No Good Witches | ONC √

Unlawful Dismissal

I smiled sweetly at her, my eyes crinkling at the corners. "Not if I can help it!"

"Girls! Sorry I'm late." Dr. Alvarado came like a flurry down the halls, jingling with the bangles on her wrists and tinkling with the keys in her fist. "Let me get this...door...open..." She spoke the words to herself mainly, and we, the three of us that had been there before her, stared dumbly at her back. She smelled faintly of coffee.

"There we are." She exclaimed this when at last she pushed the door open. Her voice was ninety five percent air.

It was Rebecca who flicked the light switch as we entered. I made my way to my usual seat.

"You girls get yourselves seated. There won't be a detention activity this afternoon for you to complete. Now I'm going to have you for an hour and a half–more, I'm afraid, if you don't behave, so lets try our best to be quiet." She plopped her things down on her desk and shrugged off her coat. "No phones, of course. You can get your homework done if you'd like...and I think that's all I've got for you today."

"Great..." Mallory exhaled, looking around at the room she'd never been in before.

I sat down near the front, booting up my computer and preparing to "do homework" on it. My gaze followed Rebecca to her seat just behind me without my permission, cutting away as her eyes flickered upward to meet mine.

"And I forgot my mug in the car..." Dr. Alvarado brought her hands down on her desk, the sound dulled by the papers that were scattered haphazardly about it. "I'll be right back. Sit tight." She stood and hurried to the door, hesitating before deciding that a "Make good choices" was a sufficient babysitter and disappearing from the room.

"Is that going to happen a lot?" Mallory asked as soon as she was able. I guessed that sitting in this room quietly was going to be the hardest thing she would have to do today.

"Maybe." I admitted. "I love Dr. Alvarado, but she's kind of a mess."

"Do you take her ethics class too?" Rebecca asked.

I glanced back at her and smiled. "No, I uh, come here a lot."

Mallory leaned forward, bracing her arms against her desk. "But would she notice if we made a break for it?"

"Yeah. She's disorganized, not dementiaed." I scoffed.

"Demented?"

"Huh?"

Rebecca was frowning at me. "I don't think dementiaed is a word."

I blinked. "Oh. Well." I swallowed and looked back at my computer. If I could blush, then I would've been tomato red. For now, I just dimly simmered in mortification. "Well, we aren't getting out of here tonight either way, so."

"Just great." Mallory sat back in her seat and pulled out her phone. "You know, it's so unfair that I'm even here."

"And why is that?" I asked. I had the feeling this was about to become amusing.

"Well..." Mallory perked up, visibly gleeful that I'd taken an interest in her at last. Her voice lowered to the usual gossipy tone, her eyes flashing with something distinctly evil. How she managed to harbor such an energy toward herself was a mystery, as well as extremely impressive. You don't see that kind of dedication everyday. "I was caught in the sound booth...you–know–whating with Max..."

"Max Sanders?" Rebecca asked, recoiling slightly.

"No." Mallory scrunched up her face. "Max Fletcher."

"Oh." Rebecca laughed slightly. "Cute."

I inwardly winced at the innuendo of straightness. Even though I wasn't attracted to her, was it so wrong to want options?