Why hello there dear readers! This chapters comes to you with credit to my dear friend Mem who forced me to sit down and write it. This chapter also comes to you with NO thanks to the Dallas Mavericks who had tied up the score and then LOST in the last FOUR FREAKING SECONDS of the game. Way to keep me interested and not writing guys. A certain Cee Lo Green song to you!

Hope you like this chapter!

Grizzle's Perspective

Plan half concocted, I awaited the bell signifying the beginning of a new class period. I hadn't really had a good night. Unfortunately when my head is filled with students' issues, sleep is hard to come by. I could feel my eyelids pressing down over my eyes as students filed into my classroom for their daily chemistry lesson. I made a split second decision to hit the students with a pop quiz so I wouldn't have to teach today. I opened up my computer and dug through some of my archived files to find a pop quiz that I could use.

Acids and bases, atomic structure, the elements, measurements and conversions...ahh! I selected one that I hadn't used in years. Perfect. Hitting print, I scanned the crowd to find a willing volunteer.

"Trisha, would you come here please?"

I grabbed the paper off the printer and stuck it in a folder.

"Will you take this to the copy room please and make sixty copies of it, please?"

"Sure, Mr. Grizzle."

She walked out decisively.

As I awaited her return, I took attendance quickly. Noting Cassie's filled seat, my thoughts shifted back to the plan I had yet to complete. I reviewed what I knew for sure.

Alex Rider had all but dropped out of school due to mysterious circumstances that had never been explained. Cassie knew the infamous Alex Rider...and obviously not just in passing, as she had a nickname for him. Alex knew Mr. McMan as well. Mr. McMan had gotten shot twice and ended up in hospital. Alex had been there when he had been shot and took full responsibility for it. With her dad shot, Cassie had only taken a single day off of school and seemed perfectly calm about it now. She certainly acted at ease, for knowing a family member was in hospital. Perhaps she was used to these kinds of things?

Interrupting his musings, Trisha handed him a stack of stapled quizzes.

"Here you go, Grizzle."

"Thanks Trisha."

I stood up, gripping the quizzes in hand.

"Good afternoon."

Facing the class, a few murmured in response.

"Well, I'm about as tired as you guys sound...but luckily I've got my degree. Unfortunately, you guys don't."

I raised the quizzes in one hand.

"I have here a pop quiz. Everyone is to take it, don't forget to write your name, and turn it over when you're done."

When the collective groan hit my ears, I stifled a grin.

"Alright. None of that. I have to make sure you're learning somehow!"

I handed the stack to Trisha and she passed out the papers. I sat back down and pressed the palms of my hands into my eyes. Shaking my head, I popped my knuckles and burrowed back into my computer, only looking up to scan the masses for wandering eyes. When everyone was done, I gathered up the quizzes and let the masses talk amongst themselves. As I passed Cassie's desk, I quietly muttered, "I'd love to speak to you after class again."

Her head dropped.

"You aren't in trouble. I just want to talk to you."

Shoulders still down, she twisted her head to look at me with raised eyebrows.

I raised mine in response.

"Sure thing, Grizzle."

I nodded and moved on, awaiting yet dreading the end of the period.

Never had I ever had to have one of these discussions with a student before. I had heard of other teachers that had gone through this situation before and came out better for it. Yet I was daunted at the prospect of talking to Cassie one-on-one and offering my minimal services. Doing research online helped a little, but mostly I was winging it.

As the bell rang and my students made their daily mad dash to the door, Cassie strolled up to my desk and stated, "You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yeah, pull up a seat."

She grabbed the nearest desk chair and pulled it over, sliding gracefully into it and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes sir?"

"Cassie..." I had only just begun and I already needed to pause to gather my thoughts. Goodness. "I just wanted to ask you some questions about your home life."

"Okay...shoot."

I saw her wince. Poor word choice there. I ignored it for the moment. "You live with your dad, right?"

"Correct."

"And what does he do for a living?"

She paused, taking a moment to scratch her ear. "He, uhh...works in shipping."

"And how long has he worked in shipping?"

Without skipping a beat, she replied, "Eight years."

"I see. Being in the shipping business involves some pretty crazy hours. I have a friend who works down at the docks. Do you ever get to see him?"

"Not as often as I like, admittedly...but I see him whenever he isn't working. He has nowhere else to go and no one else to see, so he always comes straight home when he gets off duty. Calls me his number one girl."

"Must be nice, just the two of you..."

"Gets a bit lonely, actually."

"So does he ever have friends over?"

Her eyes widened a tad. "Mr. Grizzle, why are you asking about my dad and his friends or lack-thereof?"

I recognized the evasion for what it was... "Cassie," I rubbed my eyes, "I realize you're sixteen years old. You're a young adult and can think for yourself. I just wanted to let you know that I am here for you if you need anything."

She stared at me blankly. I decided to take another stab at it.

"I realize your father is in hospital. I'm under the impression that he was shot. I just wanted you to know that if there's anything wrong with your home life, if you don't feel safe about something, you can tell me...or any teacher for that matter, and we can help you."

Why was she looking at me like an idiot?

"Let me get this straight. You heard that my dad was in hospital, saw my dad's friend, the mysterious Alex Rider, come pick me up to tell me, and you automatically assumed something's wrong with my home life?"

She had the gall to snort in laughter.

"Sorry, Mr. Grizzle." She chuckled some more. "Thank you for looking out for me, but know that your head is completely in the wrong place. I'm perfectly fine at home, and my dad's perfectly fine as well. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's on the mend and should be getting out any day now."

I stared at her. Not a blank stare but more of a stare down, like...'I know there's something you're not telling me.'

Her eyes glared straight back, hard and unyielding with still a trace of humor in them.

I gave in, nodding. "In that case, know my door is open anytime and you are free to go."

She gathered her bags and moved the chair back to its original position. "Thanks, Mr. Grizzle...for everything."

"No problem, Cassie."

Tuning her out as she walked out the door, I immediately flicked the power button to my monitor and watched as the browser pulled up my last opened tab. Quickly weighing my options, I took one last deep breath and grabbed the phone off of the desk.

I punched in the number and waited till someone picked up.

"Child Protection Services, this is Ramona speaking."

"Ramona, you said? My name is David Grizzle and I am a teacher at a private school in Britain. I would like to report a potential hostile environment regarding one of my students."

A/N: The lights come up on the stage and a young 20something woman walks out wearing a floor length black dress. She lifts the microphone in her hand and announces, "We will now allow fifteen minutes for you to go to the lobby and buy concessions, visit the restroom, and breathe fresh air. We will resume then with Act 2 of our production." She quickly walks off stage before the fans start throwing things in her direction.

Hello there, readers! In my head, I'm reading this fanfic as a play...and if this fanfic were a play, this would be the dramatic turn in the story that leads into the intermission. This is Elphaba learning to fly and belting out Defying Gravity, this is Maria finally marrying Captain Von Trapp, this is Moritz committing suicide, this is the cafe scene where Benny gets shown up by a 12 minute long musical number...(Bonus points to people who can name all those shows...minus points to those who didn't know I was referencing specific shows...) Either way, this marks about the middle of my not-so-epic saga.

Hope you liked it. Thoughts?

~Moldy