Calamity

Chapter 3

"Criminal justice is an institution of social control in the United States," Professor Cowell spoke into the microphone of the vast lecture hall. "A primary goal of such institution is to persuade people, through multiple ways, to abide by dominant values of society or laws."

"In America, our criminal justice system is made up of more than fifty thousand agencies of federal, state, and local governments. Those agencies consist of the police, courts, and corrections. Some of you may even leave from New Haven in three years to work in one of these agencies."

Professor Cowell pressed the clicker on his remote, moving to the next slide. "First on our list is the police. If any of you half-brains read through the syllabus and saw that you were instructed to read chapter one before class today, you should know what I'm going to say next. The criminal justice response to crime begins when a crime is reported. Or, sometimes, when an officer sees that a crime has been committed. Who can tell me what an arrest is?"

A bunch of hands shot into the air, waving around eagerly.

"Mm," Professor Cowell hummed as he walked from one side of the classroom to the other. He pointed directly at Lauren, instructing for her to stand up. "You—in the white blouse, what's your name?"

Lauren quickly rose to her feet, smoothing out her blouse. "Lauren Jauregui, sir,"

"Right, Lauren," he directed the laser up at the word 'ARREST' on his PowerPoint. "Tell me what an arrest is,"

"An arrest is the seizing and detaining of a person by lawful authority," the words flowed out of her mouth like smooth honey.

"What happens after an arrest happens?"

"The suspect is typically brought to the station to be booked,"

Simon gestured for her to sit down before walking up the steps of the lecture hall, stopping when he gets to the middle rows. "You," he looks at her. "Tell me what a booking is,"

She cleared her throat, standing up. "A booking is the administrative recording of the arrest, it involves entering the suspect's name, the charge, their fingerprints, and photographs in the police blotter,"

"Name?" He gives her a look of approval from how quick she is with her response.

"Camila Cabello,"

-

Lauren picked at her muffin, ignoring the blatant glares she was receiving from her best friends. Maybe it wasn't the brightest idea to make them all late, but they all managed to find a seat in the crowded lecture hall close to the front, so she considers this a win, anyway.

"You're going to be the death of me, Lauren Jauregui," Normani snatched her muffin and took a big chomp out of it. "If Cowell called us out in front of everyone, I would've mounted your head on a frickin' stick."

"Calm down, you big babies. He wasn't going to do anything to us even if we were late, anyway."

"There's no way you haven't heard of Simon Cowell and his borderline illegal methods of teaching," Ally shook her head. "What's wrong with you? You've been acting weird ever since we got out of class."

"Nothing, just... Tired,"

She wasn't tired at all, actually. She had more than enough energy considering she went to bed early last night, but she refused to believe that she crossed paths again with Camila Cabello out of all of the jerks that went to her high school.

Just when moving in next door wasn't enough, she was in for a ride when she heard the dark-haired woman's voice after being called on by Professor Cowell.