Except for a few bathroom breaks, the last few hours were filled with the monotony of Flug lecturing about evil.
Melanie easily tuned out Flug and quickly found a system to look like she was listening while communing with her Creator.
Melanie copied the PowerPoint presentation in her notes while writing down her prayers and her inner dialogue with God in the margins. She asked him many questions and received answers and reassurances that calmed her nerves without making them disappear. The plan they came up with together was to comply until she had her chance to leave, like Lunet said.
Melanie sarcastically thanked God, hoping for a proclamation of holy war or something like that. He replied that in an emergency she could flee to heaven, but if she did that, she would not be able to ever return to earth since Black Hat would be waiting for her once she arrived. Melanie agreed that made sense and that the two of them and her sisters would bide their time until they could come up with a better plan…
"MELANIE!"
Melanie looked up from her notes to see Flug standing over her with crossed arms and a tapping foot.
"What?" Melanie replied.
"I have asked you a dozen questions and you haven't answered a single one," Flug said in frustration. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Yes, and it's boring," Melanie retorted annoyedly. "But I'm writing."
Flug's eyebrows furrowed in frustration and he replied, "Boring? You can't be serious. Don't you like history?"
"I love history," Melanie replied. "I learned about it in school and study it on my own all the time. Feudalism is interesting, but the way you teach it is boring."
Dementia peeked in from the door and laughed, "Haha! Nerd!"
"Dementia, get out!" Flug snapped.
Dementia shut the door, snickering under her breath as she ran down the hall.
"Okay," Flug said with an annoyed sigh. "Would you like to break for lunch? It's almost noon."
"Yes, please," Melanie sassed, quickly turning off her voice recording device, and stuffing everything on her desk into her messenger bag. "I seriously need one."
"Okay, let's break for lunch," Flug replied, ignoring the insult he just heard and opening the door to the hallway.
Melanie smiled wide as she put on her messenger bag and her purse, summoned her scythe, and rode into the hallway before Flug even had the chance to breathe. She rode through the halls quickly, excited to see 505 in the dining room.
Without a word, Flug pressed a button on his watch and summoned a wall in the hallway ahead of Melanie.
Having only a moment to react, Melanie dissolved her scythe and summoned her wings to slow herself down and avoid the obstacle in front of her.
Thankfully, Melanie was fast enough and stopped herself just before she hit the wall.
Flapping in mid-air, Melanie sighed in relief before she turned to Flug and asked, "What was that for? I almost flew into that wall!"
"You left before I could give you your homework," Flug replied, holding a sheet of paper in his hand.
"And you couldn't just yell at me to come back down the hall because…?" Melanie retorted, crossing her arms.
"You might have escaped," Flug replied, crossing his own arms.
"Fair enough," Melanie sighed. "So, what's my homework?"
Flug handed her a sheet of paper and said, "It's only your first day. So, all you have to do is answer some questions about what you learned today, or at least, what you were supposed to be learning today?"
"Okay," Melanie replied as she took the sheet of paper, pulled out a folder from her satchel, placed the paper inside, and slid it back in her bag.
Melanie turned back towards the wall and began trying to phase her hand through it. The furthest she could get on her first try was her fingers.
"Now, let's…" Flug replied before noticing his wrist. "Wait. I forgot my watch. I must go back for it. You need to wait right here. Can you manage that?"
"That should be within the realm of possibility," Melanie replied, having managed to phase her hand through the wall in front of her on her second try.
Flug rolled his eyes and walked back down the hall and into the classroom.
Meanwhile, Melanie pondered the wall in front of her, continuing to see how far she could phase her arm through the wall in front of her. She could never phase as well as Lunet or even Dita could. She had never successfully phased through a wall before. It was aggravating.
That time she phased through her parents' arms was as big a surprise to her as to them. That was the most Melanie had ever phased at one time. There had to be a way to do it again.
That was when Melanie had an idea. She was excited that morning. Maybe she just had to get excited again.
Melanie summoned her scythe, hung her bags on it, and shut her eyes.
She thought of things she would do that day. Video games. Playing with 505. Getting to be 505's friend.
Melanie thought of things from her past, too. All the time she spent training, fighting, and laughing with her nun-ja sisters. All the heroic things they accomplished. All the bad guys they had defeated together.
"Alright!" Melanie exclaimed. "I can do this!"
Melanie summoned her scythe, hung her knapsack and school bag on it, and focused her mind. Then she backed up the scythe as far down the hallway as she could without passing Flug's classroom and prepared her scythe to launch.
After a deep breath, Melanie stood up on her scythe and launched it forward. The hallway passed by in a blur as she accelerated quickly towards the wall in front of her.
Melanie smiled widely in excitement and determination. This was it! This would be the day! Melanie would finally phase her scythe and her whole body through a solid object!
"MELANIE!" Flug yelled from down the hall.
Melanie immediately lost her concentration just as she was reaching the wall at top speed. In an instant, in her haste to slow herself down, she dissolved the scythe under her and tried to move out of the way. That resulted in her soul astral projecting from her body while her body limply fell to the floor along with her bags.
Flug ran down the hall and stood in shock at seeing the girl's soul detached from her body.
"Could you please not scare me like that?!" Melanie exclaimed.
Flug paused for a moment in confusion and asked, "What the…? Are you dead?"
"No, I just astral-projected," Melanie explained.
"Interesting ability," Flug noted. "Anyways, could you get back into your body? It's almost time for lunch."
"Sure," Melanie replied with a sigh.
Melanie quickly repossessed her body while Flug took his remote out of his pocket and lowered the wall.
"Might I ask why you were trying to fly into the wall?" Flug asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Your lecture was really that boring," Melanie replied sarcastically with the straightest face she could muster.
Flug rolled his eyes and asked, "What is the real reason?"
"If you must know, I was trying to phase through it," Melanie replied. "That's something my mother, Lunet, and Dita can do…"
"But not you, huh?"
"You don't have to rub it in."
"Well, if you would like help developing your powers, we'd be glad to help you. After all, a proper villainess needs to be able to use all her superpowers."
Melanie frowned and said, "First, I'm not a villain. Second, you want to teach me how to use my powers?"
"Of course," Flug said. "Villain or not. That's something you need to learn how to do. Is it not?"
"And have to endure another one of your lectures?" Melanie asked. "No, thanks. I can manage on my own."
Flug sighed and rolled his eyes before he came up with an idea and said, "Go on up to lunch. I'll see you later."
Flug then turned and walked back down the hall.
Melanie blinked confusedly and replied, "You're not going to eat?"
"505 sends my lunch to my desk," Flug replied without stopping his pace.
"No, I mean, you're not going to escort me?" Melanie asked, picking her bags up off the floor.
Flug stopped in his tracks, looked over his shoulder, and retorted, "Do you want me to escort you? There are so many things we could talk about like…"
"Good point," Melanie interrupted before she summoned her scythe and flew off to the elevator.
Flug hmphed contentedly and resumed his walk and his new idea.