Chapter 3.1

"I'm coming hic." Lilli tearfully replied before repeatedly hiccupping.

Her hand immediately covered her mouth as the principal nodded at her.

"Very good. See you in 4 minutes. Shut the door on your way out." The principal said before leaving his office.

Lilli waited for 30 seconds, straining her ears to make sure his footsteps were getting fainter before dashing to the door and peeking out.

Both sides of the hallway were clear, and with all the speed her body could come up with, she sprinted for the closest emergency exit door, quickly pushing the door's lever and trying to get outside.

Let's leave and get some help.

Unfortunately…

The door was stuck!

It didn't budge even the slightest bit.

As Lilli repeatedly threw her body at the door, the only effect was to make her arm numb.

Why won't it open?

Not willing to give up, she was ready to body slam it again, before a slightly raspy voice stopped her in her tracks.

"What are you doing?"

Hic!

Slowly turning her head, she saw the principal standing there, his arms folded behind his back, his head cocked to the side, staring at her with unblinking eyes.

How had he gotten there so quietly?

How long had he been there?

"Well?"

"Ah… I-I just wanted to get some air before the staff meeting. I'm feeling a bit faint and claustrophobic, and wanted to feel a fresh breeze." Lilli lied even though her heart was pounding so fast she thought it would explode.

Please believe me, please believe me.

The principal stared silently for several seconds and blinked slowly before responding.

"It's not time to go outside yet. I recommend heading to the staff room for the meeting. Otherwise, you'll be late. Are you planning on being late?"

"N-no, of course not! Haha, I'll head to the staff room right away, sir!" Lilli quickly stood up straight and saluted him.

"Follow me."

With a smooth turn, the principal began walking away quickly.

Bowing her head, Lilli meekly trudged behind the principal into room 13-A, their staff meeting room.

Inside, 3 teachers were already seated at the long rectangular table in the center of the room, chatting, while 2 others were getting coffee at the minibar off to the side.

The addition of Lilli and the principal brought the total number of people in the room to 7, with the only person who was absent being Mr. Anthony, one of the older teachers who had been teaching for over 20 years.

Keeping her head down, Lilli quietly took the empty chair that was the farthest from the principal, grabbed a notepad and pen, and stayed still.

"Lilli? You're so quiet. Is something wrong?" Justina, who was Lilli's age and her closest friend on the teaching staff, whispered in her ear.

Lilli quietly shook her head while mumbling that she was fine, and Justina's braided and beaded hair clacked as she gave Lilli a concerned glance before letting the issue go.

Like everyone else, her gaze went to the principal, who had taken a seat at the head of the table and was quietly staring at the clock hanging on the wall.

When precisely 5 minutes from his announcement time had passed, he met the eyes of everyone sitting at the table before glancing at an empty seat.

"Who's missing?"

The raspy voice was back again, and Lilli flinched before holding still, while peeking at the principal from the corner of her eye.

The principal's mouth twitched repeatedly, but thankfully, somebody answered before that strange smile showed up again.

"Anthony asked me to take notes for him since he isn't able to come to the meeting." Karen, the most seasoned teacher, who had been here the longest, answered casually.

"Oh?"

The principal seemed to freeze before speaking with a small smile.

"For violating the rules, he has been dealt with accordingly."

Dealt with?

What do you mean by that??

Hearing the words, Lilli felt a chill go down her back and lowered her head even more.

She was too afraid to ask for clarification.

"Moving on, there will now be sweeping changes across every aspect of this academy."

"Changes? What do you mean?" Karen asked with a confused expression.

"Yes, changes. I've noticed a decline in the school's standards and plan to rectify them immediately. Starting now, I will inform you of the new schedule and rules that every teacher and student in every classroom must begin following immediately after this meeting. If you are found in violation of the schedule or rules, you shall be punished. If you are found wandering around outside of permitted times, you shall be punished. Order shall be regained, and the academy will excel. The new schedule is as follows. Morning arrivals for the students must be between 6 AM and 7:30 AM. Any child brought in outside that time without written permission will be found in violation of the rules and punished. Morning Circle Time is now between 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM. Structured Learning Time is now between…"

"Wait, what are you talking about, Mr. Simon? Punished? A new schedule?"

Even though Karen and other teachers interrupted him angrily, the principal kept speaking about the new schedule in the same steady manner.

"Outdoor or Basement Play is now between 10 AM…"

The only person who was quiet was Lilli, who kept her head down and scribbled each and every word the principal said.

For a second, as she wrote, she was reminded of her childhood when her parents would make her do something similar.

Just as she was about to be lost in the memory, Lilli shook her head hard and focused on the principal's words.

"There will be an announcement telling you of the upcoming schedule that must be followed. Do you all understand the new rules and schedule?"

The principal's question set off another round of demands and questions from the teachers, prompting the principal to just repeat the schedule and new rules one more time.

Seeing that he wasn't answering anything, the teachers shook their heads in annoyance, but eventually things got quiet.

"No further questions?"

Even though she felt afraid, Lilli found the courage to lift her shaking hands into the air.

"Go ahead." The principal nodded at her.

"The new schedule sounds amazing, sir, but uhm- you know, when dealing with such young children, variable situations always come up. Accidents happen. Although we of course want to follow the schedule you've provided as tightly as possible, would it be too much to ask for some time to transition from one schedule item to the other? Just to settle the students and get them ready to work hard on their next task."

The principal tilted his head and stared at her silently for several seconds before responding.

"How much transition time are you proposing to handle accidents?"

"20 minutes?" 

Ideally, forever, but if I say that, I think I might die!

"You have 10. Any other questions?"

As those unblinking eyes seemed to bore into her, Lilli quickly shook her head, and although the other teachers looked a bit confused at the impromptu meeting, they shook their heads as well, thinking that the principal had lost it due to old age.

"You're dismissed. In 10 minutes, I will announce the current schedule. I advise that you follow it."

As the teachers left the staff meeting room and began heading to their classrooms, Lilli clutched her notes in one hand and Justina's hand in the other, leading her off to the side.

"Lilli, what's up? Why is the principal suddenly bringing up all these new changes? You had a meeting with him, right? Why are you acting weird and being all quiet? It's very unlike you," Justina asked.

Lilli glanced around before pulling Justina toward a wall and whispering into her ear.

"Firstly, no matter how it looks, that is NOT the principal."

All she got in return was a weird look before Justina laughed.

"Girl. You know I don't mess with that horror stuff. And I know you don't either. So what's going on?"

"I'm serious! Didn't you notice? Mr. Simon always calls everybody by name when he speaks to them. He'll say Miss Lilli, Miss Justina, and Mr. Anthony while he's talking to you. And you can always have a nice discussion with him. Today, he just talked, dictated rules, and sent us off. Isn't that weird?"

"Maybe? But isn't he just stressed since the school board people are coming to do a surprise evaluation of us soon? You're new, so you might not know, but he gets super serious and stressed whenever it gets close to that time. Don't be so dramatic." Justina patted her back reassuringly, but it just stressed Lilli out even more.

She wanted to break down and cry.

She couldn't figure out how to explain the strange experience and feeling she had without sounding crazy or like she was imagining things.

This wasn't just the principal being serious and stressed; something was wrong!

Very, very wrong.

"Justina, I tried to go outside, and the door wouldn't open! Then the principal arrived out of nowhere, and he was creepy and weird! His smile rose up to his eyebrows! Something is wrong!"

"Isn't it just jammed again? And you know, when you get absorbed in something, you lose track of your surroundings. And aren't your eyes just extra light sensitive because it's super sunny today? Remember when you thought you saw a flying pig holding a child, and it was just a plastic bag? Seriously, you're being so dramatic. Did you have a nightmare last night? Running a fever?"

Justina laughed again as she stuck her hand on Lilli's forehead.

"No! It's not that." Lilli bit her lips in frustration before glancing at the clock in the hallway.

Time was passing quickly!

She needed to get back to her classroom.

Now!

"Look. Let's just get through the day safely. And please, please just follow the new schedule and maybe try to call for help. I'll do the same. Okay? Just obey the rules and schedule!"

"Sure. I'll see you at the playground, girl. Take a deep breath and calm down. Okay?"

Before Lilli could say anything else, Justina began walking away, and with no other choice, Lilli dashed back to her classroom, her pigtails flying in the wind.

As she quickly entered and shut the door, she was greeted by the sound of children playing happily.

When they spotted her, their little voices sounded out while they waved.

"You're back, Miss Lilli!"

"Hi, Miss Lilli! Look at my car! It's fast like me!"

"I'm faster than you, Luca!"

"No, you're not, Cian! I'm faster!"

"I am!"

"Hi kiddos! I'm back! Cool car, Luca! I think both you and Cian are very fast! Twin motors, right? Vroom vroom."

Giving the kids a forced smile, Lilli quickly ran to the chalkboard and erased the old schedule before writing the corresponding times on the new one, double-checking her notes.

Although the text was crooked and messy because of her shaking hands, it was legible, and that was the most important point.

"Lilli? What's going on? Is the schedule changing? I thought we were going to have free play before going outside? Are you okay? You're sweating a lot." Mallory asked as he walked over and looked Lilli over.

Although she was usually pale due to her partial albinism, she looked paler than normal; her bangs were stuck to her forehead from how sweaty she was, and her red eyes kept flickering around even more than usual.

It also looked like she had cried.

Perhaps the meeting with the principal had gone badly?

"Yes. The schedule changed, and we will be following it with no deviations! Along with some new rules. The principal will announce it soon! Please help me get everyone sitting calmly around the circle! We're having circle time first!" Lilli spoke quickly, then turned to her students, who were playing with toys, and yelled, "1! 2! 3!"

"All eyes on me!"

The 8 toddlers yelled out their response and looked at Lilli as she clapped her hands.

"Good Job. Shall we all sit in the circle first? Please follow Mr. Mallory and sit in the circle." Lilli asked as brightly as she could, even though she was screaming inside.

Please, kids, let's sit in a circle.

No arguing or playing around right now!

Come sit in a circle with the teacher!

Please!!

Maybe they sensed her hidden tension, but all the children followed Mallory to sit calmly, even the troublemakers.

Sighing in relief, Lilli quickly ran to get her cell phone out of her bag while waiting for the principal's announcement.

Although she wasn't supposed to have it out, she could still call the fire department or the police to come help unlock the doors from the outside.

Unfortunately, when she unlocked her phone…

There was no service.

And no WI-FI.

Crap!

Lilli felt her eyes watering again.