Chapter 3

Sitting in a student desk facing the classroom, Gloria tried to calm her rising excitement. Since the class met three days a week, it was two days since their observation of Clark. Now, the professor was well on his way to Europe.

And she was on her own with Tess.

Please, Father, let me get through this class without messing up, Gloria prayed silently. While next to her Tess stood at the podium going over her lesson plan, Gloria sat there and thought about yesterday. After her advisor meeting with Anna, Monica met with the two other angels at the coffee place on campus to catch up. Through several lattes, Monica managed to give them a loose outline of the session before the caffeine kicked in. Tess didn't even chide her for it because of how anxious Monica was about the assignment.

But on the bright side, Monica's assignment seemed to shift right from negative to positive. Though both of the other angels were startled by the thought of Anna already thinking of dropping the class, Monica assured them that she talked Anna out of it…hopefully. Sure enough, Gloria and Tess noticed that Anna seemed to walk into class that afternoon with a certain bounce to her step that hadn't been there on Wednesday.

Now, the two angels didn't have any problem with focusing on their assignment. While they were there to help Anna, their real assignment was the entire class. Their previous professor had really done a number on them with his "tough love" policy. Though some put up an exaggerated feeling of bravado, the "group critiques" reduced once confident writers down to those who got defensive at the slightest critique of their work. Group critiques had grown to be nothing short of insult contests, with remarks directed at both the work and the student him or herself. Gloria and Tess were sent to prevent the group of about fifteen students from becoming forever defensive and critical about writing or possibly life in general. This assignment was all about teaching how to listen to critiques with a patient yet judgmental ear…and give a review with respect to the author.

"Can we start the class now?" Gloria asked Tess, noting that almost all of the students had gathered and, as they were trained, moved the desks into a circle. She almost winced when Tess let out a deep sigh. It wasn't the first time Gloria had posed the question in the past five minutes.

Checking her watch, Tess gave a reluctant nod. "Yes, little angel. Now, if I give you a Look like this…" Tess paused, demonstrating a face that had its eyes narrowed and mouth turned into a frown. "It means to stop talking. You're free to interject, but you tend to get carried away. We have to face these students for the next week or so…and you've never been particularly good about concealing your identity."

"I know, Tess. I promise, I'll try real hard," Gloria replied. She knew that sometimes her naiveté caused people to wonder if she was born yesterday. Which actually wasn't far from the truth...but no one else could know that.

Giving the angel a small smile, Tess turned to the class and cleared her throat. Under her commanding presence, the class quieted and sat forward in an instant. "Good afternoon, everyone. For those who weren't here last class, I'm your substitute, Tess. This is Gloria, my teacher's assistant."

"Hi!" Gloria said once Tess indicated her to say something. "I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone." She would've gone on about how excited she was to be on a college campus, but wisely decided against such ramblings and let Tess continue.

Tess gave her a slight nod of approval before continuing, "Now, I believe that much of the class still has to present their short story today before we move on to another genre next meeting. So, just for this class…let's put the desks the usual way. While that may have broken the ice at first, from watching on Wednesday I have to say that I think the ice has been broken enough."

Minutes later the desks were arranged in loose rows and columns. A boy with spiked blonde hair raised his hand. Without being picked on, he asked, "Did Clark tell you to do that?"

"You never mind what Clark did or did not tell me," Tess replied in a sickeningly sweet tone, wiping the smirk right off the student's face.

Noting the sudden tension in the room, Gloria asked, "So, who wants to go first?"

Silence. No one made any move to raise a hand. The blonde-haired boy took a sip of his coffee; Anna stared at her desktop; Lizzie filed her nails. Deciding to try a soft approach first, Gloria pressed, "Oh, come on, it's got to be easier now that you all don't have to look at each other. And I promise that neither Tess nor I will ever insult anything."

"Yeah, come on, you pussies," the blonde-haired boy spoke up again in a mocking tone. "They don't bite." Under her breath, he muttered, "Tess' dentures would probably fall out if she tried."

Getting angry for maybe one of the first times in her life, Gloria glared at him and snapped, "Well, that's awfully judgmental, isn't it? I'll have you know that Tess is just as agile as anyone half her age, human or –"

"Gloria!" Tess interrupted, giving her the aforementioned Look. Luckily, she'd cut in before anyone heard the last two words. "While I appreciate the back up, I can deal with Mr. Rude-and-Crude over here myself. What's your name, young man?"

The class let out a group "oooo" as the student turned a few shades whiter. Sitting up straight, he replied, "M-Matt. Matt Kingston."

"Okay, Mr. Kingston, let me lay down a few rules for you," Tess began. Gloria sunk low in her seat, the tone reminding her of several instances in which the supervisor angel had used the same tone with her. Matt's in for it now. I almost feel bad for him. While Matt attempted to pull off a defiant face, Tess continued, "Number one – Gloria and I are the professors now. Not Clark. Number two – this is a classroom. You treat each us as well as other students with respect. And neither Gloria nor I will have any trouble reminding you of that rule. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Tess," Matt grumbled, his shoulders slumped.

Noting that Tess was going to need a moment to calm down, Gloria interrupted, "But that doesn't mean you all shouldn't express your opinion or ask questions. It just means that you all can do it in a way that doesn't offend anyone else."

Once again fifteen students stared back at her with blank, clueless faces.

"Oh boy," Gloria said under breath. She and Tess shared a look that sent the exact same message – they both had a lot of work to do.

After class, Anna relayed her odd class to her roommate in her dorm. Pacing the space between the twin beds, she explained, "…and we ended the class with Tess giving us yet another lecture about critiquing, and that was after Gloria claimed she had no idea what Ben meant when a college student character in his story 'rolled a joint.' It's like Gloria has never been around college students before, and Tess has been teaching for decades. The whole thing is just…weird. And, I gotta admit, a little entertaining. More so than Mr. Clark 'I think I'm so funny' Pittman was."

"It does sound very odd," Hallie agreed, her back against her wall. She was sitting in her desk chair with her legs pulled up to her chest. "Do you know anything about them? Where they taught previously, maybe?"

Anna shook her head. "Nope, nothing. I don't think they even gave us their last names."

A thoughtful look on her face, Hallie said, "It is a little like they came out of nowhere. I had a sub for my class last semester, and it was another professor from the department. Well, you're a journalist – do whatever it is you do and look 'em up."

"Maybe I will…" Anna replied, leaning on her bed. Then she shrugged. "It's not like it matters."

Hallie frowned and asked, "Why not? What's going on?"

"I think I want to drop the class. Even with Tess and Gloria…it's too hard to face my classmates every time," Anna confessed, her head down.

"What?" Hallie exclaimed. "You're an awesome writer, you can't!"

Anna let out a short laugh. "You sound like Monica."

"Who?"

"My advisor, remember?" Anna said. "Yeah, she got all disappointed when I mentioned it…but whatever, I doubt she really cares that much. Besides, there's really no point in finishing off the class when I'm not going to get a good final grade."

"You don't know that. And you could improve your writing even more if you stayed," Hallie pointed out.

Sighing, Anna argued, "You don't get it. I'm not a good writer; I'll never be a good writer. Getting rejected in class every time just proves it more. I mean, when Monica suggested I submit my work to the school journal, I honestly considered it. But then I had class today and listened as much better writers than me read their stuff…how can I think of making my work public when there are so many better writers?"

"But there aren't. Being in that class made you forget that not everyone has a way with words. Hell, I can't even write a decent thank-you note," Hallie answered, her frown conveying frustration. "You've…you've got to stop comparing yourself to everyone in that class and thinking their opinions are fact."

"So you're saying I should drop the class," Anna retorted in triumph.

Realizing what she was saying, Hallie shook her head. "N-no, no, that's not what I meant. I meant that you should be able to stand on your own two feet when the entire class comes rushing at you. And I do think the first step…would definitely be to submit to the school literary journal….wait…"

"Wait what?"

"We have a school literary journal?"

"Yes, we do," Anna laughed. "But there's no way I'm submitting. Even if I do stay in the class."

Pouting, Hallie warned, "If you don't, I'll submit that story you let me read."

"How are you going to submit it if you didn't even know the journal existed until now?" Anna pointed out with a smirk, causing Hallie to frown in thought.

Recovering from her momentary setback, Hallie said, "Well, I'll find out."

"I'll take my chances," Anna replied. "Besides, I can't deal with that now. I need to focus on some of my other classes. Recent grades include C's and a humiliating D."

At that, Hallie gaped at her. "What? Last semester you freaked out if you got anything below B+. You really are screwed up this semester."

"Thanks," Anna muttered. Figuring she should try and force herself to get work done, she turned to go to her desk…just as the door opened.

"Hey ladies," Jeff greeted, leaning on their doorway. "You really should keep this door locked. You never know what kind of creeps could wander in."

Hallie grinned at him. "Yeah, you never know. Speaking of which, next time you wander in, can you knock?"

"What's up, Jeff? Drinking again, I see," Anna said, noting with distaste the half-empty beer in his hand. "I hope you realize that Jasmine could walk by any moment and write you up." Jasmine was the hall RA, or resident assistant, charged with keeping order in hall.

Jeff shrugged. "I caught her smoking something other than cigarettes at a party over the weekend. She owes me one." Pulling another beer out from under his arm, he held it out. "Either of you ladies care to drink with me? It's never fun to drink alone."

"Then don't do it," Anna snapped.

"Yeah, Jeff, you really should lay off for a while and go to your counselor meetings," Hallie pressed. "I saw Andrew outside your door a couple of days ago. I think the poor guy is actually concerned about you – give him a break and stay sober, ok?"

Giving another nonchalant shrug, Jeff answered, "Look, I got too much on my mind to worry about counselor meetings." He hesitated, glanced at the extra beer, and set it on Anna's dresser. "I think I'm feeling another few rounds of vodka shots. See you two later."

"Jeff! Don't you dare!" Hallie shouted.

While she ran into the hallway, Anna eyed the still-cold beer, for once very tempted. She wasn't much of a drinker, but the one or two times she did get drunk, she felt a lot better than she did at the moment. Well, one beer can't hurt, Anna thought. Hallie and Jeff's arguing resounding through the hall, Anna downed the beer as she sat down at her desk to get some homework started before she had to turn it in the next day.

"Hey, Monica, hey Tess," Andrew said, stopping in the doorway of Monica's office. Since he hadn't figured out yet just how to talk to Jeff again, he thought he'd do some behind the scenes work. It wasn't as if he were bored – he was filling in as a school counselor, after all. At least a dozen appointments had been lined up for him that day. But he couldn't forget that he was on assignment.

The two angels had been talking, with Monica at her desk and Tess in the seat across from her. "Hello, angel boy," Tess greeted with a smile. "Haven't seen you around lately. How's your assignment going?"

"I'm really not sure," Andrew answered. On one hand, he'd recruited new help through Hallie and her roommate. On the other…Jeff still wasn't replying to his emails about rescheduling the missed appointment. "Yours?"

Monica shrugged. "Same. I think I got through to Anna, but I can't be too sure. Something tells me that she's very good at hiding her feelings. When she came in…"

"Wait, I'm sorry, Anna? That name sounds familiar; I think Jeff may have mentioned it," Andrew interrupted. Of course, it could've been another Anna, but he was getting the same feeling as when he told Monica that he thought the two assignments may cross paths. But then, he'd only been basing his conclusion on intuition and the fact that all the angels were assigned to students at the same college.

Smiling, Monica explained, "Yes, Anna. Anna Harper. She mentions that she lives next door to Jeff…and is very concerned about him. But she's feeling more optimistic since she heard from her roommate, and I quote, 'Jeff's counselor, Andrew, seemed really nice and actually concerned for his well-being.'

Andrew couldn't help but turn red at the compliment as he replied, "Well, from what I've heard, Jeff's gotten more grief than sympathy from whoever he tells about his drinking problem. So much that he hasn't even told his parents. Which is actually why I'm here."

"What do you mean? You need Monica's help with something?" Tess asked, curious.

Nodding in response, Andrew answered, "Yes. It turns out that Monica here is Jeff's new advisor as well." At Monica's surprised look, he added, "But from what I'm getting from the Father, you're not taking him on as an assignment too. You see, the school Dean of Disciplinary Action has been putting pressure on Jeff to 'take the semester off' in order to get himself together. But Jeff's petrified of dropping the semester because as far as his parents know, everything is fine. So, in order to give him time to tell them – and possibly letting Jeff stay in school – I'm gathering all of his records. My theory is if I can prove that he was a good student until the drinking started, maybe I can convince the Dean to ease up."

"No problem, Andrew. I'll go through his record now," Monica assured him, already typing on the computer's keyboard in front of her.

Andrew let out a sigh, happy to be relieved of at least one aspect of his assignment. Just realizing something, he asked, "Where's Gloria?"

"It's her turn for office hours," Tess answered, with no small amount of relief in her voice. "I love that angel, but if she looses herself in excitement one more time, Father so help me I will…"

Knowing that Tess would never do anything to Gloria, Andrew and Monica shared brief, amused glance before he replied, "Don't worry. It'll get better. Look how far you and Monica have come."

"Miss Wings and Gloria are two entirely different angels," Tess muttered.

Monica chuckled. "I know it's been hard on you, Tess. But Gloria will learn. You just have to have patience. Like you did with me."

"You'll have to remind me of that every once in a while," Tess replied.

Laughing again, Monica clicked her computer mouse a few times, then looked up at Andrew. "Good news, Andrew. Jeff's records indicate that he's ahead in credits, his GPA is 3.2, and he co-founded the school billiards club. You should have no trouble at all. I'll forward this to your school email."

"Thank you so much, Monica, that really helps. Tess, I'll see you around," Andrew said, turning away from the door and almost running down the hall. He had two emails to send. One to Jeff; the other to the Dean of Disciplinary Action.