Cora and June sat side by side in their first class of the day. It was too early for this. Prof. Adam Pascal was their theology teacher and he was drilling them on Bible passages. Passages they hadn't studied. What bugged Cora most about their situation, though, was that it was entirely June's fault that they hadn't studied. If June had listened to Cora and stayed in the dorm to study instead of going to party and then deciding that she needed Cora's help getting back home, they might've been able to get the necessary scriptures read. But no, June just had to go and get so drunk that Cora had to run out to find her then pretty much carry her all the way back to the dorm! There was nothing Cora hated more than this because now, it was totally biting them in the butt because neither of them had the foggiest idea what was going on.
No wait. There was one thing Cora hated more than coming to class unprepared.
"June Freeman. Let's hear from you," Prof. Pascal turned to June with an unreadable smile.
"Oh, sorry professor. I didn't study," June replied in a sultry voice.
"Naughty girl," Pascal said, his grin growing slightly. Cora hissed in disgust. What a creep. And June wasn't much better. Cora was sure watching these two sickos flirting over Bible verses was going to make her sick.
Thankfully, their next class was English. Cora always excelled in English and she was very close to the professor, Aaron Yates. He was a very intimidating man but he had a soft spot for Cora simply because Cora was one of the few students of his that actually took learning seriously. This studious behavior earned Cora a lot of clout with Prof. Yates. It came in handy when Cora was trying to keep June from getting clobbered by the short-tempered teacher. Today June was in a heated debate with the professor about whether proper essay formatting was necessary or not.
"You must go by the book!" the professor boomed. "Stay forever faithful to the format!"
"But that's shallow and stupid!" June argued. "The content should be more important than the presentation. I mean, didn't they always say not to judge a book by its cover?" she trailed off and the whole class held its breath. June was the only one brave, or stupid, enough to dare argue with Prof. Yates. But when the professor, in his anger, couldn't think of a good rebuttal, June continued. "Speaking of which, why don't we go back to reading?" she asked. That silent insult towards Prof. Yates' teaching hung dangerously in the air.
"Why don't you just shut your mouth and get back to work?" Yates growled, leaning on June's desk and letting his sharp eyes pierce her very soul. His voice was far softer now but that didn't mean the danger had passed. Cora, wanting June to actually come out of English class in one piece, surreptitiously touched the girl's leg and June bit her lips. She understood what Cora wanted and decided to grant the brunette her wish. She looked away in submission and Prof. Yates smirked slightly before continuing his lecture on proper punctilios. Cora sighed in relief. They had survived another day. But seriously, why was June so hard to look after? Of course, Cora didn't regret accepting June's friendship last semester, but sometimes it did get tiring trying to look after her.
Next came Home Economics. Truly, both Cora and June had to agree it was one of the worst classes they were enrolled in. The subject itself was quite enjoyable but the professor was a huge flirt. It was creepy. And he didn't even have Prof. Pascal's charm. Even Cora had to admit that Prof. Pascal knew what he was doing when he was trying to win a woman's heart. This guy, Prof. Hasselhoff, was a different story. Instead, it was always all about him. He would flirt with a girl but spend more time charming himself than her. He was creepy and egotistical and none of his female students liked him. June and Cora always made sure to find the sewing machines farthest away from him to work at. For once, June wished that Nevaeh University uniforms had longer skirts. Cora hated seeing her friend so objectified, but Cora was just as unnerved by Hasselhoff as June was. Powerless to do anything, they grit their teeth and continued their sewing, trying hard to ignore their pompous professor.
Finally came choir. That class was just the gnat's whistle! June was an excellent singer and she enjoyed the course and this teacher, unlike most of the others, was very approachable. Despite being fairly old, he had a youth and a spring in his step that most people half his age lacked. This good humor and cheer made him an absolutely joy to work with. Cora was just the same, though, because this was the one class she felt truly unafraid in. She was head over heels for choir. She was incredibly enthusiastic and had a voice so good that even some of the best singers of Nevaeh were in awe of her. The current leader of the top trio, Geraldine, had already started to take interest in Cora.
"Amazing! Beautiful! Congrats! Divine! Extravagant! Fantastic!" the professor, Prof. Neely, applauded Cora's amazing voice and her ability to learn a complex dance almost instantly. Cora's sweet face lit up with a humble smile that had just a touch of pride. Choir was, without a doubt, a favorite of Cora's and of June's.
Next came Journalism. Again, neither girl liked that class. They had only taken it as a filler because there was no other seat open anywhere else. Cora's hatred, however, was more personal than just hating the class. She hated the teacher! He was self-righteous and bigoted. He was also a snitch and a gossip, but he always used the defense that it was because he was a reporter. Like that excused his childish and invasive behaviors! It was actually this constant spying that he did that incited Cora's anger against him. Somehow, he managed to find out that Cora was a lesbian and ever since that discovery, though he had not outed her, he did his best to make Cora as guilty and uncomfortable as possible. They all knew of Nevaeh's strict anti-gay policy and Prof. Bostwick, that was his name, was going to rub in to Cora for all it was worth.
"How about our dear, little Cora Stein answer now," Prof. Bostwick grinned during their lesson. They had been talking about some of the most recent scandals in the news and he was singling Cora out because of the topic of the story. "Tell us, dear, what did the tabloids say?"
"That it was a riveting sex story," Cora replied bluntly, earning a few sniggers from her peers.
"Who all was involved?" Bostwick asked, ignoring Cora's iciness. June, sensing the rising tension, came to her friend's aid.
"Two men," she snapped. "They were, obviously, gay. But I don't see what that has to do with camera maintenance," she crossed her arms and frowned up at the professor. Prof. Bostwick was so caught off guard by June's interruption that he entirely forgot about Cora. As his sharp eyes scrutinized June, he realized exactly who she was. This was the girl Prof. Pascal was flirting with! How… interesting… He stalked back to his desk to mask a grin and while his back was turned, June flipped him off. Cora smiled weakly.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Anything for my lesbian lover," June replied with a smile and Cora couldn't help but chuckle. For a moment, the brunette could hardly believe she and June once hated each other. It was such a change now, they were close enough to practically be lovers.
Finally came P.E., taught by the psycho couple that also made up the school's police force: Batez and Bentz. They weren't real professors but they were still teaching and that was that. They were notorious for being loud and unnecessarily harsh.
"Slacking off and being lazy?"
"That's a translation,"
"Wearing the wrong clothes?"
"That's a translation,"
"Arguing with us?" back and forth, back and forth.
"I wonder if they ever get tired of saying that," June muttered in annoyance and Cora nodded but she didn't dare reply. She was smart enough not to mess with them because, as annoying as they were and as ridiculous as they seemed, they were terrifying. Even June was a little afraid of them and if they were people June was afraid to defy, they were people anyone was afraid to defy. But it was just because June, after one particularly daring scandal, had endured the misfortune of being knocked around by them. It had happened a few days ago but June was still really sore. That was how unforgiving they were. They didn't take their position as Nevaeh University's police force lightly.
But at last, after running and jumping and doing all kinds of pointless physical exercise, the class ended and school was finished for the day. June and Cora returned to their dorms to shower. They spent a lovely evening together, working on some of their homework before going out to one of Nevaeh University's many cafés for dinner. When night fell, however, the pair parted.
"I think I'm going out to the bar again," June said casually.
"Oh June! Not again! You have to study!" Cora protested, but June only gave Cora a seductive wave goodbye and then she was out the door. Cora watched her go in utter disbelief before exhaling slowly.
"It's gonna be another long night isn't it?" she asked herself, then she after June, expecting to have to carry her back to the dorms again at some ungodly hour in the morning. Of course, Cora loved June and vice versa, but June was far from an easy friend. In fact, there were some days Cora wondered if June was a friend at all… Cora shook her head and pushed away her thoughts of doubt as she scampered after her independent, rebellious friend. Hopefully the drinks would be good.
Years later, June ended up getting expelled from Nevaeh University. Following the violent display of police brutality and following the ruling that led to June's expulsion, the girl seemed to vanish entirely. Cora never saw her even once after the trial and this left the poor brunette to finish up her last year and a half of college entirely alone. Once she graduated, she ended up replacing Geraldine, taking over her position as choir mistress. Rumor had it that Cora received this giant promotion right out of the gate partly because she had earned it fairly and partly because Geraldine had been demoted after refusing to become the dean's sex slave. There was, of course, no way to confirm or deny this because Geraldine, who was now a school janitor, refused to say. So Cora was still stuck in Nevaeh University under the threatening dean while her oldest and dearest friend was missing and maybe even dead! It just depended upon the rumors you chose to listen to. But talk of June, either way, was forbidden. Those who were expelled from NU were erased entirely from the school's history and June was no exception.
As the years continued to roll on, not much changed. Prof. Pascal was still clearly sore over losing his affair with June, Prof. Yates had since become Cora's equal, Profs. Hasselhoff and Bostwick were still as creepy as they ever were before and Batez and Bentz hadn't lost an ounce of excitement at the prospect of beating the life out of anyone who set even a toe out of line. Cora seriously almost regretted not just following June into the mist because of how crappy life back here was, but it was too late for tears because she was as good as stuck under the dean and she had another singing performance in a few hours. She couldn't afford to regret and unless she was willing to spend an eternity lost, she couldn't even speculate about joining June in exile. Besides, it had been so many years, who knew if June was even still alive, or if she was, if she remembered anyone at NU? No, Cora had other things to do and couldn't afford to be distracted. She needed to find Prof. Neely, Pearl, and Virginia pronto! So off she went, her thoughts of her easy, old life fleeing from her mind.
AN: This was just to show what classes each of the castes of Heaven would teach if Heaven was a school (the sevens are just custodians and, thusly, don't have a class to teach). It was supposed to mirror a normal school day as well, every caste having a class to make up six or seven total classes per day. Notice, too, that there are no math or science classes. God, the dean, doesn't allow for that here. Instead, they cover the arts, like choir and English and journalism and of course, theology, which is being taught by the very highest caste. And yes, Heaven's school name is just its real name spelled backwards. Sorry.