Now that the school year was underway, it was time for Meet the Teacher Night. Katrina came to school with both Dad and Vati, and brought them to Ms. Jewel's classroom. "This is my homeroom."

Joe looked around the room, intrigued by the posters on the walls. He, Von Kaiser, and Katrina all sat down at a table together. Ms. Jewel sat at the front of the room at her desk. "Good evening, Katrina, and your dads," said Ms. Jewel. "Are you liking high school so far?"

"Yeah," said Katrina. "I like my art class, even though I have to share it with that meanie Claire."

Ms. Jewel cocked her eyebrow. "What do you and Claire have against each other?"

"She started being mean to everyone in middle school," griped Katrina, "and now she goes around telling everyone lies about me and my dads."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said Ms. Jewel. "If you ever have any issues with her, the guidance counsellor will be happy to help you."

"Ich hoffe, wir haben keine Probleme mit ihr," said Von Kaiser. (I hope we don't have any problems with her.)

"La dernière année, elle a presque causé à ma Katrina d'avoir des problèmes à l'école," explained Joe. (Last year, she nearly got my Katrina in trouble at school.)

More parents then began to trickle into the room with their kids. Joe and Von Kaiser got up and let the students take their seats. "Alright, good evening, everyone," said Ms. Jewel when everyone had arrived. "I'm Amber Jewel, and I'll be your kids' homeroom teacher during their four years here. Tonight, we'll be discussing school procedures, events, and what will be happening in case of an emergency."


As Meet the Teacher night progressed, Katrina, Joe, and Von Kaiser soon made their way to Miss Lazlo's classroom. And of course, that meant Claire was there with Viona. Claire glared at Katrina when she came in, and Viona gave Von Kaiser and especially Joe the evil eye.

"Alright, good evening, everyone," said Miss Lazlo, clapping to get everyone's attention. "I'm Patricia Lazlo, and I'll be teaching your little gremlins art this semester."

Miss Lazlo brought up a slideshow on the SMART Board. "Some of the topics we'll be discussing include colour theory, different styles of art, some art history, and general creativity."

Annaliese McIntire raised her hand. "Are we going to learn about Vincent Van Gogh?"

"You betcha," said Miss Lazlo. "What art class doesn't?"

Across the room, Janet received a message, which she opened.

clairedelune88 sent: i bet k's dads are only here to detract suspicion (6:29 pm)

Janet rolled her eyes and deleted the message. She was not in the mood for Claire and her drama tonight.


At around seven o'clock, Katrina, Joe, and Von Kaiser got to Katrina's Period 5 class, a math class with the infamous Mr. Mackey. "Y'see, I live under the philosophy that math is way more enjoyable if you use it in a context that matters to you. Like, no one likes adding up percentages, but what if you were adding the percentages of how successful your favourite band's songs are?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Katrina could see Aria's eyes widen, as if she'd never thought of it that way before.

Joe raised his hand. "Peut-être tu peux faire la multiplication avec certaines boissons, et combien tu besoin pour un groupe de personnes." (Maybe you could do multiplication with certain drinks, and how many you'd need for a group of people.)

"See, Mr. Beaufort gets it," said Mr. Mackey. "The point of math is not to suffer through it, but to make it your friend. And that's my job; make math your friend."


When Meet the Teacher Night was over, Katrina passed by Claire on her way out. "So," said Claire, "are you going to play Punching Bag when you get home?"

"Actually, we're going to feed the cat and watch a movie together, because that's what good families do," said Katrina, sticking her nose up.

Von Kaiser put a hand on Katrina's shoulder. "Meine Stieftochter wird heute Abend nicht verletzt, seien Sie versichert." (My stepdaughter will not be injured tonight, rest assured.)

"Calmes-tu, Viktor," said Joe, easing his husband's tension. "Viens, on va retourner chez nous." (Calm down, Viktor. Come on, let's go home.) Joe corralled his family together, and they all left for home, where they would enjoy a peaceful night together.