Rising Shards

I got a phone call from Stella randomly, and her frantic, out of breath voice freaked me out immediately. I was just sitting by myself in the cafeteria and started jogging away to nowhere in particular just from how panicked she sounded.

”Stella? What’s wrong? Are you OK? What’s happening?”

”Zeta, get a pass to get out of school like within an hour,” Stella said. ”I’m coming to get you.”

”OK, but what’s happening? Are you safe?”

Stella paused, which was one of the worst phone call moments of my life as I raced through all the possible doom-filled scenarios that I could come up with in three seconds.

”There’s a sale going on in Lil’ Haven that is literally unbelievable.”

”...that’s it?” I asked.

”Yes!” Stella screamed. ”We can knock out all our Safe Silver shopping at once and actually have money to spare!”

Stella always took Safe Silver very seriously, to the point that she’d usually have to dig herself out of debt for a month afterwards into the new year. So this sale must be pretty incredible to get her this excited. I did want to get something for Oka and Kalei.

”What’s Lil’ Haven?” I asked.

”I’ll explain later,” Stella said. ”I’m gonna be at the entrance so get permission from Dr. Diast or whoever like, now.”

This sale must be really incredible to get Stella to actually drive over.

”OK, I’ll...check with...” I said as Stella hung up the phone.

I tried to find Dr. Diast, but she wasn’t in her office.

”Why are you prancing about, student?” I whirled to see Principal Penteldtam looming over me.

”Oh, I was just looking for Dr. Diast,” I said.

Penteldtam asked me to follow him and he lead me to his office.

I cautiously stepped inside with Penteldtam. I looked around his office for a bit. I realized that he must get as excited as Stella did about Safe Silver, as his office was already decorated with tinsel and trees. It looked super nice, even if it was a few months early. I was mildly concerned that he had a poster of himself hanging on the wall with large obnoxious text reading “I DON’T MAKE THE RULES, I JUST LOVE THEM (AND COOKING!)” While I tried to decipher what that meant, he gave me a big smile.

I didn’t know what exactly he wanted from me. By his body language it didn’t seem like I was in trouble.

“Like the poster? I made it myself.” Penteldtam said.

The snarky side of me thought “Wow, I never would have guessed that you were the one to make a poster of yourself,” while my voice created some sound that expressed approval. I didn’t want him to expel me based on hating his creepy poster of his scrunched-up face (For some reason poster him was making the expression of someone that just tasted fire sauce and rubbed it all over their body).

“But you’re not here just to admire my poster, are you?” Penteldtam said.

He chuckled for a few beats longer than normal. I assumed that meant he was finally ready to tell me why he brought me into his office.

”You asked me here, though,” I said.

“I try to meet with all my students,” Penteldtam explained. “Even in this new place, that’s still a goal. I don’t care if my secretary says, ‘that’s not feasible’. I don’t have to do what she says, I’m not married to her anymore.”

I looked at the picture on his desk, of a younger Penteldtam at a school I immediately recognized.

“You went to Staverius?” I asked.

“I did, yep. Passed everything. Graduated. Isn’t that what school’s all about?” He said.

“That’s where my sister went.” I said.

“Good school. My favorite school. Until Rising Shards opened of course. Hopefully I can make Rising Shards your favorite. Your sister still in LE?”

“Yep,” I said. ”I was actually looking for Dr. Diast to see if I could get a day pass because my sister wants to go Safe Silver shopping.”

“Is she….siiiiiingle?” Penteldtam said.

“I don’t know, Mr. Penteldtam.” I said.

“Sorry sorry, that’s inappropriate.”

”Hey, so can you get me a day pass then?” I asked. ”Stella will be here pretty soon, I think.”

Penteldtam drummed on the desk and then revealed that he was wearing glittery silver suspenders as he snapped them, getting glitter all over his desk.

“Now, Miss Faleur. Zeta Faleur,” Penteldtam said. He hmm’d for a few minutes, rocking back and forth on his chair.

“First of all, I gotta give you the spiel I give all the kids when I meet em. My Penteldtips™.” Penteldtam said trademark out loud. ”My first tip. Nothing’s impossible. When I told my mother I wanted to run a school, she just said ‘But Penty, how can you run a school! You know they have public bathrooms!’ Well, look where I am now, mom.”

I nodded.

“You got your allowance for Safe Silver all set?” Penteldtam asked.

“Yeah, and I’ve been saving the weekly money since before I even started here.” I said. Was he about to offer me money? ”And my sister will probably help, too.”

“Good, excellent. I like that. Now the rules are that first years have to have a pretty good reason to get a day pass. Buuuuuuuuuut.”

Penteldtam opened a drawer and slapped a card in front of me down in front of me.

“Here’s my idea. You do a single favor for me, I give you this day pass and you go have a nice time with your sister today.”

“Wow, thank you. What do you need from me?”

“Your sister’s phone number.” Penteldtam said before laughing really hard at his own joke. “I’m kidding, please don’t tell Mr. Soleri. I would be out of here faster than you can spell Safe Silver. He really wants a bump up to vice principal, I think. It’s because he worked for some Redgre bigwigs or something like that. He’s got that second in command syndrome. I feel for him, I really do. I have to watch him like a hawk though, or he’s gonna eat all my breakfast sausages again. What was I saying?”

“You wanted me to do a favor for you.”

“Oh. Okay how about this. Just keep being you. That’d be enough.”

Penteldtam slid the pass over to me.

“Happy Safe Silver, Miss Faleur.” He said.