She entered the classroom in tears.
"Gabby?" Troy ran to her side. He folded both arms around her trembling figure. "What happened?"
"Oh, it's nothing." Gabriella wiped her eyes, trying to hide the liquid evidence. It shouldn't be a big deal. She wasn't the only one. "Just another run-in with Ms. Bale."
She instantly caught his frown. Angrily, Troy brushed a tear away with his thumb. "What did she do now?" Gabriella didn't bother explaining. She only thrust her forehead into his chest and sobbed. She, he and pretty much everyone in the homeroom suffered the wrath of the school secretary one time or another. Even Sharpay found her cruel—and that was saying something!
"Troy, is she okay?" Chad asked, curiously nearing the couple.
"You-know-who decided to rain on her parade." The jock groaned, obviously catching on. "Seriously? What's her problem? There's really no reason for her to be so damn mean." Gabriella poked her head out of Troy's embrace.
"It was my fault. I forgot to sign the permission slip to attend one of our Scholastic Decathlons. I guess I deserved—"
"Don't you dare say that." Troy tilted her chin up to face him. "If I know you well—which I do—I would know that you were never rude to that woman. Even if you forgot, I'm sure you were nice. Am I right?"
"I guess so." She admitted.
"Great!" Chad exclaimed. "What do we do now?" He obviously wasn't fazed by the now silent homeroom of students.
"What do you mean?" Gabriella timidly asked. She'd snuggled back into Troy's waiting arms.
"Clearly that woman's nuts. If she attacks you, Gabriella of all people, something must be wrong. We should protest."
"Whoa, slow down there, Chaddie." They all turned to see Zeke and Jason who were lounging on two desk chairs. "Do you honestly think Matsui'd allow that? Especially from someone who's got troublemaker written all over them?" Chad frowned, but he got the point.
"What if you helped us Gabriella? You're a credible source."
"Me? I already had to face her once. I don't want to do it again. Please don't make me guys."
"Alright then. New plan?" Troy murmured as the bell rang.
"Students! Take your seats now." They all froze. That voice sounded nothing like Mrs. Darbus. Instead, it was more like…
Gabriella barely got out an 'oh no' when suddenly Ms. Bale's hovered stood 4inches from hers.
"Gabriella! You know the rules. You do too Mr. Bolton. No public displays of affection. That'll be a detention for both of you this whole week."
"But we weren't—" Her cold stare shut Troy's mouth up. In an instant, she slammed one demented arm between the couple's bodies. Instinctively, Troy caught Gabriella's hand before she fell to the floor.
"I said separate! That's another week of detention. Now take your seats."
"But I was just—" Chad clasped one hand over Troy's mouth.
"We'll do just that Ms. Bale." He gave Troy an intense 'do-not-say-another-word' stare as he cascaded into his seat. It was hard as hell to do, but Troy obeyed. Why is she even here? He asked himself. Why hasn't she been fired yet? He desperately wanted to glance behind him to see if Gabriella was okay—but he dared not 'disrespect' Ms. Bales.
It would be a long homeroom…
"That's it. I'm protesting." Chad stated as the group cleared the homeroom. He was immediately shushed.
"Keep your voice down man. She's got bionic hearing; you know that." Jason whispered. Troy looked around; waiting. After a moment, Gabriella exited the homeroom. Her face showed anything but happiness.
"Hey." Troy reached over to wrap an arm around her. She immediately shied away from his embrace. "Gabby?" She held her textbooks tightly to her chest. Looking down, she responded, "I don't think we should be doing that. It's not appropriate in school."
Troy wrinkled his eyebrows. Appropriate? They'd always held each other. Since when was it a problem? "Gabriella, come on." She shook her head.
"I'll see you later guys. Don't be late to classes." She pushed passed him and hurried to her next class, Math.
"You see?" Chad looked around the circle of friends. "See what this school has come too?" His gaze stopped on Troy. "You're girlfriend won't even touch you. For all I know, Taylor could follow her lead. That woman is a problem that needs to be fixed. Understand?" Troy's stared lingered after Gabriella who disappeared behind the corner. His previous sadness was replaced with complete frustration.
"Oh, I understand. I want her gone. ASAP."
"Seeing as I'm the only rational thinker here, I'll start by reminded you all that she has BIONIC HEARING. Start walking guys." Jason gave everyone a slight push in the right direction. "Also, you can't exactly protest without a sufficient argument. Where's the proof?"
"Were you not paying attention in homeroom? She practically pushed Gabriella to the floor." Chad responded. "I mean, if Troy hadn't saved her that could have been great proof!"
"Way to go Troy." One of the guys murmured.
"I was only doing what every guy should. She needed help and I was there. End of discussion." Troy rolled his eyes. What kind of world was it where a guy was reprimanded for saving his girlfriend?
"Back to the point," Chad continued. He'd taken to pinching his chin, like a detective searching for an ulterior motive. "We want her out of here...and I've got a couple of ways to do it."
"This will not end well." Chad pressed a hand into Jason's face.
"Shut it and listen. Like I said, I've got a plan…" Though Jason disagreed, he followed Chad, Troy and the rest of the guys along the hallway. Well, at least until the late bell rang.
"Detention? What the hell?" Chad ripped the white slip into 10 pieces. They scattered randomly across the gray tiled floor.
"You know you're gonna have to pick that up." Jason muttered, half amused and half annoyed. "By the way, thanks for getting all of us detention! For a week too!" He set the dirty janitor's mop down and placed two hands on his hips, mimicking Chad. "'This'll work guys; no doubt. Try to get Bale's rude comment on a tape recorder without her knowing. Then post it online.' Just great. Now we're on janitor duty till next Monday. Thanks a lot."
"How was I supposed to know she'd see it?"
"Not the point. It's against school rules to record someone without their knowledge. Let alone change it up and post it on a message board. You of all people should know that." All the guys knew to what he was referencing. It was only a few months back that Chad went on a tirade for a "miss quoting" in the yearbook. Long story short, instead of saying "Dickinson's poetry contains a lot of idioms" he 'said' "Dickinson's an idiot."
"How many times do you want me to say sorry?" Troy groaned as the two men went at it. This wasn't helping anything, especially the main problem. Bale was still prancing around the school like a self proclaimed god. Even worse, she humiliated him midway through his pre-detention apology on Monday- in front of 20 faculty members. He was already nervous about apologizing; she only made it worse by bringing the attention of 20 pairs of eyes to his unzipped crotch. "How can I take your apology seriously, when I can see your briefs?"
He shuddered. That was unnecessary on so many levels. And swear to whomever, if Gabriella didn't let him touch her, he'd go insane!
"Mr. Danforth! Jason, stop that bickering immediately!" This time they all turned, in relief, to see Mrs. Darbus poised in the doorway. "Sorry," both boys uttered before grapping their assigned cleaning supplies.
"Well, what do I say about this scene?" Mrs. Darbus stepped further into the room. Her gazed landed on every jock's face for a few seconds. "All of you in detention at once? I didn't hear about a food fight in the cafeteria."
"No ma'am. It was something different." Troy responded. "We kind of had a run in with the school secretary, Ms. Bale." The teacher crossed her arms.
"What kind of conflict?"
"One that got us here for a week." Chad muttered in an aggravated tone.
"Troy?" She continued. Chad's comment was clearly ignored.
"We only wanted to figure out why she enforces rules a certain way. Though we didn't exactly carry out our plan appropriately." The teacher shook her head and let out a small laugh.
"I'm going to offer some advice. The next time you all decided to get back at a faculty member, talk to an adult."
"They probably wouldn't listen. Everyone who's not a student loves Ms. Bale. She's practically Matsui around here.
"Oh I can assure you Mr. Danforth that this is not in the least bit true." Chad winced. Did he hear resentment in her voice?
"Even if it's not 100%, we can't do anything. It's hopeless." Jason threw his dirtied rag on the floor. "She wins."
"For theater's sake gentlemen!" Mrs. Darbus flung her arms in the air. "Clearly my advice went in one ear and out the other."
"The last thing I want is another detention. I guess I'll get here super early to avoid late slips. I'll be super careful about missing class and—" Before Jason could finish, Mrs. Darbus let out a piercing groan—and stomped out of the room.
"What's her problem?" Chad turned to Troy. "For once, I'm following the rules. Okay guys; let's get this done so we can go home. What team?" The response was weak and muffled. The Wildcats were anything but spirited now.
Jason was terrified. He'd hoped this day would never come. Not because he secretly favored perfect attendance, but because his early morning tardy would send him straight to her.
He should have run! Out of all days why did his car decide not to start? And now he was tripping down the halls to the academic office—awaiting the tirade. Why him?
Precariously, Jason knocked on the wooden door.
"Come in," An unknown voice sang out. He entered to find a gray-haired woman steadily working at the desk. Her red cheeks hinted at makeup, but her posture was all-natural. And she's not Ms. Bale.
"Hi, I'm Jason. I need a tardy slip." He studied her heart-shaped chin, soft brown eyebrows, green eyes. Not Ms. Bale.
"Of course Hun. Here you go." She handed him a paper coated with her loose handwriting. "Try not to be late again."
"That was weird," Jason muttered aloud as he reentered the hallway. He turned the corner and ran straight into Troy and Gabriella. Unlike yesterday, Troy had his arms smoothly around her waist. Since when did Gabriella show public affection? Before he uttered a word, someone's hand crashed on the back of his neck. Jason lunched forward and almost knocked the couple down. He turned around then scowled.
"Chad! What's wrong with you? You know that could get you in trouble." Chad erupted into laughter.
"You know, you sound just like her. Well sounded…"
"Alright you two." Mrs. Darbus gently pulled Troy and Gabriella apart. "Hugging is fine, but extreme public displays of affection are still again school rules."
"Yes, Mrs. Darbus," They sang out cheerfully and headed to their respective seats.
"Still confused?" Chad tossed a basketball in the air.
"Yes. Can someone clue me in?"
"Dude, she's gone!" Chad screamed-literally screamed into his ear. Some students applauded.
"Bale? What happened?"
"Mrs. Darbus happened, that's what!"
"Mr. Danforth, stop screaming. Everyone to your seats; the bell rang." Jason scribbled a question mark on a sheet of paper and passed it to Troy. Troy's handwriting read: Darbus reported her. Some of us were witnesses. 'parently Ms. D hates teacher harassment. Life is good! He almost dropped the note. Was it really that easy? All they needed to do was tell Mrs. Darbus? Another note dropped on his desk. It read; See, I told you I had a plan. You should listen to me more often. -Chad
"Oh please," He shot a cold look at the snickering jock.
"Yes Jason?" Mr. Darbus stopped her lecture. "Do you want to add to the conversation?" Jason hid behind a faint blush. His posture straightened a bit.
"No Mrs. Darbus." She wasn't anywhere near the newly nixed Ms. Bale, Darbus still gave detentions. Ignoring Chad and silently thanking his homeroom teacher, Jason sharpened a pencil and got to work.