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What is Agnes Allotte but a common person with, granted, a strange name? Someone who gets her way, no doubt. Because why else would we all be here, all of us who have respectable occupations and interests that normal people have?

No. I am not normal. The moment I was dragged into her group of eccentrics, I became a class-A freak. Why me?

I'm not wierd. I'm of normal height, weight and not too ugly. Plain is what I am. Sensible, honest, plain-old Ian. And I like that. Whatever seems to be the matter with being boring? Why is it so unforgivable here?

SLAM.

"OI. You did it again. Got sucked into your own little world. If she catches you, you're screwed."

Mountains shook, trees broke and rivers flowed in reverse when Cecily landed a solid blow onto my desk. I have to thank her though- it was the traditional way to remind my brain that I had better things to do.

"Please tell me she's sick again." I groan, throwing out a line in a desperate hope that Cecily would somehow take pity on me and lie. But Cecily wasn't a liar. Cecily was brutally honest. That grin that flashed across her face was more than enough to prove it.

"I saw her happy as can be in the mess hall a minute ago. They have cake today, you know."

Perhaps the only thing worse than Agnes on a normal day was Agnes on cake..... or on the unmentionable days. Thankfully, she usually stayed home in order to preserve the lives of millions of grateful men, women and children. Because what Agnes Allotte wants is what she will get though hell should bar the way.

Don't get me wrong, she's not an evil person. She's just... inhuman in a way. She's got an angel's face and a trickster's heart. She sees the world like it's a game and we're all pieces to be used until she gets bored with us. It's demeaning and twisted but what else can we do? She's got dirt on us. Big time. And there's nothing we can do, even if it wasn't our fault. Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Cecily's not evil either and she tones down her smirk as she realizes that she's just as deep in as me.

"What are we gonna do?" she asks, propping her chin up with hand and resting her elbows on the desk.

"Nothing. There's nothing to do except finish the year and hope she forgets about all this. Or that we get transferred or she ships out to some remote convent in the Alps."

"You really think Allotte's not gonna have an effect on all those stiff, bland nuns?"

For a moment, I indulge the thought of Agnes in a habit and carrying a cross. And then I imagine her sneaking out with a flock of young, bored followers to the nearest tavern and starting a brawl.

"I can dream, can't I?" I sigh, shifting in the plastic backed chairs that are made specifically for the sole purpose to torture students while they work. A lot of people still fall asleep in class, though.

"No, you can't dream. While the tyrant rules, you help fulfill her dreams and insane fantasies." she cuts in flatly. Yes, even the easily provoked Cecily submits to the human storm that is Agnes Allotte.

"Yeah, yeah-"

"You two were late."

I cringe slightly at the sound of that voice. Do I dare look up?

"Cut us a break. We have to walk here since the street we live on is too narrow for the bus-"

Cecily's half-baked retort died in her mouth with a glare from smoldering gold eyes.

"You two will have sweeper duty tomorrow then as a punishment. No excuses now!"

There's the finger pointing. That means she's found a victim and that there is no escape. Just an inch or two below five feet, here stands the cause of my misery. And she wears a blue ribbon.