Alex

“Tenure! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Sorry. I can tell her to stop, but… there’s not much we can do unless she breaks the law.”

“She assaulted me! Can’t she lose her teaching license for that? Isn’t corporeal punishment illegal?”

“Not here. We’re outside common society, so only angel law applies.” Angels–and other species– have their own government. Usually, it operates on top of the regular government. Sadly, it’s different here.

“Shit. So… what do I have to do?”

“Just do what she says. The class only lasts a month or so.”

“Not gonna work.” I shook my head. “Getting harassed by authority is a… trigger… of mine.”

“You’re just going to have to learn to deal with it. There will be people like that all through your life and–”

“I’ve heard this speech before. It doesn’t help. At all.”

“Helpful or not, it’s the truth. And you’ll just–”

“No disrespect, but I’ve been through this shit before. Someone’s an asshole, but nobody gives a crap until I react. And then, I become the bad guy. I’m not letting it happen again.”

Silence.

A deep sigh from the principal. “We get requests for transfers out of Ms. Slaphappy’s class every year, Alex. You’re not the only one who dislikes her. But if we transferred you out, we’d have to let everyone transfer, and we just can’t do that. I’m sorry.”

Damn, you theWriter!! You heartless, sadistic freak! How could you?

theWriter: It’s not me! It was… um… well, there’s this guy who’s totally evil, and… uh… he did it. He’s responsible for it all. Everything bad. All him. Not my fault. His name? Uh… Scape. Scape the Goat.

“If you’re really that desperate to get out, you could take the test early.”

“The test?” I looked up, hopeful.

“You’re in the class until you pass the halo certification exam. I could let you take it early if you want, and if you pass–”

“Then I never have to see Ms. Slaphappy again?” Sounds nice…

“That’s right. Your records say you’ve got some experience with magic, so I think you might be ready a few days early.”

“Sounds good.” I stood up. “I’ll get to work on it. See you in a few days.”

“No. I said a few days early, which would be–”

“Yeah. I heard your estimate. Mine’s lower.”