POV: Amanda Susu

“Needless to say, you'll be serving a detention.” Mr Thompson said in his even voice.

“Whatever.” Adrian responded in his rough voice, “Fine by me. I need the change in routine.”

“That's right. You've been training everyday this past week. How's that going?”

“Amazing. My reaction time is down a whole second and my strength is increasing thanks to Vlad's brother.”

“Yes, Razputin is an excellent combatant. Did you know he was chosen to be an entry in the new blood tournament during his freshman year?”

“Yes sir. He won all three matches with Nathan.” Adrian sounded downright despondent.

The sympathy I felt for him was unbelievable. He was a brute and a bully, and a grade-A jerk all around. His sliver of honor was all that made him tolerable, and only just. Yet, here I was feeling bad for him. What a jerk!

“Yes. I imagine you would be excited for the opportunity to learn from such a master of fighting.”

“I would be! If…” Adrian shouted before trailing off.

The office was quiet for a moment. Too quiet. My nerves were starting to peak when the silence was broken by Mr Thompson.

“If not for Melvin?” He said like he was guessing. “I don't understand it. I know you despise each other, but surely you can put such a thing aside for the time being.”

“It's not that simple!” Adrian shouted and the door shook as a slamming noise came from the office rattling my teeth. After, I was met with a near silence, except for the sound of what I figured to be Adrian’s gritting teeth. “We mostly spar.”

“You and Melvin?”

“Yeah.”

“Against each other?”

“No. Against Raz. Or Nathan. They both floor us about the same.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“It's incredibly intense. They're both master combatants. They're really pushing us to our limits and beyond.”

“I see. Is there something about the sessions you find unpleasant.”

Adrian slammed a fist, shaking the door, and my teeth, again. “I find that two bit dust ball you paired me with to be unpleasant.”

“What is Mr Greenleaf doing to make you so upset?”

“He's a fairy!” Was all Adrian answered with.

The room was quiet again until Mr Thompson spoke, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No.” Adrian snapped back. “There’s nothing to do about it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Melvin is fine. He's a pixie-dust coughing bastard and I can't stand him, but…” Adrian trailed off with a groan, “Sir, I might be stupid, but I'm not senseless. I'm only passing Math and Science because Mary has Runesir tutoring us.

“But I know damn well that people are people, and all people are equal under the law. Whether they're demon, mundane, mutant, or even low life fairies.

“And as much as I hate those damn fairies, I have to uphold my own values first. So again, Mr Thompson sir, there's nothing to do about it.

“This is just something I have to grit and bear. But thank you for your concern.”

I was shocked. At what, I couldn't say. For one, I had never heard Adrian string so many words together. At least not without swearing. Second, he was being unbelievably self aware.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Adrian had been a terror to some of the weaker freshmen, and an annoyance to the rest of us. Even some of the sophomores found themselves having to deal with him. Yet here he was, being something that seemed to resemble humble and sympathetic.

Whatever. It didn’t matter. What mattered was how Jerry and I could use this to our advantage.

“Very well, Mr Priest. If there is anything I can do, please let me know.” Mr Thompson said, “but before you go, I would like to ask if Ms Susu would like to stay to talk for a moment.”

My blood froze. My heart thumped as I held my breath. I thought of every possible escape route when a hand came down on my shoulder. Looking up it was Ms Stienfaust. I was officially busted.

The door opened and Adrian was standing over me clearly mad. He reached down and lifted me by my shirt. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Oh nothing, just trying to find another piece of evidence to how intolerable you are.” I thought quickly, “You know how girl gossip is. Especially with the romantic types like Samantha.”

Adrian lifted me higher, “Don't play with me. I'll break your face like anyone else!”

“So scary.” I mocked.

“Mr Priest, I think you’re done here.” Ms Stienfaust said.

He tsked and threw me to the side with a, “Whatever.”

He stomped away as I waved my fingers at him. My farewell was interrupted by Mr Thompson, “Ms Susu. A word?”

I stepped into the office. Ms Stienfaust closed the door after telling me, “I'll be here to escort you back to class.”

And there I was. Just me and Vice Principal Thompson. I of course curtsied, “Mr Thompson, sir.”

“Ms Susu,” Mr Thompson nodded his head, “First off, detention for skipping class.”

Yeah, that was predictable. There was no point in fighting it. So I just nodded solemnly, “Of course.”

“Next, I wanted to ask how are things going for you so far?”

“Oh! Just grand! Fun, friends, spying on others for gossip. You know how it is.”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Mr Thompson smiled at me, “I worked in espionage for a few decades. It was an excellent career. I think you would do well in it if you would consider it.”

“A little early to be thinking about something as serious as my career, don’t you think?”

“Not at all. It is never too early, nor too late to think of your future.”

“That sounds very wise.” I said with a nod of respect.

“Years of experience.” Mr Thompson acknowledged my respect and forced on me again, “Ms Susu, why did you come here to spy on Mr Priest?”

“Because Jerry told me too.” I said with honesty.

“I see, well let him know he has a detention for that.” Mr Thompson said and I smirked, “You do know why Mr Jarvis asked this of you?”

“He said it was to keep tabs on Adrian, but I didn’t think to question him on it.”

“Loyalty.”

“Apathy.” I corrected. “I don’t care why Jerry wants me to do things. I care how badly he wants them done. Anything to keep his whining down.”

“Is Mr Jarvis much of a whinier?”

“No. I make sure of that.” I laughed to myself, “Oh, I shouldn’t be so harsh. Jerry is an excellent leader. You did well choosing him.”

“Well he made it easy to be picked. Having all the hallmarks of a great leader. Quick wit. Cool nerves.”

“The ability to manipulate others to do as he wants.” I added in.

Mr Thompson laughed a warm laugh, “We usually call that charisma.”

“Tomato, potato, I guess.” I snickered.

“Maybe. Your whole team seems to be an excellent match up.”

“Oh yes. I am incredibly lucky to have them. Almost too lucky.”

“Nonsense. I assure you. We take all elements into consideration when assigning the freshmen teams. Your gift was weighted accordingly.”

“Well I am sure that makes me feel better.” I smiled from ear to ear with a tilt to my face.

Mr Thompson returned my smile with his own sweet, possibly sincere, smile. “Well Ms Susu, as always, you are welcomed to come talk to me, or any of the staff if you need to. I'm glad you feel like you're doing well. Unless there's something you want to address, you may return to class.”

I curtsied, “Thank you.”

I turned and headed to the door. Placing a hand on the knob a thought came to me, “Actually, something I'm curious about. You said my gift was weighted accordingly, but that has me wondering. How much do you know about my gift? And also, how much do you know about my team?”

I looked back to see Mr Thompson holding his smile, “We have our own secret ways of knowing things.”

Interesting. I curtsied again and opened the door to find Ms Stienfaust waiting. She guided me to the back of the school. Before exiting I turned to her, “I can make it the rest of the way on my own, if that's okay.”

She nodded, and I stepped on outside. Leaping to the side of the stairs I slipped back past the classes, now shifted to the side as the game progressed. Ducking under and around I made it back to Jerry landing with grace.

“You're back,” Jerry noted.

“I am.”

“Adrian never came back.”

I scanned the field to see he was right. “So he hasn't.”

“You didn't run into any problems, did you?” Jerry asked. Likely knowing my answer already.

I smirked and lied, “Nope.”

Judge me if you want, but I gotta do what I can to keep his whining down.