Eh? My face, once smiling in agreement with her, quickly contorts in confusion. “Killing the what?”

“The beast.”

“Huh?” Sorry, lingering annoyance with the guidance counselor was making my otherwise sharp mind run slow.

Sam let out another lazy sigh and gestured towards me. “She meant you.”

“Kill me?” I raise an eyebrow at Alice.

“The beast.” My blonde friend smiled from ear to ear. I know, I should be insulted, but despite this, I let Alice continue. “Basically, to get rid of your temper is synonymous to getting rid of you. Like I said, you ain’t BP without all your anger issues. It’s what makes you.. well.. you.”

“But–” I began to object.

“I agree.” Shane bobs her head up and down, siding with Al.

“Ditto.” Sam yawns.

Shit. They rarely agree with anything Alice says, so it must be true then.

I have a temper. I have a problem with it. And the only way to get rid of that problem was to die.

Not much of an option, is it?

“Well that settles everything then. Temper problem won’t be solved in this lifetime, literally.” I slid out of my desk and stood up at full height, stretching my limbs out as I did so. I needed some fresh air, it was high time to bail out of this suffocating classroom and stretch my legs. Free time, aka study period, had just started anyway. “That woman riled me up so bad, I think I’m gonna head over to the cafeteria to let out some steam. Care to join me?” I invited, looking expectantly at my three friends. As expected, they were more than happy to follow my lead. My little pack of merry troublemakers filed out of the classroom in a leisurely pace, garnering longing looks from our classmates. At least we could do as we please inside this school, they, on the other hand, had no other choice but to stay put and listen to the announcements being made by our class president. Something ’bout an outreach program we’d be having in a few weeks involving little kids from a poor public school. Bah. Who cares? I know I didn’t.