The Demon Hunter by Kevin Emerson

honor? That was how everyone saw what he thought of as a curse.
    â€œGuh!” Suddenly Maggots crashed to the floor, breaking a desk in two.
    â€œDon’t,” Suzyn hissed from the ceiling, “ever try that again.”
    The ceiling gang exploded into laughter.
    Oliver reclined in his chair, preparing for the endless night, but as his knee scraped against the underside of his desk, he heard a sound like crinkling paper. He sat up and felt beneath the desk, checking in with his senses as he did so. There was a familiar scent, and now he found a note wedged into the bars underneath.
    The paper was peach colored with green lines, folded carefully into a rectangle. A long diagonal fold stretched across its front, and a tiny point of paper stuck out from this, with the word “pull” written on it. Oliver did, and unfolded the page. On it was rounded writing in glittery red. Oliver immediately slid the note back beneath the shadow of his desktop, and read:
    hey O—sooo bored … tree bark bored … first day back and it’s math math math with a side of who cares … but guess what? I bet you already figured it out with your creepy nose—this is my seat this year! my classroom, my seat. well technically it was Melina’s seat, but then Ms. Davis suddenly had the urge to switch her with me … I wonder why she had that thought? Tee … hee … w.b.s. super nose. and don’t forget about Saturday night …—e
    Oliver felt a burst of excitement, but tried to keep it off his face as he concentrated on folding the note carefully back into its rectangle shape before he stuffed it in his pocket. Emalie sat right here? And would every day? Which meant that he would find her scent lingering every night, and possibly a note, or a forgotten item … oh boy.
    â€œStudents,” Mr. VanWick barked as he strolled into the room. He glanced at the ceiling and frowned, seeming to immediately understand how his class had changed over the summer. “Untangle yourselves, please, and take your seats. I’ll expect you to focus whatever brainpower you can spare on your studies.” The students groaned as they dropped to the floor.
    â€œWe have a new textbook for this fall,” Mr. VanWick continued. “Seth and Carly will pass them out.”
    â€œSmelly minions,” Theo chided from his seat. One of the leather-bound textbooks darted across the room and smacked him in the face.
    â€œYou can have yours first, Theopolis,” Mr. VanWick commented dryly, to a chorus of hissing chuckles. “Now, books to chapter one, ‘Great Successes in Cannibalism,’ and we’ll begin.”
    Oliver found, as Mr. VanWick began his gravel-toned lecture, that with the note from Emalie fresh in his mind, he had barely any brainpower left for class.

Chapter 4
    A Familiar Customer
    OLIVER TRUDGED HOME AFTER school, exhausted, his now cruelly heavy backpack straining his shoulders. All he could imagine was a handful of gummified tapeworms and a few levels of Night of the Developer 3 to wash away the long school night.
    â€œOliver.”
    He looked up to find Phlox striding down the sidewalk toward him, wrapped in a long black coat, hurrying like she did when there was a lot on her mind.
    â€œHey,” said Oliver.
    Phlox stopped. “How was your first night?”
    â€œFine.”
    â€œI’m on my way to Harvey’s to pick up a few things for dinner.… Want to come?”
    Oliver shrugged. “Not really.”
    Phlox threw an arm around him anyway. “Come on, let Mom buy you a mocha or something.”
    Oliver just wanted to go home, and almost wriggled free of his mom’s arm. But a mocha sounded kinda good, and more importantly, this would give him a chance to ask Phlox something that had been on his mind all night. “All right,” he said.
    They weaved through quiet neighborhood streets, asleep except for the cats and raccoons.