Jon entered and sat himself down quietly. The teacher for this class, Mrs. Akatter, was one of the school's oldest teachers, having been teaching there since before the time when most of the current students' parents attended school. Having achieved tenure ages ago, Akatter was more laid back than most teachers her age, and most classes involved very little involvement on her part.
The first part of class, for example, was designated exclusively for silent reading, with Mrs. Akatter only paying enough attention to keep the students from straying in their activities. Reaching into his backpack, Jon realized he had forgotten to bring a book. Making his way to the back wall of the class, which was lined with all sorts of literary classics to be borrowed on just such occasions. Glancing over the titles, Jon considered his selection. On previous occasions, Jon had tended towards the works of those such as Hemmingway or Steinbeck, but for some reason he found himself in no mood for either author. Near the beginning of the shelves, Jon spotted a few books by Jane Austen, and on impulse plucked Emma from the shelf and returned to his seat.
Returning to his seat, Jon opened the book and began reading just as the final bell rung. He remembered his mother loved Austen's books, but they had never seemed to be to his taste. All old time drama, the literary equivalent of a chick flick. Now, however, Jon found himself engrossed by the plot, caught up in the relationships and characters. As he followed the tale of a matchmaker in Elizabethan England, Jon failed to realize how the pace of his reading accelerated as he went, until he was tearing through four pages every minute. Neither did he notice how as he traced his place in the book, his fingers seemed to change, growing slender and elegant to match his long nails.
What Jon did realize, however, is how the story seemed to grow more familiar with each passing page. By the time he had reached the sixtieth page, Jon realized that he had read Emma before. Several times, even. In fact, now that Jon thought of it, Jon realized that the book was one of his favorites, and must have known half the book by heart now. Still, reading it once again was still quite pleasurable, and when Mrs. Akatter called for the end of the reading period Jon put it down with a sense of great reluctance.
Next, the class was supposed to present an essay on their genealogy to class. This had already gone on for several days, so by now the class had already gone through in alphabetical order to K, which made Jon third today. When his turn arrived, Jon grabbed his cue cards and made his way to the front of the class. Taking a deep breath, Jon began explaining his family's background. However, as he went, Jon's story seemed to shift radically, though neither he nor the class seemed to notice these irregularities. Along with the content of his speech, Jon's delivery shifted as he went as well, his voice gaining a crisp English accent, which was odd considering Jon had never even been anywhere outside the United States.
"At which point my mum got a job at a law firm across the pond to here in the states, and so at age three I moved here from Reading with the rest of my family, which to date is the culmination of my family's history," Jon concluded, prompting a polite smattering of applause from the audience. Upon returning to his seat, Jon felt a strange itching on his forehead. Reaching up and scratching the offending area, Jon pulled his now petite hands away to find little hairs on his finger tips.
"What's with all these bloody little hairs?" Jon muttered, not realizing that he had just rubbed off much of the hair of his eyebrows, leaving only two delicate lines. Brushing the hair from his fingers, Jon turned his attention back to the front of class. Two more presenters managed their presentation before the bell rang, and the class began gathering their things and heading to the door. Jon, meanwhile, grabbed his backpack and made a bee line to one of his classmates, someone who Jon, until just now, would never bother talking to...
