Heyyyy all you wonderful readers!
I have not updated in. So. Long! It's been over a year? Sorry, stuff just got busy, and then I had my practicums, and now I have finally convocated but am burned out. But anyways, thanks for your patience everyone!
Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!
Substitute Teacher
Kindergarten
May (5), Gary (6), Drew (5), Paul (6)
There was something wrong when May walked into her kindergarten classroom on Monday.
A woman she had never seen before was at the teacher's desk where Ms. Kelly was supposed to be. She looked older than Ms. Kelly too - her hair was short and white and curly. She was busy flipping through some sheets of paper, but she looked up and smiled when she noticed May staring at her.
"Good morning," the woman said brightly. "I'm Mrs. Griffins. Ms. Kelly isn't here today, so I'll be substituting."
May stared at her for a moment longer, but knowing the strange woman's name didn't make her feel any better. She went to the table she usually sat at, where only Gary had arrived.
"Where's Ms. Kelly?" she whispered to Gary.
"Don't know," said Gary, but he looked more curious than worried. They watched as their other classmates entered the room, loudly interrogating Mrs. Griffins about her identity or nervously eyeing her from afar.
Soon, Drew arrived. He looked puzzled as he joined May and Gary. "Who's that? Where's Ms. Kelly?"
"We don't know," said May. "The stranger woman says she's not here today. And that she's doing something called sub-stuting."
"I don't know what that means," said Drew.
"Me neither."
"What should we do?"
The looked around. Everyone else seemed to have taken their seats too, and when parents walked in, Mrs. Griffins talked to them cheerfully, explaining she was a substitute teacher to them as well. It gave May an inkling of comfort - at least the other grownups didn't seem to think she shouldn't be here.
"Hey, Mrs. Griffins!"
The voice came from Reggie, Paul's older brother, who'd come to drop Paul off. May and her friends turned to look.
"Oh, hello, Reggie," said Mrs. Griffins. "Great to see you again."
"I was just bringing my little brother. Are you substituting for his class?"
"Oh, your brother is in this class?" She smiled widely at Paul. "Nice to meet you."
Reggie turned to Paul. "You're going to love Mrs. Griffins. I've had her as a sub a couple of times before - she's awesome!"
Paul shrugged and joined May and the others at their table.
"What's a sub-stute?" May asked Paul.
Paul shrugged again, waving back to Reggie as he left.
"We don't know either," said May.
"Okay, good morning class!" Mrs. Griffins said when everyone had settled down. "You all may be wondering who I am. My name is Mrs. Griffins, and I'm a substitute teacher. Ms. Kelly couldn't come today because she's feeling a little sick, so she asked me to come be your teacher instead. Ms. Kelly told me all the stuff she wants us to do today. First off..."
She pulled out a sheet of paper.
"I'll take attendance."
She starting going from desk to desk, confirming names and putting checkmarks on the sheet.
"I wonder if Ms. Kelly really told her everything," Gary said pensively. "You think she knows who all of us are?"
"She did say Ms. Kelly told her everything," said Drew.
"No, she said she told her everything we're supposed to do. She didn't say anything about names."
"Hm..." Drew frowned. "How will she know who we are, then?"
"I think we'll have to tell her," said May.
Gary's thoughtful expression turned mischievous. "Yeah. We'll have to tell her."
Mrs. Griffins reached May's table last.
"All right," she said. "I have the seating plan Ms. Kelly gave me that shows which tables everyone is at, but it doesn't have pictures. Can you tell me which one of you is Drew?"
Drew opened his mouth, but the one who spoke wasn't him.
It was Gary.
"That's me," said Gary. "I'm Drew."
May, Drew and Paul stared at him, but Gary looked confidently at Mrs. Griffins, a glint in his eyes. Mrs. Griffins didn't seem to suspect a thing. She put a checkmark beside Drew's name on the attendance sheet.
"All right!" she said. "Now, which one of you is Gary?"
The four were silent; the rest of the class was staring at them with wide eyes too.
May wasn't sure what to do. Gary had just lied to the teacher! Should she tell her the truth? She glanced at Drew, but Drew looked as flabbergasted as she felt. He kept looking at Gary, as if wondering whether he should reclaim his name or not. Paul, however, seemed intrigued. He narrowed his eyes at Gary.
"I'm Gary," said Paul.
"Okay," Mrs. Griffins said with a nod, putting a checkmark beside Gary's name. She smiled at May. "And I'm guessing you're May?"
May hesitated. She should say yes - she knew she should. But there was something going on at her table, something bold and daring she couldn't explain, and... she wanted to be a part of it.
"No," she said. "My name is Paul."
Mrs. Griffins's eyebrows rose a little in puzzlement. "Your name is... Paul?"
May nodded. "Like Paulina. But I like Paul, 'cause it's shorter."
"Ah. I see." Mrs. Griffins put a checkmark next to Paul's name. She turned to Drew. "And that leaves you as... May...?"
Drew, who had looked unsure about the whole situation, now frowned quizzically at May. After May had proclaimed to be Paul, Drew seemed to have been pulled into the collective mischief as well.
"Yes," he said, flipping his hair, replacing his frown with a polite smile. "I'm May. It's short for Mayor, but Ma... I mean, but Paul thinks May's better."
"Okay," said Mrs. Griffins, putting a checkmark beside May's name. "So you prefer May?"
Drew nodded.
"And you're Paul?"
"Yes," May chirped.
"And Gary, and Drew, right?"
Paul and Gary nodded in response.
"Okay, then!" said Mrs. Griffins. "Thank you."
As Mrs. Griffins returned to the front of the class, May and her friends looked at one another. They'd done something big: They'd lied to the teacher about their names! They weren't sure why, or what they were going to do now, but as they locked eyes, they made a silent vow to make sure she didn't find out.
Mrs. Griffins led the class the way Ms. Kelly usually did. They went through their morning routine, and then Mrs. Griffins passed out their spelling worksheets and explained how to do them. She then went around the class, checking on students to see if anyone needed help.
When Mrs. Griffins stopped by their table, May and her friends had almost forgotten about their name switch. That is, until the substitute teacher said, "You doing okay, Drew?"
"Ye..." Drew stopped midway through responding when he noticed Mrs. Griffins was looking at Gary instead. What they'd done this morning came back to him, and he kicked Gary under the table to get his attention. Gary, who'd been struggling to write out a spelling word, looked up and glared at Drew.
"What?" he snapped.
Drew glared right back. "Mrs. Griffins asked you a question, Drew." If Gary was going to use his name, he wanted him to be a good student too, not look like someone who ignored the teacher.
Gary blinked at him, and then remembrance struck his eyes. "Oh yeah. I'm Drew."
"Yes, I remember," Mrs. Griffins said with a smile. "Are you doing all right with your spelling words? It looks like you might need a little help there."
Gary looked at his spelling words. "No, I'm okay."
"You sure?"
"Yeah! I'm the best speller in the whole class! I'm doing the extra-hard spelling words now. I can do them myself."
Mrs. Griffins looked at his worksheet. Gary really was the best speller in class. Ms. Kelly even put a challenge box with harder words on the worksheet - for students like Gary who wanted more of a challenge - and Gary was halfway through. "Huh. So you are. Amazing job, Drew!"
Drew flipped his hair and almost said 'thank you', but then he remembered Mrs. Griffins wasn't talking to him. It was a little disappointing; he wished he was the one being praised for his spelling. But oh well. He could pretend the praise was for him.
"What about you, Gary?" Mrs. Griffins turned to Paul. "How are you doing?"
Paul frowned a little. He was a great reader - maybe even the best in the class - but his writing was atrocious. He could tell how the word was spelled, but he could never write it the same way it was written. He'd hardly made it through a third of the spelling words. He shrugged, eyeing Mrs. Griffins distrustfully.
"Let's see if I can help." Mrs. Griffins bent down next to him, taking a pencil out of her pocket. She showed him what lines and curves he had to make to write the word while Paul watched carefully. When she was done, she said, "You think you can try it on your own now, Gary?"
"Yes." Paul took the pencil and, following the steps Mrs. Griffins showed him, managed to copy out the word.
"Excellent job!" Mrs. Griffins said. "With some practice, you'll even be able to do the challenge words, Gary!"
"But I—" Gary started, but Drew kicked him so he would be quiet.
Gary glared at him again, but once Mrs. Griffins was out of earshot, Drew leaned over and whispered, "She was talking to Paul. If you say you're Gary, she'll know he's not!"
"But now she thinks I'm a bad speller who can't do challenge words!"
"No, she thinks that about Paul."
"But she thinks Paul's name is Gary, and what if she tells everyone Gary is a bad speller?"
Drew glowered at him. "You were the one who started all this, Gary! And now, she thinks we're all each other and it's too late. We can't tell her now."
"Wait," May said, beaming. "If Mrs. Griffins thinks we're all each other, then that means she thinks I'm Paul! Do you think Ms. Kelly told her what a good reader Paul is? Maybe she'll think I'm a good reader too!"
Paul rolled his eyes. "I don't think Ms. Kelly told her anything about us. She didn't say I was a good speller or anything, and if Ms. Kelly had told her Gary was a good speller, she wouldn't have thought I needed help."
"Hmmm... I'll go ask her." May got up from the table and skipped over to Mrs. Griffins.
"Yes, Paul?" said Mrs. Griffins with a smile.
"What did Ms. Kelly tell you about Paul?" May chirped.
"About you? Well, she said this whole class was very sweet and hardworking and very lovely to teach."
"Yeah, but what about Paul?" May stressed. "Did she say he... Did she say I'm a great reader?"
"She didn't mention you specifically," said Mrs. Griffins. "But I'm sure I'll see how wonderful you are during reading time."
"Then you can come and listen when I'm reading, and then you'll know!" May said excitedly, and she skipped back to her table.
"She's gonna see how good I am at reading during reading time," she told her friends.
"But you're not a good reader," Drew pointed out. "Paul's a good reader. She only thinks you're him."
May's eyes widened. She hadn't thought of that! What if Mrs. Griffins came over to their table and saw how much she struggled with reading? She would think May had been lying about being a good reader.
"Paul, you gotta help me," May said frantically. "You gotta teach me how to read the best!"
But Paul wasn't paying attention to her. Indignant that Paul was putting his spelling word reputation in jeopardy, Gary had committed to tutoring Paul against his will. Paul was busy snapping at Gary and trying to ignore him while Gary critiqued Paul's spelling, telling him how to do it right.
Before May's panic or Gary's and Paul's annoyance at each other could escalate further, however, Mrs. Griffins was at the front of the class, getting everyone's attention.
"Thank you all for working so well on your spelling words," she said. "Ms. Kelly said you can finish them tomorrow if you didn't today. But she was done looking at yesterday's spelling words, and she left them for me to hand back."
With that, she began calling out everyone's names to hand back their spelling word worksheets. May and her friends had to remember not to get up for their actual names. Mrs. Griffins seemed puzzled when she handed Gary's worksheet to Paul.
"You did so well on yesterday's spelling words," she said. "You even did the challenge words. Did you have extra help?"
Paul shrugged as he took Gary's perfectly completed spelling sheet and returned to the table. Gary tried to take the worksheet, but Paul wouldn't let him.
"Show me how I did," Gary whispered to Paul angrily.
"It's mine," Paul said calmly.
Mrs. Griffins noticed and said out loud, "Everyone, please keep your hands on your own worksheet."
Paul smirked at Gary. "Yeah, Drew," he said.
Gary scowled and slouched back, crossing his arms.
Then Mrs. Griffins called out Drew's name, and Drew kicked Gary under the table to remind him to go get it.
"I don't wanna," Gary said sourly.
Mrs. Griffins came over. "You did really well on it," she said encouragingly, placing Drew's worksheet in front of him. Gary glanced it over - there were several spelling corrections. His scowl became more prominent, and he slouched lower.
"Since I'm here, I'll hand your guys' back as well," Mrs. Griffins said, looking through the spelling sheets for May's and Paul's. She placed Paul's in front of May, and May's in front of Drew. "There you go," she said, smiling warmly
When Mrs. Griffins moved away from their table to continue handing back the worksheets, May looked her - well, Paul's - worksheet up and down, eyes wide.
"Wow, Paul," she said. "You're an even worse speller than I am."
Paul shrugged. "Well, she thinks you're the bad speller."
"Your writing is so messy! Look at my writing." She snatched her worksheet from Drew, who wasn't done looking it through, and held the two worksheets side by side. "My writing's so neat, and..."
She trailed off when she paid more attention to the worksheet she'd taken from Drew. It had her writing, but to her surprise, almost all the words were spelled correctly.
Her eyes lit up. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "I think this is the best spelling worksheet I ever did!"
"We have to pretend it's mine," said Drew, taking it back.
May was horrified. "B-b-but... how will I show everyone my best worksheet?"
Drew frowned. "We can't. It's mine now."
"But I wanna take it home and show Mommy and Daddy," she said, eyes brimming with tears.
Drew hesitated. He didn't want his friend to be upset. What should he do that wouldn't reveal their true identities to Mrs. Griffins?
"I'll give it to you before we leave for home," said Drew. "You could put it in your backpack when Mrs. Griffins isn't looking."
May sniffed. "Okay," she said.
Then, on Mrs. Griffins cue, everyone put their worksheets away.
The day went on mostly as usual. Mrs. Griffins seemed to know a lot about what they were supposed to be doing. Except sometimes she didn't, and then the class was more than happy to direct her.
Then came recess.
Something that could have easily brought the four friends' fake-name act to an end was a correction by a classmate. All it would have taken was someone telling Mrs. Griffins the truth, or someone calling the four by their actual names.
Surprisingly, however, no one in their class did so. In fact, after everyone caught wind of what was going on, they became very careful to keep the façade going. There was something thrilling about fooling a teacher, and everyone was curious to see the outcome. Even Damian, who'd caused May and her friends quite a lot of trouble throughout the school year, kept his mouth shut, eager to see how long they could keep going, how long before they got caught. May had no doubt he was more interested to see what the consequences were for fooling a teacher all day.
The thing about recess, though, was that when everyone was so caught up in their games, calling someone by their fake name easily slipped their minds. This issue became obvious partway through an intense game of tag. May and several of her classmates had joined up with the other kindergarten class, and they were all screaming, running, escaping this way and that.
And then May got tagged.
"May's it, May's it!" the other kids shrieked, bolting from her.
"I'm gonna get you!" May screamed in return.
Mrs. Griffins, who was supervising, frowned a little, wondering if she'd heard right.
"Wasn't her name Paul?" she mused to herself.
Paul, hearing his name, perked up. He only sometimes joined in on playground games, but often preferred sitting on the bench with a book (he was very responsible with books, so Ms. Kelly let him take books outside). Today was a sitting-on-the-bench-with-a-book day, so he was near where Mrs. Griffins stood and could hear her.
Then, he realized what she'd said, and remembered their name switching. If he didn't say something now, they'd get caught!
"Yes, her name's Paul," he said to Mrs. Griffins.
She gave him a confused smile. "Is there a reason everyone's calling her May's name?"
Paul shrugged. "It's part of the game," he said, because he couldn't think of another reason.
"I see."
She seemed to accept that answer, but Paul needed to intervene before the others made her even more suspicious. He hopped off the bench and hurried to the first one he spotted - Gary, who was on the playground equipment at the top of the biggest slide, leaning against a railing as he watched the chaos below.
"Drew," said Paul.
Gary didn't react.
"Drew," Paul said more insistently, and when Gary still didn't react, Paul kicked his foot and said, "Gary!"
"Ow! Why does everyone keep kicking me?" said Gary, glaring at Paul.
"They keep calling her May," said Paul, gesturing to May running around with the other kindergartners. "Mrs. Griffins is noticing."
Gary stared blankly at Paul for a moment. Then, he realized what he was saying. "Oh."
Gary scanned the playground, the gears whirring in his head as he muttered, "May's over there... There's Drew..." He nodded to himself, and screamed, "I am THE KING! I am THE KING of everyone!"
The kids who heard glared at him. "No, you're not!" they yelled back.
But May and Drew paused, looked at each other. May hadn't tagged anyone yet, but someone from the other class noticed her distraction and came close, smirking. "You can't catch me," he shrieked. "You can't catch me!"
May sprung on him suddenly and unexpectedly and tagged him. She pointed at him and hollered, "HE'S IT!"
Before the boy could figure out what had happened, May and Drew ran, but not so much away from the tagged boy as toward Gary and Paul.
Truth was, early in the school year, Gary had become obsessed with declaring himself king. He'd outgrown it at this point, however. Now, when he started calling himself king, the other kindergartners thought he was being obnoxious as usual, but May and her friends knew it was one of the codes they'd decided on that meant they had to meet up.
"What is it?" Drew said, huffing as he stopped next to Gary and Paul with May.
"Problem," said Gary, folding his arms and leaning back against the railing he'd been looking over. He gestured to Mrs. Griffins. "Everyone keeps calling you guys your real names while we're playing. Mrs. Griffins can hear."
When May and Drew remembered why this was an issue, their eyes widened.
"What do we do?" said May frantically. "Everyone's running around - it'll be too hard to tell everyone to start calling us different names."
"The only thing I can think of is we don't play," said Drew, though he didn't look like he liked the idea.
But Gary nodded. "Yeah, we'll have to stop playing."
"But I wanna play," May whined. "I was winning!"
"How do you win at tag?" Paul said, rolling his eyes.
"It's only for today," said Gary. "Then, Ms. Kelly will be back, and she knows our real names. But we can't get caught by Mrs. Griffins."
The others nodded solemnly. It wasn't an ideal situation, but it was a necessary one. They would have to tolerate it the best they could until Ms. Kelly returned.
Recess ended, and reading time came.
Mrs. Griffins went around, helping students with their reading, and when she reached May, May wasn't sure what to do. If she read in front of Mrs. Griffins, she'd know the truth about her reading skills!
"How about you read me a page," said Mrs. Griffins, so May said the first thing that came to her mind.
"We don't do it like that."
"Don't do what?" said Mrs. Griffins, looking confused.
"Ms. Kelly doesn't test us on reading till the end of the week, and I don't need help right now, so I'm not gonna read for you."
"Is that right? But didn't you want to show me your reading?"
"Not now - at the end of the week."
"But I might not be here at the end of the week."
Which was what May was hoping for.
"I'll show Ms. Kelly, then!"
Mrs. Griffins smiled. "Sounds good."
At home time, May and her friends were genuinely relieved. The whole different-name thing had been difficult to maintain, and they were glad things could go back to normal with Ms. Kelly tomorrow.
Except when they arrived at school the next day, Ms. Kelly was absent again.
"Lovely to see you all again," Mrs. Griffins said. "Looks like I'm going to be your teacher today too."
"Where's Ms. Kelly?" someone shouted.
"She's still not feeling well, unfortunately," said Mrs. Griffins. "She's saying she might be out for a few days."
May and her friends looked at each other. A few days? They were going to have to pretend to have different names for a few days?
There wasn't any choice.
They went through their usual routine, but May was becoming more and more anxious that Mrs. Griffins would discover she wasn't a good reader like she'd claimed. Drew was antsy their whole charade would be found out and spent the entire time making sure his friends didn't expose themselves. Gary was frustrated that Paul could ruin his reputation as an excellent speller, and Paul was irritable because Gary wouldn't stop bugging him about it.
By the time lunch came around, they were reaching the end of their rope.
When everyone had washed their hands and sat at their tables to eat, May brought a book and placed it in front of Paul.
"Paul - I mean, Gary," she corrected after a look from Drew. "You gotta help me be the best reader."
"No," said Paul, more intent on poking a straw into his juice box.
"But what if Mrs. Griffins sees what a bad reader I am?" May said anxiously. "She'll think I was lying!"
Paul shrugged. But then Gary dropped a bunch of paper on the table and held out a pencil to Paul.
"I'm gonna teach you how to spell," said Gary. "Take this pencil and start writing!"
Paul glared at him. "No way."
Gary glared right back. "Yes way! You were so awful at spelling today too. Mrs. Griffins is gonna think I'm a bad speller, and what if she tells everyone?"
"She doesn't think you're a bad speller."
"She thinks Gary is, and she think you're Gary, but everyone else knows I'm Gary! If she tells everyone, they'll think she's talking about me. You gotta get good at spelling!"
Gary and Paul continued bickering while May tried to demand Paul teach her to read. Drew noticed Mrs. Griffins glancing their way. This was bad: If they made too much of a commotion, Mrs. Griffins might come over and either they'd all get in trouble, or, worse, she'd figure out their name tricks. He needed to settle his friends down. He tapped May's shoulder.
"You know, I can read too," he said, flipping his hair. Sure, he wasn't good at it, but he was better than May - he knew that much, at least.
"Okay," said May, and went back to insisting Paul teach her.
Drew tapped her shoulder again. "I can teach you."
"But I gotta get good, like Paul."
"I can make you be that good," said Drew, although he seriously doubted it.
"Really?" May said, looking at him curiously.
Drew flipped his hair proudly. "Really. "
She shoved her book at him. "Teach me!"
So, as they ate, Drew attempted to help May through the book she'd selected (even though he struggled quite a bit himself). Without May contributing to the noise, their table seemed a lot more well-mannered. It calmed even more when Gary managed to force Paul to, at the very least, hold the pencil while Gary used his own to write out and explain different spellings. Paul watched bitterly, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.
The four friends avoided playing with everyone at recess too, but it was so boring. They didn't know what to do on their own. May came up with ideas, but none of them could agree on anything.
The next day was the same.
Ms. Kelly didn't come. Mrs. Griffins was their teacher, and she was getting better at remembering everyone's names - May and her friends couldn't even switch back to their actual names if Mrs. Griffins forgot and asked them what they were again. May continued her reading lessons with Drew, though she was starting to see that he wasn't better than her by much. Gary continued forcing spelling lessons on Paul, leaving the latter more and more frustrated, especially when his spelling wasn't improving. During recess, the four friends avoided joining the other kids, leaving them bored with pent-up energy building inside them.
The next day, Ms. Kelly still wasn't back.
At this point, May, Drew, Gary and Paul were reaching their breaking point.
May's anxiety was boiling over because tomorrow was the end of the week, and if Ms. Kelly wasn't back, she would have to read to Mrs. Griffins, and Mrs. Griffins would see her real reading level.
"May, you're not teaching me anything!" May cried at Drew during lunch (she and the others had gotten much better at calling each other by their fake names). "You can't even read yourself!"
"I'm doing my best," Drew said defensively. In all honesty, he knew what May was saying was true - he'd only been able to help her practice a little bit. He couldn't help her read the parts he didn't know himself.
"I'm just gonna ask Gary," May snapped. "You don't know anything."
"I'm doing my best!" Drew said, his voice louder with anger and hurt. He'd put so much time into it - May didn't have to be so mean to him!
May turned to Paul anyways. "Gary!" she said. "Only you can teach me to read, so teach me!"
But Paul was preoccupied with his own problems - namely, the problem of Gary attempting to teach him to spell better.
"Just do it like this," Gary said, pointing emphatically at what he'd written on a paper. "It's so easy! Why can't you get it?!"
"Because you're a bad teacher," Paul retorted. "I don't get anything you're saying!"
"You couldn't get it from Ms. Kelly and Mrs. Griffins either," said Gary. "I'm not a bad teacher, you're a bad student."
Paul shot to his feet. "I'm not listening to you anymore," he said, and he stomped away from the table.
"You weren't listening to me anyways!" Gary yelled after. "Or else you would've spelled stuff the way I said!"
Paul ignored him and continued on to the bookshelf, where he selected a book and settled in a corner to read. Gary glared after him, then rose to his feet as well.
"Gary! Get back here!" Gary yelled.
Paul didn't budge.
Gary stomped over. "Gary! You have to learn to spell stuff!"
Paul didn't look up, no matter how much Gary yelled at him. Right beside Gary stood May, holding out a book to Paul.
"Gary, you gotta teach me to read!" she said frantically. "You're the only one who can help me! May's awful at it!"
Drew came up behind her. "I'm not!" he insisted. "I'm doing my best!"
Gary, May and Drew all started yelling over each other while Paul opted for plugging his ears with his fingers and staring at his book, though there was a crease between his eyebrows.
But, of course, all that screaming caught Mrs. Griffins attention, who made her way over while the rest of the class watched the drama.
She clapped her hands loudly to get their attention. "What is going on here?"
Gary pointed at Paul. "He won't learn to spell!"
"I know you want to help your friend, Drew," Mrs. Griffins said patiently. "But you have to let him learn at his own pace. Don't worry, Gary will get the hang of it."
"NOOOOO," Gary howled.
"Drew," Mrs. Griffins said sternly. "I need you to take a step back, please."
Gary burst into angry tears. "I hate you, Paul, I hate you!"
Mrs. Griffins started to say something to Gary, but May, who didn't realize Gary wasn't talking to her but had been calling Paul by his real name, burst into tears as well. "I only wanna know how to read!" she bawled. She pointed accusingly at Drew. "He won't teach me anything!"
It was too much for Drew.
"I'm doing my best!" Drew screamed back. "I'm doing my best, I'm doing my best!"
"Your best doesn't teach me anything!" May shrieked back.
It took a while to separate all of them and get them to stop screaming. Mrs. Griffins remained firm but startlingly calm throughout it all, and she even managed to have some one-on-one time with each of them until their uncontrollable sobbing simmered down to sniffles and gradually drying eyes.
She couldn't understand what had caused the fight, though - none of them could explain what exactly their issue was without revealing the name switch. In the end, Mrs. Griffins accepted that it must be a kindergarten thing whose logic only the four would understand.
Mrs. Griffins kept them separated for the rest of the day, which wasn't difficult because none of the four seemed to want to sit as a group again. They remained sulky and irritable and teary-eyed during home time as well.
Reggie was the first to arrive to pick up Paul.
"Heya, Mrs. Griffins," he said cheerfully. "Here to pick up my little brother!"
"Of course. He's still packing up." She gestured to where Paul was zipping up his backpack. "He might be a bit of a bad mood today," she continued in a quieter voice. "There was a bit of a situation with him and his friends."
Reggie laughed. "Oh, that's nothing new. There's always some drama with those four."
Mrs. Griffins chuckled. "I see. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, though. Maybe you could talk to Gary and figure out his point of view later."
"Gary?" said Reggie, wondering why she wanted him to talk to Gary. "Don't know if Gary'll tell me anything, but I can ask Paul all about it."
"Yes, Paul was very upset about it too," said Mrs. Griffins, thinking he meant May. "Paul will talk to you?"
"Depends," said Reggie, shrugging. "Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I'll see soon enough."
"You must be close with your brother's friends."
"Sort of, I guess?" Reggie frowned. "I mean, they know who I am, at least. I say hi to them and stuff."
"Do you want me to call Paul over so you can chat?"
Reggie shrugged. "Sure."
"Paul," Mrs. Griffins called out.
May, used to answering to the name at this point, skipped over. "Yes, Mrs. Griffins?"
Reggie laughed. "She was calling Paul, May, no you," he said.
May's eyes widened. "No, Reggie, I'm Paul!" They'd worked so hard to hide the truth - they couldn't have Reggie ruining everything!
Reggie blinked. "Wha'...? But..." His eyes caught Mrs. Griffins's. She'd heard their exchange, and she seemed confused too.
And then it clicked.
"Ohhh," said Reggie slowly. "So you're... Paul?"
May bounced her head up and down.
"And my brother is...?" He glanced at Mrs. Griffins from the corner of his eye; she seemed to be realizing what was going on too.
"It's Gary, silly," May said, casting a worried look at Mrs. Griffins.
"Mm-hm, of course it is," said Mrs. Griffins, her lips quirking in an amused smile.
"Riiiiiight," said Reggie, looking over at Paul. "And remind me: What's the name of your guys' friend with the spiky hair?"
"Drew."
"Oh, and the green-haired one was May, right?"
May bobbed her head up and down.
Reggie's face broke out in a wide grin. He glanced at Mrs. Griffins, and she smiled back, understanding in her eyes.
"Okay, then, Paul," said Reggie, smiling at May. "Mrs. Griffins was saying you four had a bit of an argument? Mind telling me what that was about?"
May's face crumpled. She looked anxiously at Mrs. Griffins, then took Reggie's hand and led him away from her. She gestured for Reggie to come closer and he squatted to get to eye level.
"So," he said. "What's going on?"
She took a deep breath.
"Gary started pretending he's Drew, so Paul started pretending he's Gary, and I started pretending I'm Paul, and Drew started pretending he's me, and then I told Mrs. Griffins Paul's a good reader and now she wants to hear me read, so I asked Paul to help me learn but he won't help me so Drew said he'd help me but he can't teach me anything and Gary said he hates me and now it's almost the end of the week and Mrs. Griffins is gonna wanna hear me read, except there's a big problem."
Eyes wide with horror, she leaned close to Reggie's ear and said, "I can't read!"
Reggie clamped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from bursting out laughing. May took that as him covering his mouth in shock, and she nodded solemnly.
"I don't know what to do, Reggie," she said. "What if Mrs. Griffins sees what a bad reader I am?"
Reggie managed to swallow his laughter. "May, it's all right," he said. "Lots of kids your age are still figuring out how to read."
"But then she'll think I was lying because I said Paul's a good reader and she thinks I'm Paul!"
"It's okay, May," said Reggie. "I'm sure she'll have forgotten all about it by now."
"What if she hasn't?" May whispered.
"I'll go ask her," said Reggie.
"But if you ask her, she'll remember!" May cried.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful," Reggie said with a wink.
He walked up to Mrs. Griffins while May watched worriedly.
"Mrs. Griffins," Reggie said carefully. "You've forgotten about what M— I mean, what Paul said about reading, right?"
Mrs. Griffins, who'd heard all of May and Reggie's conversation because May hadn't lowered her voice enough, raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean, Reggie?" she said. "Did Paul say something about reading?"
"No!" May cut in quickly. "I didn't say anything about what kind of reader I am!"
"Sounds good Paul," said Mrs. Griffins.
May, the weight of anxiety lifted off her shoulders, beamed and skipped off. Everything was okay now! Mrs. Griffins didn't remember about how she'd said Paul was a good reader, so she wasn't going to think she was lying!
May, consumed by the urge to tell someone about how relieved she was, skipped to Paul first. "Gary! You don't have to teach me to read anymore!"
Paul didn't respond. He only continued with his packing up.
May tried speaking to him again, but the only sign her heard her was a scowl on his face.
May frowned. Maybe he was still too mad at everyone to speak. Maybe she could tell Gary? But she still hadn't figured out why Gary hated her, and it didn't look like he wanted to talk to anyone either.
So she went to Drew, who was zipping up his backpack.
"Guess what, May!" she said. "Mrs. Griffins forgot Paul's a good reader, so she isn't going to think I'm one too! I can stop trying to learn how to read!"
Drew didn't even look at her. "Good for you," he said coldly. And, still not looking at her, he put on his backpack. He was still bitter about how May had rejected all his efforts to be a good teacher.
"May, what's wrong?" asked May. "I'm not in big trouble anymore."
"So what? I don't want to be friends with you."
May's eyes widened. "What? Why?"
"You're mean. And I don't want to talk to you either."
"But I like talking to you!" May cried, her eyes welling up with tears.
It was no use. Drew was too upset at May because of earlier.
Soon, May realized Drew wasn't the only one upset: Gary and Paul were also not talking to each other, and May still hadn't figured out why Gary had said he hated her. Was their friend group breaking apart?
May decided she wouldn't let it. They'd had fights throughout the school year, but they'd always gotten through them.
First was Drew. She remembered how, once, Drew had given her a rose when she'd gotten upset. It'd made everything feel better.
"Mommy, we have go to the flower shop!" May screamed when her mother arrived to pick her up.
Her mother looked at her, bewildered. "The flower shop?"
"Yes! We have to go right now!"
There wasn't anything her mother had planned, so on the way home, they stopped at at the florist's, where May bought three roses.
"Are you buying those for Mrs. Griffins?" her mother asked.
"No, it's for Drew and Paul and Gary," said May.
Her mother raised an eyebrow, but May didn't elaborate. Her mind was too focused on how to make everyone be friends again.
The next day, May came prepared. She'd made her mother drop her off extra-early so she'd be the first one there. She sat at her usual table, the three roses laid out before her.
It was only when she was done unpacking that she noticed that Mrs. Griffins was not the one at the teacher desk.
"Ms. Kelly! You're back!" May cried.
"Good morning, May, it's great to see you," Ms. Kelly said with a smile. "I was gone a long time, wasn't I?"
"I missed you!" May shrieked, running to her teacher and giving her her tightest hug. "It was awful, Ms. Kelly! I didn't know how long I could be at school without you!"
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," said Ms. Kelly. "Mrs. Griffins is a wonderful teacher."
"But she was going to make me read!" May said. "But then she forgot so it's okay, but I was going to have to read and she would've thought I was lying!"
Ms. Kelly blinked. "O-kay...?"
"Ms. Kelly!" Drew had arrived, his face bright at the sight of Ms. Kelly's return.
"Hello, Drew," Ms. Kelly said warmly.
"May!" May screamed, still used to calling him by his fake name.
Before Drew could make his way over to the teacher, May tackled him in a hug.
"I have to give you something!" She dragged him over to their table, picked a rose, and handed it to him.
Drew blinked. "Why are you giving me this?"
"So we can be friends again," May explained.
"Aren't we already friends?" said Drew, who had forgotten all about what he'd said yesterday.
May beamed and squeezed him in another hug. The rose had worked!
"Ms. Kelly's back." It was Gary - he'd come directly to their table, but he was looking at where their classmates were crowding around Ms. Kelly.
"Dre— I mean, Gary!" May handed a rose to Gary.
"Oh, thank you," Gary said, taking it without question. He was used to May being bubbly and friendly for no reason.
"So you don't hate me anymore?" May asked.
Gary looked bemused. "No...?"
May cheered. The rose had worked yet again!
"Oh hey! Looks like it's Ms. Kelly!" Reggie's voice - Paul must be here now!
Sure enough, Reggie was pointing out the teacher to Paul, who didn't react as excitedly as the other students, but looked a little relieved all the same.
"Paul!" May snatched the last of the roses off the table and ran to him, holding the rose out. "Paul, this is for you!"
Paul just gave her a strange look.
"It's for you, Paul!" May shoved the flower at him.
"That's sweet of you, May," Ms. Kelly said, coming up behind them. "Looks like you brought all your friends flowers." She nodded towards Gary and Drew, who also held their roses.
"They had a big fight yesterday, apparently," Reggie explained quietly.
"So I've heard," Ms. Kelly muttered back.
"Are you still mad at me?" May asked when Paul had finally taken the rose.
Paul rolled his eyes and went to their usual table. That was a good enough response for May!
With Ms. Kelly back, May and her friends could reclaim their real identities, which lifted the tension from their table. Without any of the identity-related predicaments of yesterday, the four could go back to a peaceful coexistence (well, as peaceful as it usually was).
At recess, Drew pointed out that the roses looked like they were dying.
"We'll have to plant them," May declared.
The four found a spot outside, dug a hole with their hands, and stuck the flowers into it. The roses wouldn't stay standing, though - the stems were really long, and they hadn't dug deep enough.
They stood, staring at the roses.
"This a sign," May said solemnly, "that we'll be friends forever."
"No," said Paul. "This is a sign that we don't like sub-stute teachers."
"Yeah, that was not fun," said Gary.
"You're the one who started it, Gary," Drew said.
Gary shrugged. "Wanna go play?"
They returned to the playground, the roses a final mark of their self-inflicted hardship under the substitute teacher.
And that's that!
Wow, this chapter ended up being A LOT longer than I'd thought. At least I got to give you all a long chapter after such a long, unintended hiatus. What did you guys think? Let me know it your reviews!
Also, there have been rumours going around that fanfiction .net isn't going to be around much longer. I don't know the future of this site, but I do back up my stories, so they should be safe if something happens. I haven't decided where I'll continue posting if I can't on here, but someone suggested AO3. I know AO3 is pretty popular nowadays, but I myself find it difficult to navigate, haha. But that's most likely where I'll head, if fanfiction .net shuts down (though it might take me some time while I figure it out). Just thought I'd address that for anyone who's worried my stories might disappear.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)