Into the Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page A

fluorescent lights and she noticed how
his dark hair complimented his smooth, cocoa skin.
    “I’m Paivi.” She felt her heart flutter in her chest
and hoped her face wasn’t turning a bright shade of pink.
    “Paivi? Well that’s one I haven’t heard before. What
does it mean?” He turned sideways in the desk to look at her.
    “It means ‘day’ in Finnish,” she explained. “We
still have some cousins that are like eight times removed that live
there.”
    “Finland? I heard Santa Claus lives there! Nice!” He
laughed.
    She groaned. “Yeah, it’s great.”
    “So, why did you take this class?” he asked as he
stuck a pencil behind his ear.
    “Last spring when we were picking classes, I decided
that I wanted to take Intro to Law, but when I went to my guidance
counselor, the girl in front of me beat me to it and took the last
seat. This class was open, and it sounded kind of interesting.”
    At that moment, Paivi’s friend Crystal bounded
through the classroom door and plopped herself into the seat behind
Paivi.
    “Hey, P, do you think they’ll let us keep these
seats?” she asked, pulling out a tube of lip gloss.
    “I doubt it — most teachers make you sit
alphabetically. Oh, Crystal, this is Jason.”
    The introduction was cut short as an explosion of
bright fabrics, wild hair, and papers flew through the door.
    “Hello, everyone, hello!” an older woman shouted,
sounding a bit flustered as she dropped the pile of books and
papers onto the desk at the front of the room. The woman took a
deep breath and looked around the room as she attempted to
straighten her hair and her blouse at the same time with very
little success. Little wisps of blond permed hair continued to
float around her head, making her look like she had been struck by
lightning. It almost seemed like her hair was frantically trying to
escape. Her navy and red suit was a bit disheveled and her shoes
were black. Paivi wondered if the woman had bothered to look in the
mirror before she left this morning.
    It took her a few moments before she realized she
had failed to introduce herself.
    “Oh! My name is Dr. Hasenpfeffer. Welcome to Current
Events.”
    The students said nothing.
    “There is no text for this class,” the students
perked up a bit, “I will supply all of the necessary materials. In
this class we will look at our current world and domestic problems
such as terrorism and poverty. We will learn about the media and
also about other countries that affect us daily, though you may not
realize it.”
    The students were all waiting anxiously for Dr.
Hasenpfeffer to move them into new seats. She said nothing about it
and they were afraid to mention it. No one wanted to be responsible
for giving her the idea. She spent the rest of the period
discussing the outsourcing of jobs, terrorist attacks in the United
States since 2001, and her cat, Clarence. Apparently he was
suffering from a chronic hairball condition.
    The bell rang, and the students jumped up, quickly
making their way out of the classroom. Crystal was shaking her head
as they exited.
    “Honestly, we aren’t supposed to remember any of
that stuff, are we?” Crystal moaned.
    “Well, I hope how many hairballs Clarence tosses in
a normal week and how that effects global warming is not on the
final,” quipped Jason, as they all laughed.
    “I feel like my brain was just pulled in ten
directions! I can’t possibly understand what she is a doctor of!
Thank God it’s time for lunch. Anybody else have lunch this hour?”
Paivi patted her stomach.
    “Not me! Later!” Crystal waved as she made her way
in the opposite direction.
    Paivi and Jason wound their way through the crowded
hallways down to the cafeteria, both being unfortunate enough to
have the very last lunch hour of the day. But at least they could
finally relax; it was nearly the end of the first day of
classes.
    “So, are you meeting any friends in lunch?” asked
Jason.
    “Yeah, luckily my best friend,