"Look, Ms. West...I don't know what is wrong with you, but that was possibly the most inappropriate way to handle the situation."
Cassie declared coldly as she stood up and confronted Ms. West. There was a level of confidence in her voice, the confidence that compelled her to do what the others were too afraid to do.
For a brief moment, Ms. West couldn't believe what she was hearing. When the shock passed, anger followed. This girl...how dare she do this? She was already having a rough day! Her bank account was nearly empty and it would be a week until payday! She still couldn't find true love! And her neck hurt from looking at her phone for too long! These were all things unrelated to the students, but they put her in a bad mood!
Human beings were emotional creatures. It was perfectly normal to have good days and bad days, but the wise ones knew to keep their emotions from interfering with their jobs. The not-so-wise ones, like Ms. West over here…they never learned that lesson.
Facing people in positions of power, these people could keep their heads low and their tempers tamed. But when they could act with impunity, these people would become the bane of their subordinates.
Ms. West didn't care about who was at fault here. All she knew was that she was challenged by someone who should be obeying every word she said, and that pissed her off. And when she was pissed off, she loved to talk.
"Oh...look who's being the hero." A vicious grin climbed onto her cheeks as she scanned Cassie from top to bottom. "Who was that mute to you? Are you fucking him?"
"Wow wow wow…" Cassie coughed as her face turned slightly red. That took a weird turn. "That was...inappropriate...if it came from a student. Coming from a teacher, that is just ridiculous."
"Liar!" Ms. West declared, looking smug as she saw the nervousness on Cassie's face. "Look at you! You're already dressed like a slut! You know, back in my days, if I dressed like you do now, I would be caned!"
Cassie looked down at her clothing. She was wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of short jeans. Yes, she did have a lot of skin out, but it was hot outside. And the way she was dressed was probably among the conservative ones in the school. Of course, she knew Ms. West was just trying to find an excuse to target her.
Before she could defend herself, the rest of the class realized they could no longer sit back and watch. Cassie was one of the quietest kids in the class, but she was always polite and helpful. Either way, what Ms. West did and said was too much. One by one, the students stood up against their teacher.
As the tides turned against her, Ms. West turned pale. The smug look on her face was no more, replaced by disbelief and anger. "How...how dare you? I'm your teacher! You kids should respect me!"
"Respect goes both ways. If you give us respect, we will return them to you. If you don't, well…" Cassie grinned as she took a glance across the classroom. She was grateful for the support of her classmates. Then again, it was all irrelevant, as she already had some plans in mind for the chatty teacher.
"I...I will report all of you!" Ms. West growled before turning and storming out of the room.
As the disgraced teacher fled the classroom, the students looked at each other, unsure of what to do now. Many of them were terrified of the retaliations, while others weren't so worried. A few students walked up to Cassie and thanked her for speaking up against what was clearly unjust. Cassie replied to them with smiles on, but slowly, as she was left to herself once again, the young woman's eyes were trained on the door where Ms. West left.
Ms. West wasn't a criminal, and no law in the world could punish her. But she was not fit to be a teacher, and she either needed to change or she needed to go. And Cassie...she had a brilliant idea of how to do just that.
---
It was lunch time in the cafeteria. Amanda sat at one of the long tables. She was joined by a dozen other girls, all of them with wide smiles on and wearing the school cheerleader uniform. As she slowly worked on a dish of salad, Amanda couldn't help but find herself looking around the entire cafeteria space for the n-th time in the past ten minutes. An empty seat was right beside her.
Finally, her eyes figuratively lit up when she saw a familiar figure walking out of the women's bathroom. Cassie. She had her backpack on her, and Amanda quickly stood up and waved at her. Cassie bit her lips before joining Amanda at the table.
"You know...you really don't have to save me a seat everyday. That's not saying I don't appreciate it, by the way." Cassie said quietly as she quickly glanced across the longtable. She could see a few of the girls staring back at her with interest, and that made her really uncomfortable.
"What, you don't want to sit with me?" Amanda joked casually.
"It's not that."
Honestly, as much as she enjoyed Amanda's company, Cassie considered herself a private person. Her priorities in school, and in life in general, were clear. Get good grades, get into a good university, and set herself up for a bright future. Aside from Amanda, the only people she talked to in school were her classmates. After all, what was the point in meeting people if everyone would leave after four years?
Unfortunately, Amanda didn't seem to mind that Cassie wanted to distance herself from everyone else. She was always so enthusiastic no matter what Cassie said. As far as Cassie was concerned, Amanda had the heart of an Angel.
As she sat down, Cassie tossed another look at the women's bathroom. There, a familiar figure pushed the door open and walked out. Ms. West. She seemed as annoyed as always as she moved. Unsurprising, considering Cassie made sure she would retain no memory of what happened.
"Hey Cassie," Amanda called out to Cassie again. When Cassie didn't respond, she tapped Cassie's arm, and she was surprised when Cassie flinched like she was being burned. "Uh...you alright?"
"Yeah…" Cassie whispered, quietly moving her arm to the side. She really didn't like the idea of other people touching her. "What's up?"
"Oh, I just thought you may want to go buy some food."
"That's...good point. Watch my bag, please."
As Cassie stood up and left, one of the girls sitting in front of Amanda couldn't help but speak up. She was a little shorter than Amanda. It was clear she had quite the makeup on. "What's up with her?"
"What?" Amanda didn't understand.
"Well, she just seems so jumpy." The girl shrugged. "I really don't get why you're friends with someone like that. I mean...if she's a boy, I might care about her a little more, but a girl…wait," She suddenly let out a smile. "Amanda, are you…"
"Nope. You have wild thoughts, Bree." Amanda shook her head. She took another glance at the check-out line before adding. "I just feel like she doesn't have any friends, you know. And no one really talks to her, so I thought I can change that and make her day better. That's all."
"As compassionate as always, Amanda." Bree was impressed.
That was when Cassie returned to the table with a burger and a juicebox. She set the food on the table and started going through it. She knew the other girls were looking at her. After all, this table was filled with some of the most popular girls of the school and many of them felt like Cassie didn't deserve to be here, but honestly, Cassie just didn't care.
Popularity contests in high school were petty and meaningless. If Cassie had the free time on her hand, she would rather learn a potentially profitable skill.
As she ate, she heard one of the girls speak up.
"So...did you guys hear about what happened to Mr. Douglas?"
"Of course we have, Veronica! He was a pervert and he decided to send some pervert videos to other people! I thought he was fired and arrested?"
"That is old news." The girl, Veronica, added. She sounded a little excited. "Last I heard, he got out on bail...and don't get me started on why the whole bail system is stupid. Anyway...he got out, went home, and hung himself!"
"Wait…" Cassie suddenly looked up from her food. "Mr. Douglas...he's dead?"
"Yep. Killed himself. I just said that." Veronica shrugged. "Then again, I guess it's only appropriate with what he did...and even worse, so many people saw what he did! If he didn't send out those emails...who knows?"
What Veronica said was unintentional and she didn't really think about it, but Cassie knew what it meant. She made Mr. Douglas send out those emails, and it was those emails that forced him to kill himself. In other words, she, Cassie Wilson, killed the man.
To say Cassie was comfortable was the idea would be telling a lie. Honestly, the notion horrified Cassie. The idea of something she did that ended a life...it was haunting. Cassie swore she didn't think this would happen. She only wanted to make sure Mr. Douglas would be gone, but she had no intention of killing him. He deserved to be in prison, not in the morgue.
What would her father think if he knew what she did? If he was to find out?
"What's wrong, Cassie?" Amanda keenly noticed the distraught Cassie was in. As the eyes were trained on her, Cassie did her best to come up with an explanation.
"Oh, nothing. It's just...I can't believe someone we were talking to not long ago is all of a sudden dead."
"Well, it's a good riddance." Bree didn't share Cassie's concern. If anything, she seemed all too happy with how things turned out. "Have you seen the things he wrote about? A pervert like him...he had it coming."
"Yeah, good riddance indeed." Cassie whispered. This was when she finally realized the fun extent of what she was capable of. She could break a man's career, ruin his reputation, and end his life with just a few words. And her powers were still at their infancy now. What would she be able to do in a year? A decade?
That really got her thinking.