“What? No way this is fucking bullshit!” 

“Jesus Christ Zack, will you just relax?” Mr. Thompson said, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. “If you could learn to keep you fucking mouth shut for two goddamn seconds this wouldn’t be an issue.”

“Dad, you can’t let her do this shit. It’s insane!” Zack pleaded, nervously looking to his father to get him out of trouble once again.

“Listen you little shit, I had things all taken care of with the school, but you had to go cheat on a fucking quiz. And now that bitch has us by the balls. If you don’t play along then they’re kicking you out. And I’ll be damned if you’re missing your first year of college because of some stupid highschool fuck up. Now just keep your mouth shut, do as you’re told and when you get back to class don’t do anything to piss her off.” Zack’s father was seething as he explained the situation to his terrified son. And just as he was finished giving his orders, the Mayor could hear the sound of the principal’s door opening. 

The door opens and Alyssa Crowell steps out into the hall, trailed by the school’s principal, Dr. Tyler Matz. Matz runs his hands through his thinning hair, turns to the two Thompson men. 

“Gentlemen, I believe we’re ready to finalize Zachary’s disciplinary alternatives.” Matz says meekly, almost hiding behind Alyssa’s slender frame. He couldn’t believe what a mess this was turning out to be. John Thompson was one of the most vindictive human beings that he had ever had the misfortune of knowing. From the first moment that Zach had become enrolled in his district, Matz had been hearing about what a pain in the ass he was to deal with. But the superintendent had made it clear that the Thompson boy’s father was far too much trouble to worry about disciplining the student, and most teachers were terrified of the repercussions of doing so. But not Alyssa. This headstrong blonde was too proud to just roll over this one time, and now here he was, stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

“This is bullshit.” Zach protested loudly.

“Keep your goddamn mouth shut! If I want your fucking opinion, I’ll ask!” Mr. Thompson shouted before turning back to the school’s administrator. “Let’s get this over with. What’s the ask?”

“The ask? We aren’t asking anything.” Alyssa stepped in. Dr. Matz tried to step in to prevent escalation, but Alyssa wasn’t the kind of person to be silenced. “We’re offering Zachary an alternative to expulsion.”

“Yes I know what’s happening. Can we just get to the goddamn details? I’ve got shit to do and you’re starting to test my fucking patience.” Thompson spat, growing red in the face again. But Alyssa’s reaction was not at all what he expected. Rather than flinching or shrinking away from him, she simply smiled gently at him. 

“Of course John, I know you’re a busy man.” Ms. Crowell then raised a hand up towards her shoulder and looked back at Dr. Matz who was standing sheepishly behind her. The administrator snapped back to reality as he heard Alyssa snapping her fingers at him. He then passed her a single sheet of paper inside a plain Manila folder, which Alyssa took and proceeded to hand to Mr. Thompson. The mayor took the document and began to pour through its contents.

“Three months? That’s fucking outrageous!” John shouted.

“Keep reading.” Alyssa said bluntly, checking her nails for dirt. They were impeccably clean and she knew that, but she correctly assumed that it might help to get on his nerves. John began to grind his teeth as he returned to the document.

“Jesus Christ Tyler this is still fucking excessive. A week of after school detention and a whole goddamn weekend with her?” His voice was incredibly hostile as he referenced the petite young educator who was clearly getting the better of him.

“Look, I’m sorry Mr. Thompson but these are the only options we have. Ms. Crowell is very aware of her rights as a tenured educator with the district. Not to mention the fact that her involvement with the disciplinary shrinking program has been considered an impressive success.” Dr. Matz did his best to plead with the Mayor, hoping to bring an end to this unnecessary stress.

“Jesus Christ. What the fuck is this world even coming to?” John shook his head as he begrudgingly pulled a pen from his jacket pocket and put his signature to the paper, acknowledging that he was accepting this disciplinary measure for his son. Alyssa smiled triumphantly as she took back the agreement from Mr. Thompson and as she looked over to where Zach was sitting quietly, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit excited to put this arrogant little piss ant in his place. 

“I’m happy that we could come to an agreement. I’m confident that by the time I’m finished, you’ll see that Zachary will be a better, more well rounded student.” Alyssa declared, extending a hand to the large man.

“Don’t push your fucking luck. And I swear to god woman, if anything happens to my son then it’ll be your fucking head on a spike.” John spat angrily as he stormed out of the building, his deflated son following closely behind.

“Jesus Christ Alyssa, you’re going to give a damn stroke, you know that? One day I’m gonna just drop dead and it’ll be your doing.” Tyler sighed as he returned to his office.

“Mhmmm I’m sure. Maybe if you’re that concerned about your health you should quit drinking.” Tyler began to glare at Alyssa for her last remark, but it was too late. She was already walking back to her office to begin working on her private lesson plan for Zachary. Next week was bound to be a terrific one. As Alyssa walked back through the now desolate hallways, she noticed an unusual sight down an adjacent corridor. One of her coworkers was just now leaving the building, several hours after most everyone else had gone home. 

“Hey there Michael. Late night?” Alyssa asked, briefly pausing to make an attempt at small talk. Upon hearing someone else’s voice, Michael nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Jesus, Alyssa you scared the hell out of me.” Michael said, placing a hand over his heart. 

“Sorry Michael. Didn’t mean to startle you.” She apologized. Her interactions with other faculty members always tended to be so awkward. For some reason it seemed that everyone just felt incredibly intimidated by her. “What’re you doing here anyways? I thought you were out sick today?”

“Uhh no not sick. Just had some personal business to tend to. But I had to come in and get my spare house keys.” Michal dangled a set of keys loosely between two fingers. “Locked my normal set inside my car.” He chucked as he shut the door and began walking towards Alyssa.

“Ah I see. Well accidents happen I suppose.” She pauses as she considered the situation. “Locked out of your car? Did someone drive you here?”

“Um no… I … I took a cab over. No big deal really I don’t live all that far from here.” He said, shifting his eyes away from her own.

“Oh, well do you want a ride? I’m leaving now. I just need to grab some things from the office.” Alyssa offered, although even she wasn’t entirely sure why.

“I… a ride would be great thanks. Are you sure you don’t mind?” Michael asked, as he reached for his back pocket and realized that he didn’t have his wallet on him. Alyssa was a bit shocked that he actually to her up on the offer, but she shook her head and motioned for Michael to follow.

“It’s no trouble. I just need to grab some things from my office.” 

The pair of teachers proceeded to walk back towards Alyssa’s office, making small talk the entire way. Eventually they came upon the subject of how their weekends went and Michael immediately began rambling nonsensically. Alyssa raised an eyebrow towards him but ultimately shrugged it off. He had said it was a “personal” day today and she wasn’t the kind of person to pry. The duo made it to Alyssa’s office, allowing her to go in and collect her things before she moved to the door and locked her office up tight. She and Mr. Lanning then proceeded to walk out to the parking lot so that she could take him home.

“Well here you are, enjoy the rest of your evening.” Alyssa said sweetly. Michael thanked her profusely for her kindness as he exited the car and went in to his house. Once she was sure he was out of earshot, Alyssa said to herself. “Fucking hell, hope he takes a shower.” She sniffed the atmosphere in her car and she couldn’t exactly nail down the smell, but he definitely smelled like something.