Dean Collins was generally the level-headed, mellow type of teacher, who didn't throw three trillion ounces of homework on students until they choked on it. He gave simple, basic work that did involve thinking, but not so much as to cause a brain fart. That's why he would always crack down on students who didn't get their homework done. Students like Irma Lair and Hay Lin had always been two of the three who he disciplined the most, but the worst was . . .
"Is there a reason why you didn't hand in your homework, Miss Vandom?" Dean had directed his question to a certain redhead, sometimes shy, but thanks to his experience with dating her mother Susan, he knew better. And of course, often visiting Susan gave Dean the opportunity to crack down on Will for having her get homework done.
"Well, you see, sir," Will answered timidly, "it's raining outside today."
Dean sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And just why does the fact that it is raining keep you from doing your homework?"
Will shrugged. "Well, I had swimming yesterday."
Dean sighed again, sweeping a hand to her. "Well, what does that have to do with the fact that it's raining, and why you didn't do your homework?"
"Well," Will continued simply, as if talking to a kindergartener, "I slipped off the diving board and spend the rest of the day at the hospital. I therefore could not set my alarm, and thus, I overslept. So with that happening, I missed breakfast."
There was giggling around the classroom until Dean cleared his throat, halting the giggling, and then he gestured for Will to continue.
Will yet again continued sheepishly, "Well, I overslept, and the nurse had to wake me up. I checked myself out, but then I realized that I had forgotten to eat something. So I went over to McDonald's with some cash, when I remembered I didn't have my backpack."
More giggling filled the classroom, this time a little louder. Dean cleared his throat again, also louder, until it stopped yet again. Dean then looked expectedly at Will. She continued by saying, "So I had to go back to the hospital to reclaim my backpack, when I realized that I didn't leave it at the hospital, because I never brought it with me in the first place. So I went to the swimming pool and was going to talk to my coach when I noticed he wasn't there. So, I went on a quest!"
Irma cracked first by laughing hard, clenching her stomach as she roared with laughter. Her seat-partner, Hay Lin, giggled until also hard, covering her mouth as tears streamed down her ivory face. Cornelia snorted from behind Will, holding her mouth shut as her cheeks reddened with every passing second. Taranee was less grace filled, more like Irma in the case where she hooted loudly before trying, unsuccessfully, to stop her mad laughing. Dean coughed so loudly that it seemed almost like he was having a stroke, but it certainly stopped the laughter, filling the classroom once again with silence.
Will then began again fearlessly, saying, "So, as I went around the gym, I slowly began to realize that I was traveling in circles. So, I redirected my path, but that also turned out to lead me in circles. Well, I went to the services and asked them where the coach was, and they told me they didn't know. Then, one of them asked me why I needed to see him, and I told him I was looking for my backpack. He then pointed out that my backpack was on my back the entire time, so I felt rather embarrassed by now."
It was this time where the class started, yet again, to laugh when Dean cracked a smile. He covered his mouth quickly, preventing any laughter to escape, and, to cover up any slip-ups, he hollered, "Alright, that's enough now. Settle down now. Continue on, Will."
"Well, I had already long missed breakfast and lunch, so I decided to head to school, now, since I had not only missed breakfast and lunch, but my morning periods as well. As I was on my way to school, I saw an old lady needing help crossing the street. So I stopped and helped her on. In thanks for my good-will, she gave me a five dollar bill. Now, with this bit of money I thought I could just stop by one of those vending machines outside the school, so I headed there quickly, as my stomach was really growling."
There was total silence in the classroom as everyone was on the edge of their seats. No one wanted to miss a word of this!
"So, when I got to the vending machine, I had a . . . bit of trouble working with it." Will blushed at that statement, having her friends, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin giggling madly around her, knowing perfectly well what had transpired. Will had probably gotten into an argument with the vending machine, maybe because it wouldn't give her what she wanted or it stole her money.
"So," Will said, interrupting the giggling sharply, "since it wouldn't give me my candy, and there was only five minutes before history class started, I ran as fast as I could to get to history class." She shrugged. "And that is why I didn't do my history homework."
Dean placed his hands on his hips and gave a heavy sigh. "Alright, Will. I'll admit that was a very amusing story, but you still haven't explained how the fact that it is raining outside could keep you from doing your homework yesterday, before swimming." He looked up at the clock and blinked in surprise. Will's ridiculous story had taken up almost all of the period!
"Well?" Dean asked Will again, facing her. "How does the fact that it's raining today prevent you from doing your homework?
Will stared at him, a genuine look on her face. "I don't know, Mr. Collins," she admitted, shrugging again. "How does the fact that it's raining today prevent me from doing my homework?"
"Wait! B-but you," Dean stuttered, completely thrown off, "you just said that the reason for why you didn't do your homework was because it was raining today!"
Will smiled sweetly back at him, and replied, "But, Mr. Collins, how could today's weather effect my homework completion yesterday? That's just ridiculous!"
Dean opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He closed it, opened it again, but again, nothing came out. Will looked around at her classmates and muttered, "I think I broke him."
The bell rang loudly before Dean could respond to Will's clever comeback, and she exited the classroom victoriously, her head held high with her giggling friends laughing their heads off over the events that had occurred in the classroom. Once everyone had left, Dean made a special note to himself to talk to Will's mother over what happened today. But then again, the clever redhead might come up with another long and ridiculous story, so Dean decided not to bother.
After all, he had a splitting headache after that confusing tale!