The halls were essentially empty as Rachael made her way from the cafeteria into the academy building on her way to the library. She realized there was more than one way to get there but had ended up using the entrance closest to the gym. The sounds of the trainers encouraging their students caught her attention, and she was tempted to peek her head inside. She remembered Graham saying she could watch if she wanted to. But then, she was afraid Sammi might be in there, and she didn’t want to see the other woman at the moment, if she could avoid it. So she kept walking, heading away from the gym toward one of the academic wings, the one where the history classes were taught.

Many of the classrooms were empty, and Rachael realized she’d made the hallways far too long for the amount of students that attended Silverwood, particularly since they weren’t required to take very many classes. She made a mental note to change that should she ever find herself writing another academy series. The idea of writing anything at all was terrifying considering she could apparently bring whatever she constructed into her real life somehow. She doubted she’d be writing anything any time soon.

Lost in her own thoughts, Rachael realized she’d missed the turn off she’d been looking for that led to the library. She could keep going straight, toward the painting of Graham Silverwood, and then take a different hallway, but she’d intended to use the one that joined to the hall she was standing in, just before Professor McCall’s classroom.

She turned around and headed the few steps back, thinking it was strange she hadn’t met Dr. McCall yet, when his classroom door opened to her left and the instructor came out. He was wiping his cheeks, his head downcast, and he didn’t notice her at first. The only reason she knew for certain it was him was because his name was on the plate outside of the classroom, and she recognized his haircut. His short, light brown hair was meticulously parted on the side and looked like what one would expect from a college professor, except for the cowlick in the front which he had embraced long ago and kept styled at an odd angle with enough product that it never seemed to move, not even now as he stood outside of his busy classroom, tears streaming down his face.

Rachael froze, not sure what she should do. He was obviously upset and lost in his own thoughts, and she didn’t want to interrupt, but she also felt responsible and wanted to see if he was okay. She took a few more steps, timidly, and when he glanced up and saw her looking at him, pink crept into his cheeks. He swiped at his tears again as if he were a small child trying to hide any evidence of spoiling his dinner. “Uh, hi.” He cleared his throat. “Can I help you with something?”

A wave of nausea washed over Rachael, and her forehead crinkled as uncomfortable thoughts filled her head. Deja vu. She was having deja vu. “Oh, no, I’m… I was just looking for the library.” She pointed down the hallway up ahead of her and to the right, indicating that she knew now where she was headed. She wasn’t lost. She wasn’t a new, lost student that he needed to help--before rushing back in to continue the lesson he’d been instructing his students on the importance of being completely prepared when entering a fray with a bloodsucker. This wasn't exactly what she'd written in her novel a few days ago.

“The library is right up that hallway.” Jared smiled at her, his tears dried up, only a few trails marking his face now. He was handsome in an unassuming way. Rachael tried not to stare at him, but the sensation of seeing someone she’d dreamt up face-to-face was still an oddity to her, though she should’ve been getting used to it by now. “You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” Rachael said, knowing she shouldn’t have been able to miss it the first time she walked past the hallway either. “I appreciate it, Professor McCall.”

“Sure.” He smiled, but then his forehead furrowed. “How did you know my name?”

Rachael cleared her throat. At least this time, she had a reasonable explanation for having information she shouldn’t have access to yet. “The nameplate, by your classroom door.”

Jared turned and looked over his shoulder at the wall before he nodded. “Right.” For some reason, she got the impression he wasn’t completely buying that explanation. Why, she had no idea. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t read. Wouldn’t most people have reached the same conclusion she did? A gentleman steps out of a classroom wearing a brown suit and tie, his hair is nicely styled, and he’s old enough to be a professor--a newish one anyway. It seemed pretty obvious to her that most people would’ve made the same assumption she was claiming to have made.

Except, that wasn’t how she knew this was Jared McCall. She knew this was Jared McCall because she’d created him herself.

“I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name,” Dr. McCall said, his grayish-blue eyes narrowing in on her.

With a deep breath, she said, “Rachael. I’m Rachael.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Rachael,” Dr. McCall was saying, but she was having difficulty listening to him as the floor beneath her feet shifted slightly, a minor tremble compared to the last time she’d felt the earth quake.

Her eyes wide, she looked up at him and noticed he was staring at her with that questioning expression on his face again. “Is everything all right?”

“Did you… did you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

He hadn’t. The earth hadn’t moved at all for him. Rachael took another deep breath, and deciding she shouldn’t be the “new, freak girl,” she looked around and saw a vent in the ceiling nearby. “Oh, I guess the AC just kicked on.” She laughed like she’d been referring to a strong breeze and not the earth moving on its access in an erratic, jarring sensation. “Thanks again, Professor.” She needed to get away from him as soon as humanly possible.

“Sure thing, Rachael. See you around.”

Rachael gave him a wave and headed off down the hall that led to the library, but she felt his eyes on the back of her until she had rounded the corner out of his sight. Jared McCall seemed to suspect something was out of the ordinary, whether he’d felt the earth move or not. Rachael hoped she could make him an ally because he was the most intelligent individual on campus, and if anyone could help her figure out what was going on, it was him. Having him working against her would be almost as dangerous as having Sammi Knight hate her, and since Chell’s sister already seemed to want to kill her, Rachael needed someone on her side, someone like Jared McCall.