# THOMPSON-HAYES: BLOOD MONEY
## Chapter Nineteen — Mia's Students
Period two on Wednesday was the one she looked forward to all week.
Not because it was the easiest — it was not the easiest. Twenty-six students, the circle of desks, the south windows, the specific chemistry of a room that had been honest enough times that people had started expecting honesty from it. Expectations like that raised the stakes every time. There was no coasting in a room where people had already been real.
She had assigned the spoken word drafts two weeks ago. Today was the first workshop day — the day where students read their work aloud and the room responded, not with critique yet but with reflection. What did you hear? What stayed with you? What did you want more of?
She had explained the process on
