I have mentioned Mr. Hart in quite a few chapters, but this is the first time he gets to have dialogue or any interaction with the girls. I plan to include him in more chapters as he is the primary antagonist in my Tudor Six series.
P.S. Felipe is an OC whose last name I based on the fashion designer Carolina Herrera.
P.S.S. The title is an intentional play on words. I instantly thought of the phrase "heart of a tyrant" as I was drafting this story. So, I used the spelling of Mr. Hart's last name instead of the word "heart."
It was the first day back to school after Thanksgiving break, which meant that Whitehall High would commence its annual Holiday Food Drive. The food drive was always quite successful, usually resulting in at least 500 donations of canned goods and non-perishable food items for the Whitehall Food Pantry. Every year, teachers would set up boxes by their desks to collect these food items up until the start of Christmas break. Donation boxes would also be provided at many sporting events, extracurricular activity meetings, and student plays or musicals. The food drive was a favorite tradition for almost everyone at Whitehall High.
Unfortunately, there was one person at Whitehall High who hated the food drive and felt that it was pointless. That person was the school's much-despised AP Bio teacher, Mr. James Hart. His miserly attitude during the holidays was one of the most cited complaints made against him over the years by students and faculty at Whitehall High, the members of Whitehall's school board, and town residents. His actions earned him comparisons to Ebenezer Scrooge by many people around town. He had no sense of holiday spirit or the meaning of gratitude, and it appeared that he would never change his ways unless he got some rude awakening that was destined to come for him.
The bell had just rung to start 4th period, and Mr. Hart's first statement to his AP Bio students was, "Ok, ladies and gentleman! I would like to start class by encouraging you to drop any canned goods you may have for the food drive right into this flimsy cardboard box next to my desk."
As students lined up to drop off food items, Mr. Hart loudly mumbled under his breath, "Why we all have to do this stupid food drive is beyond me! Pointless, absolutely pointless!"
This comment was overheard by Cat, who was in line to drop a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup into the collection box.
With much anger, Cat furiously shouted, "How dare you say such words! I demand you to repeat what I just heard you say!"
"Miss Trastamara, you have no right to eavesdrop and criticize my opinions! This is a free country, you know! What I think about the food drive is none of your damn business. For your eavesdropping, I will see you in detention after school," Mr. Hart angrily retorted.
"That doesn't bother me," she said. Turning around to face her classmates, she said, "My friends, this man has no heart. He says that the food drive is a waste of time! Can you believe that? What a jackass to degrade such a timeless tradition here at Whitehall High!"
Moved by Cat's words, the class responded in unison, "Here, here!" After that, the class cheered and clapped for her.
"THAT DOES IT! Now all of you will join Miss Spanish Big Mouth in detention after school," Mr. Hart shouted with his fists clenched in rage.
"Well, we don't care! We will gladly serve all the remaining school days in detention to protest your disgusting words," JP responded. Cat blushed at the strong words of her valiant boyfriend.
With no comeback for JP's statement, Mr. Hart said, "Very well, then. Be seated, everyone! Back to your seats! NOW!"
After taking about three seconds to calm down, Mr. Hart said, "Ok, class. I have your tests graded for you all. Many of you did extremely well, but quite a few of you disappointed me as always."
From that point on, the rest of the period was relatively quiet and uneventful. When the bell rang, the class of 23 students couldn't wait to leave and ran as fast as they could to the cafeteria for lunch. When all of the students were gone, Mr. Hart loudly mumbled, "Stupid fools! They don't know anything about the holidays!" He then banged his hand on his desk in rage before he exited the classroom for lunch at the staff lounge.
At the cafeteria, there was much celebration among Cat's classmates for her standing up to Mr. Hart.
"Girlfriend, I couldn't be prouder of you for getting the courage to repeat his wicked words to all of us and to shove those words in his face," Annie said.
Tommy added, "Totally! That took a lot of guts. I mean, we have all had our fair share of calling him out on his perversions and his over-inflated ego in the past, but this was unique as I don't remember anyone ever calling him out over his Scrooge-like behavior!"
"Right?! I so have to tell everyone about this," Artie said with much excitement.
Cat was about to speak when Gina, who was shaking her head with embarrassment over her boyfriend's impulsiveness, said, "Please don't, babe! Cat wouldn't want you to make such a spectacle over her bravery."
Realizing that he had acted too much on his journalistic instincts yet again, Artie replied, "Ahhhh, true!" He then apologized to Cat for his attempted actions.
"No worries, Sport. It happens. Just try to remember to put your inner Walter Cronkite aside for just one minute, haha," Cat said jokingly.
"Thanks," said Artie. He then added, "I have another idea. How about we make a toast for Cat's bravery?"
"That sounds marvelous, Mr. Curiosity," said Felipe Herrera, the openly gay best friend of the Tudor Six. The ever fashion-forward Felipe, who was well-known among Whitehall High for wearing clothes with vibrant colors, some of which he would design himself, then added, "My friends, let's all toast the forever lovely and classy Cat Trastamara for standing up to that wretched creep! Let's raise our water bottles, soda cans, juice boxes, milk cartons or milk bottles, and energy drinks to her and her bravery! To Cat!"
"To Cat," said all eight of Cat's closest friends sitting with her as their raised their drinks and took sips of them.
After that, Cat replied, "Guys, you are all so awesome. I love you all so much, and I would stand up to him again if given another chance to do so. The food drive truly means a lot to me. So does Whitehall High and the town of Whitehall. And of course, all of you."
"We know! That's what we all love about you and why we kept you as Class President all four years of high school. Love you to the moon and back, sista," said Cate as she gave Cat a huge hug.
Nodding in agreement, Tommy said, "Mr. Hart should learn by Cat's example. Hopefully one day he will understand that leadership and success is earned by hard work and dedication, not by being a silver spoon who has all his accomplishments given to him because he happens to be the son of the superintendent."
Nick then sarcastically pondered, "Hmmmm…I wonder if he would change if he were visited by three spirits who would map out his grim future! Now that would be fun to watch!"
Chuckling after hearing Nick's comment, Annie added, "As satisfying as that sounds, I don't think Scrooge's spirits could save him. He will probably end up chained forever like Mr. Marley!"
"As grim as that sounds, sista, I think you're right. Karma will catch up with him sooner or later. There is no way to redeem him," said Felipe. Everyone nodded in agreement.
For the rest of lunch, the group chatted with one another until the bell rang to end lunch block.
Around 9 PM that night, Annie decided to set up a group video chat via Skype with her fellow Tudor Six girls to discuss in detail about how Cat stood up to Mr. Hart. She was extremely proud of Cat, and she wanted to tell Jane, Freckles, and Kitty all about it since they were not enrolled in Mr. Hart's AP Bio class to see it in person. No students were ever brave enough to call Mr. Hart on his wrongdoings to his face, so it was quite inspiring for all of the students in his class to watch Cat call him out for his opinion regarding the Holiday Food Drive. Even Annie felt nervous about standing up to him, which was quite extreme since she was often very blunt when it came to expressing her opinions about someone or something. She couldn't' have been happier that Cat got the hutzpah to stand up to Mr. Hart's unfavorable view of the food drive.
Annie was grinning from ear to ear as she dialed up all the girls for the Skype call. As soon as all six of them were connected, Annie gleefully said, "Hey, y'all!"
"Hey," the girls replied back with equal zeal.
"Let's start by giving Cat a big round of applause for standing up to the tyrant today," said Annie.
Five of the girls clapped for Cat, who blushed and simply said, "Thanks, girls. I just couldn't hold my tongue after he said the food drive was pointless."
After letting out a shocked gasp, Jane exclaimed, "What nerve of him to say such a thing!" She then added, "Girl, I am very proud of you for standing up to that. How did it feel when you let it all out?"
"It was extremely liberating, Patches. Like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders," said Cat.
"Gosh, that sounds like it was quite the experience," Kitty chimed in. Addressing Cat, Annie, and Cate, she added, "It sucks that he sent you girls and everyone else in the class to detention just for standing up for what is right."
"No worries, girlfriend. We would do it all over again if we get the chance to do so," Cate said.
"Yeah! I think all of us now have the courage to stand up to him thanks to Cat's bravery. Even me," Annie said enthusiastically.
Giggling with a devilish grin on her face, Kitty chanted, "Down with the tyrant! Off with his head!"
The girls simultaneously started laughing.
With tears in her eyes from laughing so hard, Freckles said, "Wow! OMG, Kitty! That was just perfect!" After clearing her throat to regain composure, she responded, "In all seriousness though, everything is going to bite him in the ass sooner or later. Even my naïve self knows that he has skeletons in his closet that are bound to come out."
"That's for sure! One of my greatest dreams is to see him get fired and/or arrested before senior year ends." "That's one of mine too! I think everyone in our grade wishes the same," Cat replied. "Damn right," Cate exclaimed.
Switching the topic, Annie asked Freckles, Jane, and Kitty, "So, girls, how did the day go for y'all?"
"It was interesting to say the least. I was suddenly craving quail at lunch again," Jane replied.
With much excitement, Cat exclaimed, "There you have it, Patches! That is probably one of the most tell-tale signs that you are the reincarnation of Henry VIII's favorite queen consort! I mean, who else has ever craved quail besides you and Queen Jane? No one as far as I know."
"Except I am not pregnant," said Jane in an ironic tone of voice. She then winked and said, "Enough about me now. Let's hear what other shenanigans happened today."
"I got to see Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence walking Rusty near the school when I was about to drive home. They are so in love with him just as I predicted they would be when they adopted him last week," Kitty gushed.
"You've always had excellent intuition when it comes to dogs," Freckles remarked.
Annie added, "You got that right, sista! It was destiny for Kitty to be fond of dogs and to volunteer with the Animal Rescue League. Queen Catherine Howard would have adored her."
"Awwww! Stop making me blush, Cous," Kitty said modestly.
"Haha! That's my job as your older cousin. Deal with it," Annie replied in a very playful and sarcastic tone. In response, Kitty stuck out her tongue. Annie then answered back in the same manner.
"Oh, you two are priceless," Cate said endearingly. After giving a quick sigh, she asked, "Last but not least, how did your day go, Freckles?"
"It went pretty well. It turns out I got a B- on that geometry test I thought I had failed last week. That test was really hard! I was so relieved that I didn't flunk the test," said Freckles.
"That's wonderful, girlfriend," Cat said with much glee.
Freckles answered back, "Thanks, Shorty. I owe it all to you, Annie, and Cate for helping me study for it. You girls rock as always!"
"No problem, sista," Annie said.
The girls then discussed about the latest happenings at school, how they were all doing with their college applications, and what they were planning for the holidays for about another hour until Cate said, "I already know what Mr. Hart is getting in his stocking this year: Coal! Big, clunky pieces of coal that are as black as his tiny Grinch-sized heart."
"Yes! The only giving he ever does is having sex with multiple women. What a man whore," Kitty replied with much disgust.
"I know, right?! I am quite surprised he hasn't gotten anyone pregnant or caught an STD," Cat pondered.
Annie replied, "I am certain that is sexual escapades will catch up with him eventually. This is the same man who substituted health class during freshman year and said that condoms don't mean jack shit to him. Remember that, Freckles?"
"Do I ever! I remember that day like it was -," Freckles answered before being cut off by Annie, who said with a mischievous smirk on her face, "Hey, guys! I just thought of something!"
Jane playfully replied, "Uh oh…the smirk is on full blast again. What kinds of devious thoughts are you thinking about now, sista?"
"Well, since Cat and Freckles were talking about Mr. Hart's opposition to rubbers, I was imagining us all stuffing boxes of Trojans into his desk drawers for our Senior Prank," Annie remarked with much pride.
Right on cue, all six girls roared with laughter that lasted for about a minute and a half before they were able to regain their composure.
"Goodness gracious! That has to be one of your best zingers yet," said Cate.
"Sorry for cutting you off like that, Freckles. I just had to share that one," Annie said.
"Awww no worries! I was delighted when I noticed the smirk on your face when you cut me off. I knew we were all in for something priceless when I saw that signature smirk," Freckles replied.
"Well, girls, the Sandman is beckoning me to go to sleep. That last quip made me laugh so hard that I knocked myself out," said Jane.
Following a yawn, Cat responded, "Same here, girlfriend! I'm wiped out from all that laughing."
"You're welcome," Annie said sarcastically. She then added, "This chat was a whole lot of fun as always. Sleep well, y'all! Love you girls to the moon and back. Good night."
"We love you too, Cous. Good night," Kitty said.
"Good night," all the girls responded in unison before blowing each other kisses and signing off for the night.