Paul Aikins was an actor; he ended up teaching high school music theatre. Now, with the national-champion choir he leads featured in a new documentary, an old student checks in with her teacher and former enemy.

From the ongoing series Tabloid Fiction—in which an author chooses from the trashiest, most lurid, or just bizarre stories of the moment and writes a short story inspired by same.

Joel and Ethan Coen don’t just challenge their characters—they punish them, humiliate them, are even accused of hating them. But just because they put their creations through the wringer, doesn’t mean they delight in their despair.