It was an awkward walk to the Fyron dormitory. Both Hawthorne and I were fuming but for different reasons. I was upset that I couldn't explain myself, and he seemed upset right after the conversation with Henderson. But at least Hawthorne didn't talk to me. When I got up to my room, I threw on my cloak and went back downstairs, and Professor Hawthorne escorted me back to the educational building.

"You will owe me a detention tonight after dinner," Hawthorne said during our return trip.

"But I have Dragonstryke practice right after dinner," I said.

"You can skip dinner, or you can shovel it down your throat and get to my classroom right away. It's your call, Rollie. Worst case scenario, you'll arrive a little late to practice, but that's the best I can offer you. And if you don't like it, maybe you should have thought about showing up to class without wearing your school uniform."

I clenched my fist and jaw but nodded and marched to class.

"When I see you later, Mr. Magpie, we will discuss your future detentions as well."

I wanted nothing more than to stick up my middle finger at him, but I took a deep breath and bottled up the rage that had been building all morning. During my elemental magic class, I just tried to get out all my frustrations by hurling fire bolts at the targets with as much power and quickness that my muscles allowed.

"Rollie, what's gotten into you today? You came in late, and your fire bolts are all over the place. You're not even close to hitting your target," Professor Shia said.

She was right, all my fire bolts had missed the circular target in my lane. I kept hitting the wall over and over. Meanwhile, everyone else was right on the money.

"Nothing's wrong," I said. I stared ahead at the target and didn't even look at Professor Shia.

"Rollie," Professor Shia stepped closer into my field of vision. "If you want to build on your ability and one day cast a strike, you need to have patience and not just blindly throw bolts with frustration. It's a multi-faceted process that involves a mental well-being balance, a certain amount of mental growth and development, maturity, and polished skill with your bolt. And right now, I'm not seeing any of those things being practiced."

"I'm fine."

"Would you like to talk to the counselor? You're welcome to talk to me as well. I want to make sure you're okay. Something seems off."

"People have bad days sometimes. I don't know what else to tell you." I could see Professor Shia in my periphery, and she frowned and shook her head.

"Yeah, but we can help you, Rollie. The staff here at Attleton cares about the mental well-being of its students."

"Thanks, but I'm good." I charged up another fire bolt and focused my aim this time. Using my football throwing technique, I hit the center. "See? I'm fine."

"I thought I told you to practice with pushing. That's a good technique on the Dragonstryke field, but it won't work with a strike, and that's the most important practice."

I exhaled. "Okay."

"Thank you. And please, if you need to talk to me or anyone else, let me know. We help our students here, Rollie. No matter what the issue may be. Big or small, if it's bringing you down, talk to us."

I nodded, and she walked away, but she still kept her eye on me from afar. The day couldn't be over soon enough.

Later when it was dinner time, I wasn't even hungry. I went straight to Professor Hawthorne's classroom and felt emotionally drained. Only a few students were in the halls, as I strolled through, they were the last classes to finish up for the day. I saw Professor Henderson meandering, talking with another teacher, and he excused himself from the conversation and waved at me.

"Rollie, how are you?" he said, wearing a cautious smile. "When I saw you earlier today before classes started, I noticed you were in an intense discussion with Hawthorne. I just wanted to check in and see if everything was all right? I noticed too that you didn't have a cloak on."

I explained the situation and how I forgot to put my cloak on because I was exhausted, and then I also told him I tried to explain that and at least get a pass so I wasn't marked tardy, but Hawthorne didn't allow for any of it.

Henderson furrowed his brow in support of my outrage. "That's just unbelievable and, quite frankly, cruel. Something about him seems off."

"I know, right? Anyways, I'd love to chat and ask you more about mythology, but I have to serve this detention to get to Dragonstryke practice on time."

"Real quick, Rollie, before you leave, I have another thing to say." He held up his finger. "I almost get the sense that Professor Hawthorne targets you, and anyway he can write you up or get you in trouble, he takes. That's unfair and goes against the teacher's code here at Attleton. I noticed he tacked on more detentions for you, but I don't think you'll have to serve them. It's probably best to serve this detention, but I will file a complaint to Principal Pine. And another professor also noticed Hawthorne's behavior in the hallway earlier. So don't worry, someone also notices his unfair treatment towards you." Professor Henderson gave a smile and a nod.

I couldn't believe how kind Professor Henderson was. "Thank you, sir. I really appreciate that."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"No problem, Rollie."

"Well, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow." I rushed off, and Professor Henderson stood there momentarily before he kept going.

Professor Hawthorne was sitting at his desk underneath the window of his classroom. The sun was already going down the horizon, It gave his room a yellow glow to the dark wood cabinets and desks. He was working on student papers and didn't look up when I entered.

"Go ahead, sit at the nearest desk in front of me." Hawthorne was glued to his work. "You will find there's already a piece of paper there. Give me a 500-word essay with an apology to the school for disgracing the rules, an apology to me for being disrespectful in the hallway earlier, and an apology for wasting my time when I had you in class last year. Understood?"

"Sure." I shrugged.

"That was a yes or no question, boy. Answer me with a yes or no without any attitude. Are my directions understood?" He still remained locked in his work.

"Yes."

I hated every moment of that exchange. I hated having to give in and listen to Hawthorne and his stupid rules and his stupid voice. Writing on the paper in front of me, I had already been preparing an essay to write in my head since morning. The words came quickly to me. They were all lies, not a single part of me felt sorry about anything I did. The essay was the fastest I had ever written, and I finished an assignment.

I had to get to Dragonstryke, I had to get to practice.

"All done, sir," I blurted and raised my hand. Even though I didn't need to.

Professor Hawthorne finished scribbling on a sheet of paper before flicking his eyes at me, staring with his head tucked down. You've finished already?"

"Yes... That's what I said."

"All I needed was a simple yes or no. You didn't have to add in the smarm." Professor Hawthorne stood up and drifted to my desk.

Come on, dude, can't you move up the tiniest bit quicker? I got to get out of here and get to practice.

He picked up the paper, and his eyes followed each sentence. It felt awkward watching him, so I stared ahead at the blackboard. I had no idea how long it took him to read the essay, but it felt like forever.

His beady eyes went back and forth from the paper to me for a few seconds. My skin crawled.

"Before you finish your detention, I want you to sit in my chair."

I scrunched my brow. "What?"

"The chair at my desk. Take a seat, please."

"I thought I was done with my detention?"

"This will only take a moment, Rollie. Please, just take a seat on my desk chair. Now."

My face was stuck in contorted confusion. I did as he said, and I sat down at his desk, But he still stood at the student desk I was at.

Taking one step at a time, he approached me and had his head tucked down, half his face was lit by the setting sun poking through the window, and the other half was dark. He waved his hand erratically, and suddenly, my wrists and ankles were squeezed tightly, like reaching the end of a toothpaste tube. Looking down, I saw my hands were strapped in, and I couldn't see my feet or move them.

"Professor Hawthorne, what are you doing? I can't move!"

"Rollie, you know how much I can't stand you?" His voice was void of soul. It was cold and robotic. It sent shivers down my spine. "The constant disrespect, your stupid hairstyle, And even the way you're tainting the game of Dragonstryke. You're corrupting the youth and only worsening the discourse."

"What are you talking about?"

He got closer until he was towering over me.

"Just let me out of here! I can't move! What's happening?"

"It's all right, Rollie. Just sit still and stop squirming. I need to make sure my aim is proper here."

I was so lost. My skin was covered in goosebumps. I wanted to run, I tried to push him away, but his head hovered over me, and he cocked back his fist.

"Wait! What are you doing!" I shouted.

My head jerked to the right. He had swung his fist, and it crushed my left eye. My fight or flight response was trying to come alive, but the chair straps kept me contained.

"You can't hit me! Now you're violating the rules!" I yelled.

Again, he landed a bone-crushing haymaker on the other side of my face, and my whole world went black.

***

The next thing I knew, I was back in the medical hall, the same room I had been to before. It felt like I had just woken up from a nap. It was nighttime, but a lamp was on in the corner, and the door opened as soon as I realized where I was.

Ms. Susan came in, and she gave me a hopeful smile. "Rollie, I'm so sorry you're back in here, but don't worry, this attack wasn't as bad as the previous one."

"I'm getting really tired of blacking out," I smirked, but it was true. Twice in one week was too much.

"Head Counselor Jonathan wants to speak with you. Are you feeling up for company?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Please," I said.

Ms. Susan bowed her head and walked out, and in came Jonathan.

"Rollie, thank goodness you're okay." Jonathan paused and studied my face. "You are feeling okay, aren't you?"

"Well, physically, I feel fine, but I'm not feeling too great about getting attacked by a teacher."

Jonathan's lips curled down the furthest I had ever seen. "Rollie, I can't tell you enough how sorry I am that this incident happened to you. After everything you've been through and keep going through, you didn't deserve this, and I'm sorry Attleton as a campus didn't do more or better for you."

"I don't even know what fully happened. I know he punched me at least once, but I think he punched me twice. But after that, everything went blank, and I have no idea what went on."

Jonathan shook his head. "Thank goodness there was one upstanding individual who came to your rescue. How would you feel if another guest came and joined us?"

"Yeah, of course."

Jonathan retrieved the mystery person, and in came Professor Henderson.

"Rollie, thank goodness you're okay," Professor Henderson said.

"Thank goodness you came in and saved me. What happened? What did you see?"

"It was horrible. Professor Hawthorne kept punching you after you were already knocked out. I stuck around after I saw you in the hallway, something about Hawthorne made me feel uneasy. So as I was leaving the building, I figured I'd check-in, and that's when I heard it. The horrible sound of knuckles punching flesh. I barged in immediately, and as soon as I saw the frightening scene unfold in front of me, I shot out a venom strike from my hands and hit Hawthorne, launching him into the wall. And then I tried waking you up, but you were completely out. But don't worry, Hawthorne has been arrested, and Principal Pine has been notified. Hawthorne is no longer a teacher here at Attleton."

Jonathan shook his head. "I still can't believe something like this happened. He loves working here. Something must have made Hawthorne do this. Some sort of possession or dementia."

"Perhaps he did this out of his own free will," Henderson said. "Hawthorne has always been a curmudgeon. And I've seen him interact in the hallway with Rollie before. Something about Rollie really upsets him more than any other student I've seen."

"Well, I'm sure an investigation will occur," Jonathan said.

"It's possible someone fixed him a draught. That's plausible, right?" Henderson said.

I had no idea what they were talking about.

"Yeah, that's where my mind was going," Jonathan said. "But Attleton will try and get to the bottom of it, but not worry Rollie, Hawthorne is no longer on campus.

I took a breath of relief but still couldn't believe what happened to me.

Did I still want to stay at Attleton? I had to think about it. Thank goodness Autumn Feast was coming up. I looked forward to the time away from campus.