Welcome to Gaia! ::

Dating Dani had many perks. Parker was actually out of Hillworth far more than he had ever been before, which made him less likely to get caught up in the trouble that seemed to plague him. He would leave after classes and come back late. Even some of his teachers had noticed: Hey, Dammit! Way to keep your head straight. Now get a haircut. It was far better than the insults that had previously been lobbed his way during mandatory yard duty, lap running, and other various detention activities. Parker was never really the guilty party in any of the multiple misdeeds that soiled his permanent record, but Hillworth had built up a negative reputation for him that Parker felt incapable of escaping. His name was commonly known at the school for being a trouble-maker no matter how many times he tried to protest against his unfair punishment.

But now Parker and Dani were fighting, and everything had reversed.

That morning, Parker got caught up in a food fight in the cafeteria. He hadn't thrown anything. He was only trying to make his way to the door. He didn't even notice the administration enter to break it up as he scurried on his hands and knees -- right into the legs of the principal.

Typical.

Parker wasn't the only one to take the heat that day. The principal's office was overrun, and regular offenders were siphoned off to receive their punishment without the possibility of a defense. For Parker, that meant squeaking his way over the rubbery floors of the gymnasium up to Mr. Killingworth's office. He had met the gym teacher before, but it was mostly during detention. He had not yet had the pleasure of being sentenced directly by the gruff man with lilac dreadlocks.

Lilac hair -- and still terrifying.

Making his way to the office, Parker expected to see the flaming red hair of the notoriously hot Miss Johnson (now married to the aforementioned lilac militant), but instead, he was met with a much younger and much blonder girl.

"Um, hi," he said, glancing about the office. Parker held up the tiny slip of paper that announced his name and his misdeed. "Where is... Miss Johnson?"

"Oh," Parker said, the word absent of grief or concern. People came and went at Hillworth -- students, faculty, even secretaries, apparently. His first three roommates were only at Hillworth for two months each before being filtered back into the system. They hadn't been badly behaved, just wards of the state. Their parents got their s**t together well enough to win back their kids. Wonderful... for them.

The blond girl looked too young to be out of school, but Parker had thought the same thing about the brunette girl that used to be here too. Granted, if Parker wasn't so tall, he probably wouldn't look like he was about to graduate high school either. He stood there in front of the desk, feeling her cold gaze. Her eyes looked black. It was oddly striking, though Parker couldn't say whether it was pretty or unnerving. Maybe both, in that way that some girls could be.

He took a seat in the hard metal chair adjacent to the desk. The slip of paper he'd handed her said the basics, but Parker was used to playing these games with administration. Even though they knew what you did, they still wanted to hear you say it. "I did nothing," he said, sinking back in the chair. "I never do the things I'm accused of doing, but it never matters. They want to blame somebody. I'm somebody." Parker wasn't trying to plead his case, not that he'd even presented it. He had told the administration he was innocent over and over again, but they never listened to him.

But Parker had never said it to this girl, and so he was happy to b***h and moan about it, if only to appease himself.

Parker watched Theresa as if she might pull a gun on him any moment. What this a trick? It felt like a trick. It reminded him of the time that the principal told him telling the truth would get him off the hook. So he did, fingering the two boys who were responsible for cutting holes in all the old plastic trashcans. The principal brought the boys in to his office in front of Parker and asked them directly. They, too, said they were innocent, and they had forced alibis to back it up, one thug protecting another with lies. Parker was punished twice by the principal (once for the misdeed and again for lying) and was summarily punished for "squealing" day by day over the next month by the two boys he'd accused.

Telling the truth wasn't always the right option.

So what did she want? She wanted him to go along with this so she could punish him more? Parker would need to play it safe. "What evidence? It was a food fight. There was a chaos. They blamed me because I was trying to leave the cafeteria. I can't drop of handful of thrown mashed potatoes in their hands and tell them to test it for DNA." He was being mouthy. This usually got him in more trouble. Parker wanted to apologize to save himself the extra pain, but he didn't. He was too pissed.

"The only end for me at Hillworth is graduation. I just want to get out of here."

Parker stared at the new secretary. She grew more bizarre by the moment. "I'm in high school. My permanent record is thicker than the phone book. I spent first period in my own locker thanks to a class mate. Do you really think anyone is going to help me find who really started it? They don't actually care how started it. They just want a name to write down." Without realizing, Parker had leaned forward, jutting a finger on the edge of the desk. It seemed inappropriate. His tone seemed inappropriate too.

Slowly, he relaxed back into his chair, dropping his gaze to his folded hands. "No one is in my corner, Miss Johnson." He realized his mistake too late. "Sorry. Force of habit." His eyes scanned the desk for a name plate, but found nothing. "I don't know what to call you." It wasn't as polite as, I'm sorry, miss, what is your name? But this was Parker, not Miss Manners. "I was told to get sentenced by Killingworth. They told me to wait here." It wouldn't be the first time Parker was out of class all day while waiting for someone to come around to assign his detention activity. No wonder his GPA wasn't as good as it should be.

Parker had given up on trying to prove his innocence a long time ago. His behavior record was what screwed him out of colleges too, or so he thought. Why else would he have been denied across the board with a decent GPA and high test scores? Defeatist attitude -- it was all over him.

Parker wasn't sure what to make of this girl -- especially after he heard her name. She was related to Killingworth? "You're Killingworth's... daughter?" How old was she? And how old was Killingworth? He knew very little about his gym teacher, and even less about the blond secretary. He didn't even know Miss Johnson was engaged to him, let alone married. Some of Parker's fellow classmates assumed they had to have some kind of illicit relationship (Dude, have you SEEN her? He probably hits it on lunch break and between classes!) and wrote just that in the bathroom stalls with colorful drawings. Thank God that was not a crime Parker had taken the fall for; it would only make this punishment worse.

So Theresa Killingworth. Odd. On one hand, Parker loved that she wasn't disillusioned or airy. Sometimes it was nice to meet with another person devoid of frivolity, but at the same time, she was telling him to do things that he considered useless. "I had a camera," he said, glancing up to her. "For one week. I didn't tell anyone I had it. I don't know how they found out about it. I hid it in one of my shoes in my closet, and it was stolen while I was taking a shower. That is what happens to electronics at Hillworth." Parker was having a pity party, and Theresa was invited -- so long as she stopped trying to act like there was any hope at all to salvage this.

No, life was unfair, everyone hated him, there was no hope. Did she hear what he was saying?

Parker could mostly agree with her on one thing at least. "You've got one thing right," he said, crossing his arms. "Power is what sets people apart. It's why some people are beaten and some people do the beating." Parker did not frown. He looked pensive. This was his problem with bullies, but it was also his problem with the senshi and negaverse. They had power that he didn't -- so how was he expected to properly defend himself? Already, Parker had racked up multiple near death experiences. When would he ever break free from that grasp?

A sour taste entered his mouth and he frowned. "Abraham Lincoln said, 'If you want to test a man's character, give him power.' But he never talked about how a man could get power in a world where it is held in an unreachable place." Parker was getting philosophical, which was worsening his mood. When Dani was around, he didn't feel the need to vomit out quotes, but he and Dani were still fighting. This, too, made him frown.

Killingworth had an intense niece. When she rattled off her list of suggestions, it was not out of encouragement or helpfulness. The statements were quick and flat, a take it or leave it batch of advice. Parker wasn't even sure why she was recommending anything to him. Most of the administrators and staff just brushed him off, pausing only to order: Dammit -- office. Now. This girl was actually holding a conversation with him, even if it was terse and laced with criticism.

But she had a point.

If he was already being punished for all of these things, then why not actually do them? At least then he would deserve what he was getting. Maybe that would make him feel like he was in control of the situation in some small way.

"This school gives me a place to sleep," he said, adjusting the hem of his uniform vest. "This school reminds me that life is unfair." A sarcastic grin spread across his face. "But I knew that already."

Could Parker do it? Could he steal people's things and shove them into lockers and super glue all the locks on the buildings? For an instant, it was tempting. And then that moment passed. He glanced up to Theresa. "If I did the things that they said I did, it would only make them right. It would justify their actions, and it would make everything they ever said about me right." Parker sat up. "I don't want that." Even if this was just a trick by Theresa to get Parker to admit wrongdoing, he meant what he said. This was not a bluff.

The conversation was taking a weird turn, and Parker didn't want to do that either. Maybe they could stop focusing on him so much. "Did you go to school here? I mean, in Destiny City," he asked. She didn't look to different from him in age, but it was school hours and she was at a job.

This was... strange to say the least.

Parker shuffled out of his seat, careful not to bump her desk. He wasn't sure who this sister was that Theresa referenced, and he didn't think to ask. Any memories of the other secretary that had once been here did not stick in Parker's mind either.

Scooping up his book bag, Parker glanced back to the exit as if some administrator might jump out and accuse him of skipping his punishment. She said it was okay. But did she have the authority to say that?

Either way, Killingworth, the other Killingworth, wasn't there. The next period was about to start, and Parker didn't want to get yelled at for being late to it. He moved to the door, opened it, and then glanced back to the girl at the desk. "If you say so," he said. The door shut behind him with a click. The bell rang, and he was off, peeling down the hallway in a sea of boys in identical uniforms.

Hopefully, the new secretary wasn't lying. If she was, Parker would be in a lot more trouble than he already was.