Breaking the Stereotypes

Chapter 1 -Cheating Is Only Cheating If You Get Caught

The scratching of pencils against paper filled the stillness of the classroom. The twenty-three students that occupied only half of the desks in the room etched away at the pages placed in front of them. The concentration needed to fill the test with answers continued to be held for all the students except for one. 

"Psst, Terra," a voice spoke up from the left side of a student sitting in the back row of desks. 

Terra's eyes instantly darted towards the origin of the voice, her lips twisting downwards into a disapproving frown. She lifted her black-painted nails up to chew on the edges of them as she turned her attention back down to the question she was stuck on.

"Oh, come on now," the voice got louder, filling the room with its sonorous tone, "I see you're stuck on number forty-seven. Let me help you!"

"As if she needs help from you, Marvik," a voice from her right immediately cut in, "She's one of the top students in the class. Right, Terra?"

Terra simply shook her head, the fingertips she had been gnawing on finding their way up into her wavy dark brown hair. After looking up to the front of the classroom to make sure the professor was distracted at their computer, she fully looked to her right. She enjoyed sitting in the back of the classroom but in the center since anyone rarely sat beside her. Except for today, apparently. 

A familiar being sat at the desk to the right of her, boots propped up on the desk while his arms lifted up casually to have his hands support the back of his head. He wore a black suit lined with vibrant yellow and orange stitching, but the material was not one she recognized. His eyes matched the suit, though, one of his eyes was colored black while the other yellow. On top of his head sat a mess of fluffy black hair and a pair of contorting horns, the tips of which protruded past the strands that stuck up with them. 

"Come now, Sazorac," Marvik spoke up again, addressing the demon to the right of Terra directly, "even experts need assistance sometimes!"

With Marvik's response, Terra couldn't help but look to her left this time. That frown plastered across her sharp features straining to keep herself calm as she glared at her guardian angel. As usual, he kept his light gray feathered wings tucked neatly against his back. His platinum blond straight hair flowed halfway down his back with a few strands loosely hanging over his shoulders. With a pair of crosses dangling from his earlobes and another cross attached to a chain around his neck, the angel attempted to come across as holy with his neutral-colored t-shirt and jeans. 

"Both of you," Terra began in a hushed and aggressive tone, "leave me alone!"

"Is there a problem back there?" The professor immediately lifted their attention from the keyboard and computer screen to address the whispering.

As some fellow students turned to look back at her, Terra shook her head and placed her attention back down on the test in front of her. The redness creeping up from her neck to cheeks being fueled by both anger and embarrassment. 

"Wow, no tolerance for whispering," Marvik spat out in a sarcastic tone.

"This is a test, Marvik. It's individual work. You know - no cheating and such?" Sazorac mentioned as he began to get up from his relaxed position. 

Terra gritted her teeth as she heard the demon rise from his spot. Before she even felt his presence hovering over her shoulders, she could smell the natural smoky scent radiating from him. 

"What are you stuck on, though?" Sazorac questioned while his mismatched eyes scanned the sheet where her pencil quietly tapped against. "This is a true or false question. Non-ferromagnesian minerals are rich in silicon and aluminum, and they are dark in color."