Page 43 of The Commons

“And I’ve already told you to stop doing that, you look perfect.”

She sighs and rolls her eyes, shoving past me. To my surprise, she slips into the short blue skirt with the button-up white shirt. This is our third and last uniform option as girls in The Commons.

“Wow. So pretty. But, I thought you would be wearing the dress?”

“It looks bad on me. I just wanted you in the pants. Not that it takes the attention away from your behind.”

“Zia. Stop.” I roll my tongue, trying not to get irritated.

She smiles, placing her hands on me. “I’m sorry. But thanks for always looking out for me. I do feel better in these.”

“Of course you do.” I pull her closer into a hug, and she relaxes on my chest, taking a deep breath. “We got this. Let’s go.”

We walk toward class as the sunlight crashes through the glass windows and into our eyes. The two of us tilt our heads away from the windows, looking at the ceiling. We proceed to a boxed-shaped spiral above us. There are countless dots on half of the boxes. The dots indicate the various doors into our different math testing rooms. The building is vertical, so we are unsure of how to get up there.

I try to blur out the blue colors and look to the right to see an almost invisible staircase made of glass. I smile at Zia with a side eye, and we follow the gathering crowd toward the stairs. We arrive at our destination’s door. An automated voice indicates to us that we must solve a puzzle to enter the testing room. Zavish is in front of our line, trying to solve the puzzle as the doors beep endlessly.

I make my way through the crowd to assist. He resists at first, but then surrenders at the touch of my hands. His eyes strike mine and he steps aside. He tilts his head as though in a challenge. I walk past, ignoring him. His eyes on me, he adjusts the collar of his lined, white button-up shirt as he is stepping back, as though to retain his dominance. I solve the puzzle, and we all enter the class.

“I knew I could figure it out.” I make my way inside.

“Touché, seems you may have some brains after all. Ladies first,” he says, tucking in his already perfectly tucked shirt as if he is about to give a performance.

Zia turns toward him with her mouth open in a lavish smile, but he shoves past her to walk in. Her smile turns to sadness, but she lets it go instantly. She eventually meets up with me, where I am curiously investigating my surroundings, as usual.

The room is filled with numbers and formulas inscribed around the walls, ceilings and on the floor. I look to the right to see a gigantic sculpture hanging from the ceiling.

“What’s that?” Zia asks.

“It’s a mathematical structure representing the surface of a common man,” I respond.

“How do you know that?”

“I don’t know, I think I read it somewhere.”

We see our math teacher, Mr. Pitagura Malon. He is a middle-aged man with large square-shaped glasses and a brain that runs by a never-ending formula.

I overhear Zavish whispering with two of his friends, Tin and Jordan, “Where are the Patrons?” He looks around the class with wary eyes.

“Maybe there are not enough Patrons to go around? I heard Patrons refuse to proctor more than one or two lower-level classes a year. I’m sure they’d rather teach seniors,” Tin responds.

“I heard no Patrons approved Mr. Pitagura Malon’s request,” Zia says in a hush, coming closer to Zavish.

“Apparently, he had to pay a price for that.” Ciaro joins them, flipping her blonde hair to the side so it hits Tin’s eyes. He flinches, but coughs to shake it off.

“Like what?” Tin asks, staring at Ciaro. He fixes his plain white shirt and his golden blazer and straightens his shoulders upon seeing her.

She walks past him. “There is a spot of crinkle on your shirt,” she says to Tin, who instantly looks at his shirt, defeated. “So, the million-dollar question, what price do you guys think Malon paid? J boy?” Ciaro turns to Jordan.

“I don’t know. No one knows what he paid, but I’d guess his soul,” Jordan responds as Ciaro leans against him. Tin flinches at her touching his friend.

“Well, whatever this son of a Pitagura paid means we get to leave class early once our test is done due to his uncommon kindness. So, let’s get this useless thing started, shall we?” Zavish responds.

“Hell yeah. That way, I can get started with my Patron duties quicker,” Ciaro says and struts past them, flipping her hair seductively. All the boys look her way and Zia rolls her eyes, walking away.

“Patron duties? What is that?” Tin asks, looking at his friends.

“Patron Lenon, remember? She’s probably getting him a Gibraltar espresso or something spicier?” Zavish states with an uneven wink.