020

020

Gaia
The sun shone brightly in the sky, and I basked in all its glory. I was feeling confident today; the sky was clear and birds chirped happily around me as I marched towards the lecturers block of the campus. I ignored the weird glances and looks the other students were throwing my way.

If Tatum was here, he'd make a whole fuss about me not being okay.

I was happy and nothing could ruin my day. At least not yet.

I smoothed the creases on my dark purple tee, not that there were any anyway. I glanced at the tears in my faded ripped jeans and took out a few loose threads. I stomped my sneakers on the ground a few times to catch the attention of whoever was on the other side of the double doors I was currently standing in front of.

"Alright Gaia," I muttered to myself, my hands grazing the doorknob. “you've got this. You're a badass and it's worth it."

I pushed open the doors and caught a faint whiff of perfume lingering in the air; female perfume to be precise which meant Cassian wasn't in or he'd been strangled to death by the stench of that horrid smell.

Either way, he wasn't in and it would definitely make my job easier.

"Mr. Corvin, welcome!" Penny's annoyingly cheerful tone died the moment her green orbs settled on me. “Oh. It's you.”

"Oh?" I repeated sarcastically, my hand moving to my chest. I flipped my hair dramatically as I wiped a stray tear from my eye and sighed. “I thought you'd at least be happy to see me."

"Mr. Corvin's not in." She quipped, her arms crossing defensively against each other. “You can leave now."

"What's with the hostility?" I jumped into Cassian's seat, literally and a scowl crossed on her facial features. “I thought you'd be happy to see me. You know, we could hang out, talk about boys and other yucky things girls like you love to do."

"First off, we're not friends." She tried to reach me but I swerved away from her reach, turning the swivel chair in the opposite direction. “Second of all, get out. You don't want to be caught in Mr Corvin's chair if we were to walk in right now. Trust me.”

"You do not want to talk to me in that tone." I warned. “Trust me."

"The hell do you think you are?" She finally got a hold of the rotating chair, stopping right in front of me, her face inches from mine. “I won't say this again, get out."

"Or else what?" I smirked smugly, taking in her facial features. Her black hair was packed in a ponytail so sleek, I was very sure her veins were being tucked into the hair band that was holding her hair intact. Her eyebrows were arched so high, I feared they'd never return to their normal spot even after she'd calmed down. Her eyes were blazing embers of the green color and her lips were pressed in a thin line. To sum it all up, she looked really riled up and I was loving every second of it. "What are you going to do?"

"This." She spat, her hand stopping dangerously close to my face. I threw her hand back down, it barely missed hitting the desk. “Just fucking get out of here, you slut!"

"What did you just call me?" I jerked out of the seat, my hands balling into fists. It was taking everything in me not to bang her head open against her beloved teacher's desk. “What the fuck did you just call me?"

"You heard me." She smirked, obviously satisfied by my reaction. “It's obvious really, pinning after Mr. Cassian as if your life depends on it, and in a way it kinda does. You're so jealous you don't get to spend more than the time you do with him in class. Isn't it pathetic?"

“I've slept with the dude, you bastard.” I wanted to yell, but I just couldn't. Yes,I hated the guy, but saying that was only going to bite us in the back, and in more ways than one too.

"Really?" I mirrored her expression, watching it morph into suspicion. "I'm a slut, right? And I think that's good. I'm doing all I can to get a good dick instead of selling answers to upperclassmen just to buy drugs!"

The shock that was registered on her face would be something I'd cherish till I died. She stumbled backward, the desk cushioning her fall.

"What are you talking about?" She stuttered. “What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm the one who should be asking that." I inched closer, her shrinking demeanor filling me with an immense amount of joy. "You could get into serious trouble for this."

Call me sadistic, I didn't care. She shouldn't have bitten off more than she could chew in the first place.

"You don't know what you're saying." She wrung her hands together, tiny beads of sweat beginning to form on her forehead. “I don't know what you're talking about."

"I guess this will help refresh your memory then." I reached into my backpack slung loosely behind me and snuffed out some papers. I flung them in the air and they came cascading down like confetti strewn all over the place. I watched as Penny scrambled to pick the papers. “Do you know what I'm talking about now?"

"This, this, this is all fake!" She shrieked, her voice laced with fear. “Where did you get this?"

"Your room." I replied, my face stoic. “Those are papers you've sold and the ones you're preparing for finals. I have your diary where you keep a record of those you sell it to; Sierra Vista, Jack Bryce, do they ring a bell?"

"You're lying." She was sweating profusely now, despite the chill air the AC unit in the room was providing. “This is all fake."

"I also have the number of your drug dealer." I shrugged nonchalantly. “I also know where he lives. His name is Vincent Clark and if I want him to rat you out, it's as easy as snatching candy from a baby."

"You won't be able to prove anything." Her face contorted into that of rage. She ripped the paper into tiny pieces and threw them at me, a smug smile forming on her lips. “There. You can't prove anything anymore, your evidence is torn all over the place."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." I smiled, but there was nothing friendly about it. “What did you think? That I'd bring the entire evidence over here, of course not darling. I have photocopies of this at home, digital files saved on my phone, and other copies backed up on the cloud on my laptop. I also have connections in high places too. With just one phone call, you'll never see the outside of a prison cell till you die."

"What do you want from me?" Her face went pale at my revelation. "What exactly do you want? I'll give you money…"

"You're no longer playing dumb eh? Good girl." I pouted, taunting her. “What happened to fierce Penny just now? Is she afraid of jail?"

"What do you want from me?" She hugged herself tightly, her fingers scratching against her skin violently. She was shivering slightly, her eyes darting around. She was obviously anxious and I couldn't help but pity her a bit. “You want money, right? I'll give it to you."

"I don't need your cash." I rolled my eyes. “Resign as Cassian's TA."

"What?" She yelped. “I can't do that. I can't!"

"Then I'll just tip off the police with all I found." I shrugged, adjusting my backpack. “Have a nice day."

"Wait!" She grabbed ahold of my arm. I repressed a shudder as I took a closer look at her. The spot she'd been itching was glowing a faint red and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. “Fine, I'll do it."

"Good." I nodded remotely. “Now get out."

"You won't breath a word about this to anyone?" Her eyes were pleading. “Please."

"Deal." I gave her a half smile. “And Penny, I didn't want it to get to this. I just had to."

"It's fine." She sulked, her shoulders sagging." I'll leave now. Tell him I resigned."

And with that she slunk out of the office, closing the door with a tiny thump. I took a cursory look at the office and sighed. Trudging over to his desk, I pushed the torn pieces of paper under Cassian's desk. That was going to be his headache, not mine.

"Hey, Penny..." Cassian's voice floated in almost immediately, following the loud thump of the door closing behind him. “Where... You!"

"Heyyyyyy." I drawled, enjoying the scowl that appeared on his face. “Good afternoon sir, how was your day? Do you need anything? Coffee, tea?..."

"What are you doing here?" He marched towards me, stopping inches away from me and towering over me like the leaning tower of Giza. “Where's Penny?"

"She resigned." I beamed flashing my perfect set of dentition. “And guess what?"

"Oh God no." He gasped, the realization dawning on him. “It's not..."

"She handed all responsibilities to me." I was never this cheery, but I guess for once, this once I could be given a pass. “isn't that sweet?”

Cassian didn't speak, at least for the next couple of seconds, but when he did, I could literally taste every emotion he was feeling all at once.

“I’m officially done for.” he muttered, his fingers coming to punch the bridge of his nose.

“Oh, relax,” I smirked. “You’ll learn to love me, eventually.”

He groaned. I grinned.

Day one of Operation: Drive Professor Corvin Insane, complete.

Oh boy, I can't wait to see what happened next.