The Psychopath Maker

Chapter Nine

Mr. Franz, the buzzed cut-circular glasses wearing retired lawyer that couldn't take the stress of litigation sat behind his desk reviewing today's lessons not paying attention to the roar of his students. As soon as Isabeth and Benny walked in he felt uneasy.

 Malachi, Kevin, Troy, and Gavin stared at them with identical confusion hanging on their faces while Fiona paid no mind reading over her report.

Benny quickly broke free of Isabeth's grasp in order to avoid the scowls of her four protectors. He retreated to his front-row seat in the corner of the class near the door. 

It was the seat that everyone hated and he always liked the easy exit. Isabeth rolled her midnight eyes at the boys as she made her way to her desk. She dropped her body in the wood chair and before she could say hi to her girl they bombarded her.

"What are you doing with that psycho?" Kevin asked her, baffled, with his eyes fixed on Benny. Malachi said nothing, just stared forward, waiting for class to start.

Isabeth looked at Kevin with narrow eyes. "He's not a psycho! He's reformed. Don't be judgmental," She snapped.

"It's not judgmental." Troy rebutted holding his book open to one of the three chapters they were supposed to read over the weekend. "He did kill someone." His words gained the attention of Gretchen and Teague.

Bewildered, Isabeth stared at Troy for a while. He, of all people, should give Benny a second chance. She had given him one when he went for a joyride in her Porsche with Malachi and Gavin. Just shy of his sixteenth birthday, he smashed it into a tree. The curve was sharp but if he hadn't been going ninety, her first car wouldn't be in the junkyard.

"He did!" Isabeth regained her words. "He killed a person, yes, but if we keep treating him like a killer, why should he change?" Isabeth spoke low so no one else would hear.

 She ignored the tepid glare Troy gave her turning her attention to Mr. Franz standing at his trusty podium.

With his elbow on the desk, Troy rested his head on his hand. There was no time to settle the matter because Mr. Franz started class. "Today, I want to talk about the future." He cleared his throat. "You all will be graduating soon. The friends you have and the things you have won't matter to the real world. What matters is what you do and how you conduct yourselves."

The teacher's opening speech earned a painful sigh from Gavin as Kevin dropped his head on the desk. The doorknob rattled and all eyes shifted toward that direction.

"Sorry." Faith apologized in her shortened pleated shirt and a tight yellow button-down.

"Ms. Payson!" Mr. Franz seethed stepping away from his podium. "You've attended this academy for six years. You know what time class begins. One more late appearance will earn you an extra hour of community service."

"I said sorry." Faith took her time walking to the desk in front of Fiona. "Damn." She murmured under her breath as she sat down.

That was the last disruption of the day. Mr. Franz continued his lecture about the government. Time expediently ticked away. There were nine minutes left of the forty-five-minute session. The students began fidgeting in their seats; they were either staring at the clock on the wall or counting down the seconds on their smartphones.

"Your last research project..." Mr. Franz began.

Simultaneous moans of protest rang out. It was already April. There were approximately nine weeks before graduation but Mr. Franz was handing out a research project. If it were any other senior-level teacher, they'd be given busy work to keep them out of trouble before they zipped up their satin commencement gowns.

Malachi folded his arms with great disdain, Kevin rolled his eyes, and Fiona frowned, but none of that discouraged Mr. Franz from continuing.

"It will be a group project." Mr. Franz proclaimed with his monotonous tone.

Faith flashed a slight smile, while Isabeth mouthed, why.

Mr. Franz ignored the antics and went on, "I want you to research how the government and the laws it created addresses special issues." He looked down at the school-issued iPad, "Ms. Ovien, Mr. Zhang...and Mr. Lemen will be researching laws pertaining to mental illness."

Troy slammed his laptop closed and leaned over to Isabeth, "Your new best friend's in our group. You should be so ecstatic." He leered his almond-shaped eyes at Benny.

"Kill me now." Isabeth groaned as the bell rang. 

How do you think the group assignments are going to go?