Aria stared at Cody's notepad in fascination as their history teacher droned on about the inner workings of Norse clans. As Mr. Evans spoke about a community council called the Thing, Cody drew a picture of an armless hand, middle finger extended. She watched in surprise and no little amusement as he drew in exceptional calligraphy, 'HERE'S YOUR THING'.
"Mr. Gibbons," Mr. Evans snapped as he walked up to Cody's desk and looked down at the drawing. "While I have no doubt you are related to the Adams Family, I would appreciate a little more respect in my class. Feel free to spend the rest of class in detention looking up the meaning of respect."
"I'm sure it will be liberating," Cody drawled. "I'll just slide in there and put my thing down." So saying, he stood up and left, leaving the drawing on the desk.
Aria tried, but she couldn't stop a giggle from escaping her lips.
"Feel free to join him, Miss Slater," Mr. Evans told her coldly.
Aria stared back at him in disbelief. "Why? Because I laughed?"
"Because I told you too," Mr. Evans scowled down at her. "Now. Leave."
Aria rolled her eyes and stood up with a long suffering expression, gathered her things, and left.
She came to an abrupt halt as she entered the hallway. Cody was standing just outside the door, scribbling furiously on his notepad. When he finished, he looked up and met her gaze with a smirk, then taped the finished product onto the door. It was a sketch with a pretty good likeness of Mr. Evans trying to pull Thing from the Adams Family away from throttling his neck. His eyes were bulging comically, and his forked tongue was hanging out. Aria doubled over with laughter, putting a hand to the wall to steady herself.
"Apparently, he hasn't read up on the latest science articles that say doodling helps students concentrate," Cody told her as he began walking to detention.
"Apparently not," Aria agreed, falling into step with him.
"Where are you going?" he asked curiously.
"Detention," Aria informed him with a shrug. "I'm not allowed to laugh in class, apparently."
Cody frowned. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get you into trouble too."
"No worries," Aria giggled, remembering the artwork. "It was worth it. You're pretty good with a pencil."
"You should see me with a spray paint can," he said modestly.
Aria stared at him, wondering if he was joking. He suddenly grinned, his eyes twinkling. "I'm just kidding, though for Mr. Evans, I'd be willing to give it a try."
As they entered the detention classroom, Mr. Sykes looked up from his desk and grunted when he saw Cody.
"Surprise surprise," Mr. Sykes shook his head disdainfully. "You know the drill, Mr. Gibbons."
Cody saluted Mr. Sykes and clicked his heels together, then marched over to one of the desks and sat at rigid attention.
"Punk," Mr. Sykes muttered in disgust. He looked at Aria with narrowed eyes. "First time here?"
"Yep," Aria nodded, feeling self-conscious.
"Have a seat and start copying from the dictionary," he instructed her curtly. "I'd also advise you to steer clear of that one, if you want to have an academic future." He finished with a nod toward Cody.
Aria glanced at Cody, who was feverishly flipping through pages in the dictionary and whispering to himself like a madman. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as she just nodded and found a desk to sit in.
As she sat writing words from the dictionary, she suddenly felt the supernatural presence that often accompanied Heidi. She glanced around, but Heidi wasn't there. She shivered as the presence remained, knowing that just because Heidi wasn't there in physical form didn't mean she wasn't there in some other form. She hoped Heidi wasn't disappointed that she was in detention.
Heidi's presence seemed to be limited to her perception; Mr. Sykes and Cody were oblivious to the superhuman presence observing them.
"Sorry, Heidi," Aria mumbled, feeling like she should say something.
She felt an instant sense of amusement, mixed with a salty determination that was hard to describe.
"No talking!" Mr. Sykes said harshly.
Heidi's presence instantly changed from amused to cold, and it was no longer limited to Aria's perception. Mr. Sykes blinked as the full force of Heidi's presence filled the room. Cody looked up, his eyes calculating as he also felt Heidi's displeasure.
"THIS IS A SCHOOL, NOT A PRISON," Heidi's voice echoed throughout the room like a thunderclap. "MISTREAT THESE CHILDREN AT YOUR OWN PERIL."
Waves of displeasure radiated ominously around the room. It reminded Aria of being alone in the dark as a young child and knowing that some kind of demon was going to come out from under her bed and drag her down to the dungeon dimensions.
Mr. Sykes broke. He fled the room with terror-filled eyes, his hands shaking as he clawed at the door handle.
Heidi's presence vanished as Mr. Sykes left the room.
"Your friend seems a little protective of you," Cody noted, his eyes twinkling again as he stared at the door Mr. Sykes had just vacated.
"That she is," Aria agreed with a warm glow. "She's very protective of kids."
"She's kind of a kid herself," Cody pointed out.
"Not really," Aria disagreed with a frown. "Part of her might be, but a much larger part is a lot older."
Aria was relieved when Cody didn't start pestering her with questions about Heidi. He just nodded thoughtfully.
"So you've got a pretty good singing voice," he said lazily. "I heard you all singing yesterday when I got out of detention. That's some pretty powerful stuff."
"Thanks," Aria smiled shyly. "It's kind of a life changing experience to sing with Heidi."
"I'll bet," he murmured. "I get the feeling that she is just warming up."
Aria studied him closely. It was easy to dismiss someone with a dozen facial piercings and a haircut that looked like Rogue from the Crüxshadows as just another rebel, but Cody exhibited a much greater grasp of social dynamics than most people she had met. He seemed to innately understand how silly the great game of pseudo civilized behavior was and went to great lengths to satirize it.
"What are you doing after school?" Aria asked as a sudden idea formed.
"Detention, of course," he replied, patting the dictionary affectionately.
"What if detention meant writing songs about our homework?" Aria asked suggestively.
"What do you mean?" He asked, looking intrigued.
"What if you help me come up with lyrics for songs regarding historical events," Aria explained, feeling more excited as she thought it through. "Lyrics for science, english, math, all of the classes. It could be a lot of fun, if we did it right. And with Heidi putting music to the lyrics, they would be freaking awesome."
He studied her thoughtfully, absently tapping a rhythm on his dictionary. "I'm open to the idea. We would have to do it after detention though."
"I'm pretty sure I can get Principal Wiley to let me take custody of you for the remainder of your incarceration," Aria said confidently. "She's a lot more forward thinking than the rest of these apes."