She slowly folds the small white piece of paper in half and in half again, making sure its contents can not be seen by a sideways glance. She looks up to make sure no-one is looking…
Hang on something is wrong. Where’s the teacher?
She slowly looks left…Nothing
Thank god
She slowly looks right…
BUSTED!
Mr Williamson is towering over her with a murderous smile, the kind of smile a madman gives his victim just before he kills them. He stands there staring at her. She stares back, more out of surprise then out of insolence; either way it doesn’t help. He holds out his hand for the note.
What should I do? Eat it… he wouldn’t want it then? Put in down my shirt… he won’t go there? Shred it… he’d have fun putting that back together. No, no, no. All of those will get me in more trouble and I don’t want that but I can’t let him have it. What if he reads it to the class? That would be… social suicide.
She finally decides there is no other option than to hand it over.
Here goes nothing.
Just before she hands it over she takes a quick glance over her shoulder at the intended recipient… who it seems is frozen with shock.
Geez, Jackie looks way more scared then me. She looks like she’s about to pass out.
Jackie had turned a sickly shade of greyish white, not ghost white but not totally grey either, more the shade of newspaper when your little sister chews it up and spits it out. Mr Williamson starts to tap the desk impatiently. She gradually moves her hand towards his and drops the small piece of paper into his palm.
Just take it to the bin and throw it out. Come on, please don’t read it. Please!
The teacher places the small piece of paper in his breast pocket, turns on his heels and walks away.
Every step he takes towards the front seems like a death sentence. Why this note? Why not the one before it or the one before that? Any would have been better than this one.
When Mr. Williamson reaches the front of the room he leans himself casually up against the teacher’s desk and reaches for his top pocket.
Shit. Shit. Shit. He’s gonna read it. I guess that’s not too bad as long as he doesn’t read it to the class.
The girl watches as Mr. Williamson’s face quickly turns to a look of amusement. Angus who has been watching the whole fiasco must have seen this change also and starts yelling at the top of his lungs, “read it, read it, read it.” It doesn’t take long for the rest of the class to join this chant.
Far out, I'm gunna kill that boy. This is a disaster! What if he does read it out? The guy is in this class. He will kill me, maybe even before I get a chance to kill Angus. Come on Mr. Williamson, don’t listen to them. Just scrunch it up and throw it away.
Mr. Williamson looks up at the class with a sly grin, not like the one he gave the girl when he took it. More of a grin that says, “I know something you don’t know.” He looks around the room and everyone goes quiet.
It’s as if Mr. Williamson pressed the mute button with his eyes. This silence is unearthly. This is killing me. I can’t stand it anymore.
The girl takes another look at Jackie whose colour has slowly started to come back but the girl could still see the terror in her eyes.
Jackie looks a little better, not like she’s gunna faint but she still looks like she’s just been told she’s going to be put before a firing squad.
Mr. Williamson coughs for dramatic effect and announces to the class, “This is one of the most interesting notes I’ve read in a long while. It would be very unfair not to share.”
He couldn’t, he wouldn’t, why would he do this to me?
He deliberately lifts the note to eye level as if he is going to give a speech and starts to read.
It’s as if I’m on speed. I can hear Mr. Williamson speaking but it sounds like he is on the other side of an oval and all his words are so elongated I can barely make them out.
The silence is suddenly broken with a roar of laughter.
It seems like everything is in slow motion. The other students’ faces are contorted in fits of laughter. Someone on the other side of the room yells, “Who was it?” It wouldn’t take them long to work it out. I can feel my face getting hotter and hotter. Everyone is looking at me. Why is everyone looking at me?…oh yeah…
A sharp bell breaks the laughter.
There’s a ringing in my head… What is that? Ahhhh it’s hurting my head… Why have people stopped laughing?… Why are they all moving…? Hang on that was the bell!!! I’m free… I can go…leave… hide under a rock… do anything I want. The main thing is I don’t have to be HERE any more!!!
The girl clumsily shoves all her things in her bag as fast as she can and heads for the door where she sees all her friends waiting for her with smiles wider than the Grand Canyon.
They think this is really funny, don’t they… Why is Bella nodding towards me…? What is she doing..? She looks like a retard… Why is everyone looking over my shoulder…?
The girl s
Hang on something is wrong. Where’s the teacher?
She slowly looks left…Nothing
Thank god
She slowly looks right…
BUSTED!
Mr Williamson is towering over her with a murderous smile, the kind of smile a madman gives his victim just before he kills them. He stands there staring at her. She stares back, more out of surprise then out of insolence; either way it doesn’t help. He holds out his hand for the note.
What should I do? Eat it… he wouldn’t want it then? Put in down my shirt… he won’t go there? Shred it… he’d have fun putting that back together. No, no, no. All of those will get me in more trouble and I don’t want that but I can’t let him have it. What if he reads it to the class? That would be… social suicide.
She finally decides there is no other option than to hand it over.
Here goes nothing.
Just before she hands it over she takes a quick glance over her shoulder at the intended recipient… who it seems is frozen with shock.
Geez, Jackie looks way more scared then me. She looks like she’s about to pass out.
Jackie had turned a sickly shade of greyish white, not ghost white but not totally grey either, more the shade of newspaper when your little sister chews it up and spits it out. Mr Williamson starts to tap the desk impatiently. She gradually moves her hand towards his and drops the small piece of paper into his palm.
Just take it to the bin and throw it out. Come on, please don’t read it. Please!
The teacher places the small piece of paper in his breast pocket, turns on his heels and walks away.
Every step he takes towards the front seems like a death sentence. Why this note? Why not the one before it or the one before that? Any would have been better than this one.
When Mr. Williamson reaches the front of the room he leans himself casually up against the teacher’s desk and reaches for his top pocket.
Shit. Shit. Shit. He’s gonna read it. I guess that’s not too bad as long as he doesn’t read it to the class.
The girl watches as Mr. Williamson’s face quickly turns to a look of amusement. Angus who has been watching the whole fiasco must have seen this change also and starts yelling at the top of his lungs, “read it, read it, read it.” It doesn’t take long for the rest of the class to join this chant.
Far out, I'm gunna kill that boy. This is a disaster! What if he does read it out? The guy is in this class. He will kill me, maybe even before I get a chance to kill Angus. Come on Mr. Williamson, don’t listen to them. Just scrunch it up and throw it away.
Mr. Williamson looks up at the class with a sly grin, not like the one he gave the girl when he took it. More of a grin that says, “I know something you don’t know.” He looks around the room and everyone goes quiet.
It’s as if Mr. Williamson pressed the mute button with his eyes. This silence is unearthly. This is killing me. I can’t stand it anymore.
The girl takes another look at Jackie whose colour has slowly started to come back but the girl could still see the terror in her eyes.
Jackie looks a little better, not like she’s gunna faint but she still looks like she’s just been told she’s going to be put before a firing squad.
Mr. Williamson coughs for dramatic effect and announces to the class, “This is one of the most interesting notes I’ve read in a long while. It would be very unfair not to share.”
He couldn’t, he wouldn’t, why would he do this to me?
He deliberately lifts the note to eye level as if he is going to give a speech and starts to read.
It’s as if I’m on speed. I can hear Mr. Williamson speaking but it sounds like he is on the other side of an oval and all his words are so elongated I can barely make them out.
The silence is suddenly broken with a roar of laughter.
It seems like everything is in slow motion. The other students’ faces are contorted in fits of laughter. Someone on the other side of the room yells, “Who was it?” It wouldn’t take them long to work it out. I can feel my face getting hotter and hotter. Everyone is looking at me. Why is everyone looking at me?…oh yeah…
A sharp bell breaks the laughter.
There’s a ringing in my head… What is that? Ahhhh it’s hurting my head… Why have people stopped laughing?… Why are they all moving…? Hang on that was the bell!!! I’m free… I can go…leave… hide under a rock… do anything I want. The main thing is I don’t have to be HERE any more!!!
The girl clumsily shoves all her things in her bag as fast as she can and heads for the door where she sees all her friends waiting for her with smiles wider than the Grand Canyon.
They think this is really funny, don’t they… Why is Bella nodding towards me…? What is she doing..? She looks like a retard… Why is everyone looking over my shoulder…?
The girl s