Dancing With a Witch

New Adjustments (Chapter 1)

"Sir Pheles," Zelena Hepburn is in a conference call with her old friend and colleague. "I can't just move back to Japan, my entire life is here in Revelstoke."

"Isn't there any way, that you and Nikki could at least consider it?" Sir Pheles asks. "If the concern are your daughters, I'm sure I could find a spot for Lyra in my school. Poppy could transfer to True Cross University if she so chooses."

"I don't think Poppy would want to move from her partner," Zelena says. "I'll ask her though. As for Lyra, that's a conversation that may take some coaxing; she's still struggling to fit in her school here."

"Would you like me to have a chat with her?" Sir Pheles inquires.

"That might help," Zelena muses. "Lyra loves you, said something how your remind her of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland."

Sir Pheles chuckles, "Well then my dear, I'll be there in two shakes of a rabbit's whiskers!"

The call ends, just in time for her phone to ring again, this time the number for Revelstoke Secondary School.

"Oh no," she says right before answering. "Good afternoon, Mistwood Stables, Zelena speaking."

"Mrs. Hepburn," Hugo Johnston, the school principal says in his usual arrogant tone. "We need you to come in and get your daughter, she's been suspended."

"Might I ask what for?" Zelena asks.

"Just get down here," he all but barks at her.

Before she can respond, the call ends.

"Oy vey," she huffs.

Zelena walks down the hall to the principal's office, earning the usual curious stares from students and faculty.

With her long, wavy auburn hair that she kept down and long black dress, well, you can guess what she looked like.

She walks into the office and finds her daughter, sinking back in one of the chairs and trembling with anxiety.

Zelena looks at the principal, "What did you do to her?"

Mr. Johnston props up a book that was sitting on his desk, "Did you give your daughter permission to read this?"

"The Da Vinci Code? What of it?" Zelena asks.

"Lyra felt it appropriate to write her latest book report on this," Mr. Johnston tells her.

"And what? You're upset that she chose a book beyond your own reading comprehension?" Zelena crosses her arms and glowers at him. "This isn't a religious school, so what's the problem?"

"Lyra is well aware that Ms. Altman is a devout Christian," Mr. Johnston muses arrogantly. "And yet, still chose to bring Satanic literature into her class and write a report on it."

"Satanic literature?" Zelena prompts. "It's a murder mystery based on a dark conspiracy. There's nothing Satanic in that book, if either you or Ms. Altman had bothered to look it up, or read the back of it." She lets out a breath and turns to Lyra, "Are you okay?"

Lyra lets out a breath and steadies her shaking, "Ms. Altman yelled at me and accused me of being a demon. Then she grabbed me and dragged me down here, yelling more and saying how I'm a child of the devil."

Zelena turns back to the principal and glowers, "Is that how you people treat your students? By verbal abuse and physically dragging them when they do something you don't agree with?" She points to him and says, "I'm done. I'm done with letting you treat my daughter with such disrespect; you're a misogynistic monster and I'm calling an investigation on the treatment of the rest of the kids here."