The following morning, I made my way to Dr. Mann's office, ready to either have a civil conversation about how talking behind people's backs was totally not cool, or to completely lose my shit.

And knowing myself and my lack of ability to maintain any chill, I was definitely prepared for the latter.

I stood outside his office door, which was closed, despite him calling the time his "office hours."

My efforts probably weren't going to fix anything, but I had to try. I wasn't a pushover, and I didn't want anyone to think that I was. If I had to blow my shot at passing the class to stand up for myself, then that was what I had to do.

I didn't spend much time planning what my course of action would be, but sometimes, winging it worked out better for me.

Other times, not so much.

I shut my eyes and breathed in, then knocked on the door.

"Yes?" Dr. Mann said from the other side of the door, and I swung it open, revealing my faux confidence.

"Good morning. I have a few concerns that I'd like to address, if that's okay with you," I said.

He rose an eyebrow at me. "I didn't expect you to cave this easily. If you're willing to work with me-"

"I'm not caving. I'm here to tell you that I know about your speech about me, and that I think it was a low blow."

He pushed a few papers across his desk, then picked up his coffee cup and sipped from it. "What speech?"

"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about. The one where you called me out for being 'the embodiment of entitlement' and said I have an inferiority complex."

He stared at me for a moment, but I refused to waiver.

Instead, I put on a smirk. "Yeah, that one. Unless there was another that I don't know about too. I wouldn't count that out."

"Take a seat. Do you have any classes soon?"

I shook my head as I sat down across from him.

"That's good, because I expect this will take a while."

"I don't mind. I just want to get this straightened out as professionally as you can manage," I said.

He chuckled. "Quite an ego on you, I must say."

"So I'm going to give you two minutes to explain yourself before I completely lose my mind. The clock starts whenever you're ready." I leaned forward in the chair and placed my hand on his desk.

There was nothing like the rush of such a chess game. Body language, word choice, and tone of voice all mattered to gain the upper hand, and while I could be pretty clueless when it came to emotional strategy, this was my way to show off what I had learned over the years.

He stared at my hand upon his desk, and I could tell it was bothering him.

It was my tactic at gaining control, claiming his territory as my own, a way of placing my foot in the door so he couldn't get rid of me.

He spoke anyway. "Amanda, you don't belong in a class like mine."

I rolled my eyes. "You're telling me."

"You're unable to follow simple guidelines. You don't belong in any class here."

The continuation of his thoughts caught me off-guard, and I pulled my hand back, placed it on my lap, and stared back at him wordlessly.

He folded his hands and leaned forward on his desk. "There are millions of minds just like yours, the individualists who claim they're above reality, but that is just not the case. One day, you'll learn that you're nothing special. You're just a spoiled little brat."

I still couldn't speak. He said it all to my face too.

I couldn't believe it.

I remained in my seat for a moment, giving myself a moment to collect my thoughts, then I stood up. "If you have an issue with my personality, this is the place to lay into me. Not in front of a class of a hundred people, when I'm not even there."

"You're simply a walking lesson, Amanda. Nothing more."

I placed my hands flat across the desk from his, and he took another sip of his coffee, waiting for my next move.

"That's an unfair claim, don't you think?" I laughed. It felt almost like a retreat, but I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't start swinging at him.

"Not at all. And the only thing that keeps you from agreeing with me is that ego of yours. You refuse to give in, even when you know you're wrong."

I took a deep breath. "You claim that I'm the one with an ego, but you sit upon your throne of lies and teach your shitty opinions as fact. It's not fair to the students, and it's especially not fair to me."

He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "They're not opinions."

"And so how do you know for a fact that I'm narcissistic? That I have an inferiority complex? You know nothing about me, and I don't know why you think you can pretend you do. Those aren't facts."

"Can you disprove me?"

"I don't have to. You have to prove your claims."

He shook his head. "And that's where you're wrong."

"Oh, really? I'd be glad to know why you think you can just tell me I'm wrong without explaining why."

"Because that's not the way science works. I can support my hypotheses, and as long as you can't disprove them, then they're valid."

I bit my cheek. What kind of fake science fuckery was that?

"Well, then I can claim unicorns are real, and as long as you can't disprove it, I just suppose it's a fact," I said.

"Unicorns aren't real. That may shock you, I understand that, but-"

"I'd really appreciate it if you would stop belittling me, thank you." I rolled my eyes. "No respect with your generation."

He lowered his eyebrows. "Don't get cute."

I smiled. "I always am, always will be."

He shook his head. "If you're going to act like a little entitled brat, the world is going to treat you the opposite way. You aren't special. If you don't get anything else from me, I don't care, as long as I get this into your head."

I took a deep breath and crossed my arms. "I'm not acting like anything but me."

"Have you ever considered not doing that? You'd probably have a better chance at success if you tried a different strategy."

"Well, the world goes my way more often than not when I'm me and forcing it to go the way I want it to. You seem to seriously underestimate the power of pushing for everything, instead of being satisfied with the life society wants for you."

"You simply don't understand what the world is like. You've never seen the harshness of reality, and like I said before, you're a brat."

I slammed my hand down on the desk. "Don't you dare tell me that I know nothing. I'm not ignorant. I've seen, fuck, I've lived the harshness of reality. I shouldn't even be here, but thanks to its shitty nature, I am. And above all this, you go ahead and tell the class of a hundred people that I'm... It's-it's-"

"Amanda, sit down."

"I'm just so tired of this. I have a job, I am a student, I have people who rely on me, and you sit there and tell me that I'm entitled. I'm going to be in debt for decades once I'm done here. I've had to work for everything I have, press all the right buttons, and-" I sat down and put my face in my hands. "It's beyond infuriating."

"The reason you're going to be in debt is because you were lazy in high school. Nearly everyone gets accepted here, regardless of GPA. It gives poor students like you a chance. You should be grateful."

I threw my hands up in the air. "That's another baseless assumption from you. I graduated with a thirty-four ACT score and a three point eight GPA. And guess what I have to show for it? Not one goddamn scholarship."

His eyes widened. "Why not?"

"Because some kid decided to mess with the wrong person, and I was the one who took the L. That's why."

He chuckled.

"Well, I'm glad you can laugh about it." I stood up and wiped the palms of my hands on my jeans. "And one last thing before I go: I have your tirade in class recorded. Have a nice fucking day, bitch."

"Wait." He stood up and held up his hand. "Are you serious?"

I nodded.

"Sit back down. What do you want from me?"

"So you acknowledge what you're doing is wrong? Huh. Funny how that works. But I don't want anything from you. I want justice, not just for me, but for all the people you've fucked over in the name of your bullshit class."

I began to walk for the door.

"The A is yours if you want it. Just don't do anything with that video," he said.

"Too bad."

His tone turned pleading. "Please."

I turned back around, placing my hand on the door frame. "No. I don't care what you have to say. On day one, you told me that there's always someone like me, who has to put up with your constant crap. I'll put an end to this one way or another, and you're just going to have to deal with the consequences."

"I need this job!" he cried, then broke down into tears. "I need it."

I smiled. Sweet, sweet schadenfreude. "Why don't you just take your PhD in sociology and find something else to do with it? Oh wait, you can't, because it's a bullshit degree. An otherwise meaningless piece of paper."

"You'll never understand the harshness of reality, Amanda."

"I think I have a damn good understanding right now."

He looked up at me, then wiped an imaginary tear off his face.

I rolled my eyes. I wasn't buying it, and I wanted him to know that.

"Unfortunately for you, you've picked on the person least likely to fall for your crocodile tears," I said.

He just shook his head and picked up a picture frame on his desk. He held it out to me.

And like the dumbass I was, I took it and looked at it.

It was a sweet-looking older woman in a hospital bed, smiling as though nothing was wrong, despite the countless tubes sticking out from her.

"Amanda, please. I need this for her," he said, looking at me.

Tears, real ones, glittered in his eyes.

"Is she your wife?" I asked.

He nodded.

Only one thought came into my mind: "Guess you should have kept her in mind when you were talking shit about me. I'll see you in class tomorrow, bitch."

I didn't say it, though, and instead I walked out of his office without an expression on my face or a word.

If he was hoping his emotional ploy would work on me, he had a surprise coming. I was allergic to emotional manipulation, and I could feel my sinuses filling with a million liters of snot.

Achoo, motherfucker. That wasn't my problem.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading! I hope you're having a wonderful day/night. Don't forget to vote and comment if you liked the chapter! And thank you for 100 votes!!!

So when Amanda's anger wears off, do you think she'll still think the same way about Dr. Mann and his situation? Or will she have other thoughts and feelings?