Gemotions

“F”. The single letter on the report card felt like a physical blow. The class was easy, but she got caught up in other things. Now, she was failing. Grace felt a cold dread wrapping around her, but more than that, a furious resentment bloomed. She was angry at the teacher, Ms. Ramirez, for expecting her to work hard.

She started deliberately disrupting the class, arriving late, leaving early, and constantly interrupting the lectures with irrelevant questions. She knew it was childish, but the thought of causing Ms. Ramirez even a moment of annoyance was oddly gratifying.

After class, she would stay behind to make Ms. Ramirez clean up her mess.