PpG3
Secrets and Surprises
Chapter 19 - Planning
After dinner that night
Buttercup wanted nothing more than to go to the living room and watch TV,
but the Professor asked her to stay at the table with him while Bubbles
and Blossom left to do their homework.
"Mrs. Stone vaguely told me what happened today, but I have a feeling there's more to it than she told me," the Professor said when the other Girls had left.
"What'd she tell you?" Buttercup asked.
"You started a fight."
"What?! That's completely untrue!" Buttercup exclaimed. "Okay, maybe I provoked Mitch and Harry a little by accusing them of spreading rumors, but they were the ones who attacked me. Then when Andra came over and tried to get them to stop, two of them attacked her. She nearly got a concussion. That's why I spent the afternoon at her place. I didn't want her to pass out or something."
"That was very kind of you," the Professor said. "But why did Mitch and the other boys attack you?"
Buttercup sighed. "Andra went to the office before school today because a group of kids were waiting for her at our locker and started teasin' her because someone had started a rumor that she was gay. I thought it might have been Mitch because he saw us Friday night, so I confronted him on the playground when he was with his friends. They said Mitch didn't need to say anything, everybody already knew that she and I were gay."
"And Mrs. Stone suspended you for that?"
"It's an unofficial suspension," Buttercup corrected. "She thinks it would be better if Andra and I stay out of school until everything calms down."
"She has no right to punish either of you in such a matter. Were the boys punished?"
"Two weeks detention."
"This is outrageous! I'm going to call Mrs. Stone right now -"
"No, Professor, don't," Buttercup said quickly. "Andra and I already talked about this. I'm gonna talk to Miss Bellum and Andra's gonna have Cassie talk to a lawyer friend back in California."
"Sounds like you girls were busy planning this afternoon."
"Yep."
"But I'll have to file a complaint with Mrs. Stone most likely, to prove we tried to fight it on our own before calling in legal help." The Professor sighed and sat down next to Buttercup. "Or maybe I won't, I was never very good at remembering laws. I guess I'm just upset that Mrs. Stone would dare give out punishments like this. I don't want anyone to discriminate against any of my Girls for any reason. It's those boys who should be kicked out of school, not you. What if they decide they want to get another kid in trouble? All they have to do is beat them up and that kids is gone indefinitely, while all they do is stay after school for a few weeks. It's not right and I want to do everything I can to fix it."
"That's why we're going to Miss Bellum," Buttercup said. "That way we can find out exactly what we should and shouldn't do."
The Professor nodded. "Yes, that does make sense. Why don't you go see her during the day tomorrow. And bring Andra, too. I think she'd like Miss Bellum."
"Professor, everybody likes Miss Bellum."
The Professor chuckled. "You're right. Why don't you run along now. I'm going to call Cassie and see how she and Andra are doing. Maybe Cassie has already talked to that lawyer friend of hers. And I'll see if Andra can go with you to Miss Bellum's, all right?"
"'Kay." Buttercup slid off her chair and flew to the living room to watch TV.***
The next morning, Buttercup
slept in late and for once she didn't have one of her sisters bothering
her to wake up. Because of this, she didn't wake up until shortly after
10, when the Professor gently shook her to wake her up.
"Andra's on the phone for you," he told her gently.
"Okay," Buttercup mumbled. She floated out of bed, out of her room, and down the stairs, her eyes still half closed, her hair sticking out at odd angles and her nightgown rumpled. She almost floated right past the living room phone she was still so tired. "Hello?" she muttered when she finally picked up the phone.
"It's me!" Andra said brightly. "You sleep too much, Buttercup."
"I've only gotten. . ." Buttercup squinted at her watch, "five hours of sleep."
"What were you doing all night?"
"Taking advantage of my day off by watching the late night talk shows, playing video games. You know, the usual."
"You're crazy, Buttercup. Anyway, are we going to see Miss Bellum today or not?"
"Um, sure. When do you want to go?"
"I'm free all day. Mom said as long as I leave a note I can go wherever I want. She even left me money so I can go out to eat."
Buttercup grinned. "I doubt this is what Mrs. Stone expected our suspension to be like. I'll be over there around 11 and I'll get money from the Professor, too."
"Cool. See you soon."
"See ya'," Buttercup said and hung up the phone.
"What do you need money for?"
Buttercup spun around with a gasp. "Don't do that!" she scolded. "Andra and I wanna go to lunch after seeing Miss Bellum. Cassie left her money to spend today. Can I have some too?"
The Professor thought for a moment. "I suppose so. Go get dressed. I'll be down in the lab, so I'll leave the money on the table for you."
Buttercup didn't stay to thank the Professor. She zipped to her room, calling a hasty thanks over her shoulder.***
Just before 11, Buttercup
rang the doorbell at Andra's house. Almost immediately, Andra opened the
door as if she'd been waiting for Buttercup.
"Hi!" Andra said brightly. "I've got my purse, so I'm ready to go. We flying?"
"Hold on a second, I'm too tired to handle all your energy. I woke up less than an hour ago," Buttercup said. "What's with you? Did you have a couple pots of coffee this morning?"
Andra laughed. "No, I'm just excited that we're going to do something about our suspension. I never got to do anything like this to those jerks back in California!"
"I know, it's cool," Buttercup said with a grin. "Yeah, we're flying. You okay with that?"
"I'm getting used to it surprisingly easy." She put her arms around Buttercup's neck. "Up, up, and away!" Buttercup shook her head in amusement, but did as Andra said.***
Miss Bellum was obviously
surprised to see Buttercup and Andra walk into her office that morning,
though she tried vainly to hide it. "Buttercup, what are you doing here?
You aren't skipping, are you?"
"No, no," Buttercup assured Miss Bellum. "We're here to talk to you about why we're not in school. Oh, Miss Bellum? This is Andra Meda. She moved here this summer from California." Buttercup had already told Miss Bellum all about this, of course, but she didn't want Andra thinking that perhaps she'd been telling Miss Bellum everything about both of them.
Miss Bellum seemed to understand that. "Hello, Andra," she said warmly, "It's nice to meet you. Take a seat, both of you, and explain to me why exactly you aren't in school right now."
"We've been unofficially suspended," Andra said bluntly as she sat down. "Because. . . because. . ." she glanced at Buttercup for support.
"It's okay, she knows," Buttercup whispered.
"Because some idiot guys found out we like each other and went out Friday night," Andra finished strongly. "They beat us up for it."
"So what's where all the bruises and scratches I'm seeing are from," Miss Bellum said. "And you were 'unofficially' suspended? Why?"
"So there won't be anymore trouble between us and them," Buttercup said. "Mrs. Stone wants things to calm down before she calls us back to school."
"That's ridiculous," Miss Bellum said. "What kind of punishment did the boys get?"
"Two weeks detention," Buttercup growled.
"So what do you girls want me to do? Since I assume that's why you're here."
"We have a feeling that our suspension isn't exactly legal," Buttercup said. "Is it?"
"Did you two do anything to the boys?"
"I kinda threatened one of them," Buttercup admitted. "But Andra just told them to leave me alone and two of them slammed her up against a tree and started punching her!"
"I have the bruises on my stomach to prove it," Andra said quietly.
"Then I'd have to say that no, this isn't quite legal." Miss Bellum folded her hands neatly on her desk. "Does Mrs. Stone know why the boys beat you up?"
"Yeah," Buttercup said. "Mitch told her that we were gross dykes, and told her he saw us kissing. Mrs. Stone said as long as we didn't do anything illegal off school property it wasn't any of her business, but I doubt we would have been suspended if the guys beat us up for. . . for. . . " she looked to Andra for help.
"For dumping one of them," Andra supplied. "I bet Mrs. Stone is just a stupid homophobe herself, she's just refined enough not to beat people up."
"Here's what I'll do, girls," Miss Bellum said. "I'll call Mrs. Stone, as a friend of yours, not as the Mayor's assistant. It will be less threatening that way. I'll tell her you came to me, as you often do, Buttercup, for a talk that only a group of women can have, and I was disturbed to hear of the way this incident has been handled. And if she refuses to change her mind, or at least provide valid reasoning, then we'll take it further, all right?" Andra and Buttercup nodded. "Good," Miss Bellum said as she flipped through the phone book, scanning for the school's phone number. She found it and quickly dialed the number. The secretary answered on the second ring.
"Hello, Mrs. Stone's office, how may I help you?"
"I'd like to speak with Mrs. Stone, please," Miss Bellum said.
"Hold on a moment and I will see if she's available. May I ask who's calling and what this is about?"
"I'm Sara Bellum, I'm calling about Buttercup Utonium's and Andra Meda's unofficial suspension."
"Hold on a moment please, Miss Bellum," the secretary said. There was a click as Miss Bellum was put on hold, but just a few seconds later the secretary was back. "I'm transferring you to Mrs. Stone right now, Miss Bellum."
Miss Bellum started to thank the secretary, but was interrupted by Mrs. Stone answering the call. "What can I do for you, Miss Bellum?"
"Buttercup and Andra came to me with a disturbing story this morning, Mrs. Stone. I was hoping you could help me understand it."
"I'd be happy to. What's wrong?"
"I want to know why these girls are being kept from school when it's clearly not their fault for yesterday's playground fight."
"I really shouldn't discuss this with you, Miss Bellum. This is between me, the girls, and their respective parent or guardian. You could ask one of them to call -"
"Mrs. Stone, I understand that, but some of the things these two wanted to discuss weren't the kind of things Buttercup could discuss with Professor Utonium, and Andra's mother is at work now," Miss Bellum glanced at Andra for confirmation. Andra nodded. "Yes, she's at work and the girls needed to talk now. Surely you can understand that?"
"I suppose," Mrs. Stone said reluctantly. "The girls were suspended - unofficially, maybe I remind you - to avoid further violence between them and the boys."
"Do you make a habit of punishing the victims at your school, Mrs. Stone?"
"No, of course not!"
"Then I strongly suggest that you rescind this punishment. You are aware of the anti discrimination policies in the Townsville school districts, are you not?"
"What do our anti discrimination policies have to do with this?"
"It is clearly stated that you are not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, and if Andra and Buttercup wished to, I'm sure their argument would hold up in court: they are being kept out of school because they are suspected of being homosexuals."
"That is not the issue here, Miss Bellum. I was only concerned with the girls safety when I advised them to stay home."
"Why did you ask them to stay home? Why didn't you suspend the boys responsible for the fight?"
"We have found in the past that it is impossible to find all of the people who are biased enough to resort to violence. Suspend the leaders for a week and there's always someone left who's resentful enough to start up the fight where the others left off."
"But don't you think you're sending the message that if you bully someone enough you can get rid of them?"
"The system has always worked for us in the past," Mrs. Stone said coldly.
"Mrs. Stone, what would you do if the girls returned to school before you called them back?"
"I would send them back home. I'd call their guardians if necessary, ordering the girls to stay home."
"And how long would you do this?"
There was a pause before Mrs. stone answered. "I'm sorry, Miss Bellum, but we'll have to continue this discussion another time. It seems a food fight has broken out in the cafeteria."
"I understand," Miss Bellum said, then hung up her phone. "And be sure to suspend the kid who's cowering under a table, trying to avoid trouble."
"Miss Bellum?" Buttercup asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, girls! I almost forgot you were there."
"What did Mrs. Stone say?" Andra asked.
Miss Bellum sighed. "She firmly believes she's in the right on this. The discrimination policies in the school district have changed, but she certainly hasn't."
Buttercup and Andra shared a confused look. "What do you mean?" Buttercup asked.
"I had Mrs. Stone as my assistant principal when I was in junior high and she had the same inane policy then. Only there wasn't much I could do at the time because legally, she was allowed to do whatever she wanted."
"But what about now?" Andra demanded. "I'm not very fond of school, but I'm not going to let those stupid boys keep me from my regular life!"
Miss Bellum smiled. "I like to hear that. Mrs. Stone says that if either of you try to go to school before she says you can, she will send you back home. If she has to, she'll call the Professor and your Mom, Andra, and ask them to keep you two home. But if you go to school with a note from a lawyer saying to let you in or else, it might just scare her into following the law."
"But we don't know any lawyers," Buttercup moaned. "Not anyone local, anyway."
"You're looking at one of Townsville's best, Buttercup."
"Huh?"
"I am legally licensed to be a lawyer. But shortly after I passed my bar exam, the Mayor asked me to help him as his secretary. He's been a family friend for years, so I agreed and I've suck with him ever since."
"Talk about loyalty," Andra said. "I don't know the Mayor but he seems kinda. . . "
"Crazy?" Buttercup supplied.
Andra blushed. "Well, yeah, but I was trying to think of something more polite."
Miss Bellum chuckled. "It's all right, Andra, I understand. He can drive me a bit crazy, sometimes, too, but he's a good mayor overall, so I'm happy to help him. Anyway, girls, it's going to take me awhile to draft up those letters for you. Why don't you two go home and have lunch, then come back? I should have the letters done in an hour."
"What about your other work?" Andra asked as she slid out of her chair.
"There's nothing terribly important here. Besides, this is a chance to make Townsville a better place. And to settle and old score with Mrs. Stone," she added with a wink.
"Okay, see ya' later, Miss Bellum!" Buttercup said as she left Miss Bellum's office.
"Bye, Miss Bellum," Andra said. "It was nice to meet you."
"You too, Andra," Miss Bellum said. "I'll see you later."
"Yep, bye!" Andra ran off after Buttercup.
Miss Bellum sighed to herself. "I wish I was as lucky as they are," she murmured. Then she shook her head to clear it and opened a new file on her word processor. Time to get to work.***
Andra and Buttercup chose
a casual, but nice, restaurant for lunch. It wasn't the sort of place they'd
normally choose to eat, but it was the only place that wasn't packed. Plus
the food was good and waiting for the server gave them time to talk.
"Do you have any idea what Miss Bellum meant about her problems with Mrs. Stone?" andra asked as she spread cheese on a slice of garlic toast.
Buttercup shrugged, then swallowed the garlic toast she'd been chewing. "Maybe she was a hippie and fought Mrs. Stone for equal right for women and blacks."
"She's too young to have been a hippie," Andra said.
"That was my one brilliant idea, sorry," Buttercup said. "Or, y'know, maybe Miss Bellum's gay, too, and had this exact problem."
The girls stared at each other for a moment before bursting into a fit of giggles.
"Mrs. Stone vaguely told me what happened today, but I have a feeling there's more to it than she told me," the Professor said when the other Girls had left.
"What'd she tell you?" Buttercup asked.
"You started a fight."
"What?! That's completely untrue!" Buttercup exclaimed. "Okay, maybe I provoked Mitch and Harry a little by accusing them of spreading rumors, but they were the ones who attacked me. Then when Andra came over and tried to get them to stop, two of them attacked her. She nearly got a concussion. That's why I spent the afternoon at her place. I didn't want her to pass out or something."
"That was very kind of you," the Professor said. "But why did Mitch and the other boys attack you?"
Buttercup sighed. "Andra went to the office before school today because a group of kids were waiting for her at our locker and started teasin' her because someone had started a rumor that she was gay. I thought it might have been Mitch because he saw us Friday night, so I confronted him on the playground when he was with his friends. They said Mitch didn't need to say anything, everybody already knew that she and I were gay."
"And Mrs. Stone suspended you for that?"
"It's an unofficial suspension," Buttercup corrected. "She thinks it would be better if Andra and I stay out of school until everything calms down."
"She has no right to punish either of you in such a matter. Were the boys punished?"
"Two weeks detention."
"This is outrageous! I'm going to call Mrs. Stone right now -"
"No, Professor, don't," Buttercup said quickly. "Andra and I already talked about this. I'm gonna talk to Miss Bellum and Andra's gonna have Cassie talk to a lawyer friend back in California."
"Sounds like you girls were busy planning this afternoon."
"Yep."
"But I'll have to file a complaint with Mrs. Stone most likely, to prove we tried to fight it on our own before calling in legal help." The Professor sighed and sat down next to Buttercup. "Or maybe I won't, I was never very good at remembering laws. I guess I'm just upset that Mrs. Stone would dare give out punishments like this. I don't want anyone to discriminate against any of my Girls for any reason. It's those boys who should be kicked out of school, not you. What if they decide they want to get another kid in trouble? All they have to do is beat them up and that kids is gone indefinitely, while all they do is stay after school for a few weeks. It's not right and I want to do everything I can to fix it."
"That's why we're going to Miss Bellum," Buttercup said. "That way we can find out exactly what we should and shouldn't do."
The Professor nodded. "Yes, that does make sense. Why don't you go see her during the day tomorrow. And bring Andra, too. I think she'd like Miss Bellum."
"Professor, everybody likes Miss Bellum."
The Professor chuckled. "You're right. Why don't you run along now. I'm going to call Cassie and see how she and Andra are doing. Maybe Cassie has already talked to that lawyer friend of hers. And I'll see if Andra can go with you to Miss Bellum's, all right?"
"'Kay." Buttercup slid off her chair and flew to the living room to watch TV.
"Andra's on the phone for you," he told her gently.
"Okay," Buttercup mumbled. She floated out of bed, out of her room, and down the stairs, her eyes still half closed, her hair sticking out at odd angles and her nightgown rumpled. She almost floated right past the living room phone she was still so tired. "Hello?" she muttered when she finally picked up the phone.
"It's me!" Andra said brightly. "You sleep too much, Buttercup."
"I've only gotten. . ." Buttercup squinted at her watch, "five hours of sleep."
"What were you doing all night?"
"Taking advantage of my day off by watching the late night talk shows, playing video games. You know, the usual."
"You're crazy, Buttercup. Anyway, are we going to see Miss Bellum today or not?"
"Um, sure. When do you want to go?"
"I'm free all day. Mom said as long as I leave a note I can go wherever I want. She even left me money so I can go out to eat."
Buttercup grinned. "I doubt this is what Mrs. Stone expected our suspension to be like. I'll be over there around 11 and I'll get money from the Professor, too."
"Cool. See you soon."
"See ya'," Buttercup said and hung up the phone.
"What do you need money for?"
Buttercup spun around with a gasp. "Don't do that!" she scolded. "Andra and I wanna go to lunch after seeing Miss Bellum. Cassie left her money to spend today. Can I have some too?"
The Professor thought for a moment. "I suppose so. Go get dressed. I'll be down in the lab, so I'll leave the money on the table for you."
Buttercup didn't stay to thank the Professor. She zipped to her room, calling a hasty thanks over her shoulder.
"Hi!" Andra said brightly. "I've got my purse, so I'm ready to go. We flying?"
"Hold on a second, I'm too tired to handle all your energy. I woke up less than an hour ago," Buttercup said. "What's with you? Did you have a couple pots of coffee this morning?"
Andra laughed. "No, I'm just excited that we're going to do something about our suspension. I never got to do anything like this to those jerks back in California!"
"I know, it's cool," Buttercup said with a grin. "Yeah, we're flying. You okay with that?"
"I'm getting used to it surprisingly easy." She put her arms around Buttercup's neck. "Up, up, and away!" Buttercup shook her head in amusement, but did as Andra said.
"No, no," Buttercup assured Miss Bellum. "We're here to talk to you about why we're not in school. Oh, Miss Bellum? This is Andra Meda. She moved here this summer from California." Buttercup had already told Miss Bellum all about this, of course, but she didn't want Andra thinking that perhaps she'd been telling Miss Bellum everything about both of them.
Miss Bellum seemed to understand that. "Hello, Andra," she said warmly, "It's nice to meet you. Take a seat, both of you, and explain to me why exactly you aren't in school right now."
"We've been unofficially suspended," Andra said bluntly as she sat down. "Because. . . because. . ." she glanced at Buttercup for support.
"It's okay, she knows," Buttercup whispered.
"Because some idiot guys found out we like each other and went out Friday night," Andra finished strongly. "They beat us up for it."
"So what's where all the bruises and scratches I'm seeing are from," Miss Bellum said. "And you were 'unofficially' suspended? Why?"
"So there won't be anymore trouble between us and them," Buttercup said. "Mrs. Stone wants things to calm down before she calls us back to school."
"That's ridiculous," Miss Bellum said. "What kind of punishment did the boys get?"
"Two weeks detention," Buttercup growled.
"So what do you girls want me to do? Since I assume that's why you're here."
"We have a feeling that our suspension isn't exactly legal," Buttercup said. "Is it?"
"Did you two do anything to the boys?"
"I kinda threatened one of them," Buttercup admitted. "But Andra just told them to leave me alone and two of them slammed her up against a tree and started punching her!"
"I have the bruises on my stomach to prove it," Andra said quietly.
"Then I'd have to say that no, this isn't quite legal." Miss Bellum folded her hands neatly on her desk. "Does Mrs. Stone know why the boys beat you up?"
"Yeah," Buttercup said. "Mitch told her that we were gross dykes, and told her he saw us kissing. Mrs. Stone said as long as we didn't do anything illegal off school property it wasn't any of her business, but I doubt we would have been suspended if the guys beat us up for. . . for. . . " she looked to Andra for help.
"For dumping one of them," Andra supplied. "I bet Mrs. Stone is just a stupid homophobe herself, she's just refined enough not to beat people up."
"Here's what I'll do, girls," Miss Bellum said. "I'll call Mrs. Stone, as a friend of yours, not as the Mayor's assistant. It will be less threatening that way. I'll tell her you came to me, as you often do, Buttercup, for a talk that only a group of women can have, and I was disturbed to hear of the way this incident has been handled. And if she refuses to change her mind, or at least provide valid reasoning, then we'll take it further, all right?" Andra and Buttercup nodded. "Good," Miss Bellum said as she flipped through the phone book, scanning for the school's phone number. She found it and quickly dialed the number. The secretary answered on the second ring.
"Hello, Mrs. Stone's office, how may I help you?"
"I'd like to speak with Mrs. Stone, please," Miss Bellum said.
"Hold on a moment and I will see if she's available. May I ask who's calling and what this is about?"
"I'm Sara Bellum, I'm calling about Buttercup Utonium's and Andra Meda's unofficial suspension."
"Hold on a moment please, Miss Bellum," the secretary said. There was a click as Miss Bellum was put on hold, but just a few seconds later the secretary was back. "I'm transferring you to Mrs. Stone right now, Miss Bellum."
Miss Bellum started to thank the secretary, but was interrupted by Mrs. Stone answering the call. "What can I do for you, Miss Bellum?"
"Buttercup and Andra came to me with a disturbing story this morning, Mrs. Stone. I was hoping you could help me understand it."
"I'd be happy to. What's wrong?"
"I want to know why these girls are being kept from school when it's clearly not their fault for yesterday's playground fight."
"I really shouldn't discuss this with you, Miss Bellum. This is between me, the girls, and their respective parent or guardian. You could ask one of them to call -"
"Mrs. Stone, I understand that, but some of the things these two wanted to discuss weren't the kind of things Buttercup could discuss with Professor Utonium, and Andra's mother is at work now," Miss Bellum glanced at Andra for confirmation. Andra nodded. "Yes, she's at work and the girls needed to talk now. Surely you can understand that?"
"I suppose," Mrs. Stone said reluctantly. "The girls were suspended - unofficially, maybe I remind you - to avoid further violence between them and the boys."
"Do you make a habit of punishing the victims at your school, Mrs. Stone?"
"No, of course not!"
"Then I strongly suggest that you rescind this punishment. You are aware of the anti discrimination policies in the Townsville school districts, are you not?"
"What do our anti discrimination policies have to do with this?"
"It is clearly stated that you are not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, and if Andra and Buttercup wished to, I'm sure their argument would hold up in court: they are being kept out of school because they are suspected of being homosexuals."
"That is not the issue here, Miss Bellum. I was only concerned with the girls safety when I advised them to stay home."
"Why did you ask them to stay home? Why didn't you suspend the boys responsible for the fight?"
"We have found in the past that it is impossible to find all of the people who are biased enough to resort to violence. Suspend the leaders for a week and there's always someone left who's resentful enough to start up the fight where the others left off."
"But don't you think you're sending the message that if you bully someone enough you can get rid of them?"
"The system has always worked for us in the past," Mrs. Stone said coldly.
"Mrs. Stone, what would you do if the girls returned to school before you called them back?"
"I would send them back home. I'd call their guardians if necessary, ordering the girls to stay home."
"And how long would you do this?"
There was a pause before Mrs. stone answered. "I'm sorry, Miss Bellum, but we'll have to continue this discussion another time. It seems a food fight has broken out in the cafeteria."
"I understand," Miss Bellum said, then hung up her phone. "And be sure to suspend the kid who's cowering under a table, trying to avoid trouble."
"Miss Bellum?" Buttercup asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, girls! I almost forgot you were there."
"What did Mrs. Stone say?" Andra asked.
Miss Bellum sighed. "She firmly believes she's in the right on this. The discrimination policies in the school district have changed, but she certainly hasn't."
Buttercup and Andra shared a confused look. "What do you mean?" Buttercup asked.
"I had Mrs. Stone as my assistant principal when I was in junior high and she had the same inane policy then. Only there wasn't much I could do at the time because legally, she was allowed to do whatever she wanted."
"But what about now?" Andra demanded. "I'm not very fond of school, but I'm not going to let those stupid boys keep me from my regular life!"
Miss Bellum smiled. "I like to hear that. Mrs. Stone says that if either of you try to go to school before she says you can, she will send you back home. If she has to, she'll call the Professor and your Mom, Andra, and ask them to keep you two home. But if you go to school with a note from a lawyer saying to let you in or else, it might just scare her into following the law."
"But we don't know any lawyers," Buttercup moaned. "Not anyone local, anyway."
"You're looking at one of Townsville's best, Buttercup."
"Huh?"
"I am legally licensed to be a lawyer. But shortly after I passed my bar exam, the Mayor asked me to help him as his secretary. He's been a family friend for years, so I agreed and I've suck with him ever since."
"Talk about loyalty," Andra said. "I don't know the Mayor but he seems kinda. . . "
"Crazy?" Buttercup supplied.
Andra blushed. "Well, yeah, but I was trying to think of something more polite."
Miss Bellum chuckled. "It's all right, Andra, I understand. He can drive me a bit crazy, sometimes, too, but he's a good mayor overall, so I'm happy to help him. Anyway, girls, it's going to take me awhile to draft up those letters for you. Why don't you two go home and have lunch, then come back? I should have the letters done in an hour."
"What about your other work?" Andra asked as she slid out of her chair.
"There's nothing terribly important here. Besides, this is a chance to make Townsville a better place. And to settle and old score with Mrs. Stone," she added with a wink.
"Okay, see ya' later, Miss Bellum!" Buttercup said as she left Miss Bellum's office.
"Bye, Miss Bellum," Andra said. "It was nice to meet you."
"You too, Andra," Miss Bellum said. "I'll see you later."
"Yep, bye!" Andra ran off after Buttercup.
Miss Bellum sighed to herself. "I wish I was as lucky as they are," she murmured. Then she shook her head to clear it and opened a new file on her word processor. Time to get to work.
"Do you have any idea what Miss Bellum meant about her problems with Mrs. Stone?" andra asked as she spread cheese on a slice of garlic toast.
Buttercup shrugged, then swallowed the garlic toast she'd been chewing. "Maybe she was a hippie and fought Mrs. Stone for equal right for women and blacks."
"She's too young to have been a hippie," Andra said.
"That was my one brilliant idea, sorry," Buttercup said. "Or, y'know, maybe Miss Bellum's gay, too, and had this exact problem."
The girls stared at each other for a moment before bursting into a fit of giggles.
