Chiron Academy

Chapter 28, Part 1: Return of the Dean

"Well, well, well, I didn't expect to see you here, partner," Amy said as Wyatt rounded the corner to Dean's office.

She was seated on one of the few chairs against the wall next to the door. They were not alone. Another six kids were also there, in various stages of milling about. Given that this was on the faculty side of the building, they were probably here for the same reason he was.

"Partner?" Wyatt said as he sat down in a chair two away from her. "What? Are we cowboys now?"

"Why not?" she said fiddling idly with the zipper on her backpack. Wyatt could see the weariness in her unfocused gaze. "That sounds a lot better than having to do algebra. Wandering the open range sounds like it would be a nice change of pace."

"Will you be challenging me to any duels at high noon?"

"Wyatt, I'm flattered that you ask," she explained. Her tone seemed to imply that he was a smile child. "But it's actually very bad form to duel one's partners. Nor am I feeling particularly up to dueling at the moment. I'm afraid this town is going to have to remain big enough for the two of us for the moment."

Her expression shifted to a serious one. 

"You here about grades too?" she said.

"Yeah," he replied holding out the piece of paper he'd been handed when he had been pulled out of class. The message was short, directing him down here immediately for a meeting with the dean. 

Amy pulled an identical one out of her pocket.

"Birds of a feather, I guess," Wyatt said with a shrug.

"Being a bird must be nice. Not as nice as being a cowboy but it would have its perks. No responsibility. You just fly around and decide who you want to poop on that day. Nothing holding you down but clouds and nothing holding you back but the breeze."

"That was actually nice sounding. Like poetry."

"Thanks. Maybe if I beg my English teacher, she'll give me extra credit for it."

She laughed at that. Not in the way that you laugh when you think a joke is actually funny. It was a harsh, mirthless sound. 

"Do you think it's just going to be a 'get your grades up' lecture?"

Wyatt had been in school long enough that he'd had more than his share of talks from teachers about putting more work in at school. It wasn't anything he looked forward to but he could take it.  

"Yes and no. More of a 'get your grades out up' with a healthy portion of 'putting the fear of God in you' and just a touch of 'holding your feet to the fire." 

"You already been in?"

Amy nodded.

"How bad was it?" 

"Not great. I won't get sent home or anything, but he said if I don't get things together fast, I might have to do the year over again next year. He said if I want to graduate, I'll have to 'eat, drink, and sleep studying'. I'm not sure which one sounds worse."

"I know it's my fault. I should have been taking school more seriously. Even back home, I haven't done school work in forever. I should have guessed that wouldn't fly here.

"I've been thinking recently. You ever seen Paint Your Wagon? It's a musical western from the seventies. It's kind of a weird movie. Anyway, Lee Marvin's character is this old guy and he becomes partners with Clint Eastwood's character. They become a team and watch out for each other. The rest of the movie is about how they both marry this same lady and their gold rush town gets ultimately undone by the town's own greed.