Arachnid (part one)

 A new Biology teacher has arrived at Ambrose´s school. Kids love her, teachers respect her, but Ambrose can´t stand her way of teaching because it´s all about insects-beings he can not stand.

The reason his new teacher is so obsessed with insects turns out being much more complicated and scary than anyone thought.

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Miss Arachne

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School started on that sunny autumn morning as it should have. Last year´s twelve-year-old girls turned into wannabe young women with traces of feminine prosperity. Youngsters which were about to enter the sacred temple of knowledge for the first time were shooting with excitement, only to find out that this temple was in fact a prison of boredom. Boys with faces full of pimples grinned, searching for mischief and tempting innocent children from lower classes to follow their example. Teachers were over their heads in papers, trying hard to remember students´ names, panicking whenever a bird tweeted in fear that the sound came from a hurt kid.

 Yes, everything was in it´s place, and Ambrose was ready to kick of another school year. He was a fair enough boy, just turned eleven, and he simply knew that starting today, things are going to change. No more teachers acting as if he and his classmates were babies. No more crying when someone got a bad grade. No more forcing them to leave classroom during break time. This years was... different. Less childish and more serious. Not that he was deceiving himself about suddenly being all grown up or anything. In fact, in contrast with some of his hopeful friends, Ambrose shrank everytime when someone mentioned growing up. Adulthood seemed so distant, so important to him, and not fun at all. He desided to postpone it as much as he could. However, he was more mature and he was ready to admit it and prove it. 

 His class settled in a new classroom. He looked for free chairs and located one next to Irvin. They weren´t exactly friends, but they were on friendly terms, and Ambrose wasn´t picky when it came to school-desk-partnerships. As long as he didn´t have to sit next to a girl. It made him extremely anxious to spend hours siting next to a girl. Besides, they smelled funny, always followed by their clouds of floral deodorants and their mother´s perfumes.

 "Welcome, class!" Mrs. Catfish, whose surname perfectly fitted her long face, entered the room. She was their teacher until now, but this was about to change. They were going to be assigned with a new teacher for every subject because the advanced lessons reserved for eleven-years-old could be taught only by professionals. Or at least that´s how Ambrose imagined the school hierarchy.

 An unknown person entered after Mrs. Catfish. Confusion spread through class. Ambrose wasn´t one of curious kids who investigated everything in advance, so he had no idea who were their new teachers. Some knew all of their names and expected to see familiar faces in front of the blackboard. However, no one recognized this woman.

 "Meet Miss Arachne", said their old teacher, "she will be teaching you Biology. She is also the one in charge of your class, therefore she will be taking care of any problems you might have..." 

 Miss Arachne was hard to glimpse, although she was standing right in front of Ambrose. He had to look for a couple of moments to figure her out. She had very long black hair, completely loose in all of it´s abundance, she was quite pale and had crystal green eyes. Her lips were narrow and sharp and her chin was warningly jutting. She wore tight dress of deep dark-green color, with V-cut spreading towards her breasts and black belt around her waist...

 Ambrose blinked. Damn, new teach was hot!

 Mrs. Catfish left, waving them goodbye and wishing well, but everyone´s attention was bound to Miss Arachne. With small steps she approached teacher´s desk and surprised them with sudden throw of books on the wood.

 "Hello, children..." Her first words made Ambrose shiver. "So pleased... to meet you..." Carefully choosing words, as if she was speaking in a new language, she proceeded; "I truly hope that we´ll have a lot of fun... You see, I try hard not to be a classical teacher. I dedicate myself to particular lessons... And students..." She cast a quick look at Jonas, the smartest kid in the class. As if in a trance, he opened his mouth and kept them opened until someone behind him tapped his back and reminded him of reality. 

 "Anyway", she continued, slowly walking from the desk to the wall, revealing her amazingly firm legs, "fifth grade is so fascinating, you´ll find it most interesting." She picked Biology book from the desk and started leafing through it. "Vertebrates, fishes, birds, mammals... All kinds of organic systems... Oh, my favorite!" Something sparkled in her eyes. "Insects!"

 "Our new teacher is weird", said Bridgit, the most talkative girl Ambrose had ever met. They were neighbors, but he avoided getting into conversation with her.

 "Yeah, right, she´s just freaking hot!" Adam was one of those gotta-grow-up-fast guys Ambrose didn´t understand.

 "It was kind of inappropriate to come dressed like that, don´t you think?" Spencer, the girls who helped Jonas break from teacher´s spell spoke quietly.

 "Inappropriate?" Helen sounded as if she was going to burst into flames. "It was totally insane! It´s horrible how unjust the dress code is! If I appeared in short jeans-mind you, she was revealing much more than my short jeans would even if I cut them all the way to my groins-they´d have sent me to see principal!"

 "I agree", spoke Ambrose, still unsure what to make of their new teacher, "she is odd, but also young, so she may turn out to be a good teacher."

 "I´m just perplexed because we haven´t heard about her until now. I mean, we´re they keeping her arrival a secret?", said Jonas doubtfully.

 "Perhaps last Biology teacher got sick or something", recommended Spencer. "School had no time to inform students..."

 "We´ll see what tomorrow brings."

 Ambrose hated summer. As long as he was concerned, it was the time when Earth turned into Hell. He hated how hot it was and he spent numberless nights sweating and not sleeping. His cousins came to visit and he couldn´t stand them arguing with his parents-and they argued a lot because that was their way f communicating. He was never a fan of ice cream and it was to hot to eat treats that he actually liked. 

 And he hated bugs. He wasn´t really afraid of them, but the way they moved around with way to many pairs of feet disgusted him. 

 He was happy that colder days were coming. They took all creepy little fellows where they belonged. In Hell.

 School was going just fine. Ambrose boasted of his quick mind, so he never had trouble studying. After school and lunch, he´d take a walk with his dog, sometimes stopped by a friend´s place or joined in a basketball game, then he´d come home and play games on PlayStation. He´d welcome mom home from her job in hospital, sometimes surprise her with dinner if his dad was in a mood for experiments, and complete the day by looking at stars and talking with his folks. 

 What kind of lunatic would want to mess this routine up by growing up?

 However, something was bothering him and he wasn´t ready to talk about it with his parents. Although he was no brilliant student like Jonas, Ambrose had his own standards which he never failed. Until recently, that is.

 He got C. It was their first Biology test. He rocked History, struggled through Chemistry, did very well on Geography... so what was the deal with Biology? The answers the questions in the test demanded were descriptive. He had to explain why butterflies changed from caterpillar to a flying malevolence, describe how flies, those disgusting bastards, emerged wherever there was food... Perhaps his attitude stood in the way. He felt all trembling while studying about those petit menaces. But when he compared his answers with others in class who got better grades, he was confused. His answers were, if a bit stingy, correct.

 "You may repeat the test", Miss Arachne told him, pounding her tongue as if she didn´t even see him, "but this grade stays C."

 "Why? I checked, I answered..."

 She stopped him with her hand. He practically didn´t see it fly to his face, yet it stopped right in front of his eyes, threatening. "My decision is final." She narrowed her eyes. Teacher dismissed him, but Ambrose stood by her desk still, waiting for something more. "What´s wrong, kiddo?" She sounded differently, almost as if she was mocking him. "Do pretty insects scare you?"

 Saved by the bell, Ambrose rushed to catch up with his classmates, leaving his test on Miss Arachne´s desk. Before leaving, he caught her going through his answers once more and started hoping that she might change her mind after all. 

 She nailed her nailed in the paper so hard that they went through the first wooden layer of desk. Then she pulled her hand down, making five rough tears in his test. She raised her face towards him. Ambrose jumped and run from the classroom. 

 He clashed with Adam in the corridor. "What´s up with you, man?", Adam asked him. They were entering locker rooms before P.E..

 "Miss Arachne, she..." Ambrose wasn´t sure what to say.

 "What did the bitch do?" Helen appeared out of nowhere, already dressed in a sporting track suit. "Anything bad enough to get her fired?"

 "Why do you hate her so much?", asked Adam.

 "And why do you like her? No, stop, I know, because of her tits!"

 "She teared my test up." Now they were both looking at Ambrose. "Just like that, but she did it... Maniacally. Like she detested it, like she wanted to hurt it!"

 "Or hurt you", Bridgit joined them. "That lady makes me freak out. The other day I was leaving school and she was smoking behind the playground. As I was walking, I accidentally stepped on a spider. She was like ten meters away, but she saw me and basically attack me. She called me a murderer and all sorts of things. I was scared she might hit me, but she didn´t get that far because Mrs. Catfish came."

 "She is a bit obsessed with bugs, so what?"

 "Yeah, well she´s changing our curriculum", Helen pointed her finger at Adam. "I mean, who starts school year by teaching a lesson that´s in the middle of the book? "

 "Wanna know what´s really weird?"

 They all turned at the sound of Irvin´s voice. Beside Ambrose, others didn´t like him much. He was sneaky and knew stuff no one else thought about. He once kept a speaeh about some lunatics who were experimenting on twin children during World War Two, and he knew all the details nobody asked him about.

 "Her house", he said, "she lives in a really creepy house. I saw it, it´s on my way home from school." Irvin lived at the end of the quarter where none of them ever had reason to venture. "Anyway, that house has been abandoned for ages. My folks say nobody lived there since some old man died there when they were our age." He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, Miss Arachne lives there now, but the strangest thing is yet to come. You expect someone to move into an old house after renovating it, fixing the stairs, buying new windows, right?" They nodded. "Well, she didn´t bother to do any of that."

 "Yeah, right." Adam expressed disbelief.

 "I want to see it." Helen was brave. "I´ll come with you today, okay?"

 Irvin nodded eagerly. He probably didn´t expect that his story would attract audience, even more, companions to walk with.

 Ambrose decided to join them. "I´ve got a funny feeling about her, guys. I may be pissed of because I believe I deserve better grade, but what kind of teacher rips apart a test? Isn´t a test like some kind of document, a proof or something?"

 Their gym teacher called them, so they had to break the conversation, but Ambrose could hardly forget the look in Miss Arachne´s eyes. 

 Later, after Ambrose met with Helen and Irvin, they set out on the path that lead to Irvin´s house. It turned out that there was more that one reason why nobody went there unless it was a necessity. They had to go through rough sod and thorny bushes. By the time they reached a road, they were full of sharp leaves, burdocks and thorns. Ambrose respected Irvin for going through all of it each day.

 "Here it is!" Irvin didn´t lie. Divided from a bunch of same looking compacted houses, there stood an old building which obviously needed repair. Irvin exaggerated when he described it. The widnows were just fine, door seemed almost new and it lacked the Addams family estetic Ambrose expected. However, the walls were in bad condition. The roof didn´t seem waterproof. It was inhabitable, but far from comfortable.

 "I want to look inside", said Helen.

 "Wow, we dan´t do that", Ambrose protested. Then he looked at Irvin. He seemed to be thinking quite hard about something. "You don´t think we might..."

 "She isn´t home", was all Irvin said.

 Ambrose waited from a safe distance while the other two approached Miss Arachne´s house, though Irvin hasn´t shown them any proof that she is the one living in there. They paused by the door to discuss some plan. Then Irvin bent and Helen stepped on his back. He lifted her enough so that she could look through the window situated above door. Ambrose became nervous. Someone could see them!

 "Holy crap!", Helen yelled and stepped back, forgetting that she wasn´t standing on firm ground. She fell over and hit the ground. Ambrose forgot about carefulness and run to help her. "I´m fine", she rejected their hands, "but damn, that woman needs a good clean up! My parents would faint if they saw what it´s like inside!"

 "Are you sure she lives in there?", Ambrose asked Irvin suspiciously.

 "I saw her, I swear."

 "I believe you", said Helen, "I saw some clothing on a hanger and I recognized her blouse. But I´m telling you, everything inside is a mess! There´s spiderweb all over the place!"

 "You don´t think she has some kind of terrarium?" Ambrose got chills. "Where she keeps bugs as pets or for some crazy research..."

 "Maybe, but I haven´t seen it. Even if she had it, she wouldn´t let her precious insects wander around, would she?"

 "Why not? If they aren´t danger, it wouldn´t be so crazy. My cousin has some kind of exotic spider, it´s bigger than my hand and all fluffy and stuff, but it doesn´t bite so he lets him out from time to time. Every animal needs some freedom to be content."

 Ambrose shook his head. He didn´t like thinking about spiders and other creatures who look at you with more than one pair of eyes. Who cares about one exam?  He´ll wait for another lesson, something that will suit him better, and approve his average grade. After what he saw, he didn´t want to mention correction of the last one to Miss Arachne anymore. In fact, he wasn´t willing to talk to her in person at all if he could avoid it.

 Autumn collided with early winter. Time went by fast and semester was coming to a close. Ambrose had a bunch of exams to study for. He went through all subjects easily, mostly passing with Bs, one or two As. 

 The last one was Biology.

 Ambrose was lost. After visit to Miss Arachne´s house, he decided to turn a new page. He was sure that now that they were done with insects, something more to his liking will emerge. He waited on Monday, all dressed in optimism, chatting and smiling as if everything was in perfect order.

 Miss Arachne´s chalk creaked while she was writing on the blackboard. S. P. I. D....

 "We´re continuing to study some of the most fascinating species on Earth. After gathering general knowledge, we shall get to know some of them more closely..."

 Ambrose felt like fainting.

 Helen raised her hand. "There is not a lesson especially dedicated to spiders in our books."

 You tell her, girl, please, someone stop her!

 "I think this will prove more useful to you than some detailed lessons Ministry is recommending us", the teacher answered easily  as if slicing through butter.  "Isn´t it better to study spiders, which you all see every day, than tigers or sharks which you may only see in the ZOO? I think it´s best to cover lessons which you need in basic life first."

 Her words were like drug and everyone, even Helen, agreed with her explanations. 

 Ambrose couldn´t remember anything they did in class. It was simply repulsive to him! Winter was supposed to be bugs-free time of year, and now he had to look at them and read about them in books? Yuck!

 He never cheated on tests. He hadn´t have the need to. But this was different. If he sat through this exam with current knowledge, he wouldn´t pass with C. He wouldn´t pass at all. He wrote notes on small, sticky pieces of paper and put them all over his hand where long sleeves hid them. He was inexperienced in this sort of stuff, but he thought he did a fine job.

 Two days before the end of semester, Miss Arachne gave everyone their tests. Ambrose took a deep breath. Every single question was about spiders. They had watched movies about them, read from library books, talked about their importance for nature, yet Ambrose forgot all of it (if he ever memorized any of it). But he was certain that he wrote the answer for the first question on one of his little papers, but it was placed to high on his arm to reach it without arousing Miss Arachne´s suspicion!

 Someone knocked. Miss Arachne called the person in. It was Mathematic teacher, eccentric and incredibly fast thinking old man. They needed Arachne in teachers´ chamber. She looked at kids a bit nervously, banged her fingers on desk and took a deep breath. "No cheating. I´ll know if you cheat." With those words, she left them alone.

 Ambrose´s eyes searched for help, for signs of his fellow classmates exchanging answers or reaching for their own notes, but no one moved. No one cheated!

 Ambrose was desperate. He lifted his sleeve, found the answer and wrote it down. He found another one, and one more, enough for passing, maybe he could detect one more, good, good, teacher was still gone... 

 Door opened followed by a loud crash. Ambrose put his sleeve down just in time and he managed to solve more than half of his exam! His spirits were lifting, everything was going according to his plan...

 "Ambrose!" Miss Arachne´s voice was almost men-like, deep and angry. There were ugly veins bumping on her forehead and her eyes were wide open. "Principal´s office! Now!"

 How the Hell did she find out?

 Did someone tell him off?

 Did she notice before she left?

 Was someone spying class while she was gone?

 Whatever the answer, she knew, and she only had to lift Ambrose´s sleeves to prove it. He failed exam and got red warning on his certificate, which could turn into reprimand if he tried similar thing again. His parents were shocked and angry, but didn´t punish him additionally. His only punishment at home was studying because they expect him to do better on the same test after winter break. Jonas and Spencer studied with him, but it wasn´t helping.

 "You´re not slow like this usually", commented Jonas. "It´s not that hard. You got B in Mathematics and that was much more complicated than spiders..."

 "I just can´t stand them", Ambrose said, "they make me uncomfortable. Why is she forcing us to study about insects so much?"

 "Because it is useful", they answered in one voice, dead serious.

 Winter break was over, Ambrose had to spend forty minutes in a classroom with Miss Arachne. Alone.

 She threw test before him. "Do it well this time", she said poisonously. 

 He passed. Barely.

 Now he had to catch up with the others. New lesson: insect excretions, most importantly cobweb.

 Ambrose wasn´t sure whether he was going insane or the rest of the school was nuts. During January, everyone in his class, no matter what their earlier opinions were, raised Biology on top of their priorities. Miss Arachne was unofficially declared the best teacher. Even Helen, who detested her from the beginning of the year, accepted her as "a good teacher". Everybody thought that she taught them important lessons and that turning away from what Ministry recommended was the best decision ever.

 Except Ambrose.

 His anxiety in class was becoming unbearable. He considered talking to school psychologist, but gave up on that idea. What would he say? You know our Biology teacher, the one everybody praises and enjoys her classes? Well, I hate them and she freaks me out. Have you seen her house? There´s some creepy shit going on out there, trust me.

 He was sure that their dislike was mutual. Miss Arachne had her eyes on him since she caught him cheating. She often called out his name, asked him questions he found impossible to answer, licked lips in something between satisfaction and disappointment when she proved him wrong. As if she wanted him to be good in Biology like others, but found it entertaining to torture him.

 One day he got a chance to express his discomfort. He stumbled upon Mrs. Catfish in the hall. Kind as always, she asked him how he was, what were his grades like, how were his parents doing...

 "It´s all fine besides Biology", he admitted. He felt he could trust his old teacher who was like second mother to every pupil in her department. "Others like it, but I´m having troubles understanding it."

 "Miss Catfish is very popular", said teacher with admiration. 

 "Yeah, but we´re only ever studying insects and I´m not sure that´s how it should be..."

 "We all think Miss Arachne brought something new to our school", Mrs. Catfish´s look was fixed on a blinking lamp above them. "She is the youngest teacher here, but seems to be the wisest one. My dear Ambrose, don´t you think her methods are modern and..." She struggled to find the right word. "Progressive?"

 Ambrose bit his lips. Mrs. Catfish was not acting like herself. She was in some kind of delusion. Her hands were slightly shaking and she seemed to have something stuck in her throat. "Teacher, are you okay?"

 Her head turned automatically. Wide smile, yellowish teeth from too much coffee. "Great. And you´ll be to as soon as you embrace your brillitant Biology teacher." She hurried away so he didn´t get to answer her.

 He felt depressed after their conversation. The problem was obviously in him, but how to solve it? His mother was concerned so she went to have a talk with Miss Arache. Ambrose was expectedly waiting for her to come home. What will his mother make of bug-obsessed teacher who wears short tight skirts and leather jackets that barely cover her torso?

 Her ardor shocked him. "Miss Arachne is such a bright young woman! If only there were more like her, men wouldn´t have bigger payments for long!" His teacher charmed his mother. "She is willing to help you study, Ambrose. She promised to stay longer in school and help you get through lessons. You are bound to get higher mark this time!"

 Ambrose didn´t expect this denouement. It wasn´t exaggeration to say that he was scared to death.

 The deal was that he´ll stay after school on Thursdays, come to Biology cabinet and study with Miss Arachne. He considered breaking the deal, but he was reluctant to disappoint his mother, so he decided to give it a try. He waited in from of cabinet´s blue door. Teacher was late. Five minutes. Ten. Maybe she forgot? 

 "Miss Arachne said you may enter, she´ll come in a minute!" It was one of the cleaners. Ambrose shrugged his shoulders and pushed the door open.

 It was like one of those laboratories in 1970s movies, with white desks by the walls and all kinds of pirouettes arranged on them. There was also a bit glassy locker with shelves cluttered with labeled bottles and plenty of pictures hanging on the walls; human body, skeletons, dissected frog, flowers... and one big poster about spiders. No doubt she put it up there.

 He recognized Miss Arachne´s book on one of the tables so he left his bag next to it and sat on a chair. He waited. It was already dark and very cold outside. He wished he could go home. 

 He slowly turned his head back to his hands on the table.

 A big black spider was sitting on his middle finger.

 Ambrose let out a quiet scream. He jumped, knocking his chair down. Spider jumped with him. "Where did he go?", he asked out loud. He scratched his arms and legs to repel the terrible feeling of bugs promenading all over him.

 "Just one silly spider", he said to himself. "Doe it´s strange... I don´t usually see spiders at this time of year..." He turned to a poster with big, black tarantula drawn on it. Suddenly, it seemed to him that there were some black spots on the edges of educational paper. He quickly came closer, but just then they retreated behind the poster. Carefully, he lifted paper where it wasn´t glued to the wall. There was something hiding there...

 "Ambrose! Excuse me for taking so long. I had some business to deal with." Miss Arachne shut the door closed and approached him, her high heels shoes making a loud threatening sound. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the chair where he was sitting before a spider scared him. "Now, I understand you didn´t settle in my class like your friends. That´s okay, my educational methods are far from perfect and I expected that they shall not be to someone´s liking." She said it reasonably, but her look said It´s all your fault, though. "Listen, my aim is to make you children accept insects as wonders of our world instead of... well, something repulsive, I guess. Do you recognize any of these species?" She showed him working paper that they did in class. It was covered with pictures of different spiders.

 Ambrose looked hard, but he only saw a bunch of legs and horrifying eyes. "I´m sorry, Miss, this things are just so... heavy for me. I know I don´t deserve special treatment or anything, but... when will we learn about something that doesn´t have anything to do with bugs?"

 She throw the paper across the table. The next moment, her face was next to Ambrose´s and the nice teacher attitude was no longer existing. "Listen, boy, you´re right; you do not deserve special treatment, so stop demanding one!"

 Ambrose was breathing hard, but not because of his teacher´s strange behavior. Black spider was back, next to his books on the table, and he seemed to be watching straight at him.

  "You´re just a spoiled little brat who can´t appreciate the beauty of small, hard-working and fascinating beasts!" Her voice was trembling and changing, it lost all of it´s womanly grace. But then, as if all of a sudden she realized that she was losing control, Miss Arachne straightened herself and shook her head. "Anyway", her voice was normal once more, "in my opinion, you do not need special lessons. You´re doing fine in other subjects, so you must simply dedicate Biology as much attention as you do to them." The spider disappeared, but Ambrose felt as if he was still creeping on him. "I shall give you an assignment. Instead of writing new test, I want you to write an essay about spiders. Choose whatever you want; breeding, habitat, feeding, or choose one specie and write about it. In the end, I hope you´ll embrace the magnificent world of these little living miracles."

 Ambrose left Biology department more confused than ever because before he left, he thought he saw that spider hanging from Miss Ambrose´s ear, but it wasn´t just chilling there. It´s legs were intertwined and went through teacher´s ear lobe like an earring. 

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TO BE CONTINUED 

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Written by Arijana G. aka Anachronism in August, 2021.