The BSC Legacy - Book 1: Brave New World of High School

By: CNJ

PG-13

6: Teacher Trouble

Mary Anne:

I checked the bathroom mirror one more time. Nope. The stain from my tattooed purple flower was still on my cheek. Using soap, scrubbed at my cheek until it felt tender and was red, but no luck. Oh...great! I thought. Swell, cool...great. I sighed. Just then, I heard giggling and behind me was Cokie Mason with Toni Marks.
"Oh, Mary Anne," Cokie gasped. "Did some senior beat you up?"
Then she and Toni dissolved into giggles. again. I didn't know what to say. Looking in the mirror, it did look like someone had slugged me on the side of my face.
"No," I told her flatly. "It's a tattoo." With that I spun on my heel and left the bathroom. Getting into homeroom, I dug idly through my purse.
"Ooo...Mary Anne!" Leigh Raxer stared at me. "Did somebody hit you?"
"No..." I felt my face redden. "It's left over from the Halloween bash..." Leigh looked puzzled. "See I was dressed as a hippie and painted this purple flower on my cheek and some of the paint is just...stained on my face."
"I see..." Leigh tried not to laugh as she sat. Just then Stacey came in, wearing a huge baseball cap with her hair tucked under. I stifled a giggle. Stacey is not a hat person.
"Why the hat?" I whispered.
"Want to know?" Stacey lifted it a little and showed my the green of her normally honey-blond hair. Oh, I mouthed in sympathy. "I'm sooo embarrassed!" Stacey whispered. "Green hair for a week or two! I just wanted to be Ms. Liberty on Friday, not for weeks."
"Some people are going to think I got punched," I whispered back, showing her the purple stain on my cheek. Stacey nodded. Our post-Halloween embarrassing marks.

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If Ms. Brauman says, Are you sure this calls for that or hovers over my shoulder in our home "eck" class one more time, I'll scream! Logan and Claudia are in the class too. Good thing or I'd go crazy. I don't like confrontation, but Ms. Brauman is a control freak and it's getting on my nerves. I think she senses that I don't like to cook. Well, things were about to take a turn for the worse. We'd brought in recipes for any kind of fall dish. I'd written Grandma and she'd sent me a wonderful recipe for a broth with vegetables in it. Well...I don't think Ms. Brauman liked it. She looked at Verna's recipe, then down at me, making me feeling like an ant on the floor.
"What kind of broth is this with peas and squash in it?"
"It's from my grandmother...from Iowa," I told her feeling kind of defensive.
"I see..." she nodded, then kind of said in a low voice,
"Midwest..." I hoped she wasn't insulting my grandmother or she and I were going to have a few words! And I did....after class.
"Ms. Brauman..." I called. "Were you putting down my grandmother?" I asked her in a low cold voice.
"No, I wasn't, Mary Anne," She was tall and peered straight down at me as if I were an ant on the floor. "Your homework didn't seem very well thought out. Maybe you weren't clear to your grandmother or she misunderstood you, being from a different part of the country..."
"I'd appreciate it if you left my grandmother's background out of this!" I snapped, growing angrier.
"Ex-cuse, young lady, but you are out of line!" Ms. Brauman glared at me. I clenched my fists, deciding whether to continue this battle. "I must tell you, your assignment in this class haven't been exemplary and I don't like your mentality in this class."
"Oh, I know." With that, turned and fled from the room, angry tears welling in my eyes, knowing that I'd blown it. All of my life I'd never had any trouble with teachers and had made mostly A's. And now thanks to this stupid class, it was probably wrecked! "Damn..." I muttered, walking fast down the hallway.

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I think Sharon and Dad sensed that I was upset that night at dinner. Sharon stroked my hand, pulling my hand away from my mouth. I hadn't realized that I'd been biting my nails. I noticed I'd been biting them several times this year again. Thinking of the fight with Ms. Brauman bought tears to my eyes.
"Care to talk?" Sharon asked. Dad looked at me with concern also. I shrugged.
"Did you have a fight with your friends?" Dad asked.
"No..."
"Logan?"
"No..." I wiped away a tear that had spilled down my face. "Actually, my home ec. teacher."
"What?" Sharon asked. Taking a shuddery breath, I told them about the horrible scene in the class. "I kind of acted stupid..." I was bawling hard now. "I felt like she was insulting my grandmother and got so mad at her and picked a fight with her."
"Sounds like you and Ms. Brauman clashed in style." Sharon told me.
"Think I should go talk..." Dad wondered. Sharon shook her head. So did I. Now that I was here at home and talked about it, I could see how I'd contributed to the problem. I think Ms. Brauman felt that I was attacking her.
"I think I can handle this..." I told them. "I...don't think I did well in the class. So don't be surprised if I bring home...not a good grade." I shuddered. I just hope she doesn't decide to flunk me.
"Keep it up..." Sharon gave me a comforting hug. "We know you're a good student. And this class is one semester only." I nodded, feeling better.
"Who wants dessert?" Dad asked. I did.

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I sort of apologized to Ms. Brauman for yelling at her. She accepted, although she didn't apologize for her part. "So you see where you were out of line," was her response. "Accepted." I bit my lip, determined not to get into any more trouble with her for the rest of the semester. I ended up with a C- in the assignment and the class. My first bad grade. I felt my face flush.
"It could have been worse," Claudia whispered.
I nodded, but muttered, "Damn..." under my breath. Cokie Mason flunked and she gave a noisy disgusted snort.
"Ex-CUSE ME?" Ms. Brauman glared at her.
"Nothing!" Cokie slouched down.