The girls quibbled back and forth, though anyone watching could tell they were all waiting for me to say something. Let them wait. We had hours - all day, if we felt like giving them another spritz or two - and it would only take moments to do the job. The hundred copies method had been an amusing foray into the allure of abusing teacher-student power dynamics, but it had also been childish and unnecessary. No, I would do this right, and only do this when I knew what "right" meant.

"We do... as little as possible," I announced at last.

Their conversation ended immediately. "What?!" the Sterns demanded in...