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bent his head close to Hansen’s. It didn’t matter that they were just talking business. I had to call every ounce of self-restraint not to channel her into a demon realm.
    After a minute, Hansen unglued herself from my boyfriend and stepped back to the front of the class.
    “Miss Bennett, your presence is requested in the front office,” she said. “You’re excused for the remainder of this class. I’m assigning you a zero for today’s discussion. In the future, I suggest you think twice before lecturing your superiors on matters concerning humanity or anything else. Are we clear?”
    I stared at my desktop while the rest of the class twittered laughter.
    A zero. A freaking zero.
    I couldn’t wait until we discussed humankind’s propensity for vengeful crimes of passion. Zeros be damned, I’d have a bloody diatribe to say on that topic, let me assure you.
    It wasn’t until we’d made it halfway down the hall that I gave myself permission to speak to Jack.
    Okay, speak might be too mild a term.
    “ What…the…hell ? ” Each word was punctuated with a fist to his shoulder. “Did that seriously just happen?”
    “Omelet—”
    “Don’t Omelet me, you filthy traitor. That was beyond uncool. That was unspeakable . That was abhorrent . And you didn’t even bring me coffee, you cheap, neglectful bastard.” I smacked him once more for good measure.
    He shrugged my hand away, smiling.
    “You realize if anyone else had mouthed off like that, they’d be in detention right now. Or expelled. On a related note, Elder Akira sent out a memo last week that if any faculty member defies her no-coffee orders regarding you, they’ll be charged with treason. And since when do you know what abhorrent means?”
    “Damn skippy, I know what abhorrent means,” I snapped. “It’s got Hansen’s picture next to it in the dictionary.”
    “Babe—”
    “Don’t pretend what you did was right. She’s an idiot, and you know it.”
    “She’s a teacher.”
    “A homicidal, smack-talking, violent, moronic, sociopathic—”
    “Teacher?” Jack finished, lacing his hands over his chest until his biceps bulged.
    I met his smiling eyes in a cold glare. “So, what am I supposed to do? Let her be a giant hypocrite in front of the whole class?”
    “Pretty much, yeah.” Jack nodded. “Because you of all people know there are more important things than winning a classroom debate. Much more important things. Epic things. Because one mistake now can make everything fall apart, and you’re smart enough to know showing Lori up in an academic argument isn’t worth it.”
    His tone had darkened as he spoke, but his voice stayed muted.
    Much as I hated to admit it, he was right.
    If Petra was anything close to what I thought, then this was bigger than a stupid classroom argument. And sure, if I didn’t start focusing on the goal, I could mess things up. But did he have to be such a jerk about it?
    “Fine,” I grumbled. “But I wasn’t wrong.”
    “No, you weren’t.”
    “And I did do the reading.”
    “Yes, you did.”
    “And if all the fighting had really been about romance, there would have been a lot less fighting and a lot more kissing.”
    “True that,” he agreed.
    “Furthermore, Lori Hansen doesn’t know her ass from her elbow when it comes to matters of the heart. If she even has a heart.”
    Jack smiled. “I’m crazy in love with you.”
    “I know,” I said. “Me, too.”
    “Great. Now can we go, or do you want to deconstruct all my ex-girlfriends?”
    “Like you have other ex-girlfriends.” I squinted at him. “Wait, do you?”
    It might have been my imagination, but I swear he laughed a little as he strode toward the main office.

Chapter Six:
    School Daze
    It was an uneventful walk to Headmistress Smalley’s office. And yes, I still thought of it as Smalley’s office. Henry obviously did, too.
    After Judy Smalley got murdered last fall and Elder Akira gave him the title of headmaster, Henry