Weird Science

Cordelia grinned when she heard his grunt. It didn’t matter how brave he tried to be, everyone wound up caving in when they were dealing with her. Most people had never felt pain as bad as she could give, which while it was good, didn’t prepare them at all for the world. The world was a twisted, sick, sadistic place that would eat people alive if they weren’t careful. She was the only teacher in this building who seemed to understand that and wanted to prepare the kids for it. Couldn’t they understand that every time she hurt them, it was because she cared? Apparently not.

She barely noticed the tears in his eyes, and even if she had taken the time to really look, she wouldn’t have cared. She would have blamed it merely on the pain, anyway. However, when he began to speak, she became just a tad worried. The look came onto her face, her brows furrowed and her lips curved downwards in a frown. Cordelia stared at him, wondering if she should continue or if she should let up. Knowing Evan, it very well could have been an act to get out of having to do detention with her, but if something really was wrong then she would feel too guilty for words.

She hadn’t anticipated the wave of telekinetic energy that followed, though. She yelped and stumbled slightly from the force, but to keep her balance she held onto Evan. The force of it made her feel a little dizzy and she looked at the kid, not completely sure what to do. The room was spinning, and she wasn’t entirely sure that he had intended for that to happen. She had specifically told him not to use his powers – while Evan disobeyed her everyday, she didn’t think he would be the kind of kid to make something up like this.

Cordelia let go of him and took a deep breath. Papers were flying all over the room, other small objects were out of place, she had a kid crying here, and she was dizzy and now felt nauseous. This had not been what she had wanted with her detention.

“What the hell was that about, Slater?” she asked, an angry edge to her voice as she stared at him. Or, well, one of the three hims that stood before her. She clenched her eyes shut and rubbed her temples, opening her eyes only once the pain had subsided slightly.

“I'm sorry. i—it's why I'm here.”

Cordelia had to think for a moment before she realized what he meant. When he remembered what? Oh, dear. Now she felt incredibly mean. Usually this didn’t happen – she didn’t ever feel guilty, not even when the students started crying. She knew, though, that Evan wasn’t upset over the whole powers deal. Something else had happened to trigger this. Where had the mischievous, prankster of a teenager disappeared to? This wasn’t right. Cordelia averted her eyes and ran a hand through her hair, not sure what to do. She could either yell at him to toughen up and probably make the situation worse, or she could try to help him with his problem.

Normally she didn’t care about students and their problems, but this had to run deeper than just a little tough love. ‘Don’t hit me’… who would actually hit a kid? What she did probably wasn’t any better than actual abuse, but it wasn’t like she had a problem.

She shook her head when he stood up, expecting him to fall from the moment he tried. When he fell back onto his bottom, she followed, folding her legs and sitting next to him. She bit the inside of her lower lip, not knowing what to say. “Don’t push yourself,” she said. That was all she could think of at the moment. While she did want him to fix her room, she wasn’t going to make him do it while he was in such a weak state of mind.

“Who hit you, Evan?” she asked finally, looking at him. Her eyes seemed to be less piercing, probably from the hit she had been dealt, which sort of softened her mean, tough exterior. She didn’t know his past or what had happened to him, and she wasn’t too sure he would want to talk about it, but she would find out somehow.

“The orphanage.”

Cordelia’s eyes widened. Of all the things he could have said, that surprised her the most. She didn’t know what those places were like – the only knowledge she had of them was from books and movies, neither of which were incredibly reliable sources. She nodded, a sad look on his face when he mentioned the owner using it as an excuse to beat him. That sadness was quickly turning into a rage in her core, though. What sort of person could do that?! What sort of person could hurt a child like that? It was sadistic, cruel, wrong, twisted… Cordelia didn’t even have any words for it.

“I got sent here when I turned ten. The whole room kind of flew around, everything moved. They called me a freak and sent me away.”

“Oh, God, Evan,” Cordelia said, a pain pulling at her heart. She sighed and looked away from him, not sure what to do. She could comfort people when it was necessary, but it wasn’t like a simple apology would make him feel better. It wasn’t like a simple apology would erase what had happened to him. There was no excuse for what had been done to him. Cordelia’s hands clenched into fists at her sides and she huffed. The only person allowed to hurt her students was her, no one else, no matter who they were. If she had to, she would find out the man’s name and personally go beat the crap out of him. Oh, sweet, sweet revenge.

She turned back to Evan then, wrapping her arms around him as best she could while they were sitting down. It had been an impulsive action, but she didn’t regret it. She held him there for a moment before letting him go, nodding once to let him know she cared. “You tell anyone I’m being nice to you and I’ll come after you,” she warned, only half joking.

She offered a smile and straightened herself slightly. “You should go back to that place and beat him up. I’d go and take pictures.” Once again, she was only half joking. Hopefully he’d find as much humor in it as she did.