A soft creak stole my attention from the mess that was my desk, and I glanced at the door to watch Julianne slip through the threshold. My heart instantly ached, and I narrowed my eyes on her as she wordlessly sat in her seat. She wouldn’t look at me, giving me the opportunity to scan her profile.

If she knew why her parents neglected her, it didn’t show. Hell, she probably could’ve known a lot longer than Roark and come to terms with it.

“… Julianne? Are you waiting for Roark to pick you up?” At my call, Julianne tensed, and my lip twitched in an attempt to frown. Everything was so clear now; she was so used to being ignored that any type of attention made her uncomfortable. Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my arms over my chest and held my breath as she nodded hastily.

“Uh- yeah. We’re going to the Botanical Garden with Sam. Roark has a friend that works there that can help me with my project.” Humming with a slight nod, I couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm in Julianne’s voice even though it didn’t spread to her expression. She blushed hard, tilting her head away from me, and I slowly pushed myself from my chair to walk over to her.

Roark had crashed at my studio apartment all weekend, and I had a nagging feeling that this was his way of making up his disappearance to his sister.

“It’s good that you’re taking this seriously. You know I only want you to succeed in life, Julianne. So, do you have any idea of what you’re walking into?” Julianne turned a bright, tomato red at my admission, and I leaned on the desk beside her with a growing grin.

“Yeah. I did a lot of research over the weekend, and I think my pretend facility will study genetically modified hallucinogens. Roark tried to get me to do something different, like homeopathic medicine or gene splicing for crop production… but this seems more interesting. And I have less competitors- I looked it up.” My eyes widened at that, and I couldn’t hide the surprised bark of laughter that tore from my throat. In her seat, Julianne stiffened, and I waved my hand as I gathered myself. The brief look of panic on her face was sobering, and I gripped the edge of my desk to sigh heavily.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting you to go there, Julianne. I have other students doing this project, and none of them put so much thought in it. I’m proud of you, you know. I assume you have a questionnaire for Roark’s friend, then?” Julianne was so easily flustered, it was almost pathetic, and I cocked my head when she ducked her head in a nod. Hiding her face behind her hair, she hunched over her empty desk, and I decided to stop torturing her. “That’s good. I look forward to seeing how this turns out.”

Turning to head back to my desk, I paused at the sharp hitch of a breath that echoed around the room. Finally, Julianne turned her eyes to me; I could feel her gaze boring into my back, and she didn’t drop it when I twisted to arch my brows in silent inquiry.

“Uh- erh- well… I was wondering- maybe you could come with us? I- I’m planning on doing video’d interviews, and Roark and Sam already agreed to help as businessmen… but I only have one scientist. So, I was hoping- maybe- if you wouldn’t mind…” She’s so friggin cute. Jesus Christ.

“I have a meeting in ten minutes that I can’t miss, but if you want, I’ll try drop by the Garden when I’m done. How does that sound?” I didn’t mention that it was highly inappropriate that I was in what could be called a relationship with my student’s brother. There was no possible way I would be reprimanded by the school, but I still had high standards for myself; the academy didn’t care about what teachers did, as long as they managed a classroom.

It was just another reason this school was so terrible.

“Yeah- yeah- that sounds good.” A soft ping sounded from Julianne’s phone, and I smiled as she bolted up from her seat and grabbed her bag. Her smile was a mile wide, and she looked like I’d given her a gift from God as she grabbed the door handle. “I’ll see you there, Ms. Mazkov!”

“… Why are the ruined ones the brightest?” Posing my question to an empty classroom, I shook my head absently and returned to my desk. Julianne didn’t stay at the forefront of my mind for long when I caught sight of the disciplinary slip that sat on top of a pile of blank tests and assignments, though.

It’d been a week since Cassandra decided to go on her little strike, and her parents finally agreed to have a sit down with me. She was the only one of her posse that was still being impudent; all of the other girls were too scared I would fail them. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed at their lack of backbone or to praise it.

I didn’t want any of my students to fail because that would mean I’d have to teach them again next year. That was just simply unacceptable.

Déjà vu hit me when a soft creaking sounded, and I glanced up to find Cassandra slinking into the classroom in front of her parents. Her father was tall, lanky, and wore sleek glasses, but it did nothing to shield how obviously pissed off he was. The woman with them was clearly not Cassandra’s mother, and I stood up to meet the trio halfway across the room.

“Mr. Geroni, thank you for taking the time to meet with me.” Shaking his hand briefly, I smiled automatically while he only scowled. I couldn’t tell if he was mad at me or his daughter, and he gestured towards the woman next to him without a single change in his expression.

“This is Mary, my secretary. I hope you don’t mind if she’s in the room for this or that she records the conversation.” My brows shot up at that, and Mr. Geroni’s scowl deepened, if that was even possible. “Not because of you, Ms. Mazkov- I assure you.”

Sending a scathing look at his daughter, he tugged lightly on his crisp suit jacket and exhaled harshly. Cassandra wore a totally unscathed expression, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw her chest stutter.

She knew she was in some deep shit, and I held back a smirk.

“No problem. I don’t mind at all. Have a seat, please. There are several things I need to discuss with you.” Waiting patiently as the man and his secretary awkwardly slid into the desk seats, I clasped my hands together before opening my mouth. I’d rehearsed what I would say simply because I didn’t want to come off as exuding favoritism, and he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me through narrowed eyes. “As you may be aware, Cassandra hasn’t been doing her classwork or homework. While other instructors here do their assignments online, I prefer to have my students use good, old pen and paper. That being said, all of this started because I gave Cassandra a bad grade because I couldn’t read what she’d written.”

Mr. Geroni didn’t ask why I liked to use conventional methods, and I cocked my head when his expression darkened a few shades. Clearing my throat, I swallowed the lump that had formed and trudged on while the other two women in the room sat silently on either side of him.

“I offered to give her half credit if she completed the assignments, but she refused. As it stands, Cassandra is in danger of failing. Her initial grade was barely 77% out of 100%, and she has refused to do a collection of eleven handouts, two tests, and four labs. She even managed to convince other students to participate in this ‘strike’. Normally, I wouldn’t care how she associates with her peers, but this is becoming a problem in the classroom.” Silence met my little speech, and I held my breath as Mr. Geroni rubbed his clean-shaven face in agitation. Maybe it was the subject matter, but I didn’t get the impression that this was something he experienced often. There was something innately calm and level about him, but with this- he just cracked.

“Ms. Mazkov, can you please explain to me, specifically, what problems Cassandra is causing with the other students?” This is an ongoing problem. The realization struck me hard, and I exhaled through my nose with a nod. This is probably the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“I can really only speak for what I’ve observed personally, but it seems to me that Cassandra thinks that you and your wife’s money and influence means she doesn’t need to learn. I’ve been threatened on more than one occasion over the past half year that Mrs. Geroni will take my job- make sure I never teach again- and other things similar to that. I’ve written her up several times for disrupting class by talking to other students and hampering their ability to do their work. As I mentioned, her circle of friends went a few days without doing their work as well. I wanted this conference partly to discuss this, but also to touch base on what we can set up to help get her through the class.” The more I revealed, the angrier Mr. Geroni became, and I sincerely hoped he wouldn’t flip a desk or something. Parents had been known to react such a way, although for very different reasons than I suspected he had. Glancing at Cassandra from under furrowed brows, I narrowed my eyes on the unease that became clearer the longer the silence dragged on.

“Have you personally observed Cassandra bullying other students in any way, verbally or physically?” The question caught me off guard, and my attention snapped back to the man directly in front of me as he set his palms flat on the desk. “I assume she more or less behaves herself in your class, Ms. Mazkov?”

“… I’ve had concerned parents bring up Cassandra’s aggression towards their children. While Cassandra does indeed behave herself because she knows I won’t tolerate bullying, I’ve been approached by parents or guardians that questioned me about Cassandra specifically. I’ve never observed her becoming verbally or physically violent with another student, though.” Answering truthfully, I frowned at the harsh, shocked gasp that echoed around the room and bounced off the walls. Cassandra stood up in a flurry, and I ground my teeth together as she exploded with rage. Face an angry, beet red, her fists shaking at her sides, she was tense and ready to lunge over the desk at me.

“You’re a liar! You’ve had it out for me since the year started! You hate me, and you want me to fail your class!” High pitched, almost reaching a decibel I couldn’t hear, Cassandra’s accusations were flaky and childish. Arching a brow at her, I forced myself to remain as calm as I could as her father’s eyes flickered between us.

“I would rather you didn’t fail my class, Cassandra, because that means I would have to teach you again next year.” Keeping my voice even was a chore, and I sighed with a dismissive wave of my hand. Cassandra had the mentality of a spoiled seven-year-old, and she went into wide-eyed shock at my revelation. “I don’t hate you. If I fail you, it’s because that is what you earned. You can’t do anything for yourself, and I’ve tried to help you. I offered you extra time after school that I could’ve spent with other students that actually cared about their futures. I offered to give you credit for the assignments you haven’t done in the past week and a half- you just had to do them and turn them in. I’ve even tried to do things the hard way and write you up.”

“Ms. Mazkov- thank you for your time, but I’ve heard enough. I’ll be notifying the school that I’m pulling Cassandra out, and she’ll be attending a public high school in the city. If you have any recommendations, I would love to hear them.” Oh shit. Is he serious? Surprise must’ve been clear on my face because Mr. Geroni stood up with determined anger and disappointment twisting his features. “You’re the first teacher that really seems to understand that my daughter is destroying her life. I looked you up after your last e-mail. I’m thankful that you tried to help Cassandra, but clearly she needs a harsher dose of reality than you can give her here.”

“Uh- okay…” Stupidly replying, I raked my brain under Mr. Geroni’s expectant gaze while Cassandra stood off to the side, her fuming replaced with absolute horror. “Well, I can suggest one school- the same high school I went to. I’m not sure if the teachers are the same, but I can e-mail you the details if you’d like, Mr. Geroni.”

“I would appreciate it. Thank you again for your time.” Time sped up, and before I had a chance to blink past the shock of what had just happened, Cassandra, her father, and his secretary were gone.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall to heave a sigh.

“What the Hell just happened…?”