a cactus and a lily find a common pot to grow - trixya

Chapter 1: part 1 - a cactus and a lily find a common pot to grow

Trixie Mattel is a good girl – the very type that doesn't drink or smoke or cuss. She's a kind hearted spirit who believes that "animals are friends, not food", does yoga every morning and happens to be exceptionally good at baking. Everybody knows her as the surprisingly young and dedicated Drama teacher at Alverton High, the girl who does volunteer work and goes to church every Sunday – you can ask anyone who's ever met her and they'll all agree: she is the nicest human being on Earth.

You can tell that from the small things, like smiling at people she passes by on the street or never raising her voice when she has to prove a point, to the most impactful ones, such as being the number one anti-bullying advocate at school or starting fundraisers for the local animal shelter, nursing home or church. Trixie is lovely to everyone she meets, she doesn't gossip or makes mean comments and will absolutely call you out if she catches you doing so. Her senior quote was "if you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all". What a saint.

What people around her tend to forget is that, no matter how kind or well-balanced or angelical Trixie is, she's still human – and, just like every other human, she has a few pet peeves of her own. One of them is a blonde Russian called Katya, who's been welcomed into the school staff last semester, which is about the same time Trixie's peace of mind threw itself out the window.

There is no logical explanation to this, but the whole idea of Katya makes her stomach twist. From her inappropriate humor, her bright red lips and the smoking all the way to her inconveniently loud voice, the wrecked outfits and the bold accent. She pushes all of Trixie's buttons and she can't even tell you why. From the day they met and she looked into her eyes, she just knew there was something unsettling about her, even if she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Well that "something" soon became "everything" and she is now very convinced that the only person she will ever hate is Katya Zamolodchikova – and she tries, but she isn't sorry about it.

This explains why, as she walks into the principal's office and spots a laughing Russian with lipstick on her teeth, her only will is to turn back and walk out of the building, and just keep walking until her legs fall out. She'd rather eat meat, she'd rather swear in church, anything but Katya.

"Good afternoon Principal Charles, Ms. Zamolodchikova", she greets them and shakes hands with the man behind the desk, trying carefully not to knock over any of the million portraits he has on it. Her effort to keep a natural-looking smile is making her cheeks hurt a little.

"Ms. Mattel, thank you for joining us. How did the first day of the term go for you?" he asks politely as she sits down on the chair next to Katya and crosses her ankles (princesses do not cross their legs).

"It went very smoothly, thank you for asking", she replies with a smile. "The kids seem very excited for what's to come."

"Now, isn't that precious! May I ask how many students have signed up for your class this year?" he asks and raises an eyebrow. And then Trixie realizes it, maybe a little too late considering she's known him since she was fifteen: it's a test. RuPaul is up to something, and knowing who's sitting next to her right now, it's not a good something.
"We have five 10th graders, twenty 11th graders, seven 13th graders and three seniors. That's thirty-five signed up for the year", she answers as pleasantly as possible. He lets out a big sigh and her heart is now pounding. This is not gonna be good.

"We were just discussing your numbers, right Ms. Zamolodchikova? If I'm not wrong you have a total of 30 students as well, yes?" he rests his elbows on the desk and brings his hands closer to his chin. Hadn't she been sure before, she is now: they're in big trouble and at this point, nobody can save them.
Katya nods. "Correct. Most of them are 11th graders, sir." Sir, Trixie thinks, she actually calls people sir. At first, it sounds funny in her head, but then she realizes it does, in fact, show more respect and now she's mad at Katya for being such an ass-kisser.