All's Fair

Who's In Trouble?

A/n:  For those interested, this takes place during the episode Fight or Flight of Detentionaire.

The day after my birthday and I was left for the school ahead of schedule. I had ducked out early last time and after a relatively quiet day, instinct (and something else called experience) told me a storm was coming. Barrage wouldn't mind if I showed up early.

I took the bus over and made it into the school the same time as some of the students. Believe or not, a certain group of them actually greeted me when I walked by!

"Hey, Nora!" I waved to Jenny when she called out. Guess I'm not blacklisted anymore. Deuce and Lou were with her, they didn't say anything. Not until Jenny elbowed each of them. "Go ahead. You both need to say sorry!"

Deuce stopped eating some pebbles in his hands and Lou took his thumb out of his mouth. At the same time, they both said. "We're sorry bout the taz thing."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Really? That's the best you guys can do?"

"Jenny, it's fine." I told her. "As long as they don't do it again, I'm not mad about it. We actually got a lot from helping you guys. And your book has been a huge help to us."

"Yeah, some help it is to us!" Lou complained. "We can't read a word of it. The whisker's still useless, unless it tells us what to do!"

"I'm working on it!" Jenny yelled at him. Uh-oh, I don't want a fight between these three.

"We have four people working on that book, Lou. One of them is Jenny, who's working hard both for herself and for her friends. Another is me, who gets a job done once she gets it. Another is a genius, and the last one won't ever leave another person to suffer. You'll get your curse broken, just give things some time." I wasn't sure if that last part was true, but it would have to be true enough.

"Thanks, Taz-Tamer." Deuce said. "Jenny told us you're cool and that you're nice. Are you gonna find the answers for us?"

"I'll do everything that I can, Deuce. Jenny's detention is over in a few days, but hopefully even after that we'll be working to find the answers to all out questions." Eh, Taz-Tamer is starting to grow on me. And truthfully, so is A. Nigma High. I can still relate these kids even though their school is sooo different from any other. Dad's even noticed that I've become brighter!

Last night at the restaurant, I told him what I could (that he would believe) about the last few days. When I got to the part about Serpent he said, "Now is this boy a friend or..."

"I don't know Dad, I still haven't decided." I shrugged. "But I keep having a good time when I hang out with him. He's even better than me at martial arts, maybe."

"Ha, ha! That's my little Warrior. I want to get back to this boy, but I also want to ask about how things are going at that high school."

Okay, okay. Let's see... "On complaints, the principal is ex-army, but no one's told him this is a high school! Barrage sometimes demands I come even earlier than we agreed if he has an emergency. The teachers don't stop him when he insults the students, and I think he spends too much of the school's budget on unnecessary security!"

My dad stopped eating his steak to listen. "Wow. That's a lot of complaints. Do I even want to ask about the students?"

"Believe it or not Dad, I have nothing to complain about the students. I like them, it's a lot easier to talk to them. Some are definitely kids who have issues at home, but even the worst of them show good, strong personalities that carry them through even when Barrage comes in hard."