"Lubella Jolon!" yelled Mrs. Pussmaid. Fuck am I still in Calculus?
"Yeah?" I said sleeplessly. The ugly old 4'7 goblin was propped on my desk, in my face.
"What the answer to number 37 on the homework assignment?" She spat.
"Ash, it's 2 times the square root of 3 over 3," CJ mumbled behind me.
"Cassandra Bora! No sharing answers!" Pussmaid yelled. CJ is my best friend. Their around 5'3ish and thin. Their dark short hair and mild demeanor matched their size. They don't do well when faced with confrontation.
"Their name is CJ. My name is Ash. Get our names right and maybe I'll do your homework," I replied to the teacher with major RBF.
"Principal! NOW!"
I got up with my things and a smirk on my face. I flipped her off as I walked out the door. My cowboy boots boomed with every step as I walked down the empty main hall and sat outside Dr. Childers office. This was my typical seat for first period.
"Mrs. Jolon come on in and close the door," sighed the headmistress.
"Hey Doc."
"What'd you do now?"
"Said I'd do my homework when Pussmaid gets my name right." I stretched my long body and laid back, very tired, in the large comfy chair.
"Ash..." she started. "This class was a breeze for you first semester but now you're failing. You have the highest test scores in the school. I could take you out of the class seeing as you have all of your math credits to graduate, but you're in my office more than class... I know you're goin through a lot right now..."
"Don't." I growled.
"I know it's a touchy subject..." Childers tried to comfort.
"So don't bring it up," I fired.
"Have you talked to anyone about the accident?"
"No." The bell rang, I got up and left without another word.
I walked to art class. CJ was waiting on me inside.
"Good mornin, Ash," Mrs. Fizz said. The name fit the person all right. Mrs Fizz was a warm bubbly person and I'm convinced she could make Scrooge kind and joyful with a simple smile.
"Mornin Fizzy," I smiled.
"What Childers say this time?" CJ asked as I threw my backpack in the floor.
"What she always says. That my test scores say I should be acing and that my grades didn't drop till..."
"Yeah..." CJ knew the situation, I didn't have to explain it to them.
"Ok guys get out your midterm projects for the year and get to work. You have three days to finish before the art theory test next Friday," Mrs Fizz beamed.
CJ and I both grabbed our canvases.
Theirs was a whimsical portrait in their own style of a DnD character they'd created but never got to play as.
Mine, however, was a dark iced over dirt road surrounded by a taunting forrest of dead oak trees, which was a direct reference to my last name Jolon; Jolon has Native American origin and means valley of dead oaks.
We prepared our pallets and canvas on our small table top easels.
"Ash, maybe you should take the long way home today. You're torturing yourself going there every day," CJ said concerned looking at the girl I was painting on the side of the road on the art project.
