Lucas POV:
"We have some special guests in our classroom. Please behave as you normally would." Harper says the next day in literature class.
"Hi." Riley says.
"Hi" the super intendant says.
"We love Harper. Do you understand, Uncle jon" she says.
"Real Uncle, or do you just call him that?" Yancy says.
"He comes over like a million times a week..." Riley trials off.
"I withdraw my complaint." He says.
"You got them calling you by your first name?" Jon asks Harper.
"Sir, I wanted them to put together the mockingbird thing to see how much I care about what I'll be teaching." Harper responds.
"All right, does anybody understand the significance of Harper's name in regards to the author of to kill a mockingbird?" He asks walking forward making Ari raise her hand.
"Ari? Let the other get a go" she says making my baby pout.
"Harper's first name is Charles twain!" Maya exclaims.
"You're doing a bang-up job with her, Matthews." Jon tells Mr.Matthews.
"Look, she was told by the principal not to teach us something, but she did anyways. That's gotta mean something." Maya says.
"Psst, will you stop helping us?" Mr.Matthews asks.
"Yeah, it means something. Now, may I see what you've learned? Because that's what means everything." Jon asks.
"Farkle goes first, Farkle always goes first!" Farkle exclaims.
"Stuart Minkus' kid?" Jon asks
"Yeah." Mr.Matthews answers.
"Super genius?"
"Outer space."
"Real human boy?"
"We're not sure yet."
"Sit down."
"We'll make the presentation" I say as I grab Ari's hand and we stand.
"You like this teacher?" He asks us.
"We like both of these teachers" I answer.
"Are you familiar with the material?"
"Us? No, we've never seen this thing before. We've never seen this thing before in our lives" Ari says as we walk forward.
"Yeah, we read it. We read it, actually, a lot" I say as we turn around and sit down.
"Thanks for telling the truth" Jon says.
"Yeah, I/He can't help myself/himself" Ari and I say together.
"Now, I prefer someone who is unfamiliar with the material. Someone who is notoriously unteachable." Jon says going up to Maya's desk.
"How you doin'?" She says before her and Riley get up.
"Not you, Riley." Mr.Matthews says.
"I only looked at the pictures." Maya says.
"I read the words." Riley says.
"It's a duet." Mr.Matthews says.
"I hope you learned something, girls." Harper says.
"I learn something all the time." Riley says.
"I come here because my apartment leaks." Maya says sort of sarcastically before Mr.Matthews and Harper pull her and Riley aside for a second.
"In Frank Miller's the dark night returns the keyword is dark. He doesn't write heroes or villains that you are used to. You have to really think about what's right and what's wrong." Riley says starting the presentation.
"The pictures make you work, too. You have to look up, down, across, and sideways, but I believe he's trying to get us to look at what our own world has become. Up, down, across, and sideways." Maya continues.
"Heroes that should be friends with a common goal, fight each other instead." Riley says.
"One hero was trying to inspire his old friend to take a look at the world, and realized that it's changed. So, he needed to change, too." Farkle says.
"But he wouldn't, so he fought against him. Which was hard to look at, because the world is dark enough and heroes are supposed to bring light." I say.
"Everyone in this room knows that someone with real power doesn't need to hit a kid with a ruler to get the kid to want to learn. Because this is a new world, and we don't do that here. "With great power comes great responsibility"- Spider-Man" Ari says continuing the presentation.
"Frank Miller turned a comic book into... what's the word?" Maya says.
"You know the word." Harper responds.
"Literature. And Harper here, is named after someone who gave us a great story." Maya says before linking her arm with Harper's.
"Which her father taught her to appreciate, and it means everything to her that her father taught her. She's taught me so much already." Riley says going up to Mr.Matthews.
"You did that in two days?" Jon asks.
"They're smarter than they want us to know." Harper responds.
"She did that in two days! Shape up, Matthews." Jon says.
"Yes, sir." Mr.Matthews respond.
"Jon, comic books are against school policy." Yancy says.
"Yeah, and you can hit a kid with a ruler in 19 states." He exclaims before turning to Mr.Matthews "Hey, Matthews, I know it was you that chose Harper for these kids. Is that because maybe she, uh... reminded you of someone?"
"No." He deadpans.
"Okay." Jon sighs.
———Next day History class———
"Good morning. Before we begin today, a decision has been reached. Now, I know you're all going to remain quiet and calm." Jon starts.
"We love her!" Riley and Maya yell as they stand up.
"Thank you. We appreciate it when students are fond of a teacher. I mean, it factors into a decision, but it cannot be the first priority." Jon says and I look to Ari and see her frowning.
"Uh-oh." They say.
"That has to be preparation that a teacher puts into a lesson plan, and what the students take from it." He says before turning to Mr.Matthews, "Cory, what are you teaching today?"
"I don't know. I'm probably making something up." He says.
"All right, now Ms. Burgess went against school policy. The principal decided what he saw fit. Right and wrong can be difficult to identify sometimes. That's what you just read in English class. But this is history. And what does history teach us. You?" Jon says before pointing toward Mr.Matthews.
"When it's a struggle between right and wrong, that's when the real hero fights hardest." Mr.Matthews answers.
"So... For the greater good of this school, it has been decided that someone had to go. So I would like to introduce you to your new English teacher." Jon says.
"No!" Ari yells.
"Why is it worth learning anything if we can't change the world for the better?" Riley asks.
"How are we supposed to be heroes if we can't do anything about anything?" Maya asks.
"Hi!" Harper says walking in and everyone cheers.
"Wow! Sometimes you can beat superman." Maya says.
"Very good, Maya. You get an a."
"This new teacher's out to ruin my reputation." Maya says before the bell rings.
"I like Literature again bubs"Ari says as we walk out making me laugh.
"I'm glad baby I'm glad" I say as we walk out.