I bring to you a token from the pre-flood Guide era, a time when the guys and girls of Guide ambitiously banded together to create a novel. But through the ages, trials and travels snatched each writer one by one, leaving only fading memories and a dusty unfinished manuscript.
It is with bittersweet triumph, I bring to you, Olive Branches!

This chapter was written by the one and only InsidiousCynic.

*************************************************
Monday, September 7 – Davi Crisostomo

 “I only have two rules,” I say, looking around the classroom. “Don’t tell your parents that I only have two rules, and if I accidentally hit you with an orange, don’t tell your parents about that either.”

Nobody laughs except DK, who doesn’t laugh so much as chuckle.

“Sooo…no to the bad jokes. Too soon, first day, I get it. Let’s do attendance. Heads up, I suck at names, so if I butcher yours, don’t take it personally. Ma-ee-line Bufort?”

“Actually,” a girl in the front says shyly. “It’s Maelynn Beaufort.”

“Oh, my bad Ma-ee-line,” I say, smiling. “I’ll try to remember.”

DK chuckles again. Hannah rolls her eyes.

“Timothy?”

Timothy raises his hand. “Present.”

“Good to see you. Tha-dous God-win?”

“Absent,” says Hannah. “Zane too, as usual.”

“I won’t mark them down as absent yet. They might just be late.”

“They aren’t going to come…” Hannah mumbles.

“Debrah-Kay Laurier?”

DK raises her cast in the air and smirks. This year it’s the left arm. “Present.”

I smirk back. “What was it this time? Waterskiing? Rockclimbing?”

“Bungee jumping…out of my bedroom window…on the second floor.”

“Hmm…” I say. “We’re going to have an interesting gym class this year, aren’t we?”

“You teach gym now?” DK asks.

“Yep. Mr. Rider had an…incident. I’m covering for him.”

“Not Mr. Rider,” says DK, sarcastically. Coach Rider was never popular with his students. “Please tell me he’s alright. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to my favourite gym teacher.”

I shrug. “I heard it involved the federal police. I don’t ask questions I don’t want answers to. Anyway, Hannah’s here…”

Hannah Perales, oblivious, is looking out the window. I mark her down as present.

“Omar-eye Prinn-see-ton?”

“Here,” says a boy sitting near the back. “It’s Omari. And Alexander’s my middle name. My last name’s Brown.”

“Sorry about that,” I say.

“No worries.”

“Haven’t I seen you around church?”

The boy nods. “I think so, once or twice.”

“Well, nice to meet you Omari. And Ayesha, you’re his sister right?”

Ayesha, the girl sitting behind Omari, nods. “Yeah.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

Then I ask: “Is Avalon here?” No response. “We have six students—Avalon Jacobs should be here.”

Omari gestures towards the girl sleeping at her desk in the back row. 

“Ohh….” I mouth. I put on a mischievous grin and tiptoe across the room to the sleeping student. She’s sleeping next to the wall where I hang my motivational  posters. Then, as loudly and dramatically as possible I yell: “AWAKE, YOU WHO SLEEP! ARISE FROM THE DEAD! AND CHRIST WILL GIVE YOU LIGHT!!””

Everyone in the room jumps except for DK and Hannah, who have been in my class before and saw it coming. DK laughs, then Maelynn, Ayesha, Timothy and Omari join. Hannah shakes her head and looks at me like I’m crazy.

Avalon looks up at me, her face and eyes completely unresponsive.

“Avaloon, I presume?” I say with my terrible, fake British accent. “Young lady, I understand that it’s the first day of school, but do try to stay awake. What if the principal were to enter and see you drooling all over your desk? Why, I shudder at the mere thought of w—”

Just then, the classroom door opens.

“And here she comes now.”

But it isn’t the principal, it’s Thaddeus and Zane.

“Thaddeus and Zane?” I ask them.

The two nod as they strategically take the seats nearest to the door.

“Thaddeus Goodwin, Zane Patterson…” I mutter to myself as I mark them present.

“‘Sup,” says Zane, grinning for no apparent reason.

Thaddeus says nothing.

“Well, now that we’re all here, let’s start with an icebreaker.”

***********************************************************