Alistair Academy’s Worst Nightmare (artisticheart x NotAllThatCreative)

[artisticheart]

Dad: I didn't raise you to be like this! When I get up there you and I are going to have a serious discussion.

Laura: So let me get this straight. After some 10 odd years of being a straight A student, shaking hands with important people, and for the most part just minding my own business, you're just going to assume I acted out?

I refuse to discuss anything with you until you hear me out.

——

That was the last text Laura sent to her father. Since then, to say that things have been tense would be the understatement of the year. When her father did arrive, she was met with an onslaught of I-raised-you-better's and how-could-you's. Laura's father, the other student's father, the teacher (who was also the opposing student's mother), and the principal all screamed their heads off. They screamed and scolded and chided. Yet not one of them seemed to remember that she was in the top of her class, had the best behavior that teachers noticed, and was in line to be evaluated by some of the best wizards and mages of the country. But none of that mattered now. Not one ounce of her track record mattered, and no one seemed to have questions. No, no questions. Only judgments and decisions.

"Miss Willow," the principal addressed Laura once more. "I will give you one last chance to apologize, and maybe we will reconsider giving you the worst case scenario."

Laura stared coldly at the principal. Then her gaze moved between everyone in the room. She stopped at the crying student. Laura only had a few interactions with her but didn't know enough to ever have a motive to hate her, let alone sabotage her. Laura skipped over the angry parents and looked to her own father.

Her father looked in her eyes, and Laura could tell he was pleading for her to say something. Something that would prove his little girl was still the same upright person who would admit her own faults. Laura then realized what her dad really wanted was for her to just take the fall for someone else's sin, and she visibly scowled at the thought.

"I'm sorry…" Laura said quietly. She then stood up and spoke again, this time making sure to wound everyone involved with her words.

"I'm sorry that you all are too stupid to realize I would never do such a thing. I'm sorry that I'm going to have to prove my innocence all by myself. I'm sorry that I'm going to have to make an example out of you and whoever thought it was okay to involve me in their petty school wars."

And before Laura opened the door, she addressed her father last. "And I'm sorry, Dad, for ever thinking that you actually had my back."

Laura opened the door calmly, crossed the threshold to the hallway, raised her wand, and with a flick of her wrist slammed the door with intense force. The door cracked around the hinges and it sounded as if thunder rippled through the hallway. Yet despite her display, Laura's face seemed to remain eerily calm. She glanced to see some students looking shocked and fearful. All Laura did was blink at them as she reached for her earbuds and walked calmly down the hallway.

Sure, she seemed calm and collected on the surface. On the inside she was seething. Laura had enough anger in her to start a school-wide riot. But that wouldn't do anything. She would however do what she said she would do - make an example out of the principal, the teacher, and even her father. Laura didn't know how, but Laura went to the nearest table to begin journaling and drafting ideas.

—-

"Now remember class," Professor Albert Grindle's mellow voice soothed the class. Perfect for his subject - Meditating for Strengthening Magic. "Focus inward. Now is not the time to be worrying about homework or tests or games. Once more, inhale… and exhale—"

Suddenly a loud clap of thunder seemed to rock the entire class, causing the students to go into a panic. Professor Grindle took some time to settle down his class, called for silence, and waited till it seemed like everything had calmed. There was mild commotion outside in the halls, but nothing that suggested genuine danger. The professor turned to his class and began to conclude it.

"I understand to chastise you for reacting in this way would be quite unfair. However, this is why we are here and why we learn to keep ourselves grounded no matter what. Some of you are going to see combat and use magic one day. You will need to focus deeply and not let anything deter you from casting your best spells. Unstable emotions?"

The class answered back. "Unstable magic!"

Professor Grindle nodded with approval. "Class is dismissed. Keep an ear out for any announcements from the school."

Today the students hurried out of class instead of staying to talk, either to him or to each other. Poor young freshman, Albert thought to himself. They don't know what they're getting into.

Albert packed his messenger bag and exited the classroom. He went in the direction of noise and stopped at the principal's office. Noting the damages on the door, he reached out to knock but the door slammed open. Albert just narrowly missed the swinging door.

Professor and Mr. Talbot, a teacher and her husband, briskly walked out of the door. Albert tried to get Professor Talbot's attention, but to no avail. He heard something along the lines of "that child is a menace." Albert peered into the doorway to see the principal, but not yet Laura's father.

"Albert," the principal greeted. "I was just about to call for you. Please, have a seat."

"It's probably related to the noise I'm sure. Do I have another student coming to…" Albert paused when he walked further in and saw Laura's father sitting with a distressed expression. "Romero Willow?"

 

[NotAllThatCreative]

He wasn't sure which was worse: being an immigrant or being in a country he simply didn't understand. The laws were just strange to him but then again, the laws in Sweden were just as, or more, strange. Regardless, he wasn't pleased about switching from his previous academy a year ago to this one. He missed his old friends and while he made new ones here, language barriers could get in the way. While he did know English fluently, he still stumbled here and there with it.

In fact, today had just been completely ridiculous which made his already sour mood worse. His roommate, wait, his loud roommate had him up starting in the middle of the night with his snoring like a roaring bear, there was no coffee in the dining hall at breakfast, he had fallen asleep in Professor Becerra's poisonous animals class which got him detention, and now, he was forced to put away the mountain of books that the detested teacher had left out for him. Yeah, he was not a happy camper.

"I'm going to murder him in his sleep tonight if they don't move him." Klas muttered under his breath. He wouldn't really kill him but he was damn determined to make someone move him. They had just recently switched his roommate up on him, replacing the once extremely talkative teenager with what Klas considered a bear trapped in a dwarf's body.

Rounding the corner in a quick manner as he wanted to get to his destination faster, he rammed right into someone that was just turning to go down the hall. His hand reached out and grabbed the person's arm before they could hit the ground and he frown, reaching forward to grip their other arm to steady them.

"Shit, are you okay?" Klas' tired voice sounded concerned as he looked over her and he arched a brow in curiosity. "Ah, I know you. We share Becerra's class together." He noticed the rather angry look in her eyes and peered past her, noticing the door that was just barely hanging on the hinges attached to it. The students had also parted ways to let her through, fearing that they would be suffering the same fate as the door if they pissed her off more.

Letting go of her, he snickered in amusement and stepped aside to let her through, figuring that she wouldn't want to be bothered. "A little thing like you must have a big temper if you make a sea of punks part way for you."

Klas figured that he should shut up before he also got on her bad side and started to walk past her. No, he didn't insult her. He was merely teasing because, in class, she always seemed so calm, innocent, and passive. Something must've truly ticked her off to cause that sort of reaction out of her. He wasn't sure what it could've been but with how the students around her reacted, it was a big deal.

Once he got to the door, he noticed Professor Grindle standing there and looked past him into the office. "I'll… Come back later."

It was apparently a rather important meeting and the last thing he wanted to do was interrupt when his problem was probably extremely minor. Instead, he had to go and face one of his worst nightmares while helping to clean her entire classroom which took away from his football practice. He swore that this teacher hated him most but realistically, he believed she hated every child there.

 

[artisticheart]

Laura bumped into the student and let out an angered grunt. It was like getting her shirt caught on the doorknob when she was already annoyed, but much worse. What partially quelled her was the fact that this one grabbed her and saved her from a nasty fall on the tile floor. Laura's fiery gaze met the student's, but then relaxed almost as quickly as it came.

At first, Laura in her eerily calm fit of rage wanted to make this boy levitate and then throw him off to the side. But he only met her at the wrong time. He had nothing to do with what the others did and what the others accused her for. Laura didn't smile at his wisecrack, but she did relax a little more. "I don't normally, but first time for everything I guess," she said matter-of-factly.

Laura let the student go, turned around to try to thank him, but he already walked off too far to hear. Whatever. It was best to let him go without another word while Laura was in this state anyway. She didn't have enough time to be angry anymore; she got the message across to the staff and student anyway.

Laura changed her pathway and went towards the library instead of the commons. She found the closest small study room and shut herself in it. Finding her pen and pad of paper, Laura huffed and tried to remember everything of what happened prior to her meeting with the principal.

...

Laura was running an errand to the staff lounge and was walking down the hallway of professor offices. She was supposed to deliver a package to Professor Wimble, the one who accused Laura of wrongdoing. Laura made it to Professor Wimble's office, but stopped short at the open door. Laura witnessed the teacher and Myra Wimble - a fellow student and also Professor Wimble's daughter - talking. Myra was in hysterics and Professor Wimble was consoling her. Laura came in right as Professor Wimble was offering her solution, and it was solution Laura did not expect to hear.

"Listen here, Myra love," Professor Wimble began. "I won't include you in our groups activities anymore. What I will do though, I will rewrite your grade for Professor Grindle's class before progress reports are sent. I have access to the program so I can change it to whatever you need and no one will bat an eye. That'll give you a clean slate and you'll be able to be involved in the festival next semester."

"T-thank you," Myra stuttered. "What about my final?"

"I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it." Professor Wimble then laughed a bit. "So many students will be cramming and stressing out but you, love, are going to breeze through it because I will make sure it's a breeze for you. We'll sew a charm to your pants or skirt and Grindle won't be able to--"

Suddenly, Myra gasped as she looked up and saw Laura standing in the doorway. Laura was too shocked and taken in by what was being said that she forgot she was eavesdropping. Laura looked between the scared Myra and the now angry Professor Wimble. She couldn't even say anything, either about the package or about why she was just standing there. Soon, freeze gave way to flight and Laura ran off down the hallway, dropping the package a little ways away from the door. Wimble and her daughter tried to stop her, but it was too late.

Myra groaned, rubbing her forehead. "Now what?"

Professor Wimble shook her head as she huffed with frustration. The professor looked at the box, then suddenly smiled. "I have an idea, but it might take a while. Get the markers and index cards."

...

Laura finished writing the first sequence of events in her notebook. She knew she was innocent, but the story Professor Wimble told in the office was the exact opposite. Laura didn't know how they made that story plausible, but there she was, being accused of something she didn't do. Laura's grip tightened on her pen. Not once did her dad stand up for her after all this time of doing everything she was told. He was probably in there still apologizing for her "horrible behavior."

-------

"Albert Grindle?!" Laura's father exclaimed. "Where have you been?! We lost contact with you ages ago!"

"I lost contact with a lot of people during the course of my studies. I got so wrapped up that I never really had time for myself let alone others. Remind me, your daughter is...Lumira?"

"Yes. She goes by Laura here," Romero replied.

The principal then spoke up. "I hate to interrupt this reunion, but we have pressing matters to talk about."

"Forgive us, Principal Powell," Romero said, turning back to the front. "Please, go ahead."

Principal Powell nodded and explained the situation. It seemed that Professor Wimble and Myra Wimble both reported Laura for planting a prank trick box to harass Myra for her recent test scores. Professor Wimble stated that Laura was seen placing the box and ran before being questioned by the two. The principal showed pictures of the contents of the box, containing crude notes and copious amounts of glitter.

"The reason why I called you, Albert," the professor began. "is because I'm going to put Laura in the disciplinary group you run."

Romero sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Albert, however, began to look skeptical.

"Forgive me for asking, but is this really the same Laura?" Albert asked. "I haven't had her in any of my classes, but quite a few faculty members have sung her praises - perfect grades, active in extracurricular activities, even on your honor roll since her admittance. Why is she suddenly acting out?"

"It's because of the divorce, I guarantee it," Romero blurted out. "Her mom and I split during the summer break. Kids always act out one way or another when things like this happened - our counselor warned us about this!"

Albert looked at Romero with sympathy. He himself was never married, but always admired the relationship that Romero and his now ex-wife had.

The principal sighed, giving Romero the same look. "To be honest, you two, I don't understand it either. But there is a first time for everything, and we don't have any other evidence to say she didn't do it."

Principal Powell then turned to Albert. "I want you to pay close attention to her. Laura mentioned something about having to prove her own innocent and making an example out of us. She seems like a ticking time bomb, and we have no idea when she'll detonate. Watch her movements carefully."

"Understood," Albert said with a nod.

Principal Powell dismissed Albert and Romero, then paged for Professor Becerra. Albert briefly saw Powell sigh and rub his temples. Poor man, Albert thought. He must be stressed.

 

[NotAllThatCreative]

Honestly, it didn't bother him that he wasn't thanked by her. He felt that she would've hit him if he had stayed there any longer and teased her. The aura surrounding her was enough to tell him that he shouldn't try anything. He truly didn't want a concussion from further passing off an already fired-up female.

Klas hurried down a set of stairs and walked towards one of the only doors in the long corridor, grabbing the handle to open it. Just as he was about to waltz right in, he came face to face with the least-liked professor in the whole school: Mireya Becerra. The petite, five-foot-two professor was heading out after being buzzed into the headmaster's office and she looked less than pleased.

"Mister Ellstrom, I didn't expect you to come."

That tone made him flinch ever so slightly and he stepped past her, walking into the large classroom. The walls within the room were literally covered in different enclosures for exotic and poisonous creatures: snakes, spiders, fish, insects, and plants. It was a disaster waiting to be let loose but Mireya kept an extremely close eye on everything.

Klas spied the overflowing cart of books that he was tasked to clean up and sighed in annoyance, pulling his bag over his shoulder before tossing it into a nearby chair. "You want these put away, right?"

"Sí." Mireya pulled the keys off her belt and tossed them to Klas. "The spiders need to be fed as well, el chico."

Most would find her behavior very odd but these two had a bond. They respected one another but they also were similar in the aspect that they were immigrants. Mireya was there to help Klas adjust to this new country and she helped him with his English when he didn't understand certain words or phrases. In return, he helped her with the upkeep of her collection of specimens when he could, which she rarely asked of him.

"I expect the majority of this to be done by the time I return." Klas shot her a dirty look as she walked out the door. "Don't disappoint me again."

Klas grumbled something along the lines of, "pushy, controlling woman," under his breath in his native language and looked at the wall of spiders closest to the window. "This is going to take a while…"

---

It was quite the sight to her. The students avoided her as if she were a walking plague and they refused to meet her eye. She could feel the unease and fear rolling off of them like powerful waves during an angry ocean storm. It surrounded her but it didn't bother her. This meant that she had control over her students and rarely did she ever have to punish them. Unlike Klas Ellmstrom.

Mireya could remember when he first arrived two years ago. The viciously angry look in his eyes, his tense shoulders, and the absolute disdain in his voice. He was a force to be reckoned with at the time. The circumstances as to why the young man had been forced into the school were kept classified and she was only told that, "he caused too many problems at his last educational establishment,". She wasn't entirely sure what that could have meant but she probably didn't want to know.

Reaching the headmaster's door, she knocked on the frame and stepped inside. "You asked to see me?"

There was a door barely hanging on the hinges, unhappy-looking parents, a very displeased headmaster, and another professor within the room. Clearly, something serious was going on and she was unsure of what this had to do with her.

 

[artisticheart]

"Ah, Professor Becerra! We have a situation here as you can see..."

Professor Wimble had beaten Headmaster Powell to the explanation. Wimble had embellished a few points for dramatic effect and to show "just how serious this was!" as Wimble put it. Powell sighed and continued where Wimble left off. "Yes. I'm sure you can see the magnitude of this event. And I'm well aware that the kids are much more... well-behaved, around you. Which is why I want you and Professor Grindle to watch Laura's progress especially."

"Progress?!" Professor Wimble exclaimed. "What progress could she possibly make? She's shown her true colors already--"

"Don't you dare speak about my daughter that way!" Romero interjected.

"And don't you speak to my wife, that way!" Wimble's husband retorted.

"Enough! Please..." Headmaster Powell said sternly. It seemed to be with a lot more force than he intended, as Professor Wimble had a shocked and indignant expression on her face. Powell refused to look at either the Wimbles or Romero Willow and turned back to Becerra. "Is this too much for your schedule, Professor Becerra?"

----

Instead of coming up with ideas to prove her innocence, Laura spent the rest of her time just staring at the half-filled page of her notebook. None of the obvious would help anyway. There were cameras in the hall Laura was in but they pointed just out of range of Professor Wimble's door. And it was obvious Powell and the Wimbles wouldn't listen to reason no matter how hard she tried. Laura huffed as she realized that she was very well alone in this endeavor, and all her hard work was about to go to waste over a false accusation.

Laura blinked, realizing that she did have one other option. The professor that had her deliver the package, they could vouch for her! Laura quickly packed away her notebook and pencil and started a brisk walk to the office. She would walk quickly down the halls, passing by several classrooms. She almost passed Professor Becerra's classroom, but caught sight of Klas and stopped for a moment.

This was the one that stopped her from falling earlier. Laura knew she wasn't able to thank him properly, so she pulled out a small piece of paper and her wand. She took a deep breath, cast a spell, and sent the paper gliding under the door to him.

"Thank you for catching me earlier. Sorry you had to see that. - Laura"

Laura didn't stick around to see his reaction, and went on walking to her next destination.

 

[NotAllThatCreative]

Standing there, she could cut through the tension with a knife. The air was thick with it. Her eyes looked between the two men before turning towards Headmaster Powell. He wanted her to babysit yet another child? Her eyes hardened at the thought.

"With all due respect, señor, I'm not sure having her being watched would be a wise idea." Mierya paused for a moment, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she stared down at the headmaster sitting at the desk across from her. "In my experience, having a student act out once usually means they will act out again. I do not think that I could possibly help to change her attitude."

Saying that caused Klas to come to the forefront of her mind. He was a troubled student as well but he's cleaned his act up considerably since his arrival at the academy. Though, that didn't mean that Laura's attitude was going to change if she's under tight control. Girls were far harder to get to behave than boys because their emotions are more erratic. At least, that was her experience as she's had a few young women get on her bad side during the years.

"Perhaps being paired with another troubled student would help her." Mierya spoke up after a moment, her posture finally starting to relax a little as she thought about what she was going to suggest. "I have a student that could possibly help her with this… Anger streak." She glanced at professor Grindle. "Would you agree to Klas Ellstrom stepping in to help all of us? If you remember correctly, he was a lot like Laura when he first arrived." Her eyes went back to Headmaster Powell. "He could help her to channel her anger into more constructive and appropriate means of dealing with it."

---

By the time Laura was making her way down the hall, Klas was already elbow deep in a tote full of Madagascar hissing cockroaches. He didn't mind this as he was already far past his disgust and was actually quite used to this. When he had first started helping Mierya, he was completely disgusted at the idea of getting his hands full of cockroaches but now? It didn't bother him. The bugs were placed under a spell where they wouldn't move until they were in a spider's cage. To most, this would be enough to send them running for the hills.

Klas had two hands full of bugs when he noticed the note coming for him and took a second to read it. He grinned a tiny bit and walked over, opening up one of the larger cages before dumping a handful of the critters in it. "Enjoy, you nasty beast." After the first one was fed, he threw a handful into the next large cage.

Wiping his hands off on a nearby towel, he dug into his bag that had been thrown into a random chair and pulled out a scrap piece of paper and his pen. He scribbled a quick note on it before sending it down the hall with a flick of his wand, turning back to the tote of bugs and sighing loudly. "I would much rather be doing anything else right now."
The note flew down the hall to where Laura was and stopped right in front of her, opening itself up to Klas's rather hurried and messy handwriting.

"Just try not to attempt to murder me with your eyes next time and we'll call it even ;) - Klas"