Grace walked down the hall of the administration building, running into Latisha just outside of Instructor Gage's classroom. "Hey."

"Hey, girlfriend. Where were you?"

Leaning against the wall, Grace turned her head and glared in the direction of Carey's office. "I had my mentoring session with Queen Bitch."

"Ooh, too bad," Latisha said. "I have Mitchell for mentoring. She's pretty cool."

"Lucky you," Grace said, pushing off the wall as others arrived for class. "Come on, we'd better not be late. I don't need Gage on my ass, too."

"Take a seat," Instructor Gage said. "This is Personal Finance. If you think this will be an easy class, you are sadly mistaken. You will learn about managing your income and expenses, how to plan for the future, financing and credit, and investing." Gage paced back and forth in front of the class. "Abusing credit is the easiest way to get yourself in trouble. Letting someone else use your credit is another. If someone asks you to put a bill in your name, get a cell phone for them, charge something on your credit with a promise to pay it back later, you run as fast as you can. Waters, how long does a negative mark stay on your credit report?"

"I don't know, ma'am."

"Seven years," Gage said. "Think about how long that is. Most of you were under the age of ten seven years ago. Can you imagine paying now for something that happened when you were ten? That's what a negative mark on your credit report is. Bankruptcy stays for ten. As juvenile offenders, your records are wiped clean at age eighteen. You get a fresh start, a new life. When you are irresponsible with your money and credit, there is no magic way to wipe the slate clean. Jones, if a bank approves you for a credit card, would you take it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Latisha said.

"You would." Gage turned and walked back to her desk. "I'm going to ask that question again in a week. We'll see if your answer changes."

“You have a class now?" Grace asked as they left the classroom.

"No, you?"

"No."

“Going to study hall?"

"It's either there or back to the barracks," Grace said. "Any idea who's in charge of that?"

Jan brushed up against her. "No one," she said. "No one knows if we're there, no one knows if we're not."

"No way," Grace said. "They must have hidden cameras or something. There's no way they trust us to just go in there and study."

Jan looked stricken. "You think?"

"I don't know," Latisha said. "But I'm not gonna take the chance."

"I'm with you," Grace said as they started walking down the hallway. "Carey's on my ass enough."

"She sure is," Jan said. "Guess you shouldn't have spit at that fat guard on the bus. Got you pegged from the start that way."

"It wouldn't have mattered," Grace said. "That bitch has it in for me." She touched her shorn locks. "Look what she did to my hair."

"I heard that short girl, Sally Dawson, had to be treated for lice," Latisha said.

"Damn, I'm glad her bunk is down at the other end of the barracks," Jan said.

"Really," Grace said. "She can keep her bugs to herself."

When they arrived at the classroom reserved for study hall, several other girls were already there. "Okay, Jan, what's your problem with math?" Grace asked as they claimed a table for themselves.

"Percentages and fractions suck," Jan said.

"Yeah, like your mother," one of the girls standing near the teacher's desk said.

"Fuck you, Grenner."

"Naw, I wouldn't wanna take that job from your daddy," Grenner said.

Jan jumped from her seat, shoving the larger girl against the desk.

"You got a problem?"

"At least I know what a fraction is, stupid," Grenner said, looking to make sure her friends were standing behind her.

"Come on," Latisha said. "Let's go back to the barracks and study there."

"Stay out of it, vine head," Grenner said. "You too, Blondie."

"You got a fucking problem?" Grace said, moving to join Jan.

"I don't know where you little prissies came from, but if you want to stay in one piece, don't screw with me."

The door, which had been ajar, flew open and the doorway filled with the large blonde instructor. "Well, if it isn't a group of little girls trying to play king of the mountain," Instructor Donaldson said as she entered the room and stood between the two groups of girls. "Let me make it easy for you," she said, her eyes darting from girl to girl. "At Sapling Hill, the only kings of the mountain have the word Instructor before their names, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," several girls said.

"What's that? Waters, I didn't see your lips move."

Grace rolled her eyes. "Yes, Instructor Donaldson, ma'am."

"You just don't know when to shut that smart mouth of yours up, do you? Waters, drop and give me ten pushups. Bowen, Jones, go sit down. Grenner, Dawson, find something to do before I find it for you."

"Yes, ma'am," Grenner said, giving Grace and Jan the evil eye before scooping up her books and moving to the far table. Everyone in the room knew it was not the end of the situation. The only question was when and where the next battle would be.

"All right, ladies, let's get lined up around the mat," Carey said as she moved to the center of the blue padding. "I'm here to teach you how to defend yourself against an attack. By the end of this series, you'll know exactly what to do to get away from an attacker. Now, since you get five minutes at each end of class to change, we're going to get right to business." She shook out her arms, then looked at Grace. "Waters, front and center."

"Yes, ma'am." I'm dead. Grace stepped into the middle, stopping two feet away from the taller woman. Carey walked behind her, then turned Grace to face the others. "When you attack your opponent it's important to know if it's a man or a woman. On a man, there are four key areas, eyes, throat, groin, and knees. On a woman, it's eyes, throat, and knees. Insteps are also a good point of vulnerability, especially if you're being held from behind." A strong forearm wrapped around Grace's throat. "Waters, I'm a mugger. Give me your purse and you won't get hurt. What do you do?" Reaching up, Grace grabbed the muscular arm and did her best to dislodge it, her efforts completely ineffectual. "Now, if I had a weapon, you'd be very unhappy by now," Carey said. "The first thing you do is try and avoid the situation. If that's not possible, decide what's more important, a few dollars or your life. If they want the money, give them the money. Now Waters, I'm a mugger. Give me your purse and you won't get hurt. What do you do?"

"Give you my purse, ma'am," Grace said, wishing the instructor would let go of her and pick on someone else.

"Now I'm not a mugger but a rapist. I don't care about money. What do you do?"

"I try to get away, ma'am," Grace said, the arm around her neck tightening and her body pressed against the solid woman behind her.

"Think you can get away from me?"

"No, ma'am," Grace said, feeling the pressure ease, as the instructor pulled away from her.

"Sit down, Waters. When you are faced with a situation where you are in danger, the ultimate goal is to survive," Carey said. "If the opportunity is there to escape, by all means do it, but if it isn't, or a weapon is involved, your life comes first."

"So we should just lie there and get raped?" Jan asked.

"That's a choice only you can make," Carey said. "But if the choice comes down to being raped or being killed, I choose life. Now, knowing some self-defense moves can help."

"So's carrying Mace," Grace said in a low voice.

"What was that, Waters?"

Shit. "I was just saying that Mace is good for defense, ma'am."

"You think so?" Carey smiled knowingly. "Waters, stand up."

Damn. Grace stood up and moved to the center of the mat while the instructor walked over to a supply locker and opened it, removing a small canister. Great, what's she gonna do? Mace me?

"Any weapon, whether it's Mace, a gun or anything in between, can be turned against you." She tossed the canister to Grace. "It's empty," she said. "But it will work for our purposes. Waters, now you have a can of Mace. What are you going to do?"

Why me? "I would spray it in the attacker's face, ma'am."

"And what if it's windy? Or the attacker is right on top of you? Mace won't work then."

"I'll spray him before he gets too close, ma'am," Grace said.

"All right, we'll see," Carey said. "Waters, I'm a mugger."

Grace gripped the canister, ready to spin and aim it at the older woman's face, but when she raised her arm, it was caught in a firm grip and the teen found herself flat on her back. "Oof."

"Now I have a weapon to use against you," Carey said, holding up the canister that had fallen out of Grace's hand upon impact with the mat. “And now Mr. Mugger is mad. Still think Mace is the answer, Waters?"

"No, ma'am," she said, looking up at the imposing woman.

"Get the idea, Waters?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Instructor Carey stood up and addressed the class. "A weapon is only good if you are the one in control. Why bring something into the situation that could be used against you? Waters, go sit down."

That's it, I'm not saying another word unless Queen Bitch calls on me.

"Any idea what kind of meat this is?" Grace asked, pointing at the oval patty.

"Mystery meat," Jan said, stabbing hers with her fork. "Processed, formed, nutritionally sound, tasteless mystery meat."