It was a study period for the ACDC 8th grade Middle School class. The sound of papers and books could be heard in conjunction with the buzzing of voices and small laughter. Ms. Mari was walking the classroom, answering any questions and simply chit-chatting with her students.
"Ow!" Ms. Mari flinched as a rubber-band hit the side of her face. She immediately looked to where the piece of rubber came from.
"Lan Hikari!" She shouted as she saw the boy, with shock in his eyes, standing from his desk, "I have had enough with all your childish hijinks!"
"Ms. Mari, that wasn't me! I didn't do it!" Lan tried to explain himself.
"Do not talk back to me, Hikari!" Ms. Mari continued to shout, "That will be a detention! After school! Today!"
"But Ms. Mari! If you would listen—" Lan tried to rebut.
"Do not talk back to me, Hikari!" Ms. Mari repeated. The class was completely silent. Everyone could see the fear on Lan's face. "Shall I extend your detention for the entire week?"
Lan continued to stand there, his face becoming red from embarrassment.
"You are almost a high schooler and yet here you are still playing these childish games!" Ms. Mari continued her harangue, "Sit down!"
"Ms. Mari, please—!" Lan continued to stay standing.
"Two weeks!" She replied, "With weekends!"
Lan sat down in his desk. Ms. Mari walked to the front of the room and addressed the class.
"I have had enough with all the immaturity in this class! You all are to-be high schoolers, and it is about time that you start acting like one!" Ms. Mari scolded, "From this point on, all types of pranks and capers will be punishable! Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am..." the class said, dimly.
"For the rest of the period I want to hear nothing but silence!" Ms. Mari commanded, "Your options are to either finish homework or read! Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am..." the class repeated.
"Good." Ms. Mari walked back to her desk. Soon, every student was either working on homework or reading a book of their choice. All but Lan, who was seated with his head in his hands.
Ms. Mari looked up from her desk to check if all her students had followed her directions.
"Hikari, did you not hear what I said?" Ms. Mari said, "Work on homework or read a book."
"Ms. Mari, will you please listen to me!" Lan's voice sounded almost exhausted.
"The matter has already been settled!" Ms. Mari scolded, "One more word from you and I'll extended your punishment another week!" Lan gritted his teeth as he pulled out a simple text book from his desk and opened it to a random page.
Mayl tilted her head slightly in order to see how he was doing. His head was still in his hands, and she could tell that he wasn't reading. He was humiliated in front of the class over something he claimed he didn't do. Mayl didn't know if he was telling the truth or not; she wasn't paying attention when Lan allegedly launched the rubber-band. Be it truth or not, it didn't take a psychologist to see that Lan was hurting much on the inside.
The study period continued in silence. The only sounds that could be heard was the momentary turn of a page or drop of a pencil. Eventually the bell rang through the class: the period was over, and the next class was set to begin. Ms. Mari instructed her students to place all they were working on away in exchange for their Math books. The class followed her orders. Ms. Mari stood in front of the class and began her lesson.
Despite Lan following Ms. Mari's directions, Mayl knew that he wasn't paying attention. She argued with herself whether she should help him after school with this lesson. It was his fault that he wasn't paying attention, yet this behavior was completely abnormal for him. Lan was no stranger to after school detentions, and he would take responsibility for his punishment. But this time was different. Lan's objection to his punishment seemed genuine, and his body language reflected this irritated state.
Ms. Mari continued teaching her math lesson until a final bell indicated the end of the school day. On any other day, the sounds of backpacks and students shuffling out of their seats would dominate the room, Ms. Mari wishing everyone a good day as her students left the room. On this day, however, no one dared to leave their seat. The room was silent as they waited for Ms. Mari's command.
"That will be it for today." Ms. Mari said, "I wish you goodbye and I will see you all tomorrow." The normal sound of kids packing up to leave returned. It felt as though people were leaving faster than normal, taking quick peaks at Lan as he stayed seated.
"I can help you with your math homework tonight when you get home. If you want..." Mayl spoke quietly to Lan as she stood from her desk. Lan looked to her with a depressed look on his face and nodded. Mayl knew she couldn't do anything and left along with everyone else, leaving Lan alone with Ms. Mari.
"I'm sure you know the routine by now, Lan." Ms. Mari spoke, "I want this classroom swept and cleaned."
"Yes, ma'am." Lan said as he stood from his desk and walked to the classroom closet. He took hold of the broom and began to sweep the room.
"You're better than this, Lan..." Ms. Mari began to say, "I've seen you grow into a fine, mature young adult. Don't fall back into this immaturity."
"Yes, ma'am." Lan replied, dryly, not bothering to raise his head to her. Ms. Mari took notice but decide not to comment. He was upset. No need to make it worse than it already was.
The detention continued in silence. Ms. Mari sat at her desk correcting papers and Lan continuing to slowly sweep between the aisles and desks. She never experienced a detention like this with Lan. Although Ms. Mari knew she shouldn't, she would talk with him during his punishment. Sometimes she would be as bored as him, and starting a conversation was a way for both of them to relinquish their monotony. Ms. Mari began to second-guess whether she was right to punish Lan.
Soon, Lan was finished with cleaning the room with time to spare. He sat down in his desk, folded his hands, and sat there. Ms. Mari tried her best to not make eye-contact with the student. However, as she was going through today's homework, she noticed Lan's was missing. Wanting to test the water, she decided to ask Lan about the absent assignment.
"Lan, do you have today's assignment?" Ms. Mari asked, "I don't seem to have it."
"No." He replied, not moving from his hand-folded position.
"Do you want to check to make sure?" Ms. Mari said.
"No." Lan repeated.
"Are you sure?" Ms. Mari informed, "I'll mark it as missing and you'll get a zero."
"That's fine." Lan replied.
"Okay..." Ms. Mari said, marking Lan's assignment as missing. She continued to go through the rest of the homework. As she was moving some papers from her desk to her backpack, she noticed an assignment she must have dropped while correcting them; it was Lan's. He purposely rejected searching for his assignment and accepted a zero despite knowing that he handed it in. She debated whether to confront him about this. Maybe it was time to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
"I found your assignment, Lan." Ms Mari said, holding up his homework, "Why did you lie and accept a zero?"
"You asked if I had the homework." Lan replied, "And I said no."
"Then you should have said that you turned it in." Ms. Mari said.
"I thought you wouldn't listen." Lan replied. Ms. Mari sat there, thinking of her reply. Clearly, this situation would not be resolved if she would not let Lan explain his side of the story.
"What happened today, Lan?" Ms. Mari asked.
"What about today?" Lan replied.
"I'm giving you a chance to explain yourself." Ms. Mari said, sternly, "Don't ruin your chance."
Lan sat there, quietly. Finally, he spoke.
"I was sitting at my desk doing nothing when I was struck in the side by a rubber-band." Lan explained, "I turned to see who flicked it. Unfortunately, you came and stood in my way so I needed to move.
"I grabbed a piece of trash from my desk and pretended to throw it away in order to get a better line of sight." Lan continued, "When you finally turned, I pulled back the rubber-band but it broke. I threw both of them away and walked back to my seat.
"I don't know who flicked the rubber-band that hit you." Lan concluded, "I wasn't paying attention when I walked back to my desk."
"Why were you trying to launch the rubber-band to begin with?" Ms. Mari questioned, "You know well that I banned that act during sixth grade."
"Because I was just trying to have a little fun." Lan replied, "But that didn't justify the punishment that you gave me."
"Then you should have sat down and come and talk with me either directly after school or during your detention time." Ms. Mari explained, "That was no time to try and explain yourself."
Lan sat there quietly, still with his hands folded on top of his desk.
"Can I be honest with you, Ms. Mari?" Lan asked.
"Of course." Ms. Mari replied.
"You made an example out of me in front of the entire class." Lan said, "You gave me a detention on the spot and accused me of a crime that I didn't do.
"Can you honestly tell me that any student in my position would not have tried to explain themselves?" Lan asked, "They would have not talked back to you in the fashion I had?"
Ms. Mari sat there for a moment, contemplating.
"The biggest reason why I'm so upset, Ms. Mari," Lan continued, "Was because you acted as a judge, jury, and executioner. I understand that you were upset, and I was fine with receiving the first detention, but the fact that you decided to increase my punishment all because I was trying to explain myself was completely unjustified."
"I will give you that I let my anger get the best of me." Ms. Mari said, "But I still stand by my reaction. Given the information that I know now, I would not have reacted the way I did; but, given the information I knew then, I acted what I deemed appropriate.
"You see, Lan, as a teacher you sometimes need to do things in order to portray your dominance in the class, especially with middle schoolers like yourselves." Ms. Mari explained, "The worst think you can do with a class is allow them to get too comfortable."
"So you used me as an example..." Lan said.
"Most teachers would have done what I did, Lan." Ms. Mari said. She looked at the watch on her hand.
"Your detention is up. You're free to go." Ms. Mari said, "I will not hold you to the two weeks of detention. Also, I will not count this detention that you served."
Lan stood from his desk and began to walk to the door.
"Also, Lan," Ms. Mari spoke up. Lan turned and faced her.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong in my punishment, and I will try to ensure that I do not embarrass anyone one like that in class again."
"Thank you, Ms. Mari." Lan smiled for the first time since the incident, "I appreciate it."
It may not seem like it, but a second chapter is coming! So... stay tuned?