Excerpt: T.E.A.C.H. versus S.K.O.O.L.

He shrugged. “I did not go through P.T.A. to become part of the P.T.S.A darling. I went into the elite T.E.A.C.H. program. I often thought you might follow me into that one, instead of P.T.A.”
“T.E.A.C.H.?” Topaz inched closer. “What is that and how do I get in?”
“Well,” her father leaned very close. “You have to be invited by Myrtle.”
“Yes, but what is it?”
Her father scooted closer to her ear and whispered, “The Elf Archers Cohort and Haven”
“But I’m not an Elf.”
“No,” her father said. “You are part elf.”
Topaz lifted an eyebrow. “Because?”
“Do you know your mother?”
Topaz shifted uncomfortably on the blanket, the fruits and berries no longer looking as appetizing. Father sat back and watched her, his bright green eyes blazing with information.
“I. . .you said our mother disappeared from the glen right after I was born.”
“And she did.” He laughed.
“But. . .”
“She was taken by some chid-l-ren during a game of capture the toad stool,” her father leaned closer. “She was part of T.E.A.C.H. too. That’s how I met her. T.E.A.C.H. does take peskies, but only if they are highly qualified. Because you are part elf, part pesky, perhaps you will qualify.”
“She. . . she was taken by chid-l-ren?”
“From S.K.O.O.L.”
“Not S.K.O.O.L?” Topaz was shocked. Sneaky Kreeps in Other Outer Lands was the scariest program ever. No pesky, no matter how mischievous wanted to be recruited . . . or stolen to become part of that program.