Stepping Stones chapter 8
OK, now it's Double D and his Friday! I wonder what's going to happen here.
Benny: You said something about respect while you were writing down potential ideas.
Maybe but I'll just tell people to read the chapter and review. It will make it more mysterious that way.
It was a nice, comfortable Friday afternoon. I was glad because we didn't have Physical Education on Fridays but I do however have to give my footage to Ms. Parker in our next class. I was actually fine with that, even if that meant I might not be able to interview Marie today.
I thought 'At least we would get credit for what we did the past week.'
As the bell rang and the students began to gather their things, I said "Ed and Eddy, how are your projects going?"
Eddy replied, smiling confidently "It's going well, Sockhead. I'll probably be going out with Nazz by the end of the month."
I smiled and thought 'Well, Eddy seems fine as usual. But what about Ed?'
Ed answered, smiling "My project's good. Peter likes comics too like the Adventures of Evil Tim and the Swamp Creatures of Lake Topeka."
I replied "I think you might mean Tapioca, Ed."
I thought 'Why was I so worried? They're both doing well with their projects, just like me.'
I put my notebook into my backpack, zipped my backpack closed and followed Ed and Eddy to our English class. It would be fine because all I had to do is show Ms. Parker my footage at the end of the class and then interview Marie at lunch.
We entered the class as I realized that we were early. That was great for me as I didn't have to worry about my attendance record. But I did wonder where Marie was. I didn't think that she would be early but I'm hoping that she didn't decide to skip. Neither of us would benefit from that, her more than me.
I sat down at my desk and thought 'Maybe I'm worrying too much. Marie's not going to risk skipping school today.'
I waited as our fellow students began entering the room. Nazz and Kevin began to talk about their projects. While they were doing that, I looked over to Ed and Eddy. Ed was engaged in reading one of his comics while Eddy was sitting in his chair and his feet up on his desk with a smirk on his face.
The rest of the students began to come into the classroom, including Marie. I smiled nervously as I waited for Ms. Parker to come in. I was hoping that Marie had her footage from this week and so far, it seemed like I was right.
Marie sat down at her desk in the row in front of mine, took out her notebook and began writing something. She then looked back at me and grinned mischievously.
I thought 'What is Marie up to? Then again, it could just be nothing.'
Miss Parker walked into the room with a confident smile on her face.
She looked around the room before she said "Good morning, everyone! OK, first, everyone will come and give me their draft or footage. Eddy, please take your feet off of your desk. As much as you may wish, this isn't your house."
Everyone got up and began going to the front of the room and gave their draft or footage to Ms. Parker. I slowly got up with my camcorder and walked towards the front of the room.
I thought 'Will Miss Parker like it? Will she hate it? What if she sees something she finds inappropriate? What if we lose points? OK, Eddward, calm down…she just wants to look at how everybody's doing. She isn't making any final judgments.'
I calmly gave my camcorder to Ms. Parker who turned it on and looked at my footage.
Ms. Parker said "You and Marie seem to be making decent progress, Eddward. Even if Marie isn't exactly showing it, she is trying to do harder. As for the footage, you two could try to show more variation. Instead of just doing interviews, sometimes you or Marie could say what's on your mind."
That was what I've been telling myself. But then again, I could just be too kind, like some people tell me. However, if this does help benefit everyone, including Marie herself, then I'll keep trying. Saying what was on my mind wasn't what I planned to do, even if it would calm me down.
I falsely smiled and responded with "Thank you, Ms. Parker." before she handed me back the camcorder and I headed back to my seat.
I sat back down and sighed in relief. I moderately felt that both my and Marie's success depended on me. Despite the fact that I could deal with that, it does feel like too much sometimes.
A few minutes later, Miss Parker stood up and said "Alright, I've looked at everyone's drafts and footage. This class is making good progress, some students more than others. Remember, you have another week left. Now, Nazz has an announcement to make." as Nazz stood up and went to the front of the room.
Nazz said "Thank you, Ms. Parker. As the current leader of the White Ribbon Club, I'd like to say that today is our Leadership Day, sponsored by the school. An eighth grader will be assigned as a "leader" to a sixth grader of the same sex. It is that eighth grader who is supposed to help that sixth grader with any problems or issues that they have."
Marie rolled her eyes and yawned loudly. Some of the kids turned and glared at her. I actually couldn't blame them. Even though Marie and I made a little progress, she's still in her old ways. Whether it is because she just doesn't want to change or if she's afraid that if she does try to be a better person, people will mock and condemn her for it, I don't know.
Ms. Parker took over and said "I've decided to sign up the entire class for Leadership Day so like it or not, you will all be paired up with a sixth grader. The pairing chart is over there by the door. You may use your experience to help you with your project."
The bell rang and the students started to get their things and exit the classroom.
Ms. Parker said "Remember to look at the pairing chart as you're leaving!"
I looked at the pairing chart and tried to find my name. I quickly found my name on the left side and the one opposite me was Gabriel Evans. I could recall seeing the boy once or twice in the hallway earlier this year but that was all.
Marie looked over my shoulder and said "Hmm, Gabriel Evans. Never heard of the kid. Wonder what ungrateful brat I got?"
I replied "They're not ungrateful brats, they're just young kids starting middle school. By the way, you're assigned to Lira Geroni."
Marie scoffed and responded with "Lira Geroni? What kind of parent names their kid after money? Well, names don't matter unless you're rich. Anyway, I think I know the last name. Geroni. Oh yeah, her sister's in our grade. Bethany or Bonnie or something that starts with a B. The whole family is a bunch of weird creeps."
I sighed and thought 'I have just the slightest feeling that not even 14 days will be enough to change Marie.'
Marie and I along with our classmates went to the auditorium to meet our partners for Leadership Day. I talked to Gabriel, who had red hair, green eyes and tan skin. He seemed like a nice kid even if we didn't have much in common.
Marie stood up with her foot against the wall, playing Flappy Bird on her IPhone. I occasionally questioned why I bought it for her before I remembered why. That reason is something that I will most likely never disclose, probably not even to Marie herself.
I asked "Marie, shouldn't you be talking with your follower?"
Marie answered "As you can see, the brat hasn't shown up yet. So I'm just gonna do this to kill time." before a young girl, with dark brown hair in braided pigtails and a blue dress, came up to us.
The girl said "Excuse me, I'm looking for Marie Kanker."
Without looking up from her IPhone, Marie answered "That's me. You must be Lira Geroni. Your sister is Bethany Geroni, right?"
Lira shyly replied "H-Her name's Bertha, actually."
Marie said "Whatever, kid. We'll talk in a few minutes. I just have to get to 140 points on Flappy Bird."
Lira responded with "But I need to talk to you now…" before she tapped Marie's arm.
Marie muttered angrily "Damnit." before she put away her IPhone and turned to Lira with a glare.
Marie asked with an annoyed tone "What do you want?"
Lira answered quietly "I-I have two girls who are bothering me. They're both in the seventh grade. They attack me, make fun of me and take my money. C-Can you help me? You are my mentor after all-"
She was interrupted by Marie who responded with "Look, runt, I don't have the time or the patience to deal with your little problem. Either you tell a teacher or somebody or you stand up for yourself and beat 'em up."
Lira said "I can't do that. If I do either of those, the two of them will just make things worse for me."
Marie casually shrugged and replied "Then I can't help you. It's your problem, find your own solution."
Lira walked away with a sad, unhappy look on her face. I glared at Marie who looked back at me, slightly confused.
Marie said "What?"
I responded with "You know, Marie, you could try and help her."
Marie replied "How? I told the runt her two options: tell somebody or stand up for yourself. She doesn't want to do either and I'm not getting suspended for fighting some little brat's battles so it's out of my hands."
I responded "At least try to break up an altercation between her and her tormentors if and when it occurs."
Marie sighed, put her hands up and said "Fine, fine. I'll help the kid if she gets cornered but otherwise, it's not my problem."
I went back to talking with Gabriel while Marie began to write something in one of her notebooks.
I asked "How does a walk around the school sound to you two?"
Gabriel smiled and answered "That sounds good. It will help me keep in shape."
Marie grunted and answered "Anything's better than sitting here, bored as hell."
The three of us went out of the auditorium and began to walk around the school. As we had, Marie noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Two girls were pushing another against the wall. The girl pushed against the wall was Lira.
The first girl asked "Where's our cash, poor girl?" while the second tightened her hold on Lira.
A wide-eyed Lira answered "I don't have any! P-Please leave me alone!"
The first girl slapped Lira and said "Listen, you! Do we look like we care about your little self-pity? We need 20 bucks by the end of the day and no matter how, you're going to give it to us!"
Marie shoved the first girl back and replied "How about you leave her alone? She said she didn't have any so just stay away from her. Or else you'll have me to deal with."
The second girl asked angrily "Who do you think you are, bossing us around?"
Marie answered "I'm Marie Kanker, you little brat."
The first girl stiffened as soon as she heard Marie's name.
Marie continued "And if you know what's good for you, you'll never bother her again!"
The first girl motioned for the second girl to let go of Lira. The second girl dropped Lira on the ground while the two of them retreated.
The first girl shouted "This isn't over, Pixie! Now you're gonna get it ten times as bad!" before she and the other girl ran off in the other direction.
Gabriel and I helped Lira get up before she turned to Marie and said "Thank you."
Marie shrugged with a smirk and replied "I'm just doing my job, runt."
Lira picked up her backpack and coolly walked away with a smile on her face.
Unfortunately, as great as Leadership Day was, those who participated in them were exempt from attending class. This left Marie and I with virtually nothing to do. So we went to go do our interview. However, we had to stop by Marie's locker first so that she could get something from her locker.
I asked "What do you need to get, Marie?"
She answered "Pandora. It's something that I don't show too many people, OK?" before she opened her locker.
A few moments later, honey and tar had been poured all over her and she had been covered in feathers. Everyone in the hallway started laughing, except for me and Marie of course. She was clenching her fists and looked angry.
A friend of her mom had to go and get her a spare change of clothes from her house. Marie didn't exactly look happy to see him.
Marie asked "Why are you here, Leonard?"
Leonard answered "Your school called and said your mom should probably come and give you a change of clothes. She couldn't show up so she gave me a spare key and I brought you some." before he handed Marie a shopping bag.
Marie still looked angry but murmured "Thanks, Leonard."
Leonard smiled and said "Well, I should get back to work now. Bye, Marie. It was nice to meet you, Eddward."
I replied "You too. Goodbye." as he left the school.
Marie turned around and said "Creep. I don't know why Mom would decide to give him a spare key. But at least I do know one thing."
I responded with "He seemed like a kind man to me. What do you know, then?"
Marie answered "Those two seventh-grade brats. They're the ones who made the junk pour all over me. Double D, this is why I don't fight other people's battles for them. It just makes you a target and thanks to Money Girl, I'm stuck with sludge and bird feathers on my clothes." before she went to the bathroom with the shopping bag.
A few minutes later, she came back into the hallway in her denim jacket, a red polo shirt and black sweatpants.
I said "Marie?"
Marie replied "What is it, Double D?"
I answered "You still have two or three feathers in your hair."
Marie took the feathers out of her hair and put them into a nearby garbage bin. We went back to Marie's locker where she put the tied up shopping bag in the bottom of the locker and took out a green stuffed creature.
Marie said "That's Pandora. I guess she helps me be calm and relaxed or just helps me put all my fears and worries away." and put it into her backpack before Lira nervously walked up to us.
Lira hesitantly asked "Marie, are you OK?"
Marie glared fiercely at Lira and answered "Am I OK? I just got my clothes messed up and humiliated in front of half of the kids in the school and you're asking if I'm OK? I should have just stayed out of your little problem instead of trying to defend you. Then again, you're just the type of person to need somebody to defend you. You're pathetic."
I said "Marie, it's not her fault."
She glared angrily at me before she turned back to Lira and continued "It's no wonder those girls bully you. You're easy prey and you don't even try to stand up for yourself. You just whimper, whine and cry like a baby. It's people like you that will always be cowards and followers, Money Girl. Face it, you're a joke and we'd all be better off if you just flew far away from here." before Marie slammed her locker door closed.
Lira softly cried a little before she wiped away her tears and said "W-Well, I'm sorry for bothering you."
She then turned around and walked away. I looked at Marie with a combination of anger, disgust and disappointment.
Marie asked "What, Double D?"
I answered calmly "Marie, why did you say that to her? Lira didn't choose to be bullied. She didn't decide that she wanted to be harassed and robbed every day just because she's shy, quiet and distant. You snapping at her isn't going to help."
Marie replied in an unapologetic tone "Maybe snapping at her would get her out of that dream world she's in."
I said "Let's go find her and see if she's OK."
Marie responded with "You can go see if she's fine. I'm going to stay here."
I replied "Marie, let's go find her. She's a scared, embarrassed 11-year-old girl who feels like she's boxed in. Lira just wanted to know if you were fine and you exploded at her for no reason other than the fact that she was there."
Marie said "No, I exploded at her because me getting humiliated was her fault. Come to think of it, it's actually your fault too. If you hadn't convinced me to protect the runt, I would have just ignored her and not gotten splattered with gunk, oil and feathers."
I replied "Don't try to blame me for this, Marie! Come on, arguing with each other isn't going to help anybody right now. Let's go find Lira and make sure that she's alright."
Marie scoffed and responded with "Fine, I'll help but don't except me to help play the pity party when we find her sobbing in a corner like the stuck-up, weird girl that she is." before the two of us walked in the direction she was.
I thought 'I can understand why Marie shouted at Lira but that doesn't make it right. I'm not going to be hypocritical and say that I've never done that but I've never gone off at a random person nor have I ever attacked that person to the point where that person is in tears.'
We walked out of the school through the front entrance. Just a few feet from us was Lira.
I said "There she is! Wait, what is she doing?"
Lira was running through traffic. It wasn't like she was running quickly, trying to avoid cars. It was actually like Lira was actually trying not to dodge them.
Marie said "That runt must have a death wish! It's rush hour now!"
Somebody had to do something. I ran across the street and caught and picked her up. The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air and Lira was lying on the road.
The last thing that I saw before I lost consciousness was the look of a shocked Marie and then the road.
Marie paced back and forth, trying not to check her watch. They've been in the hospital for about an hour now. Double D's mom was supposed to be coming to the hospital but it was rush hour so Marie thought that she wouldn't be there any time soon. The Geronis were also there since Lira had also gotten hurt along with Nazz.
Marie thought 'This is my fault. If I had just taken a few minutes to chill, I wouldn't have gone off on Lira and she wouldn't have ran away into traffic, trying to hurt herself and Double D and Lira wouldn't be in the hospital right now.'
Marie said "I can't believe this happened. This is all my fault."
Nazz replied "No, it's not. You couldn't control what happened."
Marie said "Yes, I could have. If I didn't snap at Lira, she wouldn't have gone into traffic and Double D wouldn't have gone to save her."
Nazz raised an eyebrow before she responded with "I'll admit, this is the first time I've actually seen you panic. You didn't seem worried about hurting kids before."
Marie said regretfully "Yeah but I've never put anyone in the ER! I've never hurt Double D, even as a joke! Now I've gone and hurt two people."
Nazz replied "Look, it isn't so bad. Double D's mom is going to be here soon and we'll explain what happened and the doctor will tell her how Double D is."
Marie noticed a girl with dark brown hair in braids wearing a brown tank top and jeans on the other side of the room. It took her a few seconds to realize who it was.
Marie thought 'Bertha Geroni. I owe Lira something. If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be here. Wait, the last thing I had before the whole thing was Pandora. The thing that made me forget all my fears. Pandora's better for her than it will ever be for me."
Marie got up and walked over to Bertha.
She said "I'm Marie Kanker. You're Bertha, right?"
Bertha nodded and replied "Yes, I am. So you saw what happened."
Marie said "Yeah, she got hit by a car. When you see Lira, give this to her. I call it Pandora." before Marie handed Pandora to Bertha.
Nazz said "You have a stuffed doll?"
Marie sighed and continued "Give it to Lira. She'll be of better use to her than it ever was to me." before she walked out of the room.
That's chapter 8! We're at the midway point!
Benny: I'll admit I wasn't excepting that. Maybe that was worth waiting a month for. On the other hand, two people hurt because one played Human Frogger may not be so great.
I didn't say that was great, only mysterious! Happy Passover!
Benny: You're not Jewish.
I know but I still respect every holiday.
