SYBIL

The fall semester of my freshman year in high school had begun and it was already evident that it would be like all the others. Dreadful. The prospect of something promising was rapidly fading as I sat through another uninspired lecture. The monotony was sending heads around the room into free fall, nodding off to a better place.

But then, the door to the classroom abruptly opened and in walked an angel, or at least it could have been. A new student. A distraction. A hope for a better world. She was late, but she carried herself with an air of confidence. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She was blond. Aren’t all of the new girls? She wasn’t just pretty. She was a siren. I knew enough about the Odyssey to recognize that. Life was going to improve.

“Welcome to the class,” the teacher said. Welcome indeed, I thought. She was more than a distraction. She was the answer to my prayers.

She simply smiled and nodded at the teacher. I hoped she would catch me staring at her. She didn’t.

At lunch, I scoured the cafeteria for her. There she was, sitting alone.

“Hi. You’re the new girl,” I blurted out. “May I join you? I’m Ben.”

“I’m Sybil” was all she said.

Sybil had transferred from another school, but she might as well have been from another planet.