Green looked up from his desk about ten minutes later and saw that everyone appeared to have signed their contracts.  After asking us to send the papers forward to be collected, he was silent.  Like, really silent. I don't even think his steps made a sound.  He sorted out the papers into two piles.  There was just enough random teacher crap on his desk, along with about ten people's heads in my way for me to see accurately, but one pile seemed to be a lot bigger.

"Wow, just wow.  How the hell am I supposed to work with this?"  I knew the sound of disappointment all to  well, and his voice was thick with it.  "I have never seen results this staggering."  As he walked back to the center of the class he held one of the stacks.  It couldn't have been more than six pages thick.  "Here I hold contracts signed to receive the high grade, there are six of you.."  He paused as if he was choking something back.  "Is no one willing to work anymore?"  Whatever he was holding back, he didn't contain it well.  "This is fucking pathetic!"  He went to slam the papers down but since there were so few, they just kind of fell everywhere.  I would have laughed but I was still a little shocked that a teacher would drop an F-bomb like that.  Sure he's a younger guy but aren't they supposed to maintain professionalism or something.  "Mitch Townsend, Trent Millar, Jessica Warren, Nate Lance, Riley White and Ethan Wall-"

"Whoa hold up!"  A male voice about four desks to my left,  I recognized him from elementary school. A notorious douche back then.  " I must have signed the wrong line.  Fuck this  man, I'm here for the easy ride."

"Oh for the love of-"  Green threw his hands up, clearly pissed now.  He then knelt down and found Ethan's contract and ripped it to pieces.  "I'll write you a new one!"  Ethan just shrugged it off.  "Five, fucking five.  What the actual hell happened to the world?"

"Dude chill out."  It was Trent.  I'm glad he said something, his voice had a way of defusing people.

"Yea," I added.  "Like you said, it's a little social experiment.  You were never actually going to give us those marks."

"Actually I am.  Provided you meet my expectations and complete the work assigned to you, yes.  These contracts are legally binding.  Green was calm again.  His ability to go from one end of the spectrum to the other so quickly was starting to weird me out.  "You'll have to work hard to earn it, but I am a man of my word."  Trent and I shared a glance quickly.  We couldn't quite believe this. We were only half serious when we signed.  Both of us figuring that this was some kind of test of character. "Now then."  Green had gathered up the remaining high grade contracts.  "Let's get started."

'Soo, what's our first assignment?"  I didn't recognize the voice, so I guessed it was Riley.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I'm getting to that."  Kevin was sitting in his desk now.  He suddenly had a very calm and collected posture.  He pulled a seriously fancy pen out of a drawer and started to write.  I was kind of fascinated by the pen. Then it happened.  My hand fucking exploded.  Or at least, it felt like it.  God I don't know what this felt like.  Like my left hand was melting from the inside out.  I grabbed at it to see if anything was happening, nothing.  The pain wouldn't let up, fuck it was getting worse.  I started to get frantic, when I realized. Was Kevin doing this?  No, how could he?  What is this?  Why was it just in my left hand?  I had dozens of thoughts and questions. They were all shredded by the pain though.  How much time had gone by?  Five minutes according to the class clock.  Then, it stopped.  My hand felt fine.

"What the shit was that?"  I screamed.  I couldn't feel it anymore, but I remembered it.  "What the hell did you just do?"

"The same thing I'm about to do to the rest of them."  Green's voice wasn't just calm anymore, it was....happy?  No, amused.  He was entertained by that.  Trent, Jessica, Nate and Riley all looked at  me, eyes wide with worry.  "Unless.."  We all snapped back to him as he trailed off.  "Of course you take the heat for them."

"What?"

""It's quite simple really, I believe in fairness."  He started to flip his pen through his fingers.  "So I'm going to have them suffer the way you just did.  But I'm giving you an opportunity.  Having experienced the heat first hand, surely you wouldn't wish it on someone else?"  He flashed me the sickest grin I'd ever seen.  "So?  How noble, and how tough do you feel Mitch?"

I looked out at them.  Trent well, no discussion needed.  Nate, well he pissed me off just by being him...but he's never done anything to me, hell  he helped me with a History project lest year.  Riley was easily the most terrified but I didn't know her, let alone have a reason to out her.  Jessica was the only one I could imagine throwing under the bus.  But that pain was so much worse than a few lowball comments on my hair, clothes and lifestyle choice.  Plus I doubt he'd let me single...

"You're running out of time Mitch."

"Leave them alone."  I mumbled.  Halfway regretting the words as I heard them.

"What?"  Green wasn't just surprised.  I'd swear I heard disappointment again.  He wanted me to save my own ass there.

"Leave them alone!"  I don't know where I got the balls to say it again.   But I did.

"Your call."  Everything went slow motion as he touched that pen to the paper.  When suddenly everything went white.

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Sorry I took so long posting. Ideally I want to have a chapter up every day or two