Teresa Bairos, sister of the mayor and Joel's aunt was the youngest principal in the history of Mystic High. Possibly one of the most successful as well.
The entire student body feared her, but they respected and admired her as well. She was an exceptional woman with prodigious talents and capabilities.
Even the unruliest hooligans in the making would whimper like an injured kitten before her.
Joel himself feared his aunt Terry a lot, another reason for him to act like the perfect all-rounder.
The students frequently referred to her as a 'devil-in-Prada.' Even some teachers as well. For her obvious favoritism towards the world-famous luxury fashion house was always clear through her everyday attire, from top to bottom.
She was quite stunning and young looking for someone in her early thirties. Hence, many found it difficult to think of her as a principal.
If someone were to ask the bullied students of Mystic High, however, she is a devil incarnate for them!
As soon as the loud, stern voice echoed in the cafeteria hall, the chaotic students all became still like statues of stone. They felt their backs freeze and a breeze of icy air cut through them.
Inigo held great respect for Teresa Bairos and had idolized her since he was a young boy. He even used to have a crush on her way back then.
He couldn't help his ears from turning red when he mistakenly met her gaze. He was embarrassed and mad that the reputation he had built before her in so many years was crumbling down to nothing, only because of one moment of misjudgment.
Joel shivered, though it was boiling and stuffy inside the room before his aunt entered. He felt genuinely scared for his life because his aunt would surely recount this incident to his father.
Whoever said being related to a teacher in the same school is being very lucky? They must not have had a proper, firsthand experience of it. It is a time bomb that threatens to explode any and every time you even think of placing a pinky toe over the line of what is acceptable.
"This place looks worse than a fish market," Teresa commented as her gaze swept past the ugly mess on the floor and disheveled appearances of the senior students. The walls had splashes of ketchup and mustards with random crumbs still sliding off of it.
Without wasting time she dished out the punishment, " Every senior present here will write an essay on wastage of food, not a word less than 5000. I'll expect them to reach my table before the first period tomorrow. And you will all stay back today and clean up this mess. I want this place squeaky clean."
Principal Bairos crossed her arms intimidatingly and asked, " Who started this?"
Silence.
Kayla felt beads of sweat roll down from her forehead, mixing with the food on her make-up caked face. In a fit of rage, she had thrown the first item that she found beside her at that wretched tomboy. She didn't think that Nora would easily dodge her bullet of a doughnut and it would strike someone else, starting this 'Food Fight.'
"Well?" The demon president impatiently tapped her right foot. No one dared to even lift their head and meet her gaze.
"Student council president, mind telling me who started this nonsensical pandemonium?" Joel snapped his head towards his aunt, struggling to hide his horror. She had to choose him out of the sixty students present in the room, stinking like food.
"I came in just a few minutes ago with my friend Inigo, and we got caught up in the tumult that had already escalated to an unstoppable limit. So I did not see who started this. I apologise, Principal Bairos." He felt like patting his back for not stammering in before his aunt as her piercing green eyes scrutinized him in great detail.
"Seeing as no one dares to own up, more punishment for the entire senior batch." Protests of disapproval rose within the senior year students, but none dared to say them out loud. They could only grumble and curse in their minds.
Nora side glanced at a silent Kayla. She felt angry that the one at fault was staying silent and letting others suffer while saving herself.
Nora may be a mischievous girl who made many mistakes, but she let no one else take the blame for her. Well, not counting the times when she playfully pinned a few harmless blames on her brother. No one believed her anyway, so everyone's happy!
Nora had a locket around her neck. Discreetly she brought her hands near it and from inside the heart-shaped locket she brought out a miniature version of her wand. Pinching the tooth-pick sized wand with her thumb and index finger, she pointed it towards the ceiling.
"Fall," she whispered under her breath.
A burger bun previously stuck to the ceiling rained down and landed on Kayla's ugly face. She screeched in panic," Ah! A hamster! It's a ...hamburger?" Everyone stared at the ridiculous girl incredulously.
Principal Bairos called Kayla's name," Miss Patton, do you have something to say? You're welcome to open you mouth and say some words. No one else seems willing to do so."
"Uh-I-" Kayla stuttered.
Nora pointed her small wand towards her and said," Speak the truth, if you know what's good."
And like that the spell worked and Kayla's mouth opened up on its own and she sprouted all that she should not have spoken in front of everyone.
"I started this rubbish food fight by throwing a doughnut at Nora, and I called Amora mean names and tried to spread lies about her. As I didn't know what a psychologist is, I thought it was the name given to the patients at a mental hospital, so I called Amora's mother mentally ill. I slept with professor Grayrock to increase my grade and it was not the first time-" the girl shut her mouth tight in horror, her lips still moving making her voice sound muffled.
The last confession did not come as a surprise to the students because there were some rumors among them, yet they inhaled sharp breaths as they slowly turned to check out Teresa's expression.
The 'devil-in-Prada' was silent with a heavy, intimidating air around her. Her eyes were devoid of emotion and bore holes at the bratty blonde girl who just doesn't know what's good for her, and looked very pale at that moment with her hands covering half of her face.
"Miss Patton, follow me to my office. Walter, Hart, you as well. Nowell, wash your face and tell Professor Grayrock to come meet me in my office. The rest of you, leave for your classes and within three minutes after the last bell rings, you all have to report here to clean up this cafeteria if you wish to eat here in the future. Otherwise its packed lunches from home for you." Teresa's crisp voice fell on every single pair of ears present inside the room like an irrevocable ultimatum, and she gracefully turned around and left, her heels clacking against the floor with three girls following behind her.
The rest of the people left inside the room kicked into action once again.
Everyone dispersed faster than they had entered the canteen, running away from the place where they almost met their doom with their precious lives.