Fiction logo

The Brief Exposition of a Strange Academy

From Lorenzo's Point of View

By Diara Alvarado Published about a year ago 13 min read
2

Lorenzo Polazzi is sitting in Principal Goodwin's office, accused of hacking into Professor Lipovsky's ancient computer that's more of an artifact than an actual computer.

"I have evidence, Mr. Polazzi," Professor Lipovsky's right eye twitches, and his ballooned belly, held in poorly by a belt and buttoned-up shirt, jiggles as he points his index finger scoldingly at Lorenzo. It’s all quite comical.

Evidence? Sebastian shrieks with his Italian accent. He crawls up to stand on Lorenzo's shoulder and makes his tiny hands into fists. I'll show you evidence!

Sebastian is Lorenzo's familiar, a little gecko half the size of a pencil. Still, he likes to protect Lorenzo.

"Shhhh, not now, Sebastian." Lorenzo shoves him back into the front pocket of his hoodie.

Now, Lorenzo had nothing to do with this bizarre incident, and the fact that he's being blamed is absolutely absurd. What does Professor Lipovsky have on his computer that's so important and useful to Lorenzo? A secret folder with students' darkest grades on the MAP exams? His stupid browser history? Everyone knows he has a weird obsession with bonsai trees and cats and wastes time searching for new ways to be his best psychopathic self.

Anyway, whatever the reason may be, Lorenzo didn't do it. Even though he considers himself a decent hacker, he finds it lame and entirely out of his range of entertainment to go through some wack high school professor's computer unless his life unquestionably depended on it.

"We have you good this time. You're in so much trouble, mister. I knew you were a disturbance since I first saw you. Witches like you are nothing but–"

Principal Goodwin clears his throat and shoots him a sour look. It is obvious he rather be doing anything else than have Professor Lipovsky yelling in his office. "Professor Lipovsky, please. Control yourself."

Professor Lipovsky grins apologetically at Principal Goodwin and nervously stammers "sorry" three times. He dusts something off his vest and adjusts it, then takes a piece of folded notepaper out of his front pocket, one that's too familiar to Lorenzo. With shaky hands, he unfolds it and reads it out loud.

Lorenzo's Very Important To-do List:

  1. Draw something so bewildering and improper without a bit of sense and factual terminology on the wall outside Professor Lipovsky's office.
  2. To avoid taking the MAP exams, drink an entire bottle of Mori potion until I vomit out every single living cell and organ– at least the ones I don't actually need, like a spleen, an appendix, or that one kidney.
  3. Ask Pretty Estefania from Metaphysics out. Drink Mori potion with her.
  4. Make the weather go insane on the day of the MAP exams or seemingly get expelled because I DON'T WANT TO TAKE THE STUPID EXAMS AGGHHH!!!
  5. Pour flatulence-inducing tonic into Professor Lipovsky's coffee.
  6. Clean Sebastian's cage.
  7. Get a haircut.
  8. Okay, yes, that is Lorenzo's to-do list. But, he can explain.

"Um, did I miss something? The list says nothing about hacking into your computer, Professor Lipovsky," Principal Goodwin says proudly.

Professor Lipovsky stammers. "It's– it's right here, number six– I mean, no, number four? Anyway, that– that's not the point here. Mr. Polazzi wrote this with every intention of skipping the MAP exams!" He crumples the notepaper up, tosses it across the office, folds his arms against his chest, and stamps his foot like a little kid.

Lorenzo chews on his lip. He can feel a trail of chuckles bubbling at the pit of Lorenzo's stomach. He finally snorts them out.

Professor Lipovsky's brain visibly misfires, and his face turns inhumanely red. "He's laughing, Principal Goodwin. He's mocking me. I will not permit this!"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to. I laugh when I'm nervous. I can't help it." Lorenzo rights himself and tries to suppress his fit of giggles with a fake cough over his forearm. "Principal Goodwin, please believe me. I didn't hack into Professor Lipovsky's computer. I swear. I was at my dorm last night studying for the MAP exams and–"

"Blatant untruth!" Professor Lipovsky shouts, and Principal Goodwin glares at him again, obviously code for I said I'll handle this.

“Mr. Polazzi, is that your to-do list?”

“Yes, it is, Principal Goodwin. But it was all for funsies without any malicious intentions.”

“Alright. And did you or did you not take the MAP exams today?”

“I did, Principal Goodwin.”

Professor Lipovsky grunts. He looks like he might implode as he paces back and forth.

"Professor Lipovsky printed these from the cameras this afternoon," Principal Goodwin adds, but he hasn’t really been invested in the conversation. His attention had shifted to a box of churro-flavored Girl Scout cookies a while ago. He had opened it, grabbed a handful, and shoved them into his mouth. Now he lazily spreads a set of grainy black-and-white snapshots of Lorenzo entering the language building.

Lorenzo pores over them. No doubt that's not him. He chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his head. The boy in the pictures is wearing the same hoodie he is in today, and his curly bangs are peaking under the hood, too long, and in need of a haircut. "The time was… ten fifty what? Fifty-five? Last night." Principal Goodwin says around another mouthful of cookies.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I entered Professor Lipovsky's office. The fastest way to get to the courtyard is through the language building– that's the shortcut we all take. Anyway, whatever. I did not go into Professor Lipovsky's office to hack into his computer."

“Very well,” Principal Goodwin leans back on his chair and stretches as he yawns rather loudly. "Cookie?"

Professor Lipovsky breathes exasperatedly. "Principal Goodwin, the boy was out of bed after curfew. Surely he was up to something, don't you think? Perhaps to act number one on his to-do list? Very suspicious indeed."

Lorenzo finishes chewing before speaking. "No," he says, "I wasn't. Look, I can show you."

He pulls out his phone from his pocket and leans forward on the table, scrolling through his camera roll. He shows them the screen. "See?"

Principal Goodwin looks confused. "What exactly are we looking at, Mr. Polazzi?"

Lorenzo sighs. "The moon," he says as though it is the most obvious thing.

An awkward silence hangs in the air. Sebastian snorts inside the pocket, but Lorenzo shushes him by flicking him in the head. Ow!

"Which is why I was out of bed last night, Principal Goodwin. I was taking pictures of the moon."

Professor Lipovsky makes the odd sound of a deflating balloon with his mouth. His whole face is red and swollen, and sweat is pooling at the crane of his bald head. It makes Lorenzo almost feel guilty for putting him under so much stress. The poor man probably already has high blood pressure as is. But then again, Lorenzo is innocent. So, he rights himself and clasps his hands neatly on his lap, hoping to get this over with so he can have time to stroll through the park before sunset. He's gotten into the habit of feeding the ducks at the pond. It's nice and relaxing, and–

Oops. Professor Lipovsky bursts Lorenzo's bubble. "Come on, boy, just tell the truth!" He sputters.

"But I am telling the truth. I like taking pictures of the moon. I like the moon!"

Principal Goodwin cradles his face in his hands and makes a disgruntled noise. He looks exhausted.

"Mr. Polazzi deserves to be punished! He's nothing but trouble I say! Not to mention he lacks discipline. A witch like him should use their skills properly and not–" But Professor Lipovsky trails away, eyes bugging at something by the door. Lorenzo looks, too, and barely sees a messy nest of honey-brown hair that seems attached to a small person. Estefania. Oh, pretty Estafania.

She's out of breath, drained of color for some reason, hesitantly hovering in the doorway.

Glittery butterflies flutter around Lorenzo like tinsels. He sighs helplessly, feeling himself blush.

Even through the chaos of Estefania’s precipitous image: the smudge of dirt on her cheek, the suspicious sunbeam drowned school uniform, and the tangle of leaves in her hair as though she was out in the wilderness battling who knows what, she still looks unquestionably pretty.

"Miss Castillo, can we help you?"

She looks at the three of them with a deer-in-the-headlights expression. "Sorry to barge in unexpectedly– I just– I just need to say something."

Principal Goodwin looks down at his watch and sighs. "Alright, go ahead, but–"

"Lorenzo didn't do it. He didn't hack into your computer, Professor Lipovsky. I did."

Lorenzo blinks a few times in puzzlement.

There's a moment when it's so quiet the wind outside can be heard ghosting over the windows in the office. But it doesn't last long because Principal Goodwin jumps from his chair and slaps his hands on the table, startling them all. "Well, there we have it," he says excitedly and with great relief, grabbing his briefcase and gathering his belongings. "Looks like the mystery has been solved.”

"But–but," Professor Lipovsky stammers, "what about the punishment for these kids? Are you not going to ask why Ms. Castillo hacked into my computer? What about Mr. Polazzi's to-do list and his plethora of pranks?" He tails Principal Goodwin to the door.

"They're just kids, Professor; that's what kids do. They pull pranks on their favorite teachers and love technology."

"But they hacked into my computer!" he wails, tailing Principal Goodwin to the door. "Hacked!"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll be fine. Just reset your password," Principal Goodwin says dismissively, stifling another yawn with his hand. "Just make it at least twelve characters long– upper case and lower case and throw in some numbers and a symbol. Blah blah, problem solved." And with that, he's gone.

Lorenzo and Estefania exchange glances.

Professor Lipovsky turns to them with a kind of maelstrom fury coiling in his face, his right eye doing that ludicrous twitching. He's not only angry, but livid. His breathing is heavy, and it comes out in spurts. He glares at them for what feels like a stabbing eternity. Lorenzo might be imagining it, but he swears his face goes from red to green, and his features become almost unrecognizable. It's quite a frightening sight.

The lightbulbs in the ceiling begin to flare, then all at once, flicker off with a buzz. Lorenzo sucks in a slow, shuddering breath and swallows convulsively. Estefania squeaks a nervous chuckle. It's almost as if they read each other's minds because they set off running after another quick glance in the dark. They run out of the building and then run some more for good measure until they're entirely on off-campus grounds. They get to the park where Lorenzo's friendly ducks are.

"I'm sorry," Estefania says, catching her breath on a bench. She rubs feverishly at her temples. "That wasn't supposed to end that way. I'm so sorry, Lorenzo. It evidently did not go as planned. I'm highly disappointed in myself. Come on, Estefania, you can do better."

"What– what do you mean it didn't go as planned? What the hell just happened? Why did you hack into Professor Lipovsky's computer?" Lorenzo has a pinwheel of questions circling in his head.

"It's a long story. You– you wouldn't understand. I’m sorry I got you in trouble. It’s all my fault."

Lorenzo sighs and sits in silence. He studies how the bedding of wildflowers around the pond twinkle under the sunset glow, and the way the ducks make concentric circles on the surface of the water as they paddle. "Well,” he says after some of the tension has slid off his shoulders, “since I’m already involved in whatever is going on, I need answers. None of this is a coincidence, is it?"

Estefania shifts and shakes her head. "It's complicated."

The sunset glow delicately catches in her hair too, drawing little swirling patterns of soft spectra light. Lorenzo can't help but trace with his eyes the constellation of freckles on her face. She seems to notice because she suddenly cups her cheeks, embarrassed.

"If I tell you, promise you won't tell anyone?"

"I promise I won't tell a single ghost. And I do see a lot of them. The math building is flooded with them. They mostly wail about probability and statistics and unexplained math mysteries. It's pretty scary."

Estefania laughs, "Lucky." She leans closer, readying herself to let Lorenzo in on the notorious secret. And Sebastian, who's been in Lorenzo's pocket all this time being the good gecko he is, peeks his tiny head out curiously.

Basically, Professor Lipovsky is a member of a secret society called The Grand Diamond Lodge, a heinous organization that captivates innocent creatures like sea monsters, centaurs, and goblins in exchange for Black Diamonds, a mineral only extracted from magical creatures' blood like them. Black Diamonds are said to be the cure to many incurable illnesses, and perhaps even able to cheat death, which is when it gets rather dark as those brought back to life are said to awaken with devilish powers.

A creeping sensation strikes Lorenzo's chest. An occult market run by mafia professors? A secret organization? Panacea extracted from the blood of good old arcadian creatures? Diamonds? Necromancy? Are gnomes in danger too?

"Are you sure? Professor Lipovsky is sort of delusional, but I don't see him as a danger to society. I mean, he can barely walk up the stairs."

"I went through every professor's computer on all the campuses, and so far, only Professor Lipovsky's computer's IP address matched the criteria," Estefania explains.

"Huh? Which criteria?"

Estefania's eye twinkles. She's smiling big, something coy and charming, and it is as contagious as a stomach bug. "I have done my research.”

Lorenzo doesn’t know what to say. He’s still trying to wrap his head around everything.

Estefania jerks up when an alarm on her phone goes off. “I have to get going. There’s a spell I must finish brewing for tomorrow.”

“What about Professor Lipovsky?”

“What about him?”

“How can we return to his class knowing he’ll keep coming after us? I mean, he knows we're after him now.”

Estefania heaves a long, patient sigh. “Hence the spell, Lorenzo. It will erase his memory from the last twenty-four hours.”

“Oh, right. But I’m still confused. I don’t quite understand what you–”

“I can't tell you everything here. Tell you what, meet me at the library tomorrow at four fifteen? On the second floor. I'll explain everything there."

"The second floor? But that’s the restricted section."

Estefania holds a hand up, jingling a set of keys.

"You–" Lorenzo scowls. "How?"

Estefania shrugs innocently. "Oh, by the way," she says, bouncing on the balls of her feet, "bring Mori potion tomorrow, yeah?"

Lorenzo can't seem to say anything under the frenzy thunderstorm in his mind.

“Don't worry, I'll pretend I didn't read it." Estefania pulls out a crumpled piece of paper from her school uniform's blazer and hands it to Lorenzo.

Great. Lorenzo's face flushes red. He feels stupid. He can't help but be completely enthralled by Estefania. Everything about her is ridiculously delightful. And all of this feels hazardous, like a bolt of electricity that slammed into the ground, yet proper like it was meant to happen because it makes Lorenzo thrilled.

His face crumples. He didn’t even notice Estefania had already left, or rather, disappeared.

Sebastian crawls out of his pocket and sits on his shoulder to stare out into the sunset. So, Estefania, eh? Amore, amore, how sweet.

"Shut it."

That night, Lorenzo stares dreamily at the moon through his window. He takes a photo of it. The moon winks at him and sings him a lullaby.

“Good night, moon,” he says, and falls asleep and dreams of Estefania and a kind of danger that feels a lot like sinking teeth and drowning.

Short Story
2

About the Creator

Diara Alvarado

Lover of animals and classical music. On a moonlit quest to become a writer.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.