"Good morning students. I shall be your substitute teacher for history till the school can find a suitable replacement. Hopefully it would be soon." A woman dressed in a formal manner said as she approaches the blackboard to scribble some words on it.
"That reminds me. Did you know that Mr Harris is missing?" Jake whispers, leaning forward to Quincy's ear as a result of having to seat behind him.
"Missing? How?" Quincy was confused. "And before you answer that, how sure are you that he is missing? Isn't it just the beginning of the freshman year. Maybe he is still enjoying his vacation."
"A dispatch call came in last night when I returned home. My father, the Sheriff, was summon to check out some suspicious activities going on in the woods."
Quincy stared blankly into space as h ponders on the words Jake just uttered. "Do you think that Mr Harris missing has something to do with whatever activity your father was summoned to check out or is just your own speculation?"
"Come on Quin, think of it. Over the past few weeks, the amount of people missing as literally skyrocketed. It would be unwise not to take into consideration that Mr Harris could be added to the number of missing victims. Don't you agree? I mean, it is already a month and he is yet to be back. No phone calls of some sort or any other stuff." Jake said, outlining his point reasonably.
It would not be surprise to Jake if he just walk into the woods one day and then find the body of their history teacher ripped into shreds. After all, it is not the first time something as gruesome as that would happen in Celestial Falls and with the way things are going, he fears that this would not be the end of it.
"Nah. I still fail to see your point. You never could tell if Mr Harris is on a vacation as we speak. I mean, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy so let us cut the man some slack. He is too workaholic to suddenly go missing." Quincy countered as he shakes his head while opening his book.
"I am just saying. Take--"
"Mr Whittemore, do you and Mr Quills have anything you would like to share with the rest in the classroom." The voice of the female teacher cut off their conversation.
"No ma. Not at all, please carry on." Jake answers as he shakes his head, resting his back against his seat.
"Okay. My name is Julie Sylvester as you can see on the board and like I have said earlier, I would be replacing Mr Harris to teach history. So can someone please catch me up to speed on where you stopped." The female teacher said as she opens the manual on her desk.
When no response was heard from the students, Mrs Sylvester proceeded with her teachings. "Very well then, I guess we would just have to discuss about the history of Celestial Falls. Can someone tell me one or two things about this town?"
"Yes, Mr Whittemore." Mrs Sylvester pointed out as Jake raises his right hand.
"According to what I have heard and the stories that has been passed down through my family, Celestial Falls is a town whose name is influenced by its environment and the first people to settle in it." Jake said confidently.
"That is good. Now would you try explaining further on what you mean by environment and the first settlers." Mrs Sylvester asks with intrigued.
Adjusting his sitting position, Jake opens his mouth to speak. "Well, for starters, Celestial Falls is a town surrounded by waterfalls hence the Falls in its name. And as for the first settlers, legend had it that they were descendants of the demigods."
"Demigods?" Quincy scoffed as soon as Jake finished speaking, thus earning the attention of Mrs Sylvester.
"Mr Quills, do you have something to add? Please do, after all we learn everyday."
Quincy darted his gaze across the classroom before settling back on Mrs Sylvester, "Uhm, I have nothing to add ma. Please proceed."
Mrs Sylvester tilted her head slightly as she fix her gaze on Quincy, "Mr Quills, are you an atheist because judging by your reaction to the words of Mr Whittemore, I could sense that you don't believe in the supernatural."
Quincy sighed slightly as he sat upright. The words Mrs Sylvester has just spoken is true but he is still caught up in the dilemma of what to and not to believe in. Just yesterday, he met a girl who had said he is to be a messenger of some kind by the gods; if it were any other day, he would have agreed to the words of Mrs Sylvester but now, he couldn't figure out the reason why the words of the scarlet haired girl bother him very much.
"I am not an atheist ma, I simply find it hard to believe that there was some sort of supernatural beings who settled in Celestial Falls." Quincy defended himself, an action that caused him to earn furrow brows from Jake but he couldn't be bothered to notice it.
"So are you trying to insinuate that the words spoken out of the mouth of Mr Whittemore can not be taken into consideration. If so, would you do the honours of shedding more light on the history of Celestial Falls."
Quincy felt at loss of words. Why did he suddenly be the object of criticism when he just spoke a piece of his mind? He didn't mean to contradict anyone, most especially his best friend, and asking him to talk about an occurrence he is not aware of is like inviting embarrassing to himself. Therefore, he could only keep his mouth mute.
"Very well then, thank you for your opinion Mr Whittemore. Let us move on." Mrs Sylvester said as she walks back to the blackboard.
"Now, as Mr Whittemore has clarified, the name of this town is simply an identity of its environment and those who first settled in it. However, there has been no records of any demigods settling in it.." Mrs Sylvester paused and gave Jake a knowing look. Jake scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he turns his gaze away from Mrs Sylvester.
"However, there has been records of supernatural creatures coming into the town few decades after it has been founded. May I ask, how many of you believe in the supernatural?"
The whole class raised their hands with the exception of Quincy who couldn't be bother by the lecture anymore.
"I remember asking you about your believe in the supernatural but your response was positive. Mr Quills, would you please make up your mind." Mrs Sylvester said as she raise a brow at Quincy.
"Like I have said, I am not an atheist but I am not also a believer. Besides, we tend to live in a world where I think any phenomenon would have a logical explanation to it." Quincy shrugs, "So there is no need to believe in the impossible."
Mrs Sylvester would be telling a lie if she said she isn't amused by the words spoken by her seemingly naive student. "And by logical explanation, do you mean--"
"Yes ma. I mean science." Quincy nods his head in affirmation.
The smile in the face of Mrs Sylvester broadened as she heard the words if Quincy. "Believe me when I tell you that the world is a much larger place Mr Quills. Larger than just being spherical in shape." Mrs Sylvester said before proceeding with her teachings.