Blowing Up (Phoebe)

[Jaelyn Callahan]

The day had been long enough as it was, but Jaelyn was still feeling sore and pained from the incident at the museum a couple days ago. Everything that had happened was still fresh on her mind as well, providing fresh distractions during class, but fortunately with how it had all ended most of those distractions were pleasant. Now if only the pain could be replaced by the comforting feeling of being in Sakuya's arms, everything would have been fine. But instead, it was just the opposite, and so once she had finished her last class she couldn't get out and back to her room fast enough.

Unfortunately, an irritatingly familiar voice quickly ruined any hopes of that. It was the voice of some rich girl who occasionally tried bullying some of her less well-off classmates, usually with little success. Every now and then, however, she managed to touch a nerve.

"Hey! Hey, Jaelyn!" an Asian girl her age called out, approaching her with a grin that could only be called shit-eating. "I saw you out near the marketplace yesterday! What the heck were you wearing?"

"Why do you care?" Jaelyn muttered, not even bothering to look directly at her. It was pretty clear what the girl was talking about. She'd been wearing the catsuit Sakuya had loaned her while coming back from the shadowlands villa. Just as Sakuya had said, it stood out way too much for daily use.

"It's really weird! Who wears a skintight suit like that?" the girl said. "Look, Jae, I understand if you have special tastes and all, but maybe you should go back to letting your mommy dress you when you go out in public. You're clearly not good at it."

Jaelyn's hand twitched. Yeah, she'd touched a nerve alright. Normally, Jaelyn wouldn't care, but after the events at the museum those nerves were just a little bit more raw than usual. "My mother's dead, you insensitive shit," she said. Her voice had dropped to nearly a whisper, and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

The girl did a double-take, but within seconds her grin had returned. "Ohh, no wonder you have no sense of style! I'm totally sorry to hear that, but-"

Jaelyn had heard enough. Before the girl could get anything else out, Jaelyn had planted her hand on the girl's collarbone, shoving her back and slamming her into a wall. The girl's eyes went wide, staring down Jaelyn's arm at her with a panicked expression. Jaelyn continued to hold her against the wall, speaking in a voice that was almost a hiss. "Why don't you shut the fuck up about things you don't understand before I send you home to your mommy in pieces?

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe ambled down down the hallway slowly, almost completely dazed. Having to sit and do 3 months worth of paperwork for one teacher and then grade the exams of one of Mr. Sheridan's class had almost literally drained her of her will to live. In all honesty, she'd had a shit week. First was that mess at the hospital with that freaky guy, then finding CJ, then the bullshit with Gin-- actually that was more than bullshit. That had been traumatizing but she'd done her best to work through it.

But there was no denying that she would never be the same person again. Part of her was gone for good. It'd died when she had admitted to certain harsh realities and accepted them as cold, hard fact. There was no going back from that or the decision she had made.

Sometimes she felt like these kids brought her back to normalcy. They had regular, everyday high school drama problems... and that was better than what was going on.

But then again, high school drama can sometimes take very strange and unpleasant forms.

Normally she had learned to ignore the students' chatter and especially the often unpleasantly-pitched lines from certain girls. At first, this was mostly out of fear. Yep, she was a teacher who was afraid of her own pupils. Honestly, given that some were complete delinquents, it was by no means a surprise. She could stand up to them well enough if she wanted to, but she avoided confronting them without reason. The boys were easier to handle, but the girls sometimes knew exactly what buttons to push and that took a lot more work not reacting to.

Anyway, after what'd happened, Phoebe didn't think she'd be bothered by what they said, anymore.

It was the thud that stopped her in her tracks. It was a very familiar sort of sound, the sound of a body smacking on a wall. Oh, she remembered that sort of noise, happened often enough in her own high school and she'd learned to recognize it when a potential fight was going on. She was supposed to stop fights. She turned around and hurried back down the hallway.

"Ε α' στο διάολο..." she muttered, taking in the sight.

A fight between girls. The worst possible kind. Those could always get quite messy... and unexpectedly violent sometimes. A tall, slim girl was holding another against the wall and Phoebe really didn't like the look in her eye. She'd made a promise to herself, when that happened, that she was going to look out for her students, no matter who or what they were, and she had to keep good to it. Something started this, and by all that's holy, she was gonna find out what.

Steeling herself for the worst, she marched on in, past students who'd stopped to gawk and got in there. She put her arms between the girls and pushed them apart, grabbing each by one wrist.

"HEY! What is going on here?!" she demanded.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

After a few seconds of the girl panicking and not saying anything, Jaelyn was about to let her go. If she'd managed to scare the girl into never saying anything like that to her again, that was the best possible result she could have achieved. If not, she was more than ready to deal with her again in the future. Just as she started to relax her grip, though, someone interposed herself between the two of them, demanding to know what was going on. Jaelyn tried to wrench her hand out of the woman's grasp, with no immediate success. Meanwhile, the other girl spoke up first.

"You saw what she did, right?" Oh, looks like she'd gotten a little bit of confidence back now that there was a teacher around. "She attacked me! She slammed me against a wall!"

"Well maybe if you'd kept your damned mouth shut I wouldn't have had to," Jaelyn hissed back. "You say another word about my mother or my private life and I'll do it again and worse." No, she didn't care that there was a teacher present. The last thing in existence that could scare her had died at the museum a couple days ago. This woman was nothing. And the girl wasn't getting off without learning her lesson.

[Phoebe Minola]

Both girls made attempts to wrench their arms free but Phoebe didn't let go. She'd been raised by a pack of wild boys in Ohio (her innumerable cousins and brother) and she'd spent quite a bit of time swinging around a sledgehammer. Her arm strength had been quite cultivated. However, her grasp on the girls wasn't painful or harsh, just firm.

She wanted to wince at the shrill, panic-laced tone of the attacked girl - mostly because under that fear she could hear a layer of smugness. The kind of smugness you have when you know you've got someone to hide behind. Oh, how often had she heard that exact same tone before? She almost didn't hear what the girl said because she rather listened to how she said it.

"OI! Simmer down, ladies! Both of you," she interrupted them both firmly. "So she attacked you, is that any reason to act like a sniveling damsel in distress? Calm down and shut it for a moment."

Relishing the surprised gasp this elicited from the students who were watching, Phoebe turned to Jaelyn, her expression perfectly neutral. She examined the girl with a cool glance. She took in the restrained expression, masking an undoubted anger and felt the tension through her arm. Yep, this is what her dad would call 'a complicated situation with a side of complexity'. Possibly teenage drama at its finest, maybe something else entirely.

She scrutinized Jaelyn calmly. The girl had hissed something about her mother and Phoebe knew this was provoked (isn't it always?). "Kindly explain what the girl said to you, dear. Don't mince your words, just out with it."

"She didn't say anything!" another student, a girl of the same cut as the attacked student, piped up. "Jaelyn just lost it--"

"I'm sorry, was I speaking to you?" Phoebe snapped and her expression was quite icy. "What are you, her attorney? Shut it and don't you dare wander off, miss Zheng, you're now involved."

She turned back to Jaelyn, her look neutral again. "Go on."

[Jaelyn Callahan]

If not for the fact that the woman who had intervened seemed, just for that moment, like she might end up taking her side, Jaelyn would have tried much harder to get out of her grasp. It was a surprisingly simple process, even for a grip as strong as this woman's. Grab the wrist, push the thumb into the pressure point and bend the wrist inward, then turn her own wrist so that it would slide out easier. She'd done it before, and usually when she did it was followed up by breaking someone's fingers.

But, for the moment, she hoped that those days were still behind her.

Jaelyn opened her mouth to answer, but the girl interrupted her, shooting a glance at the girl who had tried to defend her. "I didn't say anything, I was just having a laugh about her fashion sense! Totally harmless!"

"What about the part where you brought my mother into this?" Jaelyn asked the girl, eyes instinctively narrowing again. "And then when I said she was dead you gave me a shit-eating grin and gave me a sarcastic apology. Oh, and you made some smartass comment about my 'tastes' too, did you forget that part?"

Well, that would serve as an answer for the woman with a vicegrip on her wrist as well, she guessed.

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe glared at the attacked girl. "Goddamnit, didn't I say shut up?" she sighed. "I didn't say it was your turn."

She listened to Jaelyn and narrowed her eyes behind her glasses. Even if she was exaggerating as girls are wont to do (but Phoebe had the feeling she wasn't, because teenage girls can and will say rubbish like that), they were still pretty specific accusations and Phoebe could completely understand her reaction... but she couldn't excuse her method of protest, as much as she would've liked. She had a responsibility to protect her students, even from each other and even the vile ones. She recognized this particular girl from certain reports of bullying.

She knew she was getting herself into some trouble here; high school girls can be incredible rumormongers of the worst kind. It wouldn't be beyond reason to expect some nasty rumors to start floating around about her. But she would cross that bridge when she got to it and would know just whom to look at.

"Harmless? I don't think that's really the word we're looking for," Phoebe said bluntly to the girl. "More like completely stupid. I know I'm just a teacher and it's none of my business, but really? Her fashion sense? How is that any of your business, my dear?" then she paused and smiled. "Especially with that hair you're sporting. Because I want to have a totally harmless laugh about that."

Yes, she had just turned that little barb around to her student. Phoebe was protective of her students but she loathed bullies and she felt no reason why she ought to deprive this girl of her just desserts. The girl just stared back, taken aback by the clearly unexpected turn of events.

"Teacher!! That's not fair! Jaelyn freaked out!" the third girl spluttered. "It was just a joke!"

"And I just made a joke about her hair, don't see how that's any difference. Now really do shut up miss Attorney," Phoebe said nonchalantly. "Miss Jaelyn appears to think your 'harmless' jokes were a bit more severe than that. Look me in the eye and deny it yourself. But keep in mind I can smell bullshit from three miles away so be very careful what you say."

"But she--!!"

"Jaelyn's reaction was not the best but given the circumstances, if they are true, was not unreasonable. I've heard reports that this behavior is common from you. I'll discuss Jaelyn's reaction with her when I'm done with you," Phoebe said matter of factly. "Now go on, did you or did you not say those things?"

[Jaelyn Callahan]

'Not the best.' Feh. Sure, okay. 'The best' would have been to put the girl's eye out. Then she definitely wouldn't bother Jaelyn again. But Jaelyn had been hoping to avoid getting a bad reputation all over again. For two years she'd managed to avoid it by sheer virtue of never getting to know anyone and always avoiding everyone. Why was it that now, when her life was suddenly starting to look up, that everything was starting to get weird again too. And this girl...didn't seem ready to concede just yet.

"She...I..." the girl stammered out. Then, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and seemed to get a hold of herself. "I said nothing of the sort," she said, almost calmly. "I was just having a laugh, and she took it too far. But that's just how she is, I guess. I see her giving people dirty looks in her class all the time. I bet she's the kind of person who would bring a weapon to school and go on a rampage if she thought she was being persecuted enough."

"Don't tempt me," Jaelyn snarled. That was the last thing she needed. But a little bit more violence just might be exactly what she needed to shut this girl up.

"See? See?" The girl let out a panicky laugh. "She's definitely thinking about it. You know I'm right, right? Someone like her probably shouldn't be in school. I'd watch out for her if I were you."

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe's neutral expression twitched. And nobody would be surprised if, as a consequence, somewhere in Hell the Devil clenched his butt-cheeks and cringed. She could smell the bullshit like cowpats baking under the sun. That stammer, that breath and the subsequent spiel had said it all. 'Omaigosh, gimmie a moment to get my bullshit together and shoot!'. Seriously, did kids really think teachers who gave a rat's ass couldn't tell the difference?

"My dear girl," she said very calmly, in the tone of ice wrapped in velvet. "You wouldn't know someone capable of bringing a weapon to school and going on a rampage, if they were to dance naked in front of you. I'm less concerned about that and more about people who make others snap, such as you. Heck, you're pissing me off."

Her hold on Jaelyn's had relaxed a bit, but not enough to let her feel like she was free to toddle off.

"You were 'having a laugh'. You think that's alright, do you?" she carried on coldly and then she smiled. It was a serene but sharp smile, sort of like the way a cat would smile when it has its paw on a mouse. "Well then, since it's 'alright', I'll have a laugh of my own at your expense. You assume that because you're an alpha bitch you have the right to stand on a pedestal and look down on other people. I have some news for you. I think your pedestal is imaginary and exists only in your head. You are incapable of saying anything other than an endless stream of sun-baked bullshit, you're a busybody with an inflated ego, who sticks her unflattering nose into other people's business and I bet you're the kind of person who, once you leave high school, will realize that you really have nothing to recommend you to others besides daddy's fat wallet and an ego that nobody gives a crap about."

She had just stepped over the very delicate line. She really shouldn't be stooping to these kids' level, but, dammit, she was their teacher. She had to protect them, even from each other... even the vile ones.

She pursed her lips for a moment. "I'm going to make something clear," she said to both girls. "You're both in the wrong, in different ways, but at least I know that Jaelyn did not start this. You reaped what you sowed, so don't quibble like you're the victim here. That's how life works. You push, you can expect to get shoved back. Now, apologize to your classmate for what you said, and I better never get any reports that you've 'had a laugh' at anyone else, because then you're going to have more trouble than just getting a little manhandled."

She let go of both girls but kept eyeing the other one over her glasses. "And I assure you that while I won't shove you around, I can push buttons that will hurt you a lot more."

Impressive, Hypatia whispered. A few months ago you would have been too terrified to get involved, let alone chew out your own student as such.

I can't stand bullies, of any kind. And Jaelyn looks like she was gonna gouge out her eyes. I had to nip that in the bud.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

If not for the fact that she was still potentially in trouble, and being "defended" from someone who was definitely in trouble, Jaelyn would have laughed out loud at the woman's response. 'Wouldn't know someone capable of bringing a weapon to school'? The girl was closer to the mark than she probably realized. She almost had, back in middle school. She was dating another girl who had done just that. Hell, she had a knife on her, safely concealed under her uniform right at that moment, even if she didn't plan to use it. The sheer fact that this woman was giving her the benefit of the doubt was hilarious.

Although, the browbeating she gave the other girl soon afterward was pretty entertaining to hear as well. Effective? Doubtful. The girl would probably go right back to doing the same things once she thought this woman had forgotten her. Jaelyn knew from experience that her methods could keep people off of her for good, even if it came at the cost of her reputation. So whatever kind of 'discipline' she was trying to dish out, she should have just stayed out of it. The girl may be slumping and hanging her head in possibly-mock shame right now, but she'd be back to normal before too long.

Humiliation just wasn't the same as abject fear.

For that moment, though, it was still effective. The girl gave a grumpy "I'm sorry," looking sideways at Jaelyn. Jaelyn returned her look with her usual 'Like hell I'm forgiving you' expression of restrained fury. No, she wasn't going to forgive her. It was going to happen again someday, and the next time it did Jaelyn would make her beg for forgiveness, no matter who tried to stop her.

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe fought the urge to call the girl on her half-assed way of apologizing. Oh, how many time's she'd seen that same expression before? Heck, she'd even done it herself once or twice. Not that she liked Jaelyn's glaring any better, but she'd deal with that separately. Phoebe had no doubt that this girl was gonna go back to her ways - alpha bitches like this always did. She couldn't be expected to deal with every such incident but she was damned certain she'd try.

"You can go for now but remember, any hint of this happening ever again and you're dealing with me," she warned the girl. "And don't bother starting any silly rumors about me, love, because you'll find out that I'm capable of getting just as hands on as Jaelyn and in fact I've got a much heavier hand."

Phoebe let go of Jaelyn and the other girl and turned to the gawking crowd. "Right, show's over. Move along everyone - Mitsuo, don't you dare take a photo with that phone because I'll come over there and make you eat it. If I see anything on the city net about this you're all boned."
 
She shoo'd off as many of the kids as she could and the rest broke it up pretty quickly. Likely many of them didn't want to risk getting on her bad side.

"Jaelyn," she said, turning to the girl, and her tone was gentler. "I can guess you'd rather bugger off too but come to the counseling office a minute. I just want to have a quick talk with you about this. I understand she started it but you almost finished it. So, please? I promise it won't take very long."

She followed up that firm request with a gesture for her to start walking with her.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

The girl shot both Jaelyn and the woman who had intervened a dirty look as she ran off. With her attention free to be focused elsewhere, Jaelyn looked around and...damn it all, why was there a crowd!? At least the woman seemed to be handling it well enough. In times past, Jaelyn would have brushed it off, at least until memory of an incident persisted for the next few years, but now she was actually starting to get along with people. Sakuya wouldn't care about what happened here, but Luka or Setsuna...

The next thing Jaelyn knew though, the woman was turning her attention back on her, and asked her to come to the counseling office. Seriously?! She'd been perfectly justified in what she'd done, even if some of the other girls had tried to claim otherwise. If this woman tried to send her to a shrink or something for this, she'd be the next one slammed against a wall. Jaelyn was having none of it. But...at least in an office, there wouldn't be a hallway full of witnesses if it did come to that. "Fine," she grumbled, following along behind her.

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe could feel Jaelyn's resent all the way to the counseling office. Seriously, she didn't blame her, nobody liked being dragged off to get a talking to, but Phoebe was worried about the girl. People don't just go slamming people against walls without rhyme or reason.

Okay, maybe some do, but that's a different can of worms, one Phoebe hoped she didn't have right here, right now.

She opened the door, ushered Jaelyn in and closed the door behind them. The tiny office actually seemed a little welcoming; Phoebe'd worked on that personally, getting rid of clutter and bringing in chairs that felt less like a stuffy school office and more like a private study at a home.

"Sit, if you like," she said and took a seat behind the desk. "Right. So."

She had to word this right.

"Jaelyn, I can't outright ignore your reaction to the whole thing. I understand completely but like I said, it's my job to look after every kid in this school, even the slimy ones," she said and breathed out. "I'm gonna have to give you a week's disciplinary work after school, because that's the regulations..."

Then she smirked a little slyly. "But I might be able to shave off a couple of days. However, if I'm to do that, you need to co-operate."

She dropped into a neutral expression again. "This isn't an official counseling session so nothing will go on record. I'm just trying to understand and maybe, help. This is going to happen again, whether you like it or not. People will try to get a reaction out of you, no matter how bad and then they'll take advantage of it. Violence can make you feel good for a while but it's also a crippling sort of weak flank that can be exploited. Don't let them. Do you want to discuss what the girl said that made you snap? Talking might help and I don't judge."

[Jaelyn Callahan]

Jaelyn flopped down in a chair, giving the woman an unpleasant look as she started talking. Not much of it mattered to her. Can't ignore her reaction, whatever. She was completely justified, even if no teacher would ever think so. Look out for the jerks, yeah, sure. Only so she didn't get complaints from parents. A week's 'disciplinary work', whatever, she'd had worse. There would probably be another 'unexplained' disaster in a few days that would take all attention off of petty things like that, anyway. ...Although, come to think of it, wasn't this woman in the bar the night of the last one and talking with the rest of them?

And then it came. The inevitable request to talk about what happened. As usual, it started with a lecture with no idea how things had worked in the past. Yes, it would happen again, because she hadn't let Jaelyn finish what she'd started. Yes, people would try to get a reaction out of her, because the woman saying such stupid things had intervened before she could scare her off. And no, no she did not want to 'discuss' a damn thing. "It's pretty obvious what that idiot said, isn't it?" Jaelyn finally answered. "And no, I don't want to talk about it."

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe stared at Jaelyn, reading the alternating expressions on her face. The girl was pissed... at her. Evidently she did not appreciate the intervention. Few kids did. Even she had never appreciated much of it in the past until years later. When it was too late. And judging by the alternating looks of boredom, conceit and irritation on her face, trying would be wasted. Phoebe loathed giving up on people but she had bigger fish to fry now, what with her own issues and the approaching full moon. Besides, she wasn't a psychotherapist and she didn't know how to deal with serious situations like hers. She wished she did.

Oh well.

She shook her head. "Alright. Fine. I won't push the issue. The next time you're provoked into attacking a student, no matter how big a bastard they are, just think about what you're doing."

If Jaelyn wanted to go on a rampage, that was her problem. Phoebe would deal with her accordingly if she happened to be there, to protect the other kids. But she remembered now, where she'd seen Jaelyn before. The bar, after the last full moon. Of course. She was a User.

"I'll be blunt. We're both Persona Users. I figured you'd want to know, since the next full moon is coming up soon. I don't bring every-day shit into Persona stuff so when the next battle comes, I'll have your back, regardless of how I feel. But watch yourself in school," she said calmly. "You may think that fear will keep you safe, but it's only going to backfire on you. Try ignoring them sometime. You can go now."

[Jaelyn Callahan]

"No guarantees," Jaelyn said. At the very least, she could probably promise that she wouldn't go any farther than she had today. Certainly wasn't going to put that into words, though. Not with what happened back home. She was better now. She had more control than she used to back then. The incident today had been the first one in two years. But the fact that it had happened at all was proof enough that she was still the same person who had done that.

Then, the woman changed the subject to something Jaelyn had just been thinking about herself. Yes, they really were both Persona users. And apparently, it was necessary to inform her that she'd 'have her back' if there was another fight on the coming full moon. "Hmph, I'll be fine," Jaelyn said. "You've got plenty of others to worry about." Sure, she didn't have much room for boasting, but...well, having someone she barely knew claim they'd 'have her back' just felt weird.

Well, whatever.

She stood up again and made her way to the door, then turned back to the woman. "No, I keep me safe. The fear is just to give me less people who want to test that," she said.