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The laughter ripping through the class was near maddening. She hadn’t heard such childish giggling since her first year of high school. The fact that over twenty people, some older than her, were directing their humor at a single person didn’t help with her assessment.

The boy that they were all laughing at stumbled to his feet, his long sleeve shirt, which looked like he had sown it together at a shack in the woods, was soaked with soda and quite ruined. He hardly seemed to notice it. Eyes full of anger were directed at everyone in the classroom.

"Stop making fun of me dammit!" Carson Detter growled.

The tone in his voice was brimming over with threats, but that only increased the laughter. His face bright red, Carson snatched up the small broad brimmed hat he had been wearing when he had walked in. Being made of woven strands of straw, it had been thoroughly crushed from Carson’s fall. With clenched teeth, he crumpled up the ruined hat in his trembling hands, and spun around sharply.

Shelly Jameson wished more than anything that she could have just sunk through her chair and vanished from the room in that moment. But that wasn’t a practical option. Instead, all she could do was stare up at Carson as he looked at her with rage consumed eyes.

"It was you." Carson growled, pointing a finger at her. "You tripped me!"

Shelly felt her chest tighten at the threat. She had stretched her legs out because they were aching, and had her eyes closed at the moment when she had done it, but she hadn’t done it on purpose.

"I didn’t trip you." Shelly said back with a slight snap in her voice.

"Yes, you did. You ruined my hat!"

Shelly looked all around at the rest of the class. Only a few were still laughing, but they were all smiling stupidly at Carson’s near temper tantrum attitude. Shelly felt her face flush with embarrassment. Dealing with something like this just two months into college was the last thing she needed. Especially when dealing with a country yokel like Carson.

"Listen," Shelly said, keeping her eyes looking straight into Carson’s. "if you’re too dumb to watch where you’re walking, that’s not my fault."

"I’m not dumb!" Carson shrieked, throwing down his destroyed hat on the floor.

Maybe it was by dumb luck, or plain divine fate, but professor Trouser chose that moment to walk into the room. His older face was washed with stunned shock when he saw Carson throw his hat to the floor in a fit of rage.

"What the hell’s going on in here?"

"She tripped me." Carson fumed. "She’s trying to make me look like a fool."

"You don’t need my help with that." Shelly muttered in a low voice.

"Why you…." Carson growled with clenched fists. He didn’t finish what he was saying, but Shelly knew exactly what he intended to say.

"That will be enough! One more outburst like that, and you’re out of my class." professor Trouser shouted. "Do you want me to have to call security?"

Carson stared straight at professor Trouser without moving, his hands slowly clenched into trembling fists. Shelly saw more than one of the students tense up as they waited to see what Carson would do. After what felt like an hour of waiting with breaths held, Carson growled from behind his closed lips and turned from Trouser. Snatching up his ruined hat and book bag, Carson shot a vicious glance at Shelly from out of the corner of his eye. He went to the far back of the room without another word. Every eye in the room followed him, and remained on him until he turned his face back at the other students.

When he was out of sight, professor Trouser looked long and hard at Shelly. "And Ms. Jameson, it is neither campus policy nor mine to allow students to insult one another. If you feel the need to voice your opinion in any manner other than the standards that society expects of you, you can leave."

Shelly bowed her head slightly. "I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again."

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