𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

011. this is not a porno, it's a horror film

THEY WERE IN DETENTION AGAIN. They had been sleeping as much as they could, taking melatonin pills obsessively during free periods, and regularly skipping classes that they deemed "unimportant" to help Rox look for their missing friend. Mrs. Wine, their American History teacher, had caught them mutually napping in the hallways instead of attending her Socratic seminar, and blessed them all with the gift of detention. 

So Xandra, Paris, Dexter and Theo found themselves standing in Mrs. Wine's classroom, waiting for her to arrive. 

"The fact that you three are here makes this so much more stupid," Xandra threw herself into Mrs. Wine's rolling chair, pushing herself around, darting like a jellyfish across the classroom. 

"Look, I didn't ask to be a demigod," Paris frowned pointedly. "I don't want to be here, either." 

"Where would you rather be, Buenos Aires? Reading GATTACA fanfiction?" Theo drawled, looking up from his drawing of a dick on the whiteboard. 

"Writing it, actually," Paris snipped back. "And who do you think you are, Naoki Picasso?" 

It came out before he could really think about it. They all looked away, tense and awkward. Xandra stopped jetting about the room, Dexter took a seat with a defeated sigh. Paris stopped kicking his legs, and Theo capped the marker, dropping it like it was somebody's ashes. 

Mrs. Wine strolled in. Narrow, rectangular glasses perched on the edge of her nose, held around her neck with a chain. She had black hair done up in a sharp bun and a crimson dress that barely concealed her well-rounded, plastic figure. Her heels, black, rapped a sharp pattern into the linoleum of the floor. 

She shut the door behind her and leered at the kids. 

"She looks like she walked straight out of a cheap PornHub movie," Paris whispered. 

"How do you know what a PornHub movie looks like?" Theo shot back.

"Welcome to detention, sweethearts," she purred. "Take a seat." 

Dexter shrank deeper into his seat. Paris plopped down next to him, throwing an arm around his shoulders. Theo took a seat in the back, skulking in the shadows. 

Xandra spun in a circle, displaying her already-seatedness. 

"A seat not in my chair, Ms. Choi," Mrs. Wine scowled. 

"It's Cho," Xandra corrected, getting up and shoving the chair into the wall. "Not that hard to remember." 

"Do not sass me, you murderous little wench," Mrs. Wine hissed. "I can do things to you that would haunt your very dreams." 

"I'd love to see you try," Xandra rolled her eyes, kicking back in a different chair. "My nightmares are even worse than that colour is on you." 

Mrs. Wine chuckled. "They're only about to get worse, little girl." 

"How's that? You're going to show up to school in gym shorts?" she taunted. 

"I'm going to take over your world. I'm going to raze this place to the ground, and when I do, she's going to bless me with more power and adoration than your sorry, pathetic soul could even comprehend," Mrs. Wine growled, lips pulled into a horrendous smile. 

Dexter turned to Paris. "You can't be serious." 

"What?" Paris wasn't paying attention. 

"She's a Damia, Paris," Dexter hissed, squeezing his arm. "A Damia." 

"Dexter, I like your hands on me, but not when it's cutting off my circulation," Paris gently extracted himself from Dexter's grip. "Who's a Damia?" 

"Mrs. Wine!" Dexter said furiously.