As soon as the bell rang Ronnie knew Steve was going to give her a hard time. “Ronnie, I can’t believe you did that.” He said.
“What? It wasn’t like anyone was listening to Professor Murine.” Ronnie said trying to act innocent.
“You know that’s not what I mean; you did that on purpose to shut Sara up.” Steve said.
“So?” Ronnie shrugged her shoulders and started to walk away.
“So! I told you before you don’t want to make an enemy out of her.” Steve under his breath.
“Listen Steve, it’s too late, I don’t like her and she doesn’t like me. There’s nothing I can do about it.” Ronnie said flippantly.
“Well, you don’t need to agitate it.” Steve said defensively.
Doug quietly stepped between the two of them. “Listen Steve, I know where you’re coming from and I admit, starting fights isn’t smart,” he quickly put his hand on Ronnie’s arm “But, I think what Ronnie did was brilliant! Sara was totally out of line, she was taking advantage of Professor Murine and was ruining the class for everyone else. I wish I would have had the claws to do the same thing.”
Ronnie blushed, there was something about getting a compliment like that from Doug that kindled feelings she didn’t quite understand.
“So Doug, why do you like that class so much?” Ronnie asked, keeping the conversation moving in a different direction.
“I just love all the different cultures of magical creatures. Like did you know that the mer-people have a really strict legal system? If you are a mer-person caught in a crime the punishment is immediate.”
“Wow really, no trial or anything?” Steve asked.
“Well, their trial system is different than ours. All they need are 3 mer-people who either saw the crime or were nearby to sit on a makeshift jury. The accuser tells his or her story, the accused tells his story, eye witnesses tell their stories, and then the three jurors take a vote.”
“Wow, that doesn’t seem fair.” Ronnie said.
“Well, it seems to work well for them, they have very little crime. Because any mer in the vicinity of the crime could be sitting on their jury the culture is very friendly and amiable. It even goes so far that the mer-people will go out of their way to protect one another because they don’t want their actions to be misinterpreted. In fact, not doing the right thing in their culture, can be as bad as doing the wrong thing.”
“But what if no one sees the crime?” Steve asked.
“Well, then their trial system is similar to ours, the major difference is most mer-people would rather admit to the crime and find a way to fix the problem, then to try to defend themselves. When a mer admits to being guilty then he is on trial to fix it.” It was obvious Doug could talk for hour on this subject.
Ronnie laughed “You know more than professor Murine does! So again, I have to ask, why do you like this class?
“Well, if it wasn’t for that fact that she’s the one that taught me most of what I know,” he chuckled back, “Professor Murine used to babysit me when I was little. She would bring her photo albums from all around the world with pictures of every magical and mythical creature I could think of.” Doug’s whole face lit up with just the thought of these memories. “She used to stop by before she came over and would ask me what creature or culture I wanted to learn about, then she would bring piles of pictures, some of them she even let me keep. Then she would tell me stories of her adventures.”
Steve shook his head and looked Doug straight in the eyes. “Dude, you are such a nerd. Anyways, I can’t image Professor Murine having an adventure…”
Ronnie patted Doug on the shoulder and said sarcastically, “Don’t worry Doug, he’s just jealous.”
Steve gave a wary smile as he thought about how true that statement really was.
“What? It wasn’t like anyone was listening to Professor Murine.” Ronnie said trying to act innocent.
“You know that’s not what I mean; you did that on purpose to shut Sara up.” Steve said.
“So?” Ronnie shrugged her shoulders and started to walk away.
“So! I told you before you don’t want to make an enemy out of her.” Steve under his breath.
“Listen Steve, it’s too late, I don’t like her and she doesn’t like me. There’s nothing I can do about it.” Ronnie said flippantly.
“Well, you don’t need to agitate it.” Steve said defensively.
Doug quietly stepped between the two of them. “Listen Steve, I know where you’re coming from and I admit, starting fights isn’t smart,” he quickly put his hand on Ronnie’s arm “But, I think what Ronnie did was brilliant! Sara was totally out of line, she was taking advantage of Professor Murine and was ruining the class for everyone else. I wish I would have had the claws to do the same thing.”
Ronnie blushed, there was something about getting a compliment like that from Doug that kindled feelings she didn’t quite understand.
“So Doug, why do you like that class so much?” Ronnie asked, keeping the conversation moving in a different direction.
“I just love all the different cultures of magical creatures. Like did you know that the mer-people have a really strict legal system? If you are a mer-person caught in a crime the punishment is immediate.”
“Wow really, no trial or anything?” Steve asked.
“Well, their trial system is different than ours. All they need are 3 mer-people who either saw the crime or were nearby to sit on a makeshift jury. The accuser tells his or her story, the accused tells his story, eye witnesses tell their stories, and then the three jurors take a vote.”
“Wow, that doesn’t seem fair.” Ronnie said.
“Well, it seems to work well for them, they have very little crime. Because any mer in the vicinity of the crime could be sitting on their jury the culture is very friendly and amiable. It even goes so far that the mer-people will go out of their way to protect one another because they don’t want their actions to be misinterpreted. In fact, not doing the right thing in their culture, can be as bad as doing the wrong thing.”
“But what if no one sees the crime?” Steve asked.
“Well, then their trial system is similar to ours, the major difference is most mer-people would rather admit to the crime and find a way to fix the problem, then to try to defend themselves. When a mer admits to being guilty then he is on trial to fix it.” It was obvious Doug could talk for hour on this subject.
Ronnie laughed “You know more than professor Murine does! So again, I have to ask, why do you like this class?
“Well, if it wasn’t for that fact that she’s the one that taught me most of what I know,” he chuckled back, “Professor Murine used to babysit me when I was little. She would bring her photo albums from all around the world with pictures of every magical and mythical creature I could think of.” Doug’s whole face lit up with just the thought of these memories. “She used to stop by before she came over and would ask me what creature or culture I wanted to learn about, then she would bring piles of pictures, some of them she even let me keep. Then she would tell me stories of her adventures.”
Steve shook his head and looked Doug straight in the eyes. “Dude, you are such a nerd. Anyways, I can’t image Professor Murine having an adventure…”
Ronnie patted Doug on the shoulder and said sarcastically, “Don’t worry Doug, he’s just jealous.”
Steve gave a wary smile as he thought about how true that statement really was.
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