was something more...Sensational.
So, after feeling the chill, she froze and stopped thinking, opening all her senses. Was her mother here? After waiting a moment to see if anything unusual happened, Kiara decided to take her own step. She whispered aloud "hello? Are you you there?" Good thing no one was in the hallway right now or she may seem a little more crazy than usual.

Toby's heart leaped. She heard me! He didn't even consider the possibility that she had just said hello because she could sense someone was there. But how does she know me? Toby pushed the thought aside, it didn't matter right then. "Hi! I'm Toby! I think your name is Kiara because I've gone to Mrs. Dubose's class a few times. I'm a ghost I guess, but you probably already know that. By the way, how do you know that?" Toby rambled.

"Hello?" She said a bit louder but before she could say anything else another voice echoed through the vacant halls.

"Hey freak, who are you talking to? Your imaginary friend?" Emily, the girl from the class room, was sauntering down the halls alone. Her thick auburn hair was falling down her back in prepped curls.

Kiara just rolled her eyes an slammed the door, the sensation once again gone. She noted that if she ever wanted to see if what she was feeling was her mother, she would have to be somewhere quiet. Her grave would be the perfect place. "Goodbye Emily" she said in a monotone voice.

"Just hold up a minute" Emily tried to keep up but Kiara just kept walking. "Fine!" She said giving up, trying to make it seem like a victory on her part. "Stop looking at me in class freak for I'll tell someone about you!"

Kiara kept walking, rolling her eyes. Emily's threat was empty, there was nothing she could do just because someone looked at her funny. Emily was just a nuisance that should be ignored.

With her binder, she walked at a brisk pace toward the graveyard.

((Sorry I haven't been on in a while! I'm on now though))

Toby followed quickly at Kiara's heels as she made her way down the hall. He recognized the girl from Mrs. Dubose's class and had always thought she was rude, and now his suspicions were confirmed. He had an uneasy feeling that maybe Kiara hadn't heard him at all, but he wasn't yet discouraged. He tried to remain as positive as possible as he followed Kiara down the school hallways and out the front door.

((It's fine! I guess we should go to the graveyard now))