Fandom High School

"Right," said Rosa, from where she was leaning against the front of the desk with her arms folded, once the students filed in and found their seats in the classroom. "So, here's the thing. In this class, there's a lot of thing we can learn that are practical and useful and involve actually doing things, like first aid or self defense or literally everything I'm teaching you next month. And that stuff's all important, but some of the most important Bad Ass Bitch Survival Skills have nothing to do with splinting a broken arm or punching the lights out of someone or knowing how to pick a lock if you get locked out. It has to do with mental strength, which is a lot harder to teach, but is just as important.

"In light of this weekend, I have just two lessons for you, lessons that I can't really lecture on because it has to do with you, and, like I've said, you can't really teach being a Bad Ass, you either are or you aren't, so it's up to you guys to decide if you are, in this respect."

She pushed off the desk and moved to the board, as if writing it down clearly made it a viable lesson and therefor it counted.

"Number one," she said, writing it big and bold for them to see, "don't care about what people think about you, because most people suck anyway.

"And number two, remember that parents are just people. And as we covered in number one, most people suck.

"Now, obviously," she turned back to the class, "I don't know your current parental situation. And I don't care. Some of you might have a strained relationship with your parents. Some of you might not have any parents at all. Some of you might come from weird cultures where kids are so coddled that apparently, ten-years-old or whatever is 'too young to have a knife'," yes there were air-quotes there, and Rosa shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Some of you might have a great relationship with your parents, and that's actually awesome, and hope it stays that way for you, but, guess what? Your parents are just people. And people suck. And it might not always be that way, and, if it happens, then it's probably going to suck even more unless you're prepared for it. And it's not something you can really prepare or train yourself for unless you start while you're young, realizing that these people aren't some all-important, all-knowing bastions of guidance and support. At the end of the day, they're just people. Fallable, vulnerable, sometimes mistaken or just plain ignorant. And you're just as much of a person as they are, with valid opinions and thoughts and just as much of a right to them as they are. This goes for more more than just parents, too. Guardians, teachers, bosses, cops. All of 'em. Just people. And people suck. A Bad Ass Bitch remembers that, and she's not going to let what people who suck thinks about them drag her down."

Rosa sucked in a small breath, sighed just faintly, and shrugged. "And that's it'. That's today's lesson. If there's any questions, go ahead and ask them, but otherwise, you're free to go. Just think about that, and try to have at least one 'enlightening' moment of realization that you don't have to listen to whatever some jerkwad is telling you, and maybe we'll talk about those moments next week.

"Also," she added, "anyone who doesn't have some guest come and talk to me this weekend gets extra credit. So there's a gimme for you orphans, I guess."