"Sheldon Lee Cooper you get down here right now before I send your brother up there!" Mary shouted up the stairs to her youngest son. Her other children were already sitting at the kitchen table for a quick breakfast before all heading out the door to their first days of school. A lanky sleepy-eyed boy emerged from the staircase, walking down each one head down, not focusing his eyes on anything.
"I'm not going." He told his mother, as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Mary walked over to her little boy from around the table. "Sheldon Lee Cooper, I told you every day this summer, I know you think you deserve to go to some fancy private school, and I don't disagree with you. But until Jesus makes that all happen for ya, your gettin that behind in that chair and then out the door!"
Sheldon tried to protest, but instead was pushed by his bony shoulders into a chair. He looked up at his mother, "Not a private school mother, a University. A place to challenge the preconceptions of the Universe. Not a place with time designated for finger painting and skipping rope." "Give it a rest Shelly." His brother George looked over, sitting next to him at the table. "This is the 6th grade, they don't baby you anymore like they used to."
Mary turned to face her son, putting her elbows on the table to support her. "And Shelly I want that for you. I really do. But this is the best we can do right now." She kissed him on the forehead and told him to hustle, no Cooper of hers was going to be late on the first day.
Missy and George talked about seeing their friends who didn't live close by, and they both seemed equally at peace with the fact that school was starting. All three Cooper kids stood up and grabbed their bags by the door when Mary finally noticed Sheldon's ill fitting t-shirt and jeans. "Shelly bean, where are the new pants we got for school?" Sheldon looked up at his mother guiltily. He was hoping she wouldn't notice the too tight jeans that revealed his ankles when he sat down, and his Superman shirt that revealed the top of his underwear, and a little of his skinny stomach. He scrambled to find an explanation when his twin sister piped in, "He got a hole in them with some hydrofluoric somethin er other he shouldn'ta been playin with 2 days ago." Sheldon looked at his sister incredulously. He thought by not telling his mother about Missy watching MTV behind her back, that his own secret was safe.
Mary looked as though she was about to burst. But to Sheldon's surprise, she instead grabbed his arm and marched him up the stairs. She pushed him into his and George's room and pulled open the drawers to his brother's dresser. "Here, put these on." She said handing him a pair of this brother's blue jeans. "But mother-" He said confused. She looked him in the eye and said, "Sheldon, I do not have time for this, and I won't have you goin to school poppin out of your clothes like you don't own any proper ones." She pulled his black belt out of his closet and handed it to him. He pulled the pants on and fastened the belt as Mary held up one of Jr.'s church shirts. It was a bright blue polo shirt she got him for Easter, and the little sneak managed to outgrow it before she ever had the chance to make him wear it. "Shirts up now." She said, yanking at the undershirt he'd already tucked into the pants. "But mother, these are already too large for me, I'm going to look like one of the back-up dancers from that MTV music show." Mary bent down and rolled the pant legs at the bottom."Well I'm sorry then, you shoulda taken better care of your things. You know we can't just go buyin ya clothes every week." Mary helped her son pull the blue shirt over his green baseball undershirt and shoved him out the door. "And Shelly, you tuck in that shirt. I won't have you lookin like one of those break dancers." And before Jr. could protest his brother wearing his jeans, or Missy teasing him for looking as if he'd both lost 20 pounds and shrunk 6 inches, Mary shoved her kids out the door, mentally deciding to skip the traditional first day of school picture on the porch.
Sheldon walked down the steps of his house, defeated and sulking. I hate living here, he thought. Maybe I never want to come home.
Sheldon got out of the car with his sister and realized how completely uncomfortable he felt. Even with the belt, his pants seemed to be falling down, and he thought he could feel the literal weight of the shirt weighing him down. His sister, who had thought the whole car ride of how embarrassed she would be to arrive with her brother looking like a dork in his giant clothing, was actually relieved to notice many of the other boys to be wearing similarly baggy pants and shirts. For just a second, she thought he may be able to fit in, and that he could just be a little bit normal.
For about 10 minutes, his sister was right. She ran right to her friends, under a big tree with benches underneath. Mary had dropped them off where all the kids met at the front of the school, and would then do the same for Jr, who now went to the high school. The middle school seemed louder and much larger than Sheldon remembered when he'd visited during the summer. He eased his way through the crowd aiming at getting to his first class 15 minutes early. He also wanted to minimize the time he spent being so exposed to the public, in fear that his new clothing might attract attention from the wrong crowd. Or that his peers would be able to pick him out as a dork that much quicker. Sheldon saw the building of his first class at the end of the hallway, he walked passed a drinking fountain and gave a disgusted look to the girl drinking from it. The thought of the unsanitary conditions of the fountain distracted him from seeing a more relevant danger right in front of him. He looked up just in time to bump into a large figure. His mouth coming in full contact with a shoulder.
"Hey, it's Shelly Cooper! Mr. Big Brain himself!" The tall figure said staring down at the much smaller boy in front of him. Sheldon looked up holding his mouth in his hand, his eyes growing wide when he recognized the figure before him. "Hello." Sheldon said through his fingers. "You haven't grown an inch since we were in school together, but it looks like your clothes have." Sheldon looked at him fearfully, but also puzzled. He removed his hand. "I'm sorry Donny, but I fail to see how.." "Shut it Cooper, I don't care what your afraid of." Just as he said this, 3 other boys came out of the bathroom that Sheldon had been stopped in front of. Donny Martin was their leader, Sheldon's elementary school bully until he moved to the middle school and left him at peace for a year. Sheldon had heard from his brother that Donny had moved over the summer, and that he wouldn't have to go to school with him anymore.
"Well, if that is so, that I will just be on my way.." Sheldon said, trying to slip passed the boys. "You've got a lot to learn Cooper." Donny said, stepping in front of him. "For such a smart guy, I guess you don't know much about this school." Again with a confused face, Sheldon looked up at him, and then back at the other boys as he felt a chill run down his spine. When it came to Donny, he knew to choose his words carefully and always make a run for it as soon as possible. "Looks like our first midget, for Midget Monday," said one of the boys behind him. Sheldon was just noticing how boxed in he was getting by the boys, some of which, whose voices were considerably deeper than Donny's. The phrase "Midget Monday," rang a bell. He recalled his sister discussing it with their brother, asking if the upperclassmen in middle school actually did call the 6th graders "midgets" and if the first days of school was specifically designed for hazing them. He recalled his brother reassuring her that even if people called her that, it would only be for a few days, and that nobody hazed any of the girls. Sheldon was brought back to reality, when he realized he was being pushed into the boy's bathroom with Donny's gang; still in the back of his mind wondering why he hadn't bothered to ask his brother questions concerning his own middle school fate. The bathroom was much larger than Sheldon would have thought. At glance he estimated 4 stalls and 6 urinals, most of which with partitions dividing them. There weren't any other boys in there as far as he could see, which was mostly a point for concern. One of the boys shoved Sheldon against the edge of one of the partitions. The edge digging into Sheldon's back as he winced and began fighting back. "Donny, I must warn you that I am in strong relations with the administrators here, and would hate to report that.." "Shut it Cooper." Donny said, pinning him between his face and the board behind him, "You aint reporting nothing." Sheldon quivered and was trying not to close his eyes and think about all the germs accumulating on his body. As he tried to move forward, the boys stopped him. One of them grabbing him by the shirt, and shaking him as he asked Donny, "What do you think D, should we give him a code 4?" Donny looked at the poor shaking boy with no sympathy, as pointed to the tall boy across from Sheldon. "You do the honors."
With that command, Sheldon thought he might pass out. Looking white as a sheet as he saw the boy in front of him unzip his pants, and pull out his member, right before he began peeing all over Sheldon's pants. The boy holding Sheldon jumped out of the way at first, before tightening his grip on Sheldon's shoulders and holding him up as a shield. Sheldon's eyes went wide at the scene before him, and the tears coming down his face were the last thing on his mind at the moment. He couldn't figure out how to escape the clutches he was being held in, or ignore the germs and disease that was being sprayed all over him. He could suddenly feel the warmth of the liquid through his pants, and realized he'd been yelling "NO, NO, NO!" For what seemed like hours. He felt the pressure of the liquid stop, but the boy's laughter continued. Wildly, they all pointed and laughed at the crying boy before them. They got louder when the tall boy zipped up his pants and high fived his friends. Donny grabbed Sheldon by the arm, surprised at how difficult it was to move the limp boy, and faced him in front of a very scratched and sharpied mirror. Sheldon could barely see himself, as he was trembling so badly and his eyes could barely see through the water in his eyes. When his own figure came into focus, Sheldon could see a large wet circle in the front of his pants. A dark patch went from around his crotch in a circle, all the way down one pant leg. Before Donny could initiate anymore threats, or high fives from the others, a loud whistle sounded from outside, and all the boys scattered out the door as quick as The Flash. Sheldon started to run after them, but stopped when he got to the door. He was still crying, he realized. And there was no way he wanted to go out there looking like this, he'd never live it down. He cringed and pulled the wet fabric further away from his body, so he didn't have to feel it, and peaked his head out of the bathroom door. A tall man who looked like a school authority was walking down the hall and turned the corner right as Sheldon stepped out of the bathroom. The halls were completely empty, and Sheldon was beginning to recall hearing at least one bell ring to get to class. Feeling a breeze against the wetness on his pants, he was reminded of his problem, and ran down the middle hallway to the office. He figured there was nowhere else to go, and he certainly couldn't remain in the boy's room with soiled pants on.
He went into the office and could see several staff members signing papers and talking in an office off from main room. The front desk seemed to be empty, and he was about to sit down when he noticed the staff bathroom door open, with visible cleaning supplies on the table inside. He dashed into the bathroom and stripped the wet pants off, throwing them in the tiny trash bin. He read the label on the all purpose bottle of blue sanitizer and sprayed every inch of his body, before drying with a few paper towels. He was relieved that his undies seemed unscathed from the urine of his attacker. He ripped off his left sock, which had a few drips of the unmentionable substance on it, and sanitized his foot thoroughly before putting it back in his seemingly clean shoe. He pulled the blue polo over his head and was surprised that when he wrapped it around himself like a towel, it covered him just as well as a pair of shorts would have. Trying to compose himself, he took some deep breaths. He'd run out of tears, but could still feel the stinging in his eyes, and the pain in his cheeks. He tried to clear the hard lump out of his throat before exiting the bathroom. He opened the door and walked back over the the front desk. This time, a lady with curly red hair sat, behind the desk enough so that she could only see him from the shoulders up. "Excuse me, Ms...McGeary.." He said reading her name plate and causing her to look up. She turned her gaze from her paperwork to see a boy with blood shot red eyes and tousled hair. The little voice coming out of him broke her heart. It sounded so fragile, and yet so destroyed. His big blue eyes looked up at her as she barely caught the words coming out of his mouth, "..I'd like to go home."
