𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚗 ☼ 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚢𝚕 𝙳𝚒𝚡𝚘𝚗

xᴠɪɪ. ɪ ᴘʀᴇᴅɪᴄᴛ ᴀ ʀɪᴏᴛ

"You can do this." You said to yourself, but you were lying. What you had meant to say was 'you need to do this' - and so you did. Taking a deep breath, you thought back to the morning you'd taught your first class. The students were barely younger than you, and you'd drank so much coffee that your hands shook when you wrote your name on the board with chalk. A few people had teased you about it, or nudged their friends to draw attention to the way you fumbled with the hem of your skirt, or stuttered whilst introducing yourself. They were old enough to know better, but still young enough not to care.

You'd gone home like a deflated balloon that evening, after crying in the parking lot for half an hour once your lecture ended. The entire night you went over how the day had gone in your head, replaying any mistakes and blowing them out of proportion - as you always did. Then, you woke up the next morning and tried again. You swapped out your pencil skirt for your big girl pants and got there early, taking a seat and waiting for everyone to filter into the auditorium. A few were late, but you didn't say anything. Instead, you stayed silent where you sat, legs crossed as you finished your newspaper puzzle.

Twenty minutes out of the hour slot had passed before each student took their seat, but you waited patiently until they did. Then, you started your lecture. It had run over time, as you had expected, and a few voices at the back made a point of mumbling too loudly, complaining about missing their sports practice. You replied, with your back still facing them, that you were also disappointed to miss the movie you'd booked, since their lateness had caused a knock-on effect. You then retrieved the ticket from your blazer pocket and ripped it up in front of them, letting the pieces fall to the floor and scatter at your feet.

"So, who's going to pay for it?" You'd asked, but no one replied.

That day, you learned the most valuable lesson you could from teaching; the best way to deal with troublemakers is to give them a taste of their own medicine. So, you brought Merle Dixon his.

The man eyed you up and down as you took a seat opposite him, laying out your supplies on the table. You'd had to ask Hershel for some more, since you'd used up what little you had on the youngest Dixon brother. Merle smiled in a way that made his eyes crinkle, and he chewed his lip between his teeth obnoxiously as he let his gaze linger over you for a little too long.

Carol was sitting at the table next to you, cleaning her gun. Though, you knew that she was only staying to keep an eye on you. Rick did the same, but a lot less subtly. He hovered over the pair of you like a persistent wasp. Even if he was out of your sight, you could still hear him - tapping his boot on the stone floor, or letting out the occasional sigh.

"We're fine here." You said, breaking the roulette of silence you all seemed to be a part of. "You don't have to stand watch."

You glanced at the officer, who made his unconvinced expression clear in return. You raised an eyebrow at him, and eventually he gave you a small nod. He took off for the courtyard with long strides, shooting Merle a warning look over his shoulder as he did. The other man just chuckled in response, sending a taunting wave in Rick's direction as he left the cell block. As soon as he was out of earshot, Merle started with his antics, stretching out his legs so that they propped up on one of the empty chairs. His boots made a purposeful thud as they came in contact with it, and you didn't attempt to hide your scowl.

"Well hey there, Blondie." He greeted, rolling his neck and stretching it from side to side. "Back for some more, are ya?" He questioned, before running his toungue along his teeth. "Just couldn't get enough of ol' Merle."

You rolled your eyes, and almost snorted. He sounded so unlike Daryl it was laughable. You tried to imagine the younger Dixon speaking the same words, and it made you smirk without realising. Merle seemed to catch on, and ramped up his taunts to try and draw something out of you.