Page 33 of Frayed Owner

“That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a while. Seriously, Headmaster.”

“He’s serious, Ms. Millen,” one of the teachers warned me.

I immediately stopped laughing and glanced between them before focusing on Wyatt. “He can’t make me, right?”

“I would never force anyone, Ms. Millen. I would have thought you’d want the voice and chance to fight for your fellow classmates after how you did battle with Hensley,” the headmaster said, his tone genuinely confused.

I opened my mouth to remind him that I’d done that for survival and because I’d been forced to. I didn’t get a chance because two large, male, pissed-off students came storming over and cussing me out in Russian.

No matter the languages, people knew when they were being cussed out.

I met the headmaster’s gaze. “My plate is so full that full doesn’t even really cover it. Let someone else step up and help and take on part of the fight. Let someone else shoulder the responsibility and hate they’ll get or seriously, do the students deserve the chance for something better? I’m tired of feeling like I’m theonly onefighting some days.”

“I think that more than fair given how much you’ve gone through,” Wyatt grumbled. “Though I hear six women now have cases against Gregg Haddock and are going to trial, so that gives me hope that people will step up and fight if people give them the path.”

“Good for them,” I said, truly meaning it.

“I understand your point and agree with both your sentiments. Hopefully, someone else from the freshman class will step up,” the headmaster accepted before snapping at the students to remember themselves and who else was standing there. It was clear he was on his last leg of patience as well.

Yeah, I knew the feeling.

Well.

And I had a lot more people to put the spell on. I had to remember not to do it in the cafeteria or library since those were the two places out of bounds.

But it meant people wentcrazytalking trash about me during lunch thinking they were safe then if I hadn’t already hit them. It pissed me off that they were so petty and relished in being brutal when I hadn’t done anything wrong.

I could be petty too.

So I pretended like I’d hit my limit and left lunch early… Only to stand outside of the cafeteria and wait for people to exit. I smirked at them as I hit whole groups of them with the spell, not caring if I got a few innocent bystanders.

I hadn’t heardanyonetell people to shut up or enough with saying shit about me or the situation. They were guilty by association and allowing that around them then. Being friends with assholes.

The only reason people escaped me was because they took too long coming out and I had to get to the rec center and changed for training. I heard more of it when I walked out of the locker room and hit a whole group to my right.

Seriously, I was so over this shit, I was going to hit the whole campus at this rate.

“At least I’ve got the spell drilled into my head for the rest of my life at this point,” I grumbled, trying to think of any bright side. I gasped when Emma was suddenly there pushing me behind her and looking ready for action.

“I suggest you calm down, Coach,” she said in a calm voice. “All faculty are fair game for the Wicked Challenges. Headmaster Kerwynn even knows about this prank and is in charge of the list and points, so you’ll have to report in on this one.”

I glanced over her shoulder to see Coach Dunham’s face bright red and about to explode… Before he shouted at us in Russian.

So he had been part of the group who had been saying shit about me? Again?

Sure enough, all of the aides besides Emma were speaking Russian too.

“Do the cameras have audio?” I asked Emma under my breath.

“All over it,” she promised.

Well, that was something. It would probably go nowhere again, but… I enjoyed it and the shit he deserved for a freshman being able to get the drop on them.

Then again, no other freshman would probably be so stupid.

Yeah, that was probably more likely the answer.

9

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