Blue Orchid

"You got a reaction," The thumping in Baby Blue's headphones made her smile as she breathed deeply. "You got reaction, didn't you?" The steady thumping of the song on repeat helped her clear her mind. She fingered Mrs. Belson's pen, staring at the grimy bathroom stall door in front of her. Her hair, blonde with purple streaks, hung down nearly to her leather-jacketed waist. Clutching the pen tightly, she took a deep breath and pulled all the emotions out of the pen. Anger, when a student called her a bitch. Love for her wife, Maria, and their daughter, Bella. Sadness, when a student had talent and didn't use it.

"You took a white orchid," The song told her. "You took a white orchid and turned it blue."

She knew it was wrong. Mrs. Belson was her favorite teacher after all. She could put "Blue Orchid" on repeat for the rest of her life, but it wouldn't take those thoughts out of her head. But Baby needed to get out of detention if she wanted a shot at making Art Editor for her school's magazine, In The East. So, taking a deep breath in through her nose, Baby took the t-shirt she'd been holding in her hand and shoved it into her mouth. The lights started to flicker. Suddenly, painfully, the darkness overwhelmed her. All her bones felt as though they were breaking and re-healing at once. She shuddered and twisted inhumanly, her back arching and arms popping, biting down to keep from screaming.

Just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. She flexed her stiff fingers and looked down at her new appearance. Perfect. It was the same thing Mrs. Belson had been wearing today, from the black kitten heels to the gray pencil skirt to the same dark bun she always wore on top of her head. Taking out the hall pass she'd pilfered earlier, Baby signed Mrs. Belson's name effortlessly. Putting the pen and pass safely away in her backpack, Baby grabbed her t-shirt again, but this time, mid-change, she was yanked back into reality by the door to her stall being kicked open.

Two burly biker dudes stood in front of her, both with long, braided beards, black sunglasses and leather jackets. They were both short, as far as burly biker dudes go, with large potbellies. One was red-headed and -bearded, and the other was brown.

"Found 'er." Red said to Brown. He was looking down at a small black box in her hand.

"We need to have a chat, Missy." Brown's mouth was a straight line.

"C'mon, guys, it wasn't that bad!" Baby whined.

No one was surprised when Baby Blue Hacking was escorted struggling out of school by two potbellied, uniformed police officers. She was always a criminal, everyone reasoned. Everyone except Mrs. Belson, whose eyebrows furrowed when one of the cops tossed her her favorite purple pen. 

"You took a white orchid and turned it blue."