Didn't Expect (Book 2 of the KBI series)

Chapter 10 - Professor Hayley

I stood up from my desk with a confident smile playing on my lips. Once I reached her desk, she then gave me a smile of her own.

"You missed the Socratic Seminar when you walked out on the class the other day. So, why don't we start there?" Her 5'7 figure removed herself from the teacher's throne at the front of the class and took a seat in the front row of the desk assembly.

I bet she thinks I won't remember or be accurate in my explanations.

She's absolutely right.

Gaining a firm stance in front of the whiteboard, I met Kai's brown eyes, that were filled with nothing less than mischief. It suddenly felt as if we connected and telepathy and his thoughts became my own. My mood to play a game with Mrs. Letti revived.

"What chapter are we on? Chapter 14?" I questioned, unaware of any information relating to the book.

"There are only ten chapters, Harmony."

"They need to up their game if they wanna make it in the novel world." I impulsively coached. "It's a competitive business out there." 

I heard light chuckles bounce off the walls, which didn't affect my ego until I saw Kai's bright, entertained smile. Immediately after realizing that his smile alone could make me happy, I nearly threw up in my mouth. 

"We were on chapter four yesterday, try to cover the seminar que-" Mrs. Letti ignored the laughs and brought everything back around to it's main topic, however, I was the teacher now.

"Mrs. Letti, I would like to teach without constant interruption." Her eyes widened at my request but didn't speak with a rebuttle, allowing me time to continue. "Why don't we learn about Animal Farm through a more hands-on experience? I've always been more of a kinetic learner."

I swiped the book off the desk and flipped to a random page in Chapter 5 in which I skimmed over, what seemed to be, a debate. I slammed the book closed in a theatrical manner, and addressed the classroom. 

"We're moving on to Chapter 5." I declared when the lightbulb in my head illuminated itself and began to pull together all the pieces of a beautiful plan. "They're covering a debate that has to do with what?"

The silence following the question was painful before I thought to reclarify. 

"Does anyone have an answer for me?" That was a genuine question. As a few hands suprisingly raised with obedience, my sight managed to skim over Ms. Letti who seemed to be simply observing the whole scene. Perfect, that's just where I want her. I called on someone random who answered as if this was a Ted Talk. Once they were done, I put two and two together to figure out that the same pig I hate talking about is abusing social power. 

"So, how can we take what's going on in this book and apply it to what's going on currently? We could look at politics, that we have to consume everyday for our own knowledge of global, national and statewide events." I made my way over to the whiteboard and began writing out abbreviated notes of what I was lecturing. I was pulling whatever I could out of my ass in order to move to the next part of my grand plan. "We could stay wrapped up in the world of pigs, donkeys, birds, dogs and I dont know, whatever other animal is on the farm. Or, we could look at how it applies to our daily life and how every power- related decision we make could have a lasting effect on how we operate in the near future. How can we do this?"

I turned to lock eyes with Mickey and Weuss.

"A Presidential election."

Their eyes lit up with excitement that was obviously hard to hide. It was the perfect timing, the one thing that they were hoping to do in high school, they might get to do after all. I didn't waste any time before explaining the process.

"In the novel, there were only two that were debating so in this case, I need two volunteers."

Before anyone else had a chance to respond, Mickey and Wuess's hands were so high I thought they might fly. I pretended to look around the room at some of the other hands that were raised before I chose my pre-picked top 2. 

"Steve and Marcus? You're both new, let's give it a shot." I half-assed a reasoning that everyone seemed to take with no complaints. "Take five minutes to come up with a quick intro about yourself, why you're the best choice for President of this class and what you would do if the class elected you. Keep in mind, that if you win, everything you promised, you would have to make happen."

I heard some dramatic reactions go around and I smirked while looking at Ms. Letti. 

"That's the true test of leadership. Time starts now." I finished before walking up to the student desk that the former teacher was now occupying. I bent down to her level slightly as the voices around the room slowly started to break away from silence and transform into multiple different conversations.

"How are you liking the class?" I questioned innocently. 

She stared blankly at me, her words nor tone matching her expression. "I think it's a very creative excersice that everyone can take alot from. I'm interested to see where it goes."

Her response piqued my interest. I figured she would've shut this down by now.

"Is that so?" 

"It has been impressive to see what you can do while knowing little-to-nothing about the novel itself."

"I learned all my best tricks from you."

She bypassed my comment. "How are they going to just make whatever they promise happen?"

I shrugged and replied in a serious tone while looking into her eyes.  "If they can't keep it, it's up to the public to tear them limb from limb, turn thier organs into an animal's dessert and take thier decaptitated heads, soak it in vinegar and gasoline and light it on fire in a pile with the rest of thier family.  Simple."

I ignored her concerned expression, raised my posture to glance at the clock and quickly announce that they have three minutes left for thier speeches. Kai caught my attention, his eyes seemed to be dancing all on thier own with a wild energy. Weuss then suddenly appeared next to him crouched down near his desk, tapped his shoulder and immediately began questioning him about whatever he wrote on the paper. I almost laughed before I saw Mickey follow-suit directly after Weuss found his way back to his chair. Suddenly, the urge to supress laughter from seeing two skyscrapers bend down to avoid detection got more difficult. 

Once Mickey returned to his seat, I warned them that they have one minute left. I made my way to the teachers desk and leaned back in the comfortable leather chair. Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I nearly sighed. This is what luxury feels like. I opened them to see the clock count down on the final seconds. 

"Alright, time!" I called out and waved them over to the large desk. I took thier papers from them and scanned over it to ensure there was nothing too innapropriate or anything that would cause social harm. After clearing it, I handed them back thier papers with a grand smile on my face, entertained by the topics they wrote on the paper. 

I excused them back to thier seats and called Weuss up first to begin the debate.