Senior Year

♡ eighteen ♡

"Alright class, that is all I have for you today, don't forget that your notes on chapters six through ten of  Handmaid's Tale are due tomorrow at the beginning of the hour! That's right, that means you will have them ready to turn in as soon as class starts," Mrs. Hessler called out to the class, before being cut off by the bell, indicating class was over.

"Miss Harden, a word?" She called out before I was able to leave. I sighed and slung my backpack over my shoulder as I waited for the rest of the class to leave the room. Mrs. Hessler was one of those teachers where you never wanted to hear the phrase 'a word' ever come out of their mouth, because it usually meant you had gotten yourself in some deep shit.

"Yes, Mrs. Hessler?" I asked as politely as I could, after the last student left the room.

"I got a message from administration a few days ago to address my bias against a particular student who had special circumstances, claiming I was treating her unfairly compared to the rest of my students," She started, sending a nasty look down at my stomach, as if to show her distaste with me getting pregnant, "Miss Harden, if you have a problem with my class, I expect you to talk to me before involving your mother and administration with the issue."

I gave her a confused look, "With all due respect Mrs. Hessler, I did come to speak with you about my grade on the essay and how it was graded quite differently than my classmates papers. I was told that my tardiness was the reason behind the hefty loss of points, however, several other students told me that they had turned in their papers later than mine and were given almost perfect scores."

"Some of those students had arrangements or special circumstances they had arranged with me previously," She told me, trying to cover her own ass.

"I am also one of those students with a special circumstance, Mrs. Hessler. It is in my file and everything, and while most of the time I don't need extensions, there are some occasions where I do, like when my son has a doctor's appointment that I need to take him to," I informed her.

She huffed, clearly taking the time to actually read my file, "Well, Miss Harden, this is your fair warning that I am expecting your book notes tomorrow, no exceptions."

"Oh no problem, Mrs. Hessler, in fact," I started before pulling my backpack off of my back. I pulled out my English folder and pulled out my completed notes, "Notes for chapters six through ten, one page, front and back, no skipping lines, just like you requested," I smiled, handing it to her.

She stared at me, almost as if she was flabbergasted and couldn't believe I had my work done early. "Thank you, you are free to go."

"Have a great day, Mrs. Hessler," I told her before heading out the classroom door.

"God, what a bitch," I mumbled to myself as I walked away from her door and over to where Arden was waiting for me.

"Hey! What took you so long?" She asked as we walked down the hallway to get to the cafeteria.

"You know, just teaching Hessler a lesson for being nasty to one of her students," I shrugged.

"What the hell did you say to her?" She asked.

"Let's just say she called me out for going to admin and then tried to cover her ass about other kids getting special circumstances, so then I told her to look at my file to see the clear as day special circumstance written on it," I laughed.

"I'm glad somebody finally put her in her place, maybe she'll stop treating students like shit now," Arden contemplated.

I scoffed, "I doubt it, she hates being wrong."

She sighed as she nodded in agreement, "and she loves all of the power."

"I'm just glad this probably means she'll change my essay grade," I grinned.

"Hey, I haven't seen that smile in a while," Grayson noted as we sat down at the table.

"Kennedy put Hessler in her place," Arden offered up.

"No way! What did she say?" Grayson asked, turning to me.

"She basically tried to call me out for getting admin involved and then I called her out on her bullshit excuses after she claimed the other students who turned their essays in late had special circumstances, so I basically told her to look at my file," I started, "And then she still wanted to win by telling me she would need my book notes when they were due tomorrow, so I handed them to her in the spot," I exclaimed.

"Kennedy one, Hessler zero," James called out, offering his hand for a high-five.

"That's the Kenny I know and love," Wyatt smiled, squeezing my hand.

"And now I can also tell admin that she went against my learning plan by requiring me to have my work done on time," I informed them all.

"Dude, she's going to hate you," Arden gasped.

I shrugged, "Eh, she already does, so it doesn't really matter."

"It's really good to see you standing up for yourself, Kennedy," Jess informed me.

"It feels good to stand up for myself too. It feels like a switch went off on my brain, like I had baby, I shouldn't let anyone make me feel lesser than them or treat me that way because the people who really care about me and want to form a friendship wouldn't care," I shared.

Wyatt gave my thigh a gentle squeeze, "Just make sure everything you do is always for you and not because you're trying to prove anything to anyone else because you don't need to prove yourself to anyone."

"I will," I smiled, before feeling something cold run down my back.

"What the—" I started as I whipped my head around.

"That's for getting us sent to Lakes' office, bitch," Kelsey sneered at me.

"The only bitch here is you, and you deserved it," Grayson growled, as he stood up and rounded the table.

She scoffed at him, "I can't believe I ever wasted my time on you, I should've known you would always side with your ho—."

Grayson cut her off, "Finish that sentence and I won't hesitate to take you down. You've had enough warnings as it is."

"Kels, isn't it so sweet that her brother will defend her before her baby daddy will, seems like Wyatt's not all as team Kennedy as we thought," Hailey snickered, standing next to Kelsey.

I felt Wyatt's hands ball up into fists, and I grabbed his hand with mine, "You don't need to get involved, they're just trying to stoke the fire."

Hailey pouted, "Awe, you have to convince him to stay with you, how sweet."

In one swift motion, Wyatt was standing up and in their faces, "I think you have overstayed your nonexistent welcome here, I'd suggest you leave now because it's six against two and three of us individually weigh more than both of you combined."

"This is your reminder to watch your back Kennedy, next time it will be way worse than milk," Kelsey spit before her and Hailey stalked off and out of the lunchroom.

"Why can't they just leave us alone?" I sighed.

"Because we're never allowed to have the last word," Jess sighed.