Title: Redamancy
Summary: One would wonder how these two got together – it wasn't without many complications. High school AU. When Principal Mint realizes that Cole Hayes is a lost cause when it comes to daily detentions and threatened suspensions, he asks Fionna Mertens for help.
Author's Note: Yeah, I went there. This idea just kept bugging me, once I read this Bubbline fic (I don't remember its name, but it was pretty popular) and a ShikaIno one. I named Flame Prince Cole because, well, the other names were just too cliche for me and I thought naming him something that wasn't obvious he was the Flame Prince was annoying. I'm pretty new in the fandom, so forgive me if they're dreadfully OOC.
Disclaimer: I don't own Adventure Time. I couldn't think up something that amazing if I tried. Cover Image not mine, but if anyone knows whose it is, please tell me. I seriously just found that when I searched the ship name for Flame Prince and Fionna.
Chapter 1: How It Began
ONCE UPON a time, in a land far, far away, there was a princess with the sweetest of hearts, that fell in love with her most kind and beloved knight – but no, this isn't that kind of story. And, no, our main characters are not those kinds of people, fortunately enough. Although if you were looking for those type of things, never fear; this story's not your typical high school romance either.
Because you see, in a little town that needs not to have a name, there stayed a banished prince with flames for hair and coal for heart. A delinquent at best, he meets a commoner – or, if you prefer, a female knight – that was assigned to keep him straight and cool his hothead temper.
In that amount of time that they spend together – albeit, it started off as completely unwillingly – you could only guess that the good girl commoner did more than just tone down his scorching temper. And, really, that's what this story is is all about.
We start as the sun crept through the fairly cozy house, covering the furniture with a soft orange light. The bleak darkness of the room was slowly fading, giving way to its much appreciated counterpart. The place was eerily quiet, adding to the desolate atmosphere that littered the halls. Pictures of different kinds were scattered around the vast wall of the hallway, mostly showing twins with sunny hair and glittering blue eyes grinning at each other.
Despite the seemingly lonely atmosphere, an elderly woman with stark white hair bustled around the kitchen busily, humming to herself a song that must have been popular during her prime. Her wrinkled face was serious and focused, giving off an air that she knew exactly what she was doing when she cracked two eggs with only one hand and balanced to chop an apple with the other.
This woman's name was Patrice Trunks and she was the oldest of all the occupants in the house, as well as their grandmother.
Minutes passed quickly, simultaneous with the oven as it baked an apple pie. The sun rose up, bathing the woman's home with fresh morning light. The house was removed of its solitary darkness, revealing the remnants of a cheery and rather eccentric crowd.
It was nearly seven in the morning when our heroine shot up from her bed, her eyes half-lidded and her hair a mess. Dry drool stuck to the side of her mouth and she tried to wipe it away, but to no avail. Giving up for the mean time, she kicked her fluffy covers off and staggered to her bathroom with the grace of a three-legged bear.
"Damn homework," she said, frowning at herself in her mirror. She rarely ever cursed, but Marshall Lee, her next-door neighbor, was known to be very good at being a bad influence. "So not cool..." Fionna Mertens, having spent the whole night finishing her Biology homework, was sure that her opinion was justified.
We see her reflection disappear from the mirror before the sound of running water filled the air. She emerged from the sink with a cleaner face, though some strands of her hair was wet, rendering it a dark yellow.
Fionna, upon seeing the unattractive dark circles surrounding her still bloodshot eyes, was sure that that particular day was going to be hideously different from the rest. She distractedly grabbed her orange toothbrush and started on her morning ritual.
Fionna left the bathroom fifteen minutes later, happy about the quick shower she had taken. Mood now drastically improved, she shimmied into her long-sleeved shirt, dark blue skirt, and thigh high socks. She slipped on her Mary Janes, suddenly very aware that it was unusually quiet.
Her head snapped up to her sky blue door, similar colored eyes wide with suspicion. "What the –?"
Her sister burst open the door, caramel hair flying around her head and bright white smile rightfully in place. Cake Mertens was a little late with her wakeup call that day – something that added to Fionna's underlying suspicion – but she didn't look the tiny bit moved by how Fionna was clearly expecting her to come, ruining the purpose of the visits.
"Fi!" Cake greeted radiantly, jumping up Fionna's bed and stretching her limbs skyward. "You waitin' for someone, girl?" She teased slyly, pushing her face closer to Fionna's innocently. Fionna now fully recovered from her silent state and grinned, pushing Cake away by her shoulder.
"Totally. Is my radical twin awake yet?" She asked, standing up from her bed enthusiastically. Cake made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a pleased purr, stuffing her face on Fionna's comfortable pillow.
"Yeah, sugar," she said, lifting her head up. She grinned at her lazily. "Finn's down with Jake stuffin' their faces with our Nana's sweet apple pies."
Now for you to understand our heroine's exaggerated reaction, you must know that Patrice Trunks' apple pies were award winning and simply mouthwatering. It takes a level of certain greatness to achieve sweetness that's just right, you don't get tired of it after a few large mouthfuls. That's the Mertens family opinion at least.
Fionna scrambled to get her things, the saliva in her mouth suddenly increasing at the thought of the luscious pies. "Holy stuff, Cake! We gotta get some of those pies!" She started for the door quickly, leaving her feline-like sister to follow.
Her loud footsteps shook the peaceful morning as she came from her room. If you looked more closely, you'd see the dirt rise up and down as she hastily stomped down the stairs. A green sling bag was wrapped around her right shoulder and a white hoodie was on the other side, peculiar bunny ears jutting out from the hood.
"Finn, Jake, you better have left some for me or I'm gonna jack up your bods so bad –!" Fionna threatened once she appeared at the door.
Her Nana was happily sipping coffee on the chair in front of the boys, a slice of pie in front of her. Finn was holding two with both of his hands, munching vigorously and giving Fionna a happy grunt as a greeting. Fionna fought back a smile, seating down at the head of the wooden table.
Our heroine's twin brother looked just like her with shaggy flaxen hair and ocean blue eyes, though he was a bit thinner and leaner than Fionna. Finn Mertens was rather eccentric individual, if not with an extreme code of honor to help everyone in need and to guard the world of "evil dudes". He was much more naive and childish than his sister, but they got along pretty well if you asked them.
They, also, shared the same tastes.
"Morning, Fi," greeted Jake, pushing a plate of the precious delicacy towards her. A mug of dark coffee swirled next to him as he chewed on his own breakfast. "Cake woke you up all right?" He asked amusedly, adding a cube of sugar to his coffee.
Jake was the oldest of the kids in the house and he was closest with Finn among anyone else. He was over protective, just like Cake, but he had a rather messed up perception of good and bad. He was out of high school and worked a full time job with Cake at a local café, just for something to do. He used to be pretty juvenile, with his early teenaged days of stealing bikes and old lady's purses. He said he didn't know, and that was the thing with Jake; he really didn't know.
Our heroine snorted.
"Pfft, when has she ever?" Fionna responded, allowing herself to act like a civilized human being for once and picking up a fork. She took a big chunk of her pie and gulped it down, moaning in approval.
"Your pies are always totally rad, Na," Fionna said as a way of thanks, mouth full of half-chewed pies. The older woman smiled softly.
"Why thank you, Fionna, you always say that." Her Nana giggled shyly, clearly flattered.
They all continued to eat companionably, with Cake slipping in a few moments later. Mornings at the Mertens family were never a dull one, once you realize that Finn's childish behavior was hilariously adorable, Fionna's innocent jabs were utterly amusing, Jake's big brother role was always touching, Cake's sass was never ending, and Patrice Trunks' family were obviously loving.
But our story doesn't end there – in fact, it's only more of a beginning than anything else; for Finn and Fionna Mertens were nearly late for school that morning, but they weren't. They were never late simply because Finn found it particularly peeving. "A hero is never late", he always says and Fionna agreed with it wholeheartedly. Unfortunately for them, their good guy records were always notable among the school, especially with the principal.
So when Principal Mint was once again on the receiving end of a complaint about a certain hothead delinquent, he enlists good girl Fionna Mertens for help.
And that's when the story really begins.
We go back to watching our heroine, who was busily scribbling drawings of herself in her notebook whilst her History teacher discussed about a decades old Mushroom War. He went on to explaining how many citizens called the Nuclear War as such because of the way the bomb exploded that made it eerily look like a certain fungus – but, of course, we're getting off topic.
Our story is not about little History lessons, no matter how interesting they may be. It is about how two minutes after Fionna drew a long set of hair for her stick figure persona, did a senior knock on the door purposefully.
The History teacher was miffed to have to stop his lesson, but opened the door nonetheless. A prim girl stood there, with strawberry blonde hair as long as the flag pole at the front of the school – which was very long, mind you. She wore a pleated white skirt and a soft pink blouse. This girl was Bonnibel Bubblegum and, coincidentally, she was also our lovely heroine's friend.
Now Bonnibel Bubblegum was surely pretty, of course she was, but what you would discover after catching a glimpse of her magenta-rimmed rectangular glasses, was that she was what you would call an absolute nerd. Never mind that her looks were fit for royalty because, to put it simply, she was also the school's very own Student Council President; and a very mean and scary one at that.
"Sorry to disturb your – I'm sure – very stimulating class, Mister Phil," she said nicely, smiling at the disgruntled teacher. Now what you would like to take note of is that Bonnibel Bubblegum is every teacher's favorite, so imagine the inner turmoil History teacher Phil was experiencing when he was caught about to yell at her for disrupting his class.
He coughed, obviously falsely, and tightened his cyan tie around his collar. "Ah – I, uhm – yes, Bonnibel, what is it that you need?" He said in a strained voice, much to the amusement of the class.
Bonnibel smiled sugary sweet, clasping both her hands in front of her. "Principal Mint would like to talk to Fionna Mertens, sir, if that's all right with you?" She said, with the innocence of a kindergarten student. Mister Phil blinked owlishly before turning to the back of the class with a stern face, just to establish that he was still a symbol of authority.
Fionna's ears were already listening once she heard the sound of her name escape the young President's lips. She swiped her things into her bag and stood up, smiling at Bonnibel slightly. Her peers were looking at her, wondering what the great Fionna Mertens had done to warrant a visit to the Principal.
"Ah, yes, Miss Mertens, you may go," Mister Phil said awkwardly, inclining his hand to Bonnibel. Fionna grinned at him, the instinct to do so overpowering the thoughts she was having.
"Yeah, thanks, Mister Phil." She said, ambling out the room with Bonnibel. The History teacher nodded and promptly closed the door. Fionna was lucky that she didn't share that class with her brother, or he would surely be wondering and would most definitely bombard her with weird questions later on.
"So, am I in any trouble, Peebles?" Fionna asked the older, taller, girl. Bonnibel shook her head, looking through the papers she had with her distractedly.
She gave Fionna a sheepish look. "No. Principal Mint just wants to see you," she said uncertainly, starting to walk with Fionna to said principal's office. Fionna scrunched up her eyebrows.
"Oooo-kay. What about?" Fionna said, giving Bonnibel a look. She shuffled her feet, tightening the strap of her bag around her shoulder absently.
Bonnibel raised her shoulders, narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips at the same time. Fionna didn't find this strange in the least. "Well, you might wanna find out for yourself," Bonnibel said, dragging the only vowel in the word "well" and looking away from her.
"Bubblegum, what the zip? I didn't do anything wrong!" Fionna exclaimed, jumping the gun and staring at the girl with unconcealed surprise. Fionna Mertens was renowned good girl of AAA High and she'd never get herself into any kind of trouble – never.
Bonnibel rolled her eyes, playing with the papers in her hand but still careful not to wrinkle them. "Relax, Fi. It's not that kind of trouble." She said gently. It always surprised Fionna how nice Bonnibel sounded, even when she talked normally. It was some kind of skill, when Bonnibel talked diplomatically and yet still sweetly.
Fionna let her wavy bangs frame her face, kicking her foot on the ground in thought. "Then what kind?" Fionna muttered, noticing the nearing door with trepidation. She was always up for an adventure, but not the kind that made her in trouble with the authority. She considered herself to be a model of justice and slightly-not-but-still righteousness. Or, as Finn put it, wrong-teousness.
"Not the good kind." She heard Bonnibel say back quietly, almost inaudible, so Fionna thought she wasn't supposed to have heard. A set of nervousness racked Fionna, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it came, if not faster. Fionna often prided herself in her confidence.
"Well, this is it," Bonnibel said as they stopped in front of the, at the moment, horrifying gray door. She turned to Fionna apologetically, tucking hr strawberry hair behind her ear before letting it fall to her face again. "Sorry I gotta jet, Fi. I'll have to see you later."
Fionna squeaked, feeling cold sweat crawl around her hairline. "You're leaving me?"
Bonnibel sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before giving Fionna a tight smile. "Yeah, man. Student Council duties, remember?"
Fionna visibly deflated, looking back at the door with a pale face. She thought about what she did all week, every single thing she'd done. She did okay, not a single toe out of line. She even helped Finn catch those students that were always cutting class. But, maybe –
Fionna groaned and covered her face with her hands, remembering the day she agreed to vandalize the bleachers with Marshall. Somehow, Principal Mint had gotten wind of her involvement.
What would Finn think? Cake? Jake? Nana? She was going to kill Marshall!
Fionna was too preoccupied with her thinking to realize that Bonnibel had left inconspicuously, leaving her to mourn her slowly deteriorating clean-cut reputation. She stayed rooted to the floor for another few minutes before the principal's secretary opened it with a befuddled look.
"Fionna?" The woman said bemusedly, her soft, French accent carrying a hint of surprise. "What are you doing there? Principal Mint is waiting for you."
Fionna's thought process suddenly started working into overdrive. "Uh –" she blinked, composing herself. "Hey Miss S – uh, yeah – I just, you know, got here," Fionna gave her a glowing smile, teetering on the heels of her feet innocently. Miss S still looked a little confused, but she opened the door wider and let Fionna through.
"You can go inside, Fionna," Miss S waved her off, returning to her desk and starting to type something on her computer decisively. A bowl of strawberries were settled at the very center of her table, emitting a rather fresh look on the dull brown of the office. Fionna would've appreciated what it did, if she weren't scared out of her wits.
She slowly – deliberately – walked to the principal's main door, wanting with all her might to prolong the inevitable. She thought about what she was going to say, how she was going to explain herself. She couldn't get Marshall in trouble with her; that she was sure of. Heaven knows that boy would treat a possible suspension as a mini vacation and a month-long detention as an excuse to get out of soccer practice, even if he did tell her that what they were using weren't permanent markers.
She could feel the secretary's curious eyes on her and hastily grabbed the copper knob. She berated herself once she realized that she hadn't knocked yet before raising her fist and meekly tapping the door. The guilt, evidently, was killing her.
"Oh this must be her," the principal's wheezy voice said through the door, muffled by the wall separating them. There was an angry grumble that made Fionna's eyes widen. Having someone there to know of her crimes, what a humiliation! She stared at the green of her bag, feeling something gnaw at her stomach uncomfortably. "Oh – uh – come in, Fionna!" Principal Mint said politely in a much louder voice.
Literally swallowing her pride and nervousness, she opened the door with a sinful creak. Fionna was infinitely glad that she hadn't eaten lunch yet.
Principal Mint was a semi-bald man who always wore a suit with a red and white tie. He didn't mingle much with the whole school population much, but Fionna thought he was an okay man. He greeted her with a small smile, "Miss Mertens, so good of you to join us."
Now let's take a moment to inspect the other person in the room, who some might've already guessed to be our hero. He looked to be the kind of guy with anger management issues, sporting a fierce scowl on his strangely pale orange-ish face and the beginning of an angry snarl just at the tip of his lips. Yes, this boy was anger personified, yet a look at our slightly pink heroine's face would tell us that he was also very good looking.
"Uh, hi, Sir Mint," Fionna said awkwardly, sitting on the chair next to the boy. If anyone asked Fionna what she thought when she first saw our charming hero, her answer would be a stuttered "feral". The boy was sitting with his legs spread out, slouching on the chair proudly, as if he owned the entire office. He snorted next to her, turning his head away snobbishly.
"Yes, yes," Principal Mint waved off, nodding off-handedly. He fiddled with his pen, tapping it against his wooden desk rapidly. "You must be wondering why you're here, am I right?"
Fionna, ever the honest girl, was about to blurt out the very first thing that came to her mind. No, she wasn't wondering about anything at all because she clearly thought that she was in trouble for vandalism. She opened her mouth slightly, blinking while her head drummed with various ideas.
Of course, our itty bitty heroine is so much more than we give her credit for, so she lies perfectly.
"Yes, sir,"
Principal Mint cleared his throat, glancing at our still unidentified hero, then back at her. He intertwined his hands together and leaned forward, looking very mafia boss-esque to our naive Fionna. "Have you two met?" He asked innocently enough, looking at Fionna with curious blue eyes.
Fionna straightened considerably, looking panicked. Why would he ask that? Did they look like they've met? Did the principal thought she was in cahoots with the guy? What had this boy been feeding him? "No," she said quickly, trying to reassure the older man. She waved her right hand around, as if swatting a fly.
Now let's remove ourselves from the scene for a bit and vow a moment of silence for our clueless heroine. Decades of having to put up with Marshall Lee's pranks had instilled in her the ability to detach herself from any business that meant serious problems for her. Unfortunately for our heroine, our hero did not like this ability one bit. One would wonder how these two got together – it wasn't without many complications.
"As if," Our hero snapped, unintentionally agreeing with Fionna. For the very first time that afternoon, he finally looked at her fully.
The only drawback was that it was full of unconcealed disgust.
"Well ... okay," Their principal answered, blinking. Obviously, he did not know what to do with the two very different teenagers. He unfolded his hads an leaned on his large chair, his mouth thinning. "Let me introduce you, then." He said uncertainly, looking very much like he didn't think it was a good idea anymore. But what's done was done – he had already called Fionna.
He cleared his throat one last time, running his hands over his stripped tie. "Miss Mertens, this is Mister Cole Hayes," he gestured towards the other boy. The boy grunted, sounding lik he was scoffing incredulously. Principal Mint then nodded at him, ignoring his attitude. "Mister Hayes, this is Miss Fionna Mertens."
"So I've heard." Cole Hayes bit out nastily, pushing himself up the chair. It is worth noting that our hero's tone was laced with revolted bitterness, something that did not bode well with our heroine's fragile feelings.
"Uhm – sir, what is it that you need with me exactly?" Fionna asked, frostier than she intended it to. There was a measured silence.
"Well, Miss Mertens, I would like to ask a favor," Principal Mint explained calmly, hoping to Glob that Fionna's golden heart would throb at his incoming request.
Fionna blinked, feeling her insides copy the Titanic with that statement as the iceberg. "A – A favor?"
"Yes, Miss Mertens, a favor concerning Mister Hayes over here." Principal Mint looked pointedly at Cole Hayes' disrespectful stance, a wary and tired expression passing over his features. That, although the principal did not know it, solidified Fionna's resolve to help him. The boy in question snorted noncommittally.
"What is it, sir?" Fionna inquired kindly, showing off a dazzling smile. Principal Mint's face relaxed, a delighted look now situated on his ready-to-wrinkle-but-still-too-young face.
"Well, upon request of the Parents' Committee on the School Board, Mister Cole Hayes' eighth juvenile act of the month has now warranted an action from me personally," Principal Mint recited, looking strained and completely stressed out. He ran a hand through his head, having little hair to scrape though with.
Now if anyone's wondering why such acts even reached an eighth time to elicit a reaction from the school heads, it is very displeasing to inform you that our hero's family is, to say the least, very much loaded. Heir to a very important line, our hero is anything but to be considered a juvenile delinquent, as it would've been a bad reputation to the other pristine families – even if he was banished. Of course, just-loving Fionna Mertens would not have taken such a thing lightly, if only the principal had told her.
"And as such, the course of action I have chosen to take would be to educate him and evaluate his actions until he sees what he is doing very wrong." Principal Mint finished, letting out a relieved sigh to have taken that out of his system. Being a principal of the biggest and only school in the town was not a good game of computer chess with unimited hints.
Fionna tried to put the pieces together, but her brain simply refused to do so. Something told her that what she was going to venture into was a very forbidden and dangerous territory. "Uhm – okay?" She said, trying not to appear too dumb; the quiet "tsk!" next to her told Fionna that she failed horribly.
Principal Mint let out a frustrated, albeit very quiet, groan. He pulled his chair closer to them, practically leaning over the table to get to her. "You're the one I'm assigning to teach him, Fionna."
"Yeah," she spluttered, reddening at her quickly muddling cognition. She then realized what he just said. "I'm sorry, what?"
Fionna was eerily silent for a while, taking a lot of time to digest the new found – and certainly unwanted – information. She stared at the name plaque in front of her much respected principal, feeling said emotion diminish slightly. She wasn't one to refuse a favor, or any call of help for the matter. That was just the kind of person she was.
But the thought of spending an insane amount of time with the bad-boy-wannabe next to her seriously screamed discouraging on her part.
"Can I take a minute?" Fionna said suddenly, earnestly looking up from staring at the inked Times New Roman font on the gold plating. Principal Mint sighed, expecting her to disagree to the arrangement but not willing to deny her the chance of thinking it through.
"Of course, Fionna, but make it quick."
"Uh-huh. Thanks."
Perhaps it was a sign that the inaudible complaining grumbles Coal Hayes had made followed Fionna until she left the room, a warning that told her that she should leave him alone and never look back, but she didn't mind it. It wasn't spending time with him she was going to think about, but helping Principal Mint. There was a difference that she was willing to see. The air outside was less tensed, allowing her to breathe and think more clearly. Sh pinned her bangs away from her face, letting the air tickle the hidden side of her cheeks for once.
Now this must be the part in stories where our little heroine realizes that helping the clearly troubled boy inside would be the greatest act she'd make. That he wasn't a jerk by nature, but simply a misunderstood boy with anger issues. This is where the heroine decides that she would be the one to change him, to make him see that the world is such a beautiful place filled with rainbows and four-leafed clovers – but Fionna isn't our typical heroine, and she doesn't come to a conclusion out of the goodness of her heart.
"You're wasting my time," Fionna heard the boy tell Principal Mint. She pressed her ear to the door with a bemused frown. "Just let me go home. That girl won't do it. It'd ruin her goody-two-shoes, miss little-no-less-than-perfect reputation," he practically spat out the words like vomit. "Not unless she tells people what she's doing – which she won't, because I don't like it."
Fionna felt her face drop, the corners of her mouth experiencing a sudden landslide. She gripped the hem of her light blue shirt, wondering. Was that how everyone saw her? Granted, the reputation wasn't too bad, but was she really Miss little-no-less-than-perfect? Finn always told her she was a bad singer and that she ought to trim her nails more because they got pretty filthy when she doesn't, but did the others actually think that she acted like she had to be a good little girl always, nothing less than perfect?
So much so that it was annoying as hell?
Fionna pushed herself away from the door hastily, feeling upset. She liked helping people, and making them see the justice in the situation; it wasn't just because she liked being called a good little girl. She already had it ingrained in her mind that people made mistakes – of course they did – but it could be stopped if they had some assistance; if they were shown an example of the ways people could be nice. She didn't think she was perfect – she didn't want them to think she was.
And she was sure they didn't.
Her face twisted into a determined scowl. She didn't make anyone feel that way, she was sure of it. That boy was wrong about her and she was going to prove it.
She made an enraged huff and schooled her features into a much more civilized expression, rolling hr shoulders and fixing her shirt of any mess. Gripping the door's handle so much that her veins started showing, she turned it with a click and stepped inside.
She gave Principal Mint a small smile before taking her seat gingerly. "Of course I'd do it, sir," she fluttered her lashes, glancing at the other person in the room expectantly. "It's no problem."
She barely had enough time to process the balding man's surprised expression, when the boy next to her exploded molten lava. "What?!" He said fiercely, standing up with a bang! The chair he was occupying tumbled to the ground helplessly, bowing at his feet. "What do you mean, "it's no problem"? Of course it is!"
"Calm down, man. You're scaring Principal Mint." Fionna warned, glaring at him sternly. She raised from her chair slightly and curled her knuckles into fists.
"I don't care!" He snarled viciously, jabbing his fingers in front of her face. "Say no, you good-for-nothi –"
"What were you just about to call me?!" Fionna returned his glare with a livid one of her own, tempted to jump up from her position and start to claw the guy's eyes out. She bolted straight up to compensate her livid disposition, challenging Cole Hayes with a mad grimace. Principal Mint's presence served as a little reminder not to do anything reckless.
Cole gave her a sarcastic look. "I was just about to call you –"
Principal Mint stood up frantically and spread his arms out to both of them, their heads facing his sweaty palms. Cole squared his shoulders and sneered while Fionna huffed indignantly, both about to push pass him with equal stubbornness. Principal Mint inhaled sharply and glared. "Students, calm down or I will be forced to give you both detention!"
The air turned deadly quiet. Both teens stared at each other through his fingers, weighing the result of the punishment. They opened their mouths the same time as the other.
"It wasn't my fault, sir."
"She provoked me."