You would think after the morning I'd had that the rest of the day would either drag or fly by, but the truth is that neither of those things happened. In real life sometimes it just goes on.

Lunch was different. We headed to the cafeteria, if you could call the dingy room with barred windows a high school cafeteria, and sat down at an old table on the edge of the room. Some of us pulled bagged lunches out, some of us headed to the kitchen, and some of us just looked around this dismal place and wondered how on earth a town could let children even exist in this place, let alone attend classes.

It was a hurried affair, everyone eating as fast as they could, knowing we'd used up half of our allotted food time to beat some sense into one of our own. Once the bell rang I waved everyone off. If there was one thing I could find it was the auto shop and since the Ghoulies weren't after me I'd say I was safer in this building than could be said for most other people.

I pushed my way through the doors and breathed in deeply, the smell of motor oil and grease bringing a sense of peace and contentment. Even if the teacher sucked, this was going to be my favourite class of all time.

Looking around I couldn't help but notice I was the only girl, which normally wouldn't bother me, but the looks of lust and in some cases, utter disbelief, were a little unnerving. Before anyone could say anything though the door behind me openned once more and a gravely voice rang out.

"Alright, you guys know what to do, pull in a car and let's get started," It said.

I turned around and watched the long haired man walk over to a work bench, dropping a binder and pulling out a set of keys from his pocket. I looked him over as he threw the metal teeth to a student, sending him scurrying away to bring in the aforementioned car. He wasn't young, nor was he aged. His long blonde hair was pulled away from his face, with the top half of grease stained coveralls tied around his waist. He looked up and took me in, the same way I guess I was looking at him, and motioned me over.

"You must be Betty, I was told you'd be starting in here today. Know anything about cars?" he asked, turning to watch an old beater being pulled into the garage.

"I've been fixing them up with my dad since I was little, I shouldn't have any problems keeping up," I replied, not taking my eyes off of his face. I exuded confidence in that statement. If there was one thing I was good at, being a teenaged mechanic was one of them.

He nodded his head and threw a pair of coveralls at me. "Best get started then, none of these guys have been able to figure out what's wrong with that beater for the better part of two days and the client needs in back asap. You figure it out by the end of class and I'll give you a passing grade for the whole semester. Figure it out faster and I may just give you a job."

With his challenge issued he walked over to another car and popped the hood, basically dismissing me in the politest way I'd seen thus far.

Grabbing an elastic from my wrist I pulled my hair up into a messy bun, no old Betty ponytail for me, and shrugged on my cover alls. As I approached the beater a couple of the guys sneared but let me past, either too afraid of the new Serpent Bitch or wary of the only student protected by the Ghoulies.

I zoned out for the next hour, checking connections and listening for tell tale signs of what could be wrong with this old hunk of metal. The oldies station blaring rock music was soothing and reminded me of good times as I puttered around, smudging oil and grease all over my coveralls. This was my happy place.

There was still another hour or so of class left when I discovered a slipped gear in the transmission. It was easy to overlook but there it was, one minor adjustment and a turn of the key…the engine caught and purred for me, bringing a smile to my face and the teacher to my side.

"Well, Coop, looks like you have a job. Come to my office and I'll give you the run down. As for the rest of you- learn from her or get out of her way, Betty has first dibs on any car that comes into the garage for the rest of the year."

I stood in shock as he moved away, beyond pleased that my first day had actually solved a problem for me instead of created one. I grabbed a rag out of the air that one of my classmates tossed to me and smiled at him in thanks. To my utter astonishment it was Damien, smirking and clapping as I walked into the teachers office. He tossed me a smirk and a wink before I turned back around to talk to the man I would be working for.

"You can keep the door open, I don't have secrets that need hiding from any of my students. Now, are you interested in a job? I know you Serpents have your own way of dealing with finances but you have a gift and I'd like to nurture it into something slightly more…legal."

I smiled and nodded my head, knowing that the community knew what we kept up to mostly.

"I would really appreciate a job, this is honestly what i love doing and it would help if had an alternate source of income," I started, knowing that being gracious would go a long way to shaping his view of the kind of person I was inside and outside of my Serpent brothers.

"Alright, so I own my own auto shop in Greendale, I come down here to teach as a service to my community. Try to give some of you kids life skills that will be useful. I'll have you work your own schedule around school and other duties, but I expect to see you at the shop for at least 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, 5 hours on weekends. There's a spare bay that you can use to fix up your own vehicles, otherwise you're apprenticed under me. You'll get a bonafide mechanics license once I feel you've learned all you can. Deal?"

I was floored. This was a huge opportunity for me and I couldn't wait to get started.

"As long as I can work more hours than you've layed out, you have yourself a deal."

"Excellent, now, I'll have you paired up with Damien DeMarcos for the rest of the year as well, you two are about the same level of competent in here and he also works for me. It will be a good opportunity for you both as long as you can learn to work together. This is non-negotiable. Now, go see what he's working on and spend the rest of the period getting aquainted. You start work tomorrow after school, have Damien give you a lift."

I nodded and set out of his office. I was nervous and overjoyed at the same time. Being paired with Damien also gave me an opportunity I wasn't going to squander. I'd have to wait a while, plan it out and come at it right, but maybe, just maybe, I could end this gang feud somehow. It wouldn't be easy but I was determined to do something. Even if it didn't end the hostililities maybe it could be the grounds for a parlay. Either way, I wouldn't rest until I'd done something good for my club.