Ivanna's stepmom comes in

I opened my mouth to deliver a scathing retort, but the door at the back of the classroom slammed open with a bang.

The room went silent. My heart did too as I recognized the woman standing there. Krista, my stepmother. She was forty-eight, a woman of predatory sensuality who wore her power like a second skin. Today, she was dressed in a crimson silk blouse that strained against her ample chest and a pencil skirt that showed off her strong legs. She looked furious.

"Ivanna Maria!" she barked, her voice slicing through the academic silence.

I gripped the edges of the lectern, my knuckles turned white. "Krista? What are you doing here? I’m in the middle of a lecture."

She marched down the center aisle, her heels clicking a rhythmic **** march on the hardwood floor. The students turned in their seats, whispering, phones already being slid out of pockets.

"Don't you 'Krista' me, you little liar," she hissed as she reached the front of the room. She didn't stop until she was inches from my face. She smelled of expensive bourbon and Chanel No. 5. "I told you this morning. I told you three times. Clean your room. Change your sheets. Scrub the floor."

"I... I had to get to campus," I stammered, the Mistress of Shadows evaporating into a frightened girl.

"You left a goddamn mess, Maria," Krista said, her voice dropping to a low, dangerous register that carried perfectly to the front rows. “Your brother, Kevin, had to pick up your shit. Do you think he likes washing your Disney printed sheets? He finds it humiliating, and so should you by the way.”

"Please, not here," I whispered, my face burning.

"Oh, especially here," Krista said. She turned to the class, a cruel smile playing on her lips. "You all think she’s so sophisticated, don't you? The big, bad goth queen. You want to see what's really under all this lace?"