AN: ...i am hella embarrassed you guys. I was a little sleep deprived when I finally got some free time to actually proofreading this chapter and accidentally reuploaded chapter 1. I am so sorry that I didn't see the reviews until now and if you guys still are interested in the story, I will try to get another chapter out quick. I've had everything planned out for this story for a while, I just have been dealing with something unexpected. I hope you understand and again I am really sorry.
After an eventful lunch, all Marceline wanted was to get through the rest of the day. Even though her home situation was anything but pleasant, she found herself craving her bed more than anything. The whole day was like a cheesy sitcom episode that's punchlines seemed to revolve around her misfortune. Marceline let out a sigh as she shuffled through the crowded hallways. She made her way to the science wing at a slow pace and retrieved her phone from her pocket for a brief moment. Okay, 6 minutes til class starts… if I get there with like two minutes to spare, maybe I can quietly slip in unnoticed and secure a spot in the back. Compared to her usual laid back sense of urgency, this was weird and she hated it. She felt like she had been backed into a corner and practically defenseless. Sure, she was used to shit never going the way she wanted, but this was unreal. As much as she wanted to just say fuck it and skip, she usually made it somewhat of a priority to come to the first day or two to try to convince teachers she cared to some extent even if it was just to gain a little sympathy before showing zero to no respect for the schools rules.
The young girl unfolded her class schedule and searched for the information she required. She scanned the hall for her classroom but was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Marci!" the older man said with a warm smile. "Simon! It's so good to see you!" she replied and instinctively hugged him. "Ditto kiddo." he replied, smiling once again. This is what she needed right now more than anything. He had always supported her and had been a close friend to Marceline as she was growing up and dealing with the world's sick game that seemed to get off from making her life a living hell. He was the father figure she really needed at the time. It felt like some weight was lifted off her shoulders and she let out a sigh of relief this time. She wiped a small tear off her cheek, "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I actually started to teach here last year. I guess you could say I needed a change of pace of sorts." he explained. They looked at each other and burst into laughter. Usually when anyone brought up her school hopping habit she became instantly annoyed, but Simon always been there to listen to her reasons and was compassionate. If anyone had a right to be able to make those kinds of jokes with her, it was him. "When I saw your name on my roster I wanted make sure I could catch up with you one on one. Don't want to embarrass you on your first day, do we?" he asked, looking at her over his round glasses with a smile. The pair laughed once again and Marceline grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him in. She took a deep breath and moved a strand of hair behind her ear, "It would really mean a lot to me if we didn't have to do that super embarrassing new student introduction thing. I know it's totally normal and suppose to help people get to know me or whatever but I really hate the whole situation, you know?" she explained. "Of course, I would never put you through that. Anyways, class is about to begin, we should head in." he suggested as he opened the door. "Thanks Simon"
Marceline wasn't the type to get excited over being in class but she didn't think the outcome was half bad. Life is rough and there was going to be a lot of things she had to learn the hard way. At least school was pretty cut and dry about how everything works and people were a little less ignorant after graduating. She was in the back of the room which was relatively empty, probably because a hand full of the seniors decided to skip. Speaking of skipping, Marceline had almost forgotten to eat anything today but was not so kindly reminded by a growling in her stomach. She reached into her bag and pulled out a few blood red pencils and began to discreetly rob them of their bright color, turning them a pale grey. This was usually more than enough to get her through a school day, but she skipped out on breakfast due to her prior unsuspected awkward encounter. She sank down into her seat and propped her feet up on the table. After finally having something to eat, her thoughts became a little less clouded and she finally relaxed a bit. She glanced around the room only to stop and look over at Bonnibel who was sitting in the front of the class diligently taking notes on the lecture. It bothered her that she was acting like nothing ever happened. It's cool if that's how Bubblegum wanted to handle her problems, but she couldn't force her to resolve her problems by herself again. As much as she'd like to think that maybe things have changed and that it could be different this time around, she remembered how the pink haired girl could be. Stubborn, cruel and far too irrational in the emotions department for someone who always clams to be so focused on data and science. Her thoughts were interrupted by Simon's increasingly interesting lecture. About half way through the class, he started to talk about some scrolls this old dude wrote way back in the day. From what she could gather, this guy was trying to outline how people should act and treat each other. The translation was so boring and hard to understand, but Simon made it seem interesting at least.
"Basically, what he was trying to say here was good people can do bad things because of circumstances like being overly emotional or even simply not understanding the meaning of their actions. While this does not excuse their behavior, we must sympathize with these individuals and not judge their character upon these actions alone. However, Aristotle would consider more things as voluntary than you might think. Let's have someone give us an example that we can analyze and explain how he would most likely feel about the situation from a morality point of view."
Marceline was trying to keep herself awake, she didn't want to be rude to Simon and use his period to catch some sleep. She let out a silent yawn and instinctively stretched out in an effort to wake up a bit but her timing couldn't have been worse. "Oh, Marceline! Do you wish to aid the class and share a story with us?" Simon asked. Her eyes widened for a moment and she looked up at him. "Sure…" she offered with a nervous laugh. She got the gist of the lesson and she worked okay under pressure, but the problem was the pink haired girl looking her way with an annoyed look. At that moment, she knew the perfect story.
"Hmm, alright. So, let's say there's these friends. They both always felt like they were a little bit different from other people but bonded over that and became really close. One day, when one of the friends needed the other the most, she was nowhere to be found. She tried so hard to reach out to the girl but she never answered. Some time passed and eventually the girl explained to her that they couldn't be friends anymore without any good reason and never spoke to her again. Clearly, she was a bad person and terrible friend, right?" Marceline asked, catching her breath after her emotional outburst. After an awkward silence, she scanned the room only to be greeted by stares and surprised looks. "Well…" Simon began to speak but was quickly cut off. "Maybe the friend had a lot of things going on in her life and it would be illogical to involve other people?" Bonnibel questioned in an angry fashion. "Maybe the friend should've explained the situation and asked for help instead of abandoning her when she needed it the most?" Marceline quickly replied, now standing up and firmly gripping the edges of her desk. "Maybe she had problems she could only resolve herself!" the pink hair yelled as the tension in the room grew thicker. "After everything we've been through… I thought you'd at least give me the curtesy of an explanation or a legitimate reason! Sorry you had to be around me and that I'm not perfect like every little thing in your life always has to be!" She yelled back, slamming her hands on the desk. "I never said you had to be perfect!" the pink girl retorted, anger getting the better of her. Tears started to well from Marceline's eyes and she could feel the sharp stares piercing her around the room. She stared deep into the other girl's eyes clenched her fist, "Whatever… Ugh, I'm outa here!" With complete disregard of everything else going on around her, she bee-lined for the door and slammed it behind her.