Chương 36: Life Advice from Alan Thicke

I stood there for a moment, eyebrows knit together as I watched Mr. Hooper walk away. Why was I the one singled out for staying after class when three other people had been talking way more than I had? Tony and Jordan behind me began laughing under their breath as they sat back down at their table and Embry raised an eyebrow that said I got what I deserved. She walked away with her head held high. A table away, Meat Tower also stared at me. Like it always did, another cool Cass moment bit the dust.

I sat down, picking up my pen to finish the worksheet. That didn't stop Tweetle Dee and Tweetle Dumb from hounding me further.

"Hey Zero, tell us more about the mysterious leader of the Chem Heads."Jordan's whispered voice was snide and condescending.

"Did you finally make a friend? Do you guys hang out and play Castleday?"

"Bro, could you introduce me?" Tony's voice on the other hand was filled with nothing but earnest desire. A nudge on my shoulder was probably from his hand.

"I could totally help him cook and he could pay me in product." I was deliberately not turning my head, keeping my eyes on my paper, but I heard a loud smack to a head.

"She doesn't know the leader of the Chem Heads, she's full of crap."

"I knew that, and don't put your hands on me." The sound of a chair dragging across the floor rang out, then we all heard the loud thump of someone falling onto the ground. I finally looked back to see Jordan pushing himself up from the floor, glaring at his friend. Before things could escalate further, Mr. Hooper had arrived and put himself between them.

"Do I need to call the office? We are conducting a lab with an open flame and I don't have the energy for you two today. Am I understood?" His nostrils flared as he stared down at the two idiots of his classroom. Tony and Jordan nodded while refusing to make eye contact. The world was a cold and unfair place, but it had nothing on the injustices of high school. The one time I actually talked to another kid during a lesson, I had to stay after class.

But these imbeciles could have an outright fight and all they got was a stern word of warning. Maybe they were too much like the constable and his partner from Much Ado About Nothing and just exhausted everyone with their stupidity that people just found ways to not have to deal with them. To be fair, that's probably how most teachers felt about their students.

Still, I turned in my seat to unleash the fury of my glare upon them, but instead I spotted Meat Tower sitting behind them, no longer playing with the flame in front of him. He sat forward in his chair leaning across his desk, beetle black eyes staring at me. The rest of the class went by silently. Tony and Jordan were no longer speaking with each other and Embry wasn't even pointing out the faults in her neighbor's worksheet. For once, I wished for the rowdiness of a classroom to distract me from what Mr.

Hooper would have to say to me after class. I finished the paper just in time for the bell to ring. Most kids sped out of there in typical fashion, but my co-conspirators stayed long enough to say some parting words.

"Thanks for taking one for the team, Zero," Jordan said, giving me a thumbs up as he walked past.

"Call me," Tony whispered, making a telephone out of his hand and holding it to his ear.

"I like being choked, too." Embry had spent the time meticulously putting all of her books in her backpack to ensure she was the last one to leave.

"You want my advice?" She leaned down so that she could speak quietly enough that the teacher wouldn't hear.

"Don't talk about things you don't know anything about." I blinked at her. Why would straight A, future valedictorian Embry care about me knowing more about the criminal underworld than she did? Surely she couldn't be that obsessed with being the smartest person in the room. Then again, maybe she had a dark secret– a dependency on some kind of substance to give her the energy to outperform others like so many Type A personalities before her? Kind of brought a new meaning to the phrase "high-achieving". Mr.

Hooper waited for me at his desk, so I slung my backpack over my shoulder and walked to the front of the room. My arms crossed in front of my chest.

"I don't know why I'm here when Jordan and Tony and even–" He held up a hand for me to stop.

"You're not in trouble. I'm just concerned." His hands went under his chin, pinning down his brown scratchy beard. Mr. Hooper was usually so energetic, so it sounded odd to hear him speak in such a soft voice. But truthfully he'd always come off as that kind of granola hippie-type, just having eaten too many cacao beans. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Because I've noticed how different you've been acting lately, Cass. You've always been a great student before, quietly doing your work. Now I hear you talking about villains and drugs in your neighborhood, and that really worries me." I shrugged my shoulders.

"I've always lived in my neighborhood and believe me, this is not the first time it's had a drug problem. I'm just talking about things I heard about… and which everybody's interested in. Can't I be normal for once? Maybe people will stop treating me like I'm a waste of space." Not that it actually had, going off the results. Mr. Hooper looked at me, eyes tightening in the way a psychiatrist's did.

"And is that why you're wearing a scarf around your neck on a day like today? Because it will make people like you?" My fingers fumbled as they caught one of the plaid flaps.

"I have bronchitis, so yeah, I'm cold because I'm sick. I shouldn't even be here but I am because I want to make sure I can graduate at–""Would you mind removing the scarf, then? Just for a second?" My eyebrows raised and I waved a hand through the air.

"Why? Are you going to report me to the school nurse to get STD testing if I have hickies under it? I'm pretty sure you should be doing that already with half of the school anyway and I can give you my top picks to start with." He folded his hands in front of him.

"I just want to make sure you're ok. That it isn't bruises you have under there." My hand clutched tighter on the scarf, lips setting into a straight line.

"It's just a stupid fashion choice. A way to 'stick it to the man', you know? I'd do it with Goth clothes if I could, but they're made for middle class kids who can afford that." His eyes were on his desk, shifting some papers around and then he looked back up at me.

"Can I tell you something that happened to me a few years ago, Miss Keene? One night I was walking my dog and a man came up to me and took out a gun. I offered him my wallet, whatever he wanted, but apparently what he wanted was to shoot me and there wasn't anything I could do about it. So I got hit just two inches above my heart, someone called an ambulance, and luckily the doctors were able to save me.

When I woke up, I realized that that thing everyone is waiting for, that life or death moment where you find out if you have super powers came and went, and now I was on the other side of it– just the same as I'd been before." I glanced down, nudging the scuffed toes of my sneakers against the smooth classroom floor. Things that used to be true for my life. Mr. Hooper laid a heavy hand on the table, making me look up again.

"I'm not a super and that's ok. Someone doesn't need powers to be special in this world. And I know that's easy for me to say at forty-five and it feels a lot different when you're sixteen, but you're not alone. The vast majority of these kids are just regular people too; they're chasing something that isn't even there. I know that fitting in feels like it matters now but you're surrounded by –don't tell anyone I said this– absolute idiots.

You've got a little over a month till graduation; don't start fitting in with the crowd now. You had it right the first time, either make the crowd better or find a different one." He gave me a small, fatherly smile and I looked away to the side of the room, swallowing down the tightness in my throat. Really could have used this pep talk eleven years ago from someone other than Gran.

"Well," I said, turning my head back to him and stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"Thanks for telling me that. It's nice to know someone else who can admit all that." He nodded.

"No problem. I hope you do well after graduation. What are your plans?"

"Umm… not much. Just going to enjoy life outside of hellschool, you know." Mr. Hooper frowned.

"Well, I hope you get out of that neighborhood of yours, if it's so bad. Especially when there are henchmen and villains involved." I glanced down, lifting my shoulders slightly.

"I was really just going off of rumors."

"Huh," he said, gathering some papers and then standing up.

"Well, that's a relief. I'm glad you're safe." I began shuffling backwards towards the door.

"Yeah, it's not so bad. I've been taking self-defense classes lately to be even more safe."

"That's great." He took a breath and sighed.

"I am going to need you to take off the scarf before you go though, just for a moment," he added quickly.

"Cass, it's mandatory for me as an educator to investigate any potential harm that might be occurring to a student." My eyes looked at the door for escape while my brain scrambled for an excuse to explain my bruises. Maybe I could insist they were from a new sport I was playing. Maybe I could blame Meat Tower for his bullying, giving him his true comeuppance. Maybe I should just go with the erotic asphyxiation story, then I'd only have to deal with an uncomfortable or pervy teacher after.

Either way, I'd have to go off of the look on his face. My fingers slowly unwrapped the scarf as I opened my mouth to explain. The fabric came loose and I waited for a gasp, something to sound his disapproval. But Mr. Hooper sighed in relief and his mustache turned up in a big smile.

"I'm glad you're ok, Cass. I'm sorry, but I was worried about you and had to be sure you were ok." I stood still for a moment as my synapses tried sending off the necessary mental connections. My fingers felt along my neck, poking at the skin there. It felt completely pain free. Constitution must have finally taken care of the bruising, just in time too.

"That's ok. I understand," I sighed, a smile on my lips.

"It's good that you're looking out for students."

"Stay safe, Cass." His eyebrows lowered as he glanced down.

"Be careful about who you make friends with. Tony and Jordan are not the best influences. Embry at least has the same scholastic attitude you have." I nodded, even as my head filled with the image of myself walking next to Embry, telling people off for not using proper grammar in their spoken conversations. I would prefer death first.

"I will."

"Great." He smiled, the tips of his mustache curving up.

"Well, I wish you luck, Cass."

"Thanks, Mr. Hooper." I turned around, heading out the door. Did my life suddenly become like a nineties TV show for teenagers with strangely wholesome adults? That actually took time to talk to students and look into what problems might be going on? Was I going to have a very special episode about being addicted to caffeine pills? Were the bullies at school only going to go around giving people wedgies from now on?

The hallway sounded quiet as I made my way around a corner, but then a loud ringing sounded as the side of my head was smashed into the wall of lockers. My eyes struggled to look to the side to see Meat Tower's snarling face right up against mine.

"You sure know a lot about those drugs that can give you powers, Zero," he growled in a low voice.

"And I want to hear all about it."