I do not own Recess.
Third Street Graduation
The sun shone down on the playground of Third Street School. Kids thriving with Summer Fever rampaged across the grass and the kickball field, only restrained by the ever watchful Miss Finster. There was only three days left of school and there was nothing else on anyone's mind except planning for twelve weeks of biking and camping.
No class was as excited for summer as much as the sixth grade. Summer meant that come September they would be entering middle school. Another step towards freedom and independence. The Ashleys were cleaning out their clubhouse and prepping it for when their little brothers, the Tylers, moved in. The Diggers were filling up their holes and the Hustler Kid was pawning off his leftover merchandise.
But not all the sixth graders were eager for summer to start. In fact, six kids were lounging by the jungle gym, sitting in silence. They were eager and excited to start middle school just like their other peers, but they would celebrate later. Now they were reminiscing, reflecting and enjoying the last remaining hours they had left of being elementary students.
TJ Detweiler tilted his signature red cap back a bit and smiled. "Well guys. Tomorrow we graduate, and the next two days we spend saying goodbye."
Ashley Spinelli watched as the Swinger swung in a large arc back and forth, her red hair plastered to her neck and her goggles flashing in the sunlight. "I never thought I'd be sorry to leave. I think I might even miss Finster's threats and that stupid whistle blast."
Vince LaSalle laughed. "I think the sun might be getting to your head, Spin."
Gus Griswald sighed. "I just wish I could graduate with my Military Bob action figure."
"The one Finster confiscated last week?" TJ asked.
"Yeah. She never gave it back, and no way am I asking." Gus shuddered. "Her death glare is very effective."
"Oh, thy death glare. How it strikes fear into the hearts of the innocent youth," Mikey Blumberg recited in a sorrow-filled voice.
Spinelli rolled her eyes and smirked. "Very dramatic, Mikey."
TJ hopped up and stood facing his five best friends. Knowing a speech was coming, they sat at attention. "We're sixth graders, and it's time we stopped fearing Finster! Yeah, she can be harsh at times, but she can also be fair."
"Although those specific moments are quite rare in occurrence," Gretchen Grundler murmured.
"Besides, it's the day before we graduate! The worst she can do is make us organize Prickley's office."
Spinelli jumped down from the metal bars. "What's the plan, Teej?"
"It's pretty simple. Gretchen, Gus and Mikey will keep an eye out for Finster and Randall, and Vince will stand guard by Prickly's door while me and Spinelli get Gus' toy."
"Action figure!" Gus corrected.
"Break!" TJ cried.
The group separated, and TJ and Spinelli carefully opened the window leading to Prickly's office. Vince climbed through, opened the door just a crack and peered out into the hall. "All clear," he reported.
TJ pushed himself over the sill and frowned at the locked drawers of the desk. "Where would Prickly hide a key?"
"Forget the key! Let's do it my way." Spinelli pulled a bobby pin from her hair and jimmied the lock on one of the drawers. "Papers..." She tried the other one. "Jackpot! There must be dozens of confiscated toys in here!"
TJ removed sling-shots, baseballs, dolls, marbles and trading cards. "Tender! How's it going, Vince?"
"Pretty empty. I guess everyone but Finster is at a staff meeting. Probably last-minute business to wrap up before school ends." He shut the door and noticed the loot in TJ's hands. "Whoa! That must be a week's worth of collections!" he exclaimed.
"And we are going to return them," TJ declared, stuffing what he could in his pockets.
Spinelli locked the now empty toy drawer and was about to close the drawer with papers when she noticed her name on the paper on top of the pile. "Hey, what're these?"
TJ pulled out the paper and read, "Awards to be given out on June 22nd, sixth grade graduation. Michael Blumberg: Most Kind-Heartened Student. Theodore Jasper Detweiler: Principal's Award. Gustav Griswald: Most Courageous. Gretchen Grundler: Honours. Vincent LaSalle: Most Athletic. Ashley Spinelli: Most Creative."
They did not have time to think up a remark for this unexpected discovery, for footsteps sounded towards Prickly's office. TJ quickly stuffed the paper back in the drawer and Spinelli locked it. They jumped out the window and hurried over to meet the other three and tell them what they discovered.
"But Third Street never gives out awards!" Gretchen exclaimed.
"I'm the Most Courageous!" Gus said in disbelief, holding his Military Bob action figure.
"I reckon it must be because you stood up to Gelman," mused Gretchen.
"I got the Principal's Award." TJ whispered.
"I make one chalk masterpiece, and that makes me Most Creative?" Spinelli shook her head.
"Well, they couldn't give out a Most Violent Award, could they?" Vince asked with a smirk.
"I got the Principal's Award," the cap-adorned boy repeated.
"Come on, Teej, you already said that!" Spinelli crossed her arms and frowned. "What's so shocking about it?"
Vince snorted. "Yeah, it's really not so surprising. No matter what he says otherwise, I'm pretty sure you're Prickly's favourite student."
"Well, after all the pranks he's pulled, I can understand why he might be suffering from shock," Gretchen stated.
TJ stared out across the playground. "The first year Third Street gives out awards, and they give them to us. Why?"
"Well...you did save summer vacation," Gus commented.
"And you got the Board of Education to go back to the old ways," Spinelli added.
"True," TJ mused. "You know, after all the trouble we caused over the years, I think we should make it up to the teachers."
Spinelli gasped. "You mean no big prank to go out with a bang?"
TJ laughed. "Of course there's a prank! We can't let the public down. I know for a fact Lawson and King-I mean, Bob-are coming just to see what we'll do. We'll brainstorm that later tonight. Now, I have a plan..."
...
Principal Peter Prickly stood in the middle of the stage that overlooked the auditorium. Parents and former students were packed into the plush seats. There had never been a graduation so crowded. And Prickly knew why the extra former students had attended this time around.
His eyes strayed to the six that had become somewhat of a legend at Third Street, among the students and the teachers. They were all separated from each other, thanks to the alphabetical arrangement. But while the parents had no clue that the youth were eagerly waiting for something to happen, Prickly did. And he wasn't sure what to expect.
"Anything to report, Muriel?" he muttered.
Finster shook her head. "Not even Randall could dig anything up. I'm afraid we can only speculate on what those hooligans have planned."
What used to be an insult said with bitterness now held a note of slight affection. Prickly sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I suppose we'll have to wait and see. One thing is for certain, this will certainly be interesting. We are ready to start."
The ceremony began, and the names of the sixth graders were called in alphabetical order. Six students stood out, each wearing symbols of their individuality that made them so recognizable to their peers.
Mikey kept his blonde hair messy instead of slicking it back like the other boys. TJ had his signature red cap in place, a broad grin on his face as he accepted his diploma. Spinelli winced as Ashley was called and shuffled forwards in her boots, her beanie pulled halfway over her eyes.
She took the diploma in her hand and shook her head. "Six years of math and history for a piece of paper?" she muttered.
Prickly smirked as he shook her hand. "And you still have six years left before you finish completely."
"Fantastic," she grumbled.
Vince wore his favourite sweat bands on his wrist and his red sneakers. Gretchen kept her hair in its pigtails instead of wearing it down like she normally did on special occasions. And Gus rolled up the cuffs of his dress pant legs and pulled up his socks so that he would be more comfortable.
After all the diplomas were given out, Prickly waited for the silence before speaking. "For the first time at Third Street School, we have some awards to hand out to six students. Though this isn't something we normally do, these six students have made quite the impact at this school, and I think their peers would agree."
TJ winked at Gus and Gretchen, who were sitting close to him. They grinned and ducked their heads to hide their smirks.
"First we have the Most Athletic Award, which goes to Vincent LaSalle."
The awards were handed out and they tried to look as surprised as they possibly could. When TJ's name was called, the auditorium rocked with cheers, whoops and hollers. TJ waved and bowed. Spinelli, Gretchen, Gus, Mikey and Vince stood up on their chairs and screamed as loud as they could, clapping until their hands were stinging and red.
TJ reached up, plucked the microphone and danced away from Prickly's grasp, eyes dancing mischievously. "Now it's my turn to say something."
He glanced at Prickly, who arched an eyebrow at him suspiciously before nodding slightly in permission. He pressed on. "Over the few years, me and my friends have been a bit of..." He frowned as he tried to think of the right word.
"Nuisance," Gretchen hissed.
TJ snapped his fingers and pointed at Gretchen with a smile. "That's it! Thanks Gretch. Me and my friends have been a bit of a nuisance the past few years. Water balloons, whoopee cushions, buzzers, messing with the PA system, and using the ice cream catapult. It was all in good fun, but sometimes we would get out of hand. Like when we broke that statue.
"But the worse punishment we would ever get is a detention, or having to clean the kitchens. And there were many times we should have been suspended. But most of the time we got off easy. Yes, we are excited to go to middle school. But we will miss Third Street as well. So tonight, my friends and I have our own set of awards to give out."
Spinelli reached underneath her chair and removed an army green backpack, which had been carefully hidden away until this point. She stood up and accepted the microphone from TJ and grinned.
"Our first award goes to Miss Finster. Even with a sprained ankle, she pushed herself to keep the playground in order. Without her, recess would be chaos. Sure, the punishments were sometimes tough, but they kept us in line. Well...most of us," she added. "The award of Best Playground Keeper goes to Muriel Finster!"
Her enthusiasm was catchy, and the applause echoed loudly off the walls as a baffled Finster accepted her award. It was a plank of wood with a golden plate screwed on. "How on Earth did you make this?" she whispered.
Spinelli smiled. "My big brother Joey taught me some wood shop skills before he got in trouble."
Gretchen was up next. "Our next award goes to our fourth grade teacher, Miss Grotke. She taught us that anything can be solved with peace instead of violence, and always taught us to put others before ourselves. The award for Most Peaceful Educator goes to Miss Grotke!"
"We have a bad habit of creating messes whenever we pull pranks. Like the mustard and ketchup incident, and every time one of us would start a food fight by accident. But one man has cleaned up after us without complaint, because that's what he loves to do. The award for Best Janitor Ever goes to Hank!" Gus grinned and pushed his glasses up a bit.
"Our next award goes to a woman who kept our beloved school running smoothly; even when there were those oh so dreary days when it seems the sun won't ever shine. But she always pulls through, no matter what. This wonderful award goes to the lovely Miss. Lemon!" Mikey cried.
"Ya know, I think this is the first time I've ever seen her smile," Spinelli whispered to TJ, who snickered and nodded.
"Oh shoot, I missed Vince give out his award to the kindergarten teacher!"
"I'm sure she was happy. She definitely deserves it. I guess you're up."
"Is everything ready for later?" he asked, standing up.
Spinelli nodded, and TJ took the microphone from Vince and addressed the audience once more. "There's one more award to give out. It goes to someone who did all he could to keep us happy. To someone who turned down his dream job to save us from a madman. Someone who I suppose I tortured after all. But only a little and I didn't really mean it!" he added quickly, glancing at his principal with a sheepish smile.
"But I have nothing but the utmost respect for him, and I know I always will. And when I get to middle school, I hope the principal there will be half as good as Principal Prickly. The Award for Greatest Principal of All Time goes to...Principal Peter Prickly!"
"You know, I was expecting some giant prank from you and your friends," Prickly muttered as they shook hands.
TJ smiled innocently. "A prank? On graduation? I would never!"
Prickly snorted. "Yeah right."
TJ grinned and rushed back to his seat, glancing at Gretchen. She gave a thumbs-up. Vince pulled a small remote from his pocket and tossed it to TJ. In soft voices, they began the countdown as Prickly gave the closing speech.
"And so..."
"Six."
"I would like thank you all for coming-"
"Five."
"-and I hope you will all enjoy middle school-"
"Four."
"-and thrive. I expect good things from all of you."
"Three."
"Without further ado-"
"Two..."
"I give you the graduating class of Third Street School!"
"One!"
TJ pressed the button with a wide grin. Instantly, over a hundred rigged snappers exploded underneath every auditorium chair, sending multicoloured confetti spraying into the air. Gretchen had set up cans of silly string in the rafters above and set them so that they would spray the gooey substance when the snappers went off.
The Ashleys shrieked as the silly string stuck to their dresses. Screams and shocked shouts rang throughout the auditorium, accompanied by the bangs and snaps and hissing. TJ laughed until tears streamed down his face and high fived Spinelli.
In the middle of the chaos, a banner swung down and bared six names in bright colours:
TJ Detweiler-The Ringleader.
Spinelli- The Enforcer
Gus Griswald- The Safety Man
Mikey Blumberg- The Gentle Giant
Vince LaSalle- The Speedster
Gretchen Grundler- The Brains
"Detweiler."
TJ grinned as Prickly stormed forward. "I knew you would plan something like this! So, how long have you kids been cooking this up?"
"Last night, sir." Gretchen smiled. "We have a reputation to uphold."
"Gretch is right. We couldn't just let graduation pass by without pulling one last Third Street prank! We have to go out with a bang, after all," TJ explained.
Prickly watched the excitement unfold before him, and a smile crossed his face. "I have a feeling things are going to be a lot less exciting without you six around."
"Oh, don't worry sir. We'll come back for a visit every week!" TJ assured happily, and returned to watching his masterpiece unfold before him in beautiful chaos.