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I was called to the principal's office at third period. When I went inside, the secretary waved me over and handed me a tiny box.
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"For you," said the secretary. "From the lost and found."
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"Uh, thanks...?" I said, taking the box from her. "I didn't lose anything..."
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But the secretary was already busy typing away at her keyboard. I guess she didn't hear me.
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I opened the box as I walked down the hall to my next class.
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I gasped. inside there was a beautiful ring. I couldn't quite identify the stone in its centre; it looked like a diamond, but all its surfaces reflected light. It almost appeared to be glowing...
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I slid it on the ring finger of my right hand and proceeded down the hall.
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#
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Most of the students were already getting situated in their seats. I sat at the desk in front of my best friend, Abby.
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"Ohhh...I'm so not looking forward to English class today..." groaned Abby. "Shakespeare is SO BORING...."
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"Come on," I said. "It's the last class of the day. You'll survive."
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"You're way too much of an optimist," Abby said.
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I smiled inwardly. If only she knew...
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The door opened to our classroom and a man entered. He had dark hair and a five o'clock shadow, glasses, and a smart tweed blazer with patches on the elbows.
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Mr. Helm was not our normal English teacher. We had this crotchety older woman at the start of the semester that had us do a lot of grammar and structure work.
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But recently, Mr. Helm started coming to class in her place. He couldn't (or perhaps wouldn't) divulge the purpose behind our old teacher's absence, but I truly didn't care.
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Mr. Helm was HOT. I could watch him write on the chalkboard all day. Christmas would come early whenever the class was overly warm and he'd have to remove his blazer, and I would be mesmerized by the way his muscles pressed against his ¾ sleeves as he made the chalk dance across the dark surface.
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He turned around to face us. "Okay, class...I hope you're ready. Pencils out."
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The room was instantly silent save for the sound of our pencils scratching against our papers.
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I had gotten stuck on a particularly difficult question and started to sweat. I looked up at the clock. Only 10 minutes left.
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I glanced at the ring on my finger. What was once glowing was now radiating blood-red. Whoa.
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"Hey..." I whispered. "Hey, Abby...check this out..."
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I nudged my best friend.
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When she turned her head, her eyes were solid white and lifeless. A green, slimy drool was dripping from her mouth.
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"What the hell?" I gasped.
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Abby swatted at me and I had to stand up from my desk.
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I looked to Mr. Helm for assistance. But he wasn't at his desk. He was nowhere to be found.
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That's when I realized that all the other students had also become zombies. And they were all looking at me.
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I tried to make my way to the door but was cut off by the mindless horde. I was left to cower in the corner of the room as the zombies descended upon me, preparing to tear me apart with their soulless hands...
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The door flew open.
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My crush, Mr. Helm, burst through the door. He was now wearing a sleeveless black tank, exposing all of his muscly goodness, and brandishing a huge sword (where he got a sword in a private school with a strict 'No Weapons' policy is beyond me).
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He began to hack his way toward me, indiscriminately chopping down the monsters that just a second ago were my peers.
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Instead of blood, a green ooze – the same ooze that dripped from not-Abby's mouth – sprayed from the decimated corpses, practically showering Mr. Helm and myself.
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Mr. Helm held his hand out to me. I grabbed it and in one fluid motion, he lifted me up and carried me over his shoulder, hacking and slashing his way out of the classroom.
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He made his way up the stairs with me, to the second floor of the school. Like using a machete on tall grass, he hacked and slashed his way through the mass of undead. He went down the hall into a lesser-used girl's washroom where he finally set me back down.
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Before I could ask any questions, Mr. Helm got on his knees and held my hands between his, kissing them.
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Stunned, I recoiled my hands as though I was avoiding a cobra bite.
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Mr. Helm bowed his head, and pounded a fist to his chest.
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"Forgive me, my Queen," he said. "That was too forward of me."
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My Queen?!
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I leaned against the cold tile of the bathroom wall to keep my balance. "What is going on?!" I blurted out. "And why are you dressed like Conan the Barbarian?!"
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Mr. Helm looked up at me, a hurt expression colouring his face.
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"The-the ring," he said. "It was supposed to break the spell."
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I looked at my hand. The ring was still glowing red; I went I pulled on it to remove it from my finger.
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"No!" said Mr. Helm. "You mustn't do that! Oh dear....you really don't remember anything, do you?"
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"Remember what?" I asked.
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"I think you should sit down," he said.
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Since we were conveniently in the washroom, I walked to the nearest stall sat on the toilet. Mr. Helm stood up and cleared his throat.
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"Your Majesty..." he said. "You were chosen as a sacrifice to the elder dragon Drishamel. But together, you and I vanquished the foul beast.
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The Northern Tribes were displeased with you killing their gods and a vendetta was placed on your head. Fortunately, your celebrity grew and you attracted the eye of the ruler to the Kingdom of the Southern Realm, who promised to protect you.
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Yes, protect you, much to my chagrin. For you told me that you did not love him. Even as you married him and bore his two twin sons, in your heart you craved a life free from royal protocol.
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The king found out about your secret romance and banished you to this strange land, this illusory world where you would live another life, and forget everything that you had experienced.
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But I would not allow it. I enchanted your wedding ring to negate the magic of the spell and to destroy the illusion when you placed it on your hand again.
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Though the meaning of the symbol pains me, I am so elated to be in your presence again. It's taken me years to find my way back to you. And now that we are reunited, we can leave this horrible dream world together...my love."
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Mr. Helm leaned close...and I promptly kicked him away. "Dude, I'm SEVENTEEN!"
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"We must hurry," he said. The illusion is collapsing. If we do not leave for our world, we'll be trapped in this false one forever."
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He pulled a small vial of purple liquid out of his pocket and slammed it against the mirror. Instead of shattering, the mirror transformed into a swirling purple vortex, which grew to a size large enough for an adult male.
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Or a totally bewildered teenager in a slime-encrusted school uniform.
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"The king is dead. We can start a brand new life with new identities. Let us go - soon we'll be home."
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He outstretched his hand to me again.
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This time I hesitated to take Mr. Helm's hand.
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All this was A LOT to take in. I had spent my entire life thinking I was just an average teenage girl. Now I come to find out I not only slayed a dragon, but got hitched, popped out a few kids, and had a secret affair with my hot substitute teacher in some bizarro fantasy world!
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"Can I have a few minutes to think about this?" I asked.
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But I could hear the pounding of bodies against the bathroom door, groaning to get in. Bodies who I thought were real people. My family and friends.
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The world was fake. My life as I knew it was dead, as dead as the soulless zombie facsimiles that were trying to tear us limb from limb.
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It was time to take the plunge. And who better to do it with than a buffy baddy who I fantasized about every day since his arrival in my English class? I guess dreams really do come true.
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I grabbed Mr. Helm's hand and his entire face lit up with excitement.
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"Okay, babe," I said, standing up from the toilet. "Let's go and make a new life."
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