Chapter 12: Chapter 51 – Tamara Does her Best! Again!

Ange was coming downstairs just as Instructor Elaine was leaving in her car. She watched the schoolteacher go, clearly disappointed in not getting a chance to speak with her. Of course, I made sure of that.

While we were speaking on the front porch, I had told Ange and Cresta to keep Tamara company upstairs. Poor girl picked up Rakka and raced straight to her room as soon as we got back. She refused to let anyone in, even me and Ange, until Cresta got off work.

When I texted Cresta what happened, she sprinted home faster than I could climb a flight of stairs. Too bad she lost her Rocket Burger hat along the way.

"I suppose settling on seeing her plump posterior shall suffice," the succubus remarked on the way down.

"You could at last take this matter a little more seriously." I sighed.

"If I did, the matter would be resolved with me annihilating the minds of those who hurt her," she said.

Realizing that Ange was not joking in the slightest, I could only vow to be more careful about what I said going forward. We were lucky Professor Markel didn't call me about the incident at Tamara's school. She had without a shadow of a doubt pulled some sort of mind control on the faculty.

No way in hell judging from past incidents that they weren't made aware. That we weren't punished yet was proof that the professor had been sticking his ass out for us. But the more times Ange committed these infractions, the greater we risked being discovered.

"Your heart is in the right place. The methods, not so much. From what Elaine told me, this was a usual case of bullying," I explained.

"What about this is usual?" Ange fired back. "Are you telling me your kind actively engages in tormenting children?"

"Well, shit. How am I supposed to answer this?" I asked myself and her both. There was no satisfactory answer here, because the only answer was yes. The human world was just as cruel if not worse without super strength and spells being flung around.

The last thing I wanted to tell overprotective netherfolks was that Tamara's classmates pulled on her hair and horns, called her names, and insulted her appearance. I dreaded to think what they might do. As her guardian and caretaker, my only option was to lodge a complaint to the principal. Instructor Elaine had already promised to bring this up to their attention at the end of our talk.

"Ange," Ines called from the top of the stairs. "Tamara wants to take a nap, but she's having trouble falling asleep. If it isn't too much to ask, could you work some magic to help her?"

She looked at me for permission. "It is minor enough that no one will notice, not even the professor."

I nodded to give her the okay.

As Ange flew upstairs, she was soon replaced by Ines who also had a thing or two to say.

"Sorry for eavesdropping, but your girlfriend's got a serious case of projecting," she said, lowering her voice.

"How do you mean?"

Ines glanced over her shoulder to see if they were alone. "I think she sees the same demons that killed Tamara's parents in the bullies. Her overreaction in how to deal with them is overblown because… well, she wants to be punished."

"I don't know if I can handle a psych lesson, right now."

I went to pour myself a glass of water in the kitchen, and Ines followed me in to pour herself a glass of wine. She met my judging gaze halfway down her suspect beverage of choice.

"You can't shame me. I'm an adult," the college graduate said.

"Okay, adult-college-student-psychologist, what can we do to help Tamara?" I asked, myself at a loss. "Because at this rate, she might not like school anymore."

"Same thing you and I did back in school. Grit your teeth, pester the faculty about it, and make friends who care about you," she answered.

"You're a therapist when I don't ask for advice, but an old man when I do. What's with this dichotomy?"

Ines grabbed the bottle and raised her glass as she left the kitchen. I remained, brewing within my own thoughts and experiences to figure out the best solution. Every thread, however, came back to leaving it in Elaine's hands.

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Later at night, Tamara didn't come down for dinner. I brought a hefty plate of mixed fruits up to her room and found her sitting upright on the bed, fast asleep between Cresta and Ange. A ball of slime like ones I'd see in japanese RPGs rested atop Tamara's head. Two slits opened to a pair of eyes.

I sat the plate down on a desk, and Remmy reformed to my side to pick up a piece of fruit to eat.

"You've been in here, too?" I quietly asked her.

"I know how it feels to be lonely. I figured putting off games for one day is fine," she said.

As far as I could tell, Tamara was in good hands. Talking with her could wait until tomorrow.

Ange strongly insisted that she come drop off Tamara, but after enough convincing I managed to get her to stay home. I drove Cresta to work first, so that Tamara and I would be the only two in the car. It was no surprise that she wasn't as excited about school as the previous morning.

The two of us sat in the car as students continued to pass by on the sidewalk. Cars filled the parking lot to the brim with vehicles from students who were of age or parents making visits to the school. I watched as Tamara pressed her index fingers together in the seat behind me, trying to find the courage to step out.

"When I was still going to school, I got made fun of for being a nerd. Even my parents teased me about always spending my free time playing games or reading manga."

"Did it ever stop?" Tamara asked.

"Nope. I just graduated away from all that," I answered. "Let me teach you a fun way to deal with all that annoying stuff— say something to make fun of me. Anything!"

She thought long and hard for an insult, but naturally someone as pacifistic as her would find that a difficult thing to do. The look on her face, an expression of someone who knew the pain of being insulted and hurt, didn't want another to feel the same way.

"Mmm… You're a… nerd…?" she mumbled.

I took a deep breath.

"I'M SORRY FOR BEING A NERD!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

People outside of the car gave us weird looks, but the windows were too tinted for them to see anyway. Tamara's eyes widened and mouth hung open in astonishment, stunned at my outburst. She suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, and because it was so contagious, I ended up laughing as well.

"Ahhh! That surprised me so much, I didn't know what to think. My heart almost jumped up to my throat!" Tamara wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, still giggly from my over-enthusiastic apology.

"If someone ever calls you names or makes fun of anything about you, do just that. I know you don't like fighting, but If someone ever tries to hurt you, then you have my express permission to use your horns to headbutt them. I'll take responsibility," I assured her.

The sound of her seatbelt unbuckled. I thought she was about to finally face the world again, but she hugged me from behind instead. My only regret was that the car seat was in the way.

"Thanks," she said warmly, then clenched her fists to psych herself up. "I'm going to make friends at school if it's the last thing I do!"

"Attagirl!"

Tamara threw the car door open and jumped out.

She screamed with all her might, "GOOOOOD MOOORRRNNIIIIINNNGGGG!"

Then raced toward the entrance where Instructor Elaine and two school security waited. Instead greeting her teacher normally, she tackled Elaine through the door which was fortunately open as they tumbled through.

"Well… if she didn't make an impression on her first day, she certainly did this time."

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