(A/N) I have two things to apologize for in this chapter.
1. I'm sorry for Mr. Guardian-Sands. I'm not sure what happened to him but he wasn't supposed to be that much of a jerk.
2. I'm sorry for how long the first day of school has become. I didn't intend for it to have to go class by class but I'm going to have to split it up. I was originally planning to have the whole afternoon in one chapter but then it ran up to 6000 words which is much more than I normally post. I'm going to blame it on the human characters. They took over the story and ran away with it.
Also, there is another clue for those of you who are trying to figure out what the teachers' names are a reference to and there will be another teacher next chapter. Thank you for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following.
It was ten minutes later that Hallie and Reyna stood panting outside of their Government classroom at the end of a long line of teens. Reyna was not sure why, but Hallie had encouraged her to run through the halls whenever a teacher wasn't looking. All of the teens were waiting for something or someone. It looked as if Hallie was going to open her mouth to tell Reyna exactly what it was but then she abruptly closed her mouth and spun around to face forward.
"Good afternoon pupils." a middle aged man said, "It is nice to see that half of you are punctual. I am sure that you have all noticed we have a new student."
Reyna could tell that the others were itching to turn around and look at her but they didn't. Instead they kept their eyes forward. She enjoyed the privacy.
"It's also nice to see that someone could show her the classroom." he drawled in the same sarcastic tone, "Isn't that right?"
"Yes sir." Hallie piped up with a large smile.
The teacher glared at her and continued, "Since you seem so well acquainted with her Hallie, you can be responsible for her."
He stood there for a few more minutes leaving the class standing in agonizing curiosity since they couldn't see Reyna as she was standing at the back of the line.
"We sure are restless today." he snorted then added, "Well, since you all seem so interested, her name is Reyna."
He let them mull that over for a few seconds before sighing exasperated since they just stood there squirming. Hallie and a few others, including Reyna, were still.
Standing at attention was nothing new for Reyna. It happened all the time in the Legion. Having someone taunt you was also nothing new. With over 200 demi-god in service, there was bound to be someone who couldn't keep in line.
"Go inside." he finally ordered and opened the unlocked door.
The students filed in and he shouted after them, "Sit down."
"It's alphabetical order by last name." Hallie whispered to Reyna as they filed in.
The last part didn't mater to Reyna because her last name started with the same initial as her first name. In fact, her first two names had the same initials as her last two names which Leo had been kind enough to point out on one occasion.
"That's a detention for talking in class." the teacher told Hallie as he quickly strode past the line of students and dropped a folder on his desk.
"Yes sir." Hallie said again cheerfully.
"Tuesday after school works for me." the teacher told Hallie.
"Okay sir." Hallie replied with a slightly secretive smile.
The teacher gave her an annoyed glare before looking down at the folder then looking up as the last student trooped into the room and closed the door behind himself.
"Andre, Ricardo shuffle down so the new student can sit." he said glancing up with a bored expression on his face when he saw the silent commotion surrounding Reyna, "If you were in the classroom after me you have clean up duty today."
A few teens looked murderous but said nothing. A brown haired boy gathered his things and shuffled down one seat while a black haired youth walked to the row behind him and that whole row moved down one space. Reyna sat down in the vacated desk. As soon as the bell rang to start class, the teacher moved to the front of the room and, using the folder as a pointer, started to speak.
"Since this will be the first real class, I think I should reiterate some things that I told you on the first day and I will also remind you of the rules since it was unlikely that any of you actually listened to them the first time around." the teacher drawled.
The class looked at him and Reyna could see some terrified expressions but she didn't understand what there was to be afraid of. Discipline and rules were not a concept isolated to the Legion. She was sure of that. Others looked at him curiously following the folder he held in his hand. Reyna mimicked the portion of the class that was staring at the teacher with a neutral expression. Hallie was the sole person smiling at him.
"First thing, I'll introduce my self again for the benefit of Reyna since it seems that none of you want to tell her anything and get a detention." he continued looking pointedly at Hallie who just smiled back.
"My last name is Guardian-Sands and yes, there is a hyphen, because my mother's last name was Sands and my father's last name was Guardian." the teacher explained sarcastically, "I was a professor at NYU before coming here to teach you. I have my PhD but you will not call me doctor. That gets people all confused and they seemed to think, for some reason, that I am a medical doctor. That is completely preposterous. Why would I want to cut someone open and deal with infectious persons who probably can't even bother to cover their mouths. You will call me Mr. Guardian-Sands, Mr. Sands, Mr. Guardian or some other appropriate version that I will be reasonably able to deduce is a variant on my name."
He paused speaking for a moment to straighten the contents of his pointer with a sharp tap on his desk then he resumed.
"As you were informed on the first day, this is introductory level Government and as such, I expect that you know absolutely nothing about one of the biggest institutions in the country. An institution which allows the masses to cast votes for people who bark but won't bite and travel as much as they talk. One of the most important decisions that the country can make has been turned into a popularity contest where half of the vote casters are probably illiterate. When was the last time that any of you bothered to look at a political platform?"
He didn't give a chance for interruption. If he had, someone would have probably mentioned they were all minors.
"Never, that's what I thought. Do you know how to join a political party? About checks and balances? What the difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives is? How much it costs to undertake a political campaign? How this all ties in with the legislation?"
Here Mr. Sands stopped and looked out at the blank faces staring at him.
"That's what I thought so I'll start from the beginning. Now, you may have heard of municipal governments or been given a brief explanation of the three levels of government but for this class I want you to put it all out of your minds. Most of it was probably incorrect anyway. As of this moment you know nothing and I will teach you about government in a way that you will know everything by the end of the semester. Summer is an excellent time to learn about government and how it started."
The blank stares were still there except for Hallie who was honestly listening to him.
"Put up your hand if you have heard of the Declaration of Independence?" he asked with a glare.
The whole class, Reyna included, put up their hands. She did not have much formal education but she hadn't been living in the middle of nowhere. Well, she had for a few years but that wasn't the point.
"At least you aren't completely ignorant." he muttered.
"He sounds much more like an anarchist or self important ass than he did the first time around." one of the boys sitting in front of Reyna muttered.
"Michael, detention." Mr. Sands stated pleased.
"Aww, but I forgot the rules Mr. Sands." Michael complained, "I'm just a stupid student who knows nothing and forgot everything that you taught us on the first day. You said so yourself."
There were a few snickers from the other boys in the class. Mr. Sands turned to write something on the board then turned back and looked around the room but he didn't glare.
"Hmmm. I see." Mr. Sands stated dryly, "Well, then…"
Here, Michael smirked at his friends then stared at Mr. Sands with his best innocent expression.
"…you will just have to serve a detention." Mr. Sands finished.
"What?" burst out Michael, "But I said I forgot."
"Not knowing the rules is no excuse for breaking them." Mr. Sands informed him, "That applies both at the federal and school level. Otherwise, we would have to prove that a man who committed murder knew that murder was wrong and that is not at all easy to prove. Picture this: at the trial, we know now that he knows murder is wrong and we ourselves know murder is wrong but do we know that he knew murder was wrong when he committed the act? No we don't so a man just got away with homicide. That is why you will be serving detention with Hallie on Tuesday."
Hallie put up her hand.
"Yes." Mr. Sands stated waving in her direction.
"But I'm not serving detention on Tuesday Mr. Sands." Hallie told him.
"And why not?" demanded Mr. Sands though once again he seemed to take pleasure from being challenged.
"Because I have cleaning duty on Tuesday and swim practice right after that." Hallie replied.
"But you already agreed to it." Mr. Sands reminded her with a smile.
"No sir." Hallie replied then seeing him raise his eyebrows she elaborated, "I believe you are referring to when I stated 'Okay sir' earlier this class."
"Is that not an agreement?" pressed Mr. Sands.
"It was not sir. It was an acknowledgement." Hallie stated, "I acknowledge that I understood that you were free on Tuesday after class. I did not agree to serve my detention then. I also did not state that I was available or free on Tuesday after school."
"I suppose you will have to serve your detention another time." Mr. Sands stated.
"Well, I'm busy too." Michael put in.
"With what?" demanded Mr. Sands.
"Clubs and stuff." Michael muttered.
"What clubs and what other activities?" countered Mr. Sands.
"Like shop and laundry, and I have to clean my dorm. My sister's coming over." Michael said sulkily sinking further down in his seat.
"You have been suspended from the shop for roughhousing, laundry is not a valid excuse, and as far as I am concerned, there are no visiting hours coming up in the next two weeks." Mr. Sands stated, "You will be serving detention on Tuesday."
Michael groaned and sunk even farther down in his seat.
"Though a review of the rules is in order and Michael has brought up a good point which students seem to bring up year after year." Mr. Sands began, "For some reason, you people seem to think that I am an anarchist. I am not an anarchist. An anarchist is someone who does not want any form of governance. I am merely asking for an educated population who does not pervert the beauty of democracy."
Everyone looked at one another confused. Maybe they felt a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomach like Reyna or maybe they were as lost as Michael. Either way, Mr. Sands had to clear his throat for attention.
"My rules are to ensure order and to keep this class as functional as possible." he stated, "At the beginning of class, you will all arrive ten minutes before the bell as this class is after lunch. You will arrive five minutes before the bell on Tuesday. When I arrive, I expect to see you lined up and waiting quietly in the order you arrived. When I open the door you may proceed into the classroom but not before. On entry, you will sit in alphabetic order and maintain silence throughout the entire class period. When I am lecturing, you will not talk, ask questions or leave to go to the bathroom. After I am done my lecture, you may go to the bathroom by writing your name on the board under the heading 'Bathroom'. If you need to leave for another reason, you will write your name on the board with a detailed description of where you plan to be go, with whom, everyone you plan to speak with, what you will bring back or take with you, how long you plan to be gone and why you need to go there. The passing of notes is prohibited at all times, however, if you have a question for me you may raise your hand. Stay in your desk. I don't want a line of you by my desk. Asking questions of your classmates is not allowed and leaving your desk is forbidden unless you are heading to put you name on the board, to the pencil sharpener, to the garbage can, to the tissue box or are in need of immediate medical attention. If you are likely to vomit all over the classroom, then you should leave immediately so I do not have to clean it up. Any questions?"
A boy put up his hand and Mr. Sands indicated he could speak with a dismissive wave of his own.
"What's in the folder?" he asked.
"Papers." Mr. Sands responded his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I assure you that is quite normal for folder contents."
The boy flushed and shrunk under Mr. Sands' gaze.
"Now does anyone have any questions pertaining to the rules? That was what I meant when I asked for questions." he said snarkily.
The boy sunk even deeper into his seat.
"No. Good. Now I am going to lecture. Take out a writing utensil and some sort of paper. Do not interrupt me." Mr. Sands stated.
Reyna was glad when the class was over. Mr. Sands may not have felt like a monster but she didn't like him at all. She didn't mind discipline but that man had made her want to puke. He reminded her too much of Octavian. The power trip, the ego, his whole essence was just too similar to make her comfortable.
