Today, the students might notice a couple of things about their teachers that had changed from last week:

(a) Everyone seemed to be in a way better mood!

(b) No one was a dinosaur.



Cheryl had managed to refill all her prescriptions -- or, well, no. Pam had refilled Cheryl's prescriptions for her, because once the velociraptor-ness had worn off, Cheryl without her medication was still a way more dangerous and unstable person than a sober Pam. So it had been Pam who had gone to the pharmacy, and it was Pam who had contacted her dealer, and it was Pam who had also made pot brownies with her new, more potent stash before class today, because that shit was all really stressful.

So that was why it was Cheryl leading the class today, while Pam busied herself in the corner with some glitter glue and popsicle sticks.

"We're not going to fucking talk about last week," Cheryl said, actually fairly brightly despite her language. "Everything's better now." Forgive her if her eyes narrowed a little when they passed over Barry assuming he is not truant omg. Even she wasn't such a dim bulb as to not realize who had been responsible. "Pam's kind of taking it easy today," no shit, "so we're doing things my way, today!"

Yaaaaaaaaaaay...?

"And this week, we're talking about step five, which is 'Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood.'" Cheryl read that off a piece of paper, then looked up at the class with a wrinkled nose. "That is, without a doubt, the hippie-dippiest bullshit I've ever read. So here's what we're gonna do, instead."

She gestured to a table at the front of the room, where she'd laid out a rather extensive and moddable collection of art supplies. "That's the kind of language I used to hear a lot when I was locked up -- you guys saw my meds, you know I've been through some shit, why fucking bother pretending otherwise -- and had to go to group therapy. And you know what we fucking loved doing in group therapy? Expressing ourselves through art. So, get yourself some pipe cleaners or yarn or glitter or whatever, and put something together that you think expresses who you are. And then we're doing show-and-tell."

Oh my god, guys, it was almost like a real class. Almost.

"And ignore Pam, she's about an hour and a half into a brownie trip. She'll catch up."

Almost.