Wakko's POV
Ms. Flamiel. The crotchety old lady that every kid seemed to despise, not only because she gave us homework, but because she was simply just putrid. The rotten, old lady was probably melted on the inside from being so despicable. Nobody liked Flamiel, not even the other teachers. I've heard stories of her scaring them so much that she can make a path for herself to the coffee machine in the teachers' lounge with only her grimace and blade-sharp glare.
She continued to drag every sentence she spoke through the mud. Everything she was saying was repeated and slowed down, but it wasn't like what she was saying was important. She was basically saying that if we don't pass this test we were about to be handed, we weren't going to complete and graduate from the 5th grade. If we didn't, we'd have to- no, no, it's too dire, too dreadful to think of, too-
"Don't forget class, failing this test will result in failure of the class, and failure of the class will result in summer school." The words dripped off her tongue like poison, time seemed to slow down. This can't be. She must find some sick humor in keeping kids in the jail-like building that we are already forced to go to for eight months. She must really want to see us tortured so much that she takes away what little freedom an eleven year seems to get.
School isn't really my thing, summer school is even less of my thing. I've known about this test for weeks now, and decided to spend time playing video games at Buster's house. Yakko doesn't even know about the test, or else I would have been studying last night instead of tp-ing Ms. Flamiel's house. Don't look at me like that. The ole' kook deserves it for terrorizing children and ruining their summers.
As the dreadful piece of paper landed before my eyes, and the room fell silent, I understood then. I knew I'd have to find some way to tell Yakko he'd have to be taking me to summer school over our only freedom from this dreadful place. Without him blowing a gasket, that is. He always was a crude for grades and homework, and the other boring things. I've never heard of a fourteen year old caring so much whether his younger brother actually did his homework to the "best of his abilities" or not...
We were told we had the remainder of the day to finish, which gave me a dreadfully long hour and a half. If I thought the time was long, obviously I wasn't looking at the test. The thing was long enough to fill a novel. There's no way I could finish this, even if I knew everything, on time to turn it in.
Just as I was about to resign myself to fate, and fill in the bubbles in the shape of a dinosaur, one of the loudest sounds I've heard startled us all. Okay, so it wasn't really the loudest sound… I've lived through earthquakes, us toppling over buildings, and Dot's singing. I was just surprised that it rang through the silence. It didn't take long for us to figure it out. The fire alarm.
Gleeful children saw the possible destruction of the school as a good thing. It'd get us out of the test. Maybe they would let us all go to the next grade without it. Maybe the school would burn and we wouldn't have to return. Maybe Yakko could just homeschool me. We are both fairly intelligent, but what other choice did we have? The school was going to burn all the way down to the wretched foundation.
Before I even really knew what was happening, we were already outside, Ms. Putrid in her authoritative stance ahead of us. Turning around, I saw another 5th grade class emerging from the school, at the back of the line were Buster and Montana. Thinking Flamiel would be fine with one less student, I ducked my way over to my friends.
"Wakko, get over here. You're a shitty ninja and you're not fooling anyone." I wasn't that bad at sneaking around, heck, I sneak out of the house past Yakko all the time. I had to admit though, I was doing poorly considering the lack of hiding spaces. Buster just felt it necessary to point it out, the damn Bunny always had to. He was brilliant yes, but he could also be a dick.
"What are they going to do about the test now?" I decided to edge into the conversation of a possible fire. At the muffled giggles, I instantly knew what was going on.
"Man, my teacher literally told us that the only way we could get out of doing the test was if the school burnt down. So instead of actually causing harm this time, I simply did the next best thing." Like I said, Buster was brilliant.
"So, how did you get us out of the test, exactly?" I knew where this was going, I could already see the ending. A very glorious, fun filled summer for us awaited.
"You gotta go, you gotta go. Told the old fart up there that I had ta' go, and he let me. My hand just, sorta, slipped on the alarm switch."
"What is going to stop them from just having us finish it tomorrow?" The thought of having to come back to school for another day because of my wonderful friend caused a nauseous feeling within.
"We are literally in fifth grade. Who really gives a shit? They'll probably send us on our merry way, as far from here as possible-"
"It was him!" The size of Buster's eyes shrunk a good 50%, as he could see the teachers stomping towards us. "They cause everything, and it was just after I excused him." In the crowd was the nasty Flamiel, her current smirk unraveling even more into a hideous grin.
"I feel that I have a solution…" The sound of her words left a heavy, nasty taste in my mouth. I knew we were in for it now, and I really hadn't done anything for once. I was actually ready to do the test and get the humiliation of Yakko's lecture out of the way so I could get ready for the longest, most boring summer of my life. Instead I'm now being punished for something else.
Ahh, yes. Ms. Flamiel. The absolutely wonderful woman that she is, found it in her heart to arrange for us to come and spend every weekend of our summer scraping gum off of the desks. Two full, long, and dreadful days of every single week of our beloved summer was getting the best of me. I almost wanted school to start so the torture would end. Max got out of the punishment because he always had a way. Buster was furious that the other kid got out of the punishment, stating that it was Montana's idea to begin with.
To make things worse, We weren't allowed to talk the whole time we were there. All four hours we spent at the school every Saturday and Sunday was spent in silence. After explaining the truth to Yakko, he still felt it necessary to have me come home after, and I spent very little time outside of the house with friends. Apparently Yakko didn't like that I didn't tell him about the stupid test in the first place.
I suppose I don't get a say, and I'll be spending my summer wasting away until I get all the gum scrapped off of the desks… But seriously, how many people actually do that? I've decided that Ms. Flamiel has been putting her own gum under the desks just to keep us busy. There's no way only students have caused this much of a problem. But hey, on the brightside, I didn't end up having to go to summer school.
