“What do you think you’re doing?” Benjamin jumped at the sound of someone directly behind him. “Don’t try to explain; I know what you’re going to say.”

“Wait, you do?” As he turned to face the familiar voice that startled him, the young man passed him. Benjamin watched as his golden opportunity walked down the hallway and disappeared out of sight. Benjamin had to come up with another way to retrieve his sphere from her, but how?

“Yes, come with me for a moment, ok?” The lady appeared too old to be a student, yet she dressed like a typical teenager. Benjamin recognized her as the young woman that directed him toward the school. It was that look-a-like from the sidewalk earlier today. Why was she in the school now?

The look-a-like led Benjamin away from the hallway of green walls, red flooring, and yellow doors. One of them had a sign on top, which looked to be the principal’s office. She told him to wait here while she went inside. He wondered why he got called at a time like this. After a short while, a voice told him to come in; he slowly opened the door.

.-.-.-.

Much to his surprise, a different lady stood next to the desk. The look-a-like hung her previous clothes on the wall, while a mannequin with a wig sat on the bureau. He already got weird vibes from this room and desperately wanted to hightail it out of there and try to find the girl that had his sphere.

“Ah, hello there. I’ve been expecting you.” The young lady remarked. She had short purple hair and a long flowing sweater skirt. She didn’t look like the young woman that he was pursuing anymore, as her age was more apparent now that she was dressed more like an adult rather than a teen.

“Y-you have?” Benjamin was at a loss for words. He directly pointed at the wig on the desk with a puzzled look on his face.

“Oh, I sometimes dress up differently to learn more about my students here.”

“Uh... ok?” Benjamin wasn’t entirely sure why that was relevant, but earthlings were rumored to have strange customs. ‘Why am I here again?’

“Here’s your application, sir.” She said, giving him a piece of paper from the top of her desk. “All you have to do is sign here, and you can be in that girl’s class.”

“Oh, so is that what this is all…? Hmm.” Benjamin couldn’t believe his luck. He looked down at the standard form that read ‘Substitute Teacher Application Form’ across the top. It never dawned on him to inquire why the principal knew about his intention to find the young girl or, more importantly, why she was helping him to accomplish this.

“You did want to be a substitute teacher for this school, right?” The principal empathized the words in a taunting tone of voice as if questioning his intentions.

“Uh, yeah, I do. Just sign here?” Benjamin took the pen from the principal’s hand and wrote his name across the signature line at the bottom of the page. “Ok, this shouldn’t be too hard.” He said aloud.

“That’s right.” The principal replied. “Alright, Mr... Benjamin? You’re all set.” She pointed toward the door as she rolled the application form into a cylinder and tucked it into her desk drawer. “Your class should be on the fifth floor, second door on the right.”

“Awesome, nothing’s going to stop me now,” Benjamin muttered under his breath and got up from the cramped student desk where he had been sitting.

He headed out when the school bell rang, announcing that everyone should be in their class by now. It caught him off guard, and it hurt his ears with how loud it was. He touched his head with both of his hands and grunted.

“What’s wrong? Have you never heard a school bell before?” The principal looked at him oddly, but Benjamin paid her no mind.

He was on a mission and wasted time by staying here. He hurried up the stairs to the fifth floor, now with a new plan in mind.

Just you wait whoever you are because soon I’ll be coming for you and my crystal sphere!

.-.-.-.

In the classroom, the students grew impatient with the absence of their assigned teacher. It was unfortunate enough to have a substitute teacher, but to sit and wait for them to get there, now that was equivalent to torture. The large, framed young man slumped down in his seat, snoring quietly. The young pink-haired girl held her book bag closer to her legs. She trusted Nicky to protect her, but also knew he wasn’t always the brightest tool in the shed.

“Ugh, I wonder what’s taking the teacher so long.” She groaned out loud. Her eyes opened wide in fear as she held her breath. No. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. There’s no way.