I saw the engine for the first time when I spilled a bottle of acid during chemistry. The floor tiles melted underneath and the sound that the engine makes filled the spacious classroom like sand, drowning everything and everyone out completely. The ordinary dull hum became an unignorable scream, and everyone fell to the ground clasping their ears against its audio onslaught.
The floor healed itself and then the noise returned to normality. I stood up, my hands falling from the sides of my head, and the class turned towards me.
"Seriously? Jack? I thought better of you..." the teacher told me, her hands on her hips. I mostly read her lips, the sounds that the engine made still roaring in my ears.
When I was finally in the principal's office, I could hear. The principal's face was severe, but she still spoke calmly, and kept her hands folded over the stack of papers. "We will have to transfer you. This is the third mistake you've made in the last... Two months."
"Mrs. Stevinski, I..." I choked and a little bit of blood came out. The principal did not notice. "Can't I just get suspended? Or... Punished?"
"You do realize what punishment for the exposure of the engine is? What you'll be forced to suffer?" The principal spoke carefully, as though she didn't want me to be punished."
"I do," I lied.
"So you understand the consequences, and the fact that during punishment the end result will not be up to any of us?" She leaned forward, "The engine will decide what the punishment will be..."
"I understand," I said, fear shaking my hands. When I noticed the tremors, I put them at my sides, hoping that the principal hadn't noticed.
"Very well... We'll need confirmation from your parents..." She stopped mid-thought. "Or, sorry. I forgot."
"Yes," I said, "Everyone seems to."
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