Chapter 10:
"I've figured out why Mr. Fenton has been sleeping in class and slacking on his homework assignments," Mr. Lancer reported with slight anger, starting to pace. "I caught him spending all his time playing an online game. After he failed my test and everything."
"I knew it!" Mrs. Cassie growled, clenching her fist. "He's a lazy kid. That means I'm putting a stop to his bathroom breaks right now."
"Now hold on a minute," Mrs. Fletcher cut in, putting her sketchbook down and standing up. "There's no need to do anything rash."
"Oh come on!" Mrs. Cassie said in disbelief, flinging her arm out. "You can't still be defending him! He clearly isn't the innocent teenager you thought he is."
"Mr. Lancer did catch him red-handed," Mr. Smith agreed, gesturing with his cup. "You can't deny that he's been misusing his time. We can't reward him for that."
"And yet you let the A- Lister's get away with worse," Mrs. Fletcher snapped before taking a deep breath. "But what I was going to say is that while he may be spending too much time on games outside of school, he still might need to legitimately need to use the bathroom in school."
"More likely he's just ditching," Mr. Rainer replied as he typed on his phone.
"I doubt that actually," Mrs. Cygert replied thoughtfully, rubbing her nose. "The time he's gone fluctuates too much. Not to mention he's always making the effort to come back to class."
"That is a good point," Mr. Smith acknowledged, tapping his cup. "Someone whose ditches wouldn't care about coming back."
"But his behavior is still suspicious," Mrs. Cassie insisted, waving her finger. "And Mr. Lancer proved he doesn't make the best decisions and his behavior needs to be corrected."
"My thoughts exactly," Mr. Lancer agreed, rubbing his head. "Which is why I'm giving him detention. He needs to turn himself around now or he'll never succeed in life."
"I still think you're going about this the wrong way," Mrs. Fletcher insisted, looking around at everyone.
"You can't be serious," Mrs. Cassie snorted, taking a gulp. "Are you saying we shouldn't punish bad behavior now?"
"Students will never learn discipline without a firm hand," Mrs. Tetslaff agreed, cracking her knuckles. "We must remain strong in our positions. "
"That's not what I mean," Mrs. Fletcher retorted before turning to Lancer. "I'm just saying if Danny is having more problems than we realize, then we need him to trust us. He probably has very little trust in adults because the A-Lister's get away with so much and if you punish him too much you'll destroy any trust that's left. You should try a gentler approach."
"That might work," Mr. Fulluka agreed, catching on and adjusting his glasses. "There are a lot of creatures that respond better to kind behavior than to harsh punishments. And humans are often the same way."
"Exactly," Mrs. Fletcher said smiling. "You can keep the detentions, but turn them into something constructive. Help him study and show you do care about him and his education. If you do, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised. He might even start to open more."
"You may have a point," Mr. Lancer replied thoughtfully. "Maybe I should pull the old "I haven't seen my sister in years" trick. That works every time."
"I don't know how" Mr. Smith snorted as he took a drink. "It's just a picture of you in a dress. I can't believe you actually keep that photo around."
"It works so I'm not complaining," Mr. Lancer shrugged, slightly embarrassed.
"I still think you're being too soft on him," Mrs. Cassie replied as she refilled her cup. "I for one am not going to let him get away with his bad behavior anymore. I'll let him leave for his bathroom breaks still, but if he takes too long he will be punished."
"It's better than nothing I guess," Mrs. Fletcher sighed, sitting back down.
"She is being very generous," Mrs. Cygert replied, gesturing with her hand. "She could just have prevented him from leaving completely. And I'll still be letting Danny go."
"Thank you," Mrs. Fletcher smiled. "And thank you, Mrs. Cassie. I know your only putting up with Danny because I asked you to. I shouldn't have been so mad."
"It's fine," Mrs. Cassie dismissed easily with a wave of her hand. "I just hope it's worth it to you."
"Me too," Mrs. Fletcher sighed, staring blankly at her sketchbook. "Me too..."