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“Welcome all to General Chemistry 2. All of you have taken the required coursework and are here, you made it. Congrats.”
The deadpan delivery made students squirm. They looked at each other in confusion.
“This curriculum is ass. I don’t expect half of you to get above eighty percent and that’s okay, we all have our strengths. The information is bull and don’t even get me started on how the stupid the prices on those textbooks are! It’s online, why would they need to be ninety dollars? Honestly, the school makes you pay for enough!”
The next twenty minutes of the class period was just Star yelling at the school for stealing money from broke kids.
“Did you know I got an email from my old college asking for donations?! Who does that?! I gave them my tuition, that's my donation!”
The students watched as their professor ranted like he was personally attacked at that moment. It was quite funny. The length of the rant was concerning but it could be worse. Little did they know ‘could be worse’ was the unofficial class moto.
—---
“Professor Vos?”
Star stopped his lecture and stared at this student. She was smart but a bit airheaded the few times she spoke to him. She’d be better off in an astrology class but she passed so he had no issues. He nodded to her, his face telling her to continue.
“The book doesn’t go over this at all. Could you go over it please?”
Star was shocked! He really hated this damn curriculum, it doesn’t go over half the things they need to know. He just doesn’t understand what the hell this school wants from him. Star scoffs, his face settles into a sneer.
“I can’t believe it! What in the world do they expect me to teach you? I mean I know you can’t be expected to know everything but come on! What does the school think I am? A miracle worker? I can’t do everything!”
Star’s hate for the laziness of the writers of the material for both the curriculum and the required textbooks was beginning to show.
There was a muffled sob that silenced the room. Star froze and slowly turned to the source of the noise. The same ditzy go lucky girl had her face in her hands covering her face in embarrassment. Everyone was looking at Star, Star was looking at her, she was sobbing.
‘Ah, fuck’
Star quickly made his way over to her, “Oh oh oh not you not you! I’m so sorry.”
He quickly made his way over to her and knelt down beside her. Star put his hand in between her shoulder blades and awkwardly patted her back.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean you, I meant the school’s curriculum. You are perfectly fine, doing great even!”
The girl calmed her sobbing a little, enough that she could be understood through her sobbing anyway. Star pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.
“It’s just- just that my boyfriend broke up with me. I know I should’ve seen it coming given that he’s an aries and I'm a libra, but I still thought we had something. The current moon sign is a scorpio so I’m in even more trouble with life in general and now this! I’m such a mess.”
The girl’s sobs resumed with its previous intensity. Star’s heart sank as he realized what kind of girl she was, an astrology girl. He didn’t mind them, flashbacks from his childhood left him wary. Unfortunately, he had a strong suspicion there was only one way to solve this.
“Hey, no that’s not true. Just,” Star fought back a gag, “just because you’re opposite signs doesn’t mean you were doomed or anything. People have their differences, that’s all. The moon sign this month doesn’t affect your aura either, it just slightly modifies it. It’s up to you how you take that modification, that’s all.”
This seemed to calm her down as he heaved a few times and wiped her eyes.
“Okay? Everything’s going to be fine.”
The girl nodded and smiled at him, “thanks.”
Star smiled then stood, “Are you ready to continue?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Word spread quickly of Star making a student cry, no one was willing to let him live it down. He heard a knock at the door and groaned.
“Go away Warp, I don’t wanna talk about it.”
The door opened anyway, but it wasn’t Warp thankfully. It was James, affectionately called Jetfire or Skyfire depending on who you spoke to. He, within the first week here, had both lit a fire and accidentally created jetfuel in his personal lab. He was called Jetfire for the jet fuel incident or Skyfire for the two times he had them evacuate the building on a day when the sky was dark and stormy. Star personally leaned towards Skyfire, it seemed to fit the nature of James better.
Skyfire sighed affectionately at the sight of his colleague, closing the door behind him as he moved into the office.
“The good news is that your ‘victim’ isn’t upset at you. Everyone finds it quite hilarious actually.”
Star took a drink from his secret water bottle in his personal mini fridge, it had wine in it. Star simply leaned back in his chair.
“That’s not the issue. People already think I’m a soul sucking demon! This did not help in the slightest.”
“If it’s any consolation, Perceptor said he thinks it’s not that bad.”
Star just stared at him, “Did Percy say that or did Brainstorm say that and Percy agreed with him?”
Skyfire rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes.
“I see. Brainstorm is insane and, while Percy's agreement helps, the overall effect is minimal.”
Skyfire attempted to hold back a smile, “You know it’s when you talk like that that people think you’re a demon. ‘The overall effect is minimal’ is such a dumb sentence.”
Star glared at Skyfire then scowled, “Noted, insulted but noted.”
Skyfire chuckled and got up, “I should head out.”
“Classes?”
Skyfire opened the door and held it there, “I got a text, Warp is on his way to bug you.”
Star shot up, hiding his water bottle, as he looked desperately at Skyfire, “No no, don’t leave me here! Please!”
Skyfire smiled awkwardly, “I’m sorry Star, I like my sanity too much.”
Warp slid into Skyfire, panting and sweating from the run over. He slid into a seat and launched into his questions. Skyfire felt bad as he closed the door but his self preservation was too strong. He saw Star mouth ‘you’ll pay for this’. He didn’t say or do anything but close the door and run away.
Skyfire’s day of reckoning would come, Star swore to that…once Warp got out of his office.