The last bell had rung twenty minutes ago, but the third floor still hummed like a machine cooling down.
Most of the noise came from the far end of the hall, where kids clustered at lockers, swapping homework and drama before heading for buses or parents’ cars. Dayton walked the opposite direction, away from her locker, away from her friends.
Her sneakers squeaked a little on the waxed floor. The fluorescent lights flickered once, then steadied.
Room 305’s door was mostly shut, just a sliver of a window showing the empty rows of desks. The handmade “AND LITTLE” someone had added under the room sign was still there under a layer of marker and tape, ghost letters dug into the cardboard.
Dayton stopped in front of the door, took one breath, then another, the way they had taught her in training.
In through the nose. Out through the mouth.
Calm. Firm. Clear.
Guardian tone.
She pushed the door open.
The classroom felt different without students. Quieter, obviously, but it was more than that. The air seemed heavier. The smell of dry erase cleaner and old paper sat thicker in her lungs.
He was alone.
Mr. Rhys stood on his platform in the center of his desk, next to a neat stack of quizzes. His tiny jacket was off, folded beside the tablet stand. Sleeves rolled exactly one turn up his forearms. His tie was loosened half an inch.
He looked taller when there was no one else in the room. Still just a few inches. Still dwarfed by the pile of graded essays. But with the desks empty, he felt more like the center of gravity and less like a novelty sitting on top of it.
He glanced up at the sound of the door and went still.
“School is over,” he said. “I am not taking questions about the homework until tomorrow.”
“I am not here about the homework,” Dayton said.
He eyed her, then tapped the tablet with the tip of his pen. The ceiling speaker clicked off with a little pop. His voice, when he spoke again, was just him, small and unamplified.
“All right,” he said. “I assume this is about what happened in class.”
She walked closer, up the aisle, until she was standing directly in front of his desk. Close enough that if she took one more step, she would be in arm’s reach of his platform.
From this angle, he had to crane his neck back to see her face.
just a few inches to five feet. Guardian to Little. The scale difference rolled through her head like a wave.
She kept her hands at her sides. They wanted to cross over her chest, to ball into fists. She did neither.
“Kinsley is my friend,” she said. “She is my family.”
His expressions did not change. “I am aware you and Nicole are close.”
“I am not talking about Nicole,” she said. “I am talking about Kinsley. You are not going to use her as a discussion point in class again. You are not going to drag Nicole’s Guardian status like that in front of everybody. You don’t know about Kinsley’s situation. If she’s happy or upset. If she is okay with a collar or not. If she is comfortable and okay with things or miserable. You don’t know any of that and pretending you do is wrong. Today was out of line. It is not happening again. Your feelings aren’t her feelings.”
He blinked once, slow. “I see.”
He had no right to look calm. Her heart was pounding. She could feel it in her throat.
“You put Nicole on the spot,” Dayton went on, voice level. “You took something that is already hard for her and turned it into a lesson plan. You asked if her sister was exiled. You said exile can be soft and padded and full of socks. Like her whole life is some metaphor you get to make jokes about.”
“I do not recall anyone laughing at Nicole,” he said.
“You knew they would,” Dayton said. “You knew the whole room was watching. You know what they whisper about Guardians already. You know what goes on in those halls.”
He opened his mouth. She cut him off, the way she had heard adult Guardians do in training videos when Littles tried to change the subject.
Her tone stayed measured. Her words did not.
“I get that you are mad,” she said. “You have every right to be mad. Your life got wrecked. That is not fair. I am not pretending it is. But you do not get to take that out on Nicole for doing everything she was supposed to. You do not get to act like she exiled her own sister. You don’t get to speak for Kinsley.”
“She signed the forms,” he said quietly. “She clipped on the collar. That is not nothing.”
“What was she supposed to do,” Dayton shot back. “Leave Kinsley unregistered until SEA scooped her? Let some random stranger claim her? You know what happens in those cases. You used to teach civics.”
His mouth tightened.
She pressed forward, not physically, but with the words.
“You know the stats,” she said. “Guardians who are family have better outcomes. Less abuse. Less neglect. SEA literally begs siblings to step up when parents can’t. Nicole stepped up. She took on a whole human being, legally and emotionally, at thirteen. And you made it sound like she stuck her in some cage for fun.”
“I never said for fun,” he replied. “You are putting that in my mouth.”
“You implied she was a jailer,” Dayton said. “You made her say everything out loud, all the ways she controls Kinsley’s life, and then you looked at her like, wow, what a monster.”
He watched her, eyes dark. “Do you honestly believe she does not control her sister’s life.”
“Of course she does,” Dayton said. “Everyone controls someone. You control this class. The principal controls you. The government controls us all. So yes guardians control littles. That is the job. That is what Guardians do. But she didn’t ask for that job. You talk like we marched into a store and signed up because we thought it would be fun to own people.”
“And you did not,” he said.
“I signed up because I watched video after video of Littles getting hurt because nobody knew what they were doing,” she said. “Because I saw statistics about uncollared Littles dying in stupid accidents because no one was there to stop it. Because my mom said if people like us did not step up, then all the wrong people would and she doesn’t even like littles. The person who I care about most, who is basically my sister is the top ranked guardian in the world and she loves her little, Jordy. She cares for him, he lives better now then he did before. Would he like to be able to live independently sure but thats not realistic. I’m not saying he didnt have to give things up but he is genuinely happy. Sara got him this little buggy that means the world to him. He has his own boat he drives around The Chloe Gracewood’s pool. He has people who care about him, and he still lives a full life. I want to be a guardian like her. I want to provide that for someone.”
Your mother, he almost said. Dayton could see it in his face. He did not.
He tapped his pen against the laminate instead. Tiny, controlled clicks.
“You are speaking like a Guardian,” he said.
“Because I am one,” she said. “You keep acting like that is something to be ashamed of.”
He gave a small humorless huff. “You are the product of a system designed to train you to think this way. That is not an insult. It is a description. It’s a system that is built on control since the start.”
“Fine,” she said. “Describe this, then. You are not going to mention Kinsley again in class. You are not going to point at Nicole and ask her to unpack her trauma for everyone. If you want to have a conversation about the ethics of Guardians, find another example. Use a book. Use yourself. Make up a scenario, but Leave them out of it.”
“Is that an order,” he asked softly.
“Yes,” she said.
The word surprised both of them with how clean it landed.
For a heartbeat the only sounds in the room were the faint hum of the lights and the distant slam of a locker out in the hall.
He looked up at her, really up, neck at a steep angle. From this close, she could see the tiny lines at the corners of his eyes that had not been there a year ago. Shrinking did not stop time.
“You have no authority over me,” he said after a moment. “Legally speaking.”
“Legally, no,” she said. “Not yet, but those are my people.”
His eyes narrowed. “Ah.”
“Do not do that,” she said. “Do not pretend you just discovered I am thinking about filing. You have known since the first week.”
“I suspected,” he said. “You are not exactly subtle when you stare at my neck.”
She flushed. “I was checking the measurement. For the record.”
“I am sure the SEA is very proud of your attention to detail,” he said.
“What the SEA is or isn’t proud of is not the point,” she said. “The point is that Nicole is my best friend and Kinsley is not just some abstract Little to me. She is a person I have sleepovers with. She is someone I argued with about who got the last slice of pizza. She is not material for your TED Talk.”
“I did not reduce her,” he snapped, the control cracking for the first time. His voice spiked, small but sharp. “I did not write the Smallara Act. I did not build the labs or pass the regulations or film the glossy training videos. I am… collateral. Same as her.”
Dayton’s chest squeezed. “I know that,” she said, softer. “I know you did not choose this.”
“Then stop acting,” he said, “like me asking what it feels like for the people holding the leash is the real crime.”
“It is not a crime,” she said. “but It’s just not fair that you aim it at a kid who is already carrying more than anyone else at that table.”
“So, I should aim it at you instead,” he said. “Is that the subtext here.”
“You already do,” she said. “At least I can take it.”
He went very still.
She could feel her pulse in her ears. Her training voice was slipping. She pulled it back.
“Nicole hears enough,” she said. “From people who think she enjoys having power. From people who think she is using her sister as a toy. From adults who assume she is going to screw it up. She does not need her favorite teacher implying she exiled her own sister in front of the entire class.”
His eyes flicked at that. “Favorite,” he repeated.
Dayton regretted the word instantly. “Used to be,” she muttered.
He let it go.
“You are speaking like a Guardian to a Little,” he said slowly. “Do you realize that.”
“Yes,” she said. “I do.”
“You are standing over my desk, dictating terms,” he said. “Telling me what I am and am not allowed to say about my own experience and the system that now owns me.”
“It does not own you,” she said. “Not yet.”
“The law disagrees,” he said. “I am classified as Homo Parvus. Legally distinct. Legally less. I am property like every other little with papers. I am under district ownership.”
Her stomach turned. “That is exactly why I am here,” she said. “Because if you think nobody is ever going to file, you are delusional. The district is gambling on a loophole and you know it. It is only a matter of time before someone with worse intentions than me decides they want a Little English teacher as a pet.”
“What a charming image,” he said dryly.
“It is the reality,” she said. “You are unclaimed, uncollared, and working in a building full of kids. That is not safe. You keep acting like I am the threat. I am the one person in this place actually trained to keep you alive.”
“And yet,” he said, “you are the one who has the form in your desk drawer with my name on it.”
Her breath stopped for a second.
He smiled without humor. “You are not as unreadable as you think.”
She swallowed. “Then you know this is not about wanting to own you.”
“Is it not,” he asked. “Be honest with yourself for five seconds. You want to fix things. You want to right a wrong. You want to be the one who steps in when the adults fail. Filing on me lets you do all of that in one neat, SEA-approved package.”
“It also means you do not get stepped on in a stairwell,” she said. “So forgive me if I think that trade is worth it.”
He looked away then, down at the stack of quizzes. His thumb brushed the top page, almost absent.
“Do not talk about Kinsley again,” she said, steady. “Not like that. Not in front of everyone. If you want to talk about the system, fine. Talk about laws. Talk about the President. Talk about the SEA. Talk about me. I can handle it. Nicole is not your catharsis.”
“And if I refuse,” he asked, looking up at her again.
She held his gaze. “Then I file,” she said.
The words landed between them like a third person.
His face did not change, but something in his posture did. His shoulders squared. His chin lifted a fraction.
“You are threatening me,” he said.
“No,” she said. “I am explaining the consequences. That is what Guardians do.”
“You are not my Guardian,” he said.
“Not yet,” she repeated.
For a moment, neither of them moved. The whole room seemed to shrink to the distance between her shoes and the edge of his platform.
Finally he sighed, a tiny sound.
“You are thirteen,” he said. “You should be worried about algebra, not custody law.”
“I am worried about algebra,” she said. “And my best friend. And my teacher who has rode me for nearly 3 years who is now a Little who will not shut up about theme and tone,” she added before she could stop herself.
His mouth twitched. Just once.
“I will take your… feedback under advisement,” he said.
“That is not an answer,” she said.
“It is all you are going to get today,” he replied.
She exhaled slowly through her nose. Training voice. Training breathing. Do not escalate. Guard. Guide. Protect.
“Fine,” she said. “Consider this a warning, then.”
She turned before he could respond, backpack strap cutting into her shoulder.
As she reached the door, his voice followed her, small and almost lost in the big empty room.
“Dayton.”
She stopped, hand on the handle, but did not look back. “Yeah.”
“Whatever happens,” he said, “you are not the villain in this story.”
She closed her eyes for half a second.
“Neither are you,” she said.
She did not wait to see his face.
The hallway outside was quieter now. The crowd had thinned. Lockers stood open like metal mouths.
Hayden leaned against the wall beside the doorframe, hands in the pockets of her jacket, one foot braced behind her. Her expression was complicated, somewhere between impressed and worried.
“How much did you hear,” Dayton asked.
“Enough,” Hayden said. “Like, the whole thing.”
Dayton groaned. “Of course you did.”
“I knew you were going to do something,” Hayden said. “You had that look.”
“What look.”
“The ‘I’m about to go argue with a tiny adult about ethics’ look,” Hayden said. “You always get it before you do something insane and responsible.”
Dayton let her head thump back lightly against the wall. “I might have just made everything worse.”
“Probably,” Hayden said. “But also? You went full Guardian in there. It was kind of scary.”
“Thanks,” Dayton muttered.
“I mean that in a good way,” Hayden said. “If I ever shrink, I want you on my side. Even if you annoy the crap out of me sometimes.”
Dayton snorted. “Deal.”
They started down the hall together, footsteps echoing, leaving Room 305 behind.
Inside, on his stack of books, Mr. Rhys stood alone again, staring at the door like it was another kind of exile.
did hayden mean that as a joke? or is this how we find out she’s vulnerable?
Hayden is immune.
cool. just wanted to double check lol
It would be a hell of a twist if Hayden is indeed infected. Does Dayton pivot from Mr. Rhys to her as her little?
It’d suck (for them) if she got Mr Rhys and then Hayden shrank, and her mother refused to let her claim Hayden as a second Little (because she already thought one was already surplus to requirements), so now Dayton has to watch Hayden get taken away into the system, because she selfishly snatched up her teacher, for not calling her a frivolous honorific.
I would laugh so hard if that happened to her. You have no idea.
But i would feel bad Hayden as she was a innocent bystander
She would probably move to claim hayden if her family wasnt going to but still report Mr. Rhys. Just becuase she reports him doesnt mean she has to or will be his guardian.
This was a pleasant chapter. it’s the first time it actually feels like Dayton is concerned for Rhys’ well-being on some level. most of the time thus far that’s never come across to me. Plus I got to see more of “Dayton the person” and I can see what sara means about her being a decent person for once.
0) Damn, I thought this week was gonna be a whole week of the lesson plan episodes.
1) “Dayton stopped in front of the door, took one breath, then another, the way they had taught her in training.” Guardian training included breath control?
2) “I am talking about Kinsley. You are not going to use her as a discussion point in class again… Today was out of line. It is not happening again. Your feelings aren’t her feelings.” Dayton isn’t in any position to tell anyone to be nicer to a Little, the fucking hypocrite.
3) “You took something that is already hard for her and turned it into a lesson plan.” and you took something that was hard for him and tried to use it against him, to usurp him
4) “You know what they whisper about Guardians already. You know what goes on in those halls.” Well, I don’t.. Care to share?
5) “I get that you are mad; you have every right to be mad. Your life got wrecked. That is not fair. I am not pretending it is” That’s a weirdly high amount of empathy for her, probably a manipulation tactic
6) “Nicole stepped up. She took on a whole human being, legally and emotionally, at thirteen” Dayton, referring to a Little as a “whole human being” is a shock to hear
7) “I signed up because I watched video after video of Littles getting hurt because nobody knew what they were doing,” Oh bullshit. You signed up because you wanted someone helpless to pick on, you saw a slave like Little, and played with a more “rebellious” one and decided it’d be fun to have your own.
8) “she loves her little, Jordy. She cares for him, he lives better now then he did before. Would he like to be able to live independently sure but thats not realistic. I’m not saying he didnt have to give things up but he is genuinely happy” Now Dayton’s doing the same thing for Jordy that she just told Ezra not to do for Kinsley, immediate hypocrisy.
9) “He has his own boat he drives around The Chloe Gracewood’s pool” casually name-dropping Chloe, lol
10) “You are the product of a system designed to train you to think this way. That is not an insult. It is a description. It’s a system that is built on control since the start.” Very true, but her beliefs seem mostly the same since Pre-training
11) “Do not pretend you just discovered I am thinking about filing. You have known since the first week.” – “I suspected,” I hope this means he has countermeasures. He’s not a good person, but better than Dayton.
12) “Kinsley is not just some abstract Little to me. She is a person” Kinsey definitely is the exception to Dayton’s opinion on Littles
13) “Nicole hears enough from people who think she enjoys having power. From people who think she is using her sister as a toy. From adults who assume she is going to screw it up.” That would be hard for her.
14) “You are standing over my desk, dictating terms, telling me what I am and am not allowed to say about my own experience and the system that now owns me.” Technically she’s telling you not to talk about Kinsey’s experience, she even suggested using your own as an alternative.
15) “It is only a matter of time before someone with worse intentions than me decides they want a Little English teacher as a pet.” It’d be bretty difficult to find someone with worse intentions.
16) “It also means you do not get stepped on in a stairwell, so forgive me if I think that trade is worth it.” Just because it’s worth it to you doesn’t mean it’s worth it to him.
17) “If you want to talk about the system, fine. Talk about laws. Talk about the President. Talk about the SEA. Talk about me. I can handle it. Nicole is not your catharsis.” As much as I hate Dayton, it is kinda sweet that the thing that pushed her over the edge is him going after her friends, not him picking on her.
18) “And if I refuse,” – “Then I file,” So it’s an ultimatum.
19.1) “You are threatening me,” – “No,” Liar
19.2) “I am explaining the consequences. That is what Guardians do.” That’s a threat when you’re the one controlling the consequences
20) “Whatever happens, you are not the villain in this story.” – “Neither are you,” that’s actually kinda wholesome.
21) “You went full Guardian in there. It was kind of scary.” – “Thanks,” – “I mean that in a good way,” Dayton took it as a compliment, she knew.
22) “If I ever shrink, I want you on my side. Even if you annoy the crap out of me sometimes.” Easy for you to say, when you’re actually immune.
23) It’s impressive that you’ve managed to make
Satan HerselfDayton Harris appear in a more reasonable light, granted you had to make the worst little we’ve seen yet (Cindy’s badness stemmed from her time pre-Little, so it’s in a different category) to do it.23) ngl, you made me take a moment to make sure Dayton Harris isn’t a anagram of Satan herself even though the latter doesn’t have a y in it and the former doesn’t have a e haha
Just change the “D” to an “S” and its a homophone “Sayton” 😂
It is, you just rearrange the letters, take a few out and add a few in.
6, 7) I agree completely
12) I’m sure when a friend a or loved one is the Little, they still seem like humans. It’s easy to objectify someone you do not know.
15) I bet it is not that hard. Think of the followers of Cindy Wessen.
16) Agreed, let the Little decide whether they want that kind of “help”.
12) I think that has been true throughout all of history where when you dont know someone its easier to objectify them.
15)Even in reality. There are umpteen people who are worse then dayton. She may be a brat which is fair to call her that but its not like shes pure evil. She isn’t killing people or anything.
16) While that is a fair to let hte little decide. I dont think it would be as equitable as you are thinking.
A. As a little they are allowed to maintain citizenship with a guardian or waiting for a guardian to be assigned. Choosing to not accept government program would mean de-citizenship and all its legal protections on that front.
B. Accepting guardianship reassigns your debt to the guardian. If you are choosing independence you are still liable for all debt and assets but you no longer have the ability to work easily. As without anyone’s assistance finding a job as a little woudl be near impossible.
C. Littles would not be afforded any services or protections.
D) It would be a literal free for all. As right now littles are regulated. But in this scenario every little would or could just be hunted. Once captured the person could do with them as they will.
While I do agree it would be nice to give littles the choice. the way this world works it would be all or nothing. You are citizen or your not, you have protections or you don’t. If you want out on your own then you literally out on your own with no help or care or protections from anyone. As thats just the type of world this is. They would only be helped by people who feel like helping.
I should say i dont say this to be discouraging to the idea. But i did consider at hte start of this making it where Littles had more of a choice wher ethey could choose not too. But these were the reasons I ultimately decdied against it. Plus with how the government is designed i cant see them giving them a real choice when money could be made.
16) I agree with your thinking. That is the world you wanted, so there it is. I just enjoy complaining 😁
Even in our “actual” society, the government can step in when someone seems to making detrimental choices.
0) another lesson plan episode is tomorrow.
1) Yeah, its supposed to help the guardian. Center themselves. Remain controlled in stressful situations. Helping the guardian is also helping the little. Mental health matters.
2) I mean she did. She probably will criticize again.
3)Not exactly the same. Dayton is following the law and pointing out valid infractions. He legally has to be in a collar and isnt. There is not a way around that. The district is a public entity funded by government tax dollars. They have a legal requirement to follow federal and state laws.
There is no law saying he has to use kinsley in his lectures and turn unwillingly turn nicole into a class example. Thats her personal and private life. If she wants to diclose it fine but its not his place to just use it in front of the class.
4) There young teens im sure you can imagine all the kinds of thigns they would say. Kids can be cruel.
5) I wanted to show how she has grown as a person but its understandable for you not to trust.
6) That is partly thomas’s influence Partly sara and chloes. She recognizes they are legally less than but are still people.
7) Well she could have multiple reasons to sign up. SHe never said this was exclusively the only reason she signed up.
8) They are different though. Dayton is sharing an expierence privately in a one on one situation. She isnt putting that on blast in a public situation.
You can also argue she learned it from her teacher who set the example of what is appropriate and expected in this classroom. So while she may not like it you have to keep up with the jones’s as they say.
9) Well to dayton its just a person in her life. Its Sara’s girlfriend. Dayton sees her a regular amount. As Chloe knows Dayton is basically sara’s little sister. So they have a relationship.
10) The system of control and oppression would have existed pre-training. The statement is meant more broad then you are looking. He is saying the US government is a controlling and opressive government and has been historically for hundreds of years. The motions that led us to this point where cast long before. So he is saying the prejudices and mindset were dictated and placed by government adminstrations long before conditioning people to think how they do and normalizing this level of control.
He’s speaking in anti-government terms without being overt about it.
11) Well he acted as one would expect. He validated with the district that everything was as they said.
12) Well one could argue she has established littles knows she at the very least feels differently about. As once she warmed up to thomas we saw earlier they still have a friendship and speak with one another.
13) That is probably what bothers Dayton the most is this should be a safe space for her but even this space is now another location she has to defend every choice and decision she has ever made and not even to the person she made those decisons about. Other parties
14) Yes exactly. This is a spot where Mr. Rhys beliefs are overshadowing logic.
15) I feel like it wouldnt be hard to find people worse then dayton.
16) Well seeing your teacher stomped to death would be hard to see.
17) Shes a good friend if nothing else. She would rather see him continue to berate her then watch what is happening to her happen to them.
18) Well its the consequences of his choices. He can take it however he wants. But every decison has a consequence and you just have to be willing to accept it. Sometimes its benign or minor sometimes its severe. She is just explaining to him what will happen.
19) It really isnt a threat. Its more a statement of fact. If you continue, then due process is going to happen and then its up to the government. As its not a threat as no one knows what will happen. The SEA could choose to side with him. It isnt inherently hostile or negative.
19.2) SHe isnt controllign the consequences though. The consequences are decided by the government as it pertains to his legal status. If he and the district did everythign right and legal then there is no threat at all. Its only a threat if you are in violation of hte law. BUt even t hen its not a threat by dayton as she has no power to carry it out. She is just filing a form and the government is then looking into it or disgregarding it.
20) Well they dont like each other but they do respect each other to some degree. THey both know the other is smart. Dayton is his best student regardless of guadian stuff.
21) Writing it the intent wasn’t that dayton was taking it as a compliment. Which is why hayden illustrated it. Tonally it was difficult to depict as I can say it how its intended but its more difficult to write that level of nuance in tone.
22) fair, but dayton probably woudl treat her pretty well. She does good with kinsley they are still friends and shes a little.
23) I like how the little who is anti establishment is the worst little.
Also one thing i’ve noticed is early on you were commenting on the miss harris v dayton. But seeing him call other miss myers, miss merriewather, etc. While still referring to dayton as dayton despite her request you have not commented on.
0) It’s not the same, lol
1) Did Sara skip that class?
5) It’ll take a lot for me to trust her.
6) Thomas and Chloe, I’d believe.
7) No, but she’s acting like it’s the main one.
8) She can’t have it both ways, she can’t tell him not to then do it herself, he can’t “keep up with the Jones,” after telling the Jones’ they fucked up.
10) Oh, I thought it was another dig at guardian training
11) Let’s hope the district was honest with him.
15) It’d be even easier to find people better than her.
16) Depends on the teacher.
18) Every decision does have consequences, I can’t wait for Dayton to meet hers.
19.1&2) It is a threat because Dayton decides if she does or doesn’t file, she also has a plan mapped out in her mind of what happens if she does, even if she’d not in direct control of it.
She’s assuming the district has fucked up SEA regulations and is therefore threatening him with filing means in her mind she’s threatening his job and lively hood.
It’s like threatening expose a kids conservative views in a liberal family, it’s possible that the family isn’t that kind of liberal family and will still love the conservative child, but that’s not what the person making the threat is counting on.
20) Best academically, even if not best behaved.
21) Then why did she thank her?
22) I know, it’s still an ivory tower comment though
23) Anti-establishment is good, it’s his bullying children and evident anti-human bigotry I don’t like.
I’m going to be honest, that slipped under my notice, I feel kinda dumb for missing it, but definitely another unnecessary dig from Mr Rhys.
i hope in the next one dayton owns the teacher by than
a resolution either for or against dayton is coming soon but it wont be tommorrow. Next week should see a decison