Chapter Text
It was an average day at paper school, or at least as average as any day there could get. Students fighting for their lives daily, others learning the consequences of failure… This was normal though, for everyone involved. In their world, it was the way of their world. For this private school, teachers at least had the option of how to handle failing kids. Some required tutoring and others took more extreme measures to ensure perfection.
Miss Bloomie did the latter, chasing down the failures and quickly ending them. This might’ve been hypocritical of her of course. Her son, Abbie, barely managed to pass freshman year, yet she’s tried to help him and push him harder to study. It at least kept him above a D in most of his classes and that’s all that mattered. She knew how cruel some of her… friends could be. Trying to protect her only child had proven to be difficult in the past.
The woman snapped out of her thoughts, shaking her head. Why would she think about this now? She has a class to get ready for.
A lesson in biology, with a ‘class pet’ as the example. She walked over to the container, with her box cutter blade put up, where some caterpillar cocoons were. The butterflies would be popping out soon, and her first classes were the lucky ones who hopefully got a chance to see them while her afternoon ones would be the ones to release the frail bugs. A good lesson on how fast things could change.
𝑺𝑳𝑨𝑴
Miss Bloomie froze, looking at her classroom door. She shook her head, assuming that it must’ve been nothing. Despite this, she had this sinking feeling. That something was wrong. She tried to finish setting up but kept looking at the door. Against her better judgment, she left the classroom. Miss Bloomie was cautious, taking out her blade again and keeping it ready.
She peered into Miss Circle’s classroom, to ask about the sound but paused at the sight of the broken desk.
She let out a sigh, shaking her head. This explained a lot. She still felt like something was a mist, looking around the classroom for a few seconds. That’s when she saw Abbie’s backpack and her heart sank. Neither of them were in the room. Something was wrong.
Miss Bloomie stepped out of the room quickly, looking around as she stepped out. She couldn’t hear them right now… not from where she was. How could she possibly find them?
That’s when Miss Bloomie noticed a student stepping out into the wall, looking down the left corridor. Quickly, Bloomie approached the girl. Lana was her name, one of the students in her last class period. Before she could speak, Lana looked over at her, confused and slightly worried. “What’s going on? Why was Miss Circle chasing Abbie?”
The girl sounded genuinely concerned, Miss Bloomie remembered how close Abbie and her were, despite the teacher just thinking she was a bad influence. Abbie talked about her all the time. Now wasn’t the time to judge though.
“Lana, did they go down that hallway? Do you know what happened?” Miss Bloomie questioned, urgency lacing her words. Lana was a bit intimidated though, well aware of Bloomie’s dislike for her.
“Uhm… Yeah and no, I heard shouting but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.”
Miss Bloomie felt a pit forming in her stomach. She just nodded, staring down the hall and motioning towards the classroom door that Lana came from. “Get back to class. I’ll go see what’s going on.” With that, Miss Bloomie rushed down the hallway. She listened out for anything, any footsteps or cries from the otherwise empty hall.
It didn’t take long for her to find it.
There Abbie and Miss Circle were. Miss Circle was shouting at the smaller boy, holding up his failed test. All the while Abbie stayed backed up in a corner, crying and apologizing for the failing grade. Miss Circle ripped the paper in half, letting it fall in front of the sobbing boy. She raised her sharp compass, preparing to deliver the final blow…
But it never came down. Miss Bloomie caught it and yanked Miss Circle backward, making the taller woman stumble. “Bloomie!? What the hell!? Let go, you know the rules!” Miss Circle snapped, still shocked that she was stopped by Bloomie of all people. Miss Bloomie on the other hand, held her ground.
Abbie pressed himself against the wall, staring up at the two with terror still etched onto his face. “M-Mom..?” He let slip. This made Miss Circle pause before snickering. “‘Mom’? Oh, I see now. You’re letting your emotions get in the way of our jobs. Are you going soft now?” Miss Circle sneered, almost in a taunting manner. She wasn’t happy with this disruption as to her, this failure didn’t deserve to be saved.
Miss Bloomie glared and stood in front of Abbie this time, keeping her head held high. Even if she was scared, she would have to stay strong for her son. “You have no right to say anything, not when you go out of your way to protect Oliver and his friends.” She turned her attention to her son now, leaning down in front of him. “Are you alright? Did she hurt you anywhere? Why didn’t you tell me you were struggling?” Her questions poured out like rabid fire, and her regular hand reached up to touch Abbie’s cheek.
Abbie blinked away his tears, about to speak up until he saw Miss Circle approaching behind his mother. It all happened so fast. “Mom! Look out!” He cried as he saw the familiar compass tool be raised, about to strike down.
𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅..