Romeo and Julie - Chapter 11
Disclaimer - Everything that does not belong to me belongs to some one else.
Notes - Ok, this is the longest chapter so far. 6336 words, not counting the notes. And this one is actually one of my favourites so far. Flowed so well, and turned out great. My only hope is that you people don't think it is lame.
Review for me please.
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"Mr. Wu?"
"Present"
"Mr. Mendoza?"
"Present"
As they had been warned, the Prank against Old Man Walsh, was not exactly the most successful one that the Ducks had played. It was not a matter of the laxative not working, because as the Ducks cheerily noted as they watched the old grumpy walk uncomfortably between the desks in the classroom, it had definitely had an effect on him. The bad thing was, that they had unfortunately been caught.
"Mr. Reed?"
"Present"
And now they were all sitting in detention. Walsh was walking slowly, marking their names off of the master detention list. Portman rolled his eyes and settled into his seat at the back of the detention classroom, he had a strange feeling that this was going to be a long and painful detention.
Old Man Walsh paused beside Adam's chair, tapping his pen on his role and making a disapproving tsking sound. "Mr. Banks"
"Present" Adam replied cheerily. Gareth Walsh had been one of his fathers fraternity brothers at Princeton., and the two men were still close. Adam knew that Old Man Walsh would call up his father that night and inform him of his sons adventure into the world of delinquency. Adam, fortunately, could not care less about what his father had to say about all of this. Ducks flew together.
"And oh yes" Old Man Walsh paused, a strange, almost maniacal gleam entering his eyes "Mr. Portman"
"Howdy Walshie." Dean grinned.
The other ducks could hear their teacher grinding his teeth from where they were sitting. "That is Mr. Walsh to you, Young master Portman"
When Walsh turned to walk back to his desk at the front of the room, Portman saluted his retreating back. "Sir, yes sir"
"We are only waiting on two more, then we may get started on this afternoons detention" He announced, looking out over the group that consisted completely of male ducks. "But I must say, having a whole flock of ducks in my detention room is definitely a highlight of the week"
Dean rolled his eyes and mumbled. "Jerk"
Old Man Walsh, who had been going over the attendance sheet again looked up at him, questioningly. "Did you say something, Mr. Portman?"
"No sir, not at all sir" Dean replied politely.
"Good. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of serving a detention with me, here are the rules, and I expect for them to be followed precisely." Old Man Walsh began. Dean smiled and turned to Fulton who was sitting at the desk beside him. This was their favourite part of detention with Old Man Walsh. "The first rule of detention…"
"Is that you don't talk about detention" The boys loudly whispered loudly together. In front of them, Russ, Ken and Goldberg each smiled.
"There will be no talking out of turn…" Walsh, who had not heard them, continued on with his much loved speech.
"No talking what so ever" Fulton mumbled.
"…No talking What so ever…" Walsh once again did not hear the two boys who were sitting at the back of the room, or their friends who were in hearing range, who all just sat and laughed silently with them.
"No whispering" Dean added
"…No whispering…" Walsh loudly echoed Dean's statement.
"No passing notes" Fulton smiled a little, flicking a folded piece of paper at Russ, who was laughing with the others.
"…No passing notes…" Old Man Walsh said.
"And you can not leave without my permission" Fulton and Dean completed together.
"…And you may not leave without my permission…" Old Man Walsh concluded, and then realised that the back half of the room were all stifling laughs behind their hands, all except for Fulton and Dean, who were grinning brightly. "Mr. Reed, Mr. Portman, is there something you wish to share with the rest of the group."
"No sir" they chorused together.
"Good" Old Man Walsh nodded, realising that something out of his control had just happened, and there was nothing that he could do to change that. "Now, as I was saying…"
But he was cut off by the door opening and two people walking in. Old Man Walsh, who never liked being disturbed, looked as though he was going to explode at the intruders until her saw that it was in fact two females. Old Man Walsh smiled at them.
"Sorry we are late sir" Rebecca Roman grinned a little. Beside her, Julie smiled. They had both completely forgotten about the detention that they had earned by skipping sixth period the day before, and had to run from the other side of the school to the detention room in order to assure that they would not be completely late.
"Oh, you two must be Miss. Gaffney and Miss Roman" Old Man Walsh decided politely, picking up the list of names of the people that he was to expect at the detention.
"I am Miss Roman, that is Miss Gaffney" Rebecca replied, smiling, and Julie could not help but smile at her friend. Rebecca was doing awesomely for someone who had just had their heart broken the day before. Julie knew that they could both be thankful to Fulton for that.
"Well, you are late girls, but I will not penalise you for it. Come in and take a seat." Old Man Walsh told the two of them. They scanned the room, hoping to find two seats together, but unfortunately the only two seats were on opposite sides of the room.
"Funny, any one else would have been given an extra day" Russ mumbled as the girls made their way to the back of the room.
"Did you say something Mr. Tyler?" Old Man Walsh asked. Russ shook his head. Rebecca crossed the room, and sat in the spare seat in the corner, but only after ruffling Fulton's hair as she passed.
"No, not at all" Russ replied as Julie settled into the remaining seat. One beside Dean. Damn, she thought, this was going to be a long and painful detention.
"Good, now, your task for your afternoon in detention, is to write a personal reflection on yourself, and what you did to get you into this detention." Old Man Walsh began, sitting behind the big desk at the front of the room. "If I do not believe that your work is up to standard, then I will add another day onto your sentence."
The little voice inside Dean's head told him to stay quiet, but before that voice could relay the thought to the other side of the brain, Dean's mouth was open, and the words were spilling out. "Gee, a personal reflection, how Breakfast Club."
Old Man Walsh looked up from the papers that he had begun to grade. "That time I knew you said something, Mr. Portman."
Dean shrugged. "No I didn't sir"
"Yes you did" Old Man Walsh replied.
"No, sir, I didn't" Dean plastered a look of pure innocence on his face. It was a believable look, he had had many chances to practice it over the years.
Old Man Walsh sighed. "Would you like another detention, Mr. Portman?"
He shrugged again, wondering why Old Man Walsh even bothered to ask him, it was obvious to all that he would have no say in the matter either way. Again, before he could stop himself, Dean found himself talking. "Is there anything I could say that would stop you from giving me one anyway?"
"That is it, one more day" he made a note of it on one of the papers that was on the table in front of him.
"Thank you sir" Dean replied. It was like he was in a car with no brakes, rolling down a hill and beginning to gain speed, as much as Dean wanted himself to shut up, he knew that he was on a roll, and there was no way he would be able to stop himself. He would just have to crash and burn.
"What was that?" The teacher looked up.
"I said thank you, sir" Dean replied.
"Two more days" Old Man Walsh informed him happily. "And you are welcome?"
Once again, he could not stop himself from making a comment. "I suggest you write it down so you don't forget it, sir"
"I will Portman, 5 days" Walsh made a note of it.
"How about an even 6" Dean shrugged nonchalantly.
"7" Walsh replied.
"Go 8 sir, you know you want to" Dean found himself taunting.
"Is 10 enough for you?" Walsh retorted.
"Wouldn't mind 11" Dean mused, cocking his head to the side.
"12, just for you, Mr. Portman." Walsh told him, amending his notes.
Dean yawned. "Doesn't bother me"
"Good to know you wont be bothered." Old Man Walsh smirked at him. "And I am sure that 14 will not bother you either."
Dean sighed and picked up his pen, signalling to the teacher, who was beginning to look a little red in the face, that he was through answering back. Dean smiled to himself, tapped his pen against his sheet of paper and tried to work out what he was going to write in his personal reflection. He wondered if he would get away with writing the 'Brain, Athlete, Basket Case, Princess and Criminal' speech from the Breakfast Club just to get a rise out of the old man. He was just about to begin writing when he realised that it is kind of sad that he knew that speech word for word.
He looked around the room quickly, every one else had started on their personal reflections. He wondered how many of them would be doing the 'Hockey is life' analogy. That analogy could be adjusted to fit every single subject that each of them to. Dean sighed, like all other school based assignments, he had no idea what to write.
Relaxing to begin thinking, Dean began to whistle. Others in the room all looked at him, smirked and turned back to their work. Without even realising it, Dean was whistling the song from the end credits of the Breakfast Club.
"Ok, who is doing that?" Old Man Walsh exclaimed, standing and looking around the room. His eyes rested on Dean, who was leaning back a little, his hands folded behind hid head. "I should have known. Would you like another week, Mr. Portman?"
"If you want to give me another week. But just remember sir, each detention you give me is a detention that you give yourself." Dean couldn't help but reply. Sometimes he really wished that he could control his rage issues. "You have to be here to supervise me."
"That's it Portman, I have had it up to here with your…your foolish behaviour…you are not James Dean, and this…" Old Man Walsh stood from his seat and looked as though the was going to come at him and yell into his face, but he only got to steps away from the desk before he clutched his stomach and went pale. "This is not rebel without a cause, you got that. One more word out of you and…urgh"
Old Man Walsh clutched his stomach again, turned, and ran from the room.
"Portman, you are the man" Some one called. Dean could not help but laugh.
"I know, I know, autographs after class." he stood and took a bow. At his side, Julie rolled her eyes. Cocky, arrogant Dean Portman was back again. She picked up her pen, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Dean did so to.
As much as she wanted to ignore him and get this work done, there was a question that she could not leave unasked.
She leant across the gap between their desks. "You've seen the Breakfast Club?"
"Sure, have you?" Dean shrugged. He tried to act casual and not let it show that he was amazed that she was even talking to him. He was so sure that he would never again hear Julie's voice, especially after the fiasco in the hall.
"It is one of my favourites" Julie replied softly. Around the room, the ducks were taking advantage of the fact that there was no longer a teacher in the room, so Julie felt at ease with talking to him at the normal volume. "I didn't think that that would be the type of movie that would get your attention."
Dean smirked. "I am mature enough to know that it has its merits as a film that paved the way in the genre"
"Meaning"
"Meaning my little sister watched it almost every day last summer" Dean replied. "It is her favourite movie as well."
Julie chuckled. "You have a little sister?"
Once again, she realised that there were still things that she didn't know about her friends.
"Yeah" He replied, then looked at her questioningly. "You sound surprised"
"No, I am not surprised" Julie informed him casually. "I just, didn't know that, that's all"
"Well, you do now" Dean replied and picked up his pen again, ready to turn back to his personal reflection. As much as he hated Old Man Walsh, he knew that he would not be let out of the classroom without some sort of personal reflection to hand to the grumpy old teacher who was, as his detention class sat gossiping, emptying his bowels for what was definitely not the first time that day.
"What's her name?" Julie asked. Dean's jaw dropped, and he quickly closed it before she could see the shock. She was actually talking to him, engaging him in conversation. He had been sure that she would hate him so badly today.
"Who? My sister?" He asked, and she nodded. Dean took almost a minute before he replied. "Joanna"
"You don't seem to sure about that" Julie smiled. It was odd that he had taken so long to remember his own sisters name.
"It is because we don't call her Joanna very often" Dean explained to her.
Julie nodded. Sure, she was still annoyed at him from the day before, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. "What do you call her?"
"Dean" Portman smiled proudly.
Julie blinked. Joanna Portman's nickname was Dean. So that meant that there were two Dean Portman's in that family? "Doesn't that get confusing?"
Dean shrugged. "Not really, my parents don't call me Dean when I am at home."
"Then what do they call you" She asked.
Dean smiled a little to himself. Yesterday she had been telling him that he annoyed her beyond belief, and today she was asking for an explanation to things that he had not even explained to his close friends. Once again, he shook his head and told himself that he would never, ever, for as long as he lived, understand women and the way that their brains worked. "All due respect to your inquisitive nature Julie, but why do you want to know?"
"I don't know, it is just, interesting, is all." Julie replied, picking up her pen and turning back to her own work. He saw her turn to her work and wish that he had not said that. He didn't mind telling her these things, because at least he knew that she was talking to him. "Sorry, didn't mean to be pushy"
"Its ok" He sighed. "I just thought that you were not talking to me because I am so annoying"
She paused and looked at him. There was a slight look of panic in her eyes, and she cleared her throat quickly. "Well, I am not talking to you, you are annoying"
"Didn't think so a few minutes ago" Dean mumbled.
"Actually, I did, you annoyed Old Man Walsh into running out of here sick" Julie replied. She could not believe that she just sounded like she was defending the annoying old teacher. Julie could not believe that he was turning this into a fight between them, again. Fighting was all they ever did these days.
"No, the laxative did that" Dean replied, smiling. "But nice angle, I literally annoyed the shit out of him…"
"See, You are annoying" Julie growled.
"Hey…" Dean was just about to get defensive. It seemed no matter what, they would end up fighting. He was glad that the others conversations around them soon drowned out their little fight before either of them said anything that they would regret.
"Hey Fulton." Charlie's voice cut through the din of the classroom, making almost every one quiet down to listen to what Captain Duck had to say. He was yelling from the other side of the room, so it would have to be something important. "Do you remember the last time the ducks were all in a detention like this?"
"Yeah?" Fulton smiled.
Averman, Goldberg, Guy, Charlie and Fulton all smiled together and chorused "I will not quack at the principal"
"Huh?" Ken asked.
"Yeah, explain it for those of us who are new" Luis added, looking at the original Ducks as though they were crazy.
"Hey, this is nothing about being new" Adam told him, with the same look of confusion on his face. "I don't even know what they are on about"
"Because you have been in preppy schools all your life Cake eater" Goldberg laughed, doing an almost perfect impersonation of Jesse Hall
"So come on, y'all, some one tell us what happened" Dwayne told them.
"We quacked at the principal" Fulton replied.
Julie's jaw dropped. "You what?"
"Calm down, it wasn't that bad." Charlie replied from the front of the room. "We were all in science, and the Ducks had hit their first rough patch. Fight broke out…"
Guy then took over from his friend. "Long story short, when the principal came to reprimand us, we quacked at her"
"Fun times, those were, fun times" Averman smiled.
"Yeah, but Bombay isn't going to come and bail us out of this detention, is he?" Fulton asked. The other original ducks nodded sadly.
Guy dramatically fell to his knees and held his hands in a gesture of prayer. "Please god, if you are listening, send us some one to get us out of this god forsaken detention"
The door opened and Meredith entered. "Here you all are!"
Everyone cheered. "Meredith"
Guy raised his gaze heavenly. "God, I will never doubt you again"
"Yeah Guy, pray for a million dollars" Averman told him.
"How did 12 of you manage to get a detention on the same day." Meredith asked, outraged. She began to pace the front of the room. "12 of the 13 ducks are in this room, how did you all get a detention together?
"Ducks fly together" Adam told her, smiling.
Meredith groaned. "Guys, this is no joking matter, you are all suppose to be at a rehearsal, this is my time"
"You said you would fail us if we didn't show up!" Russ exclaimed. Meredith held her hand up to calm the boy a little.
"And I wont, I cant." She admitted, and each of them breathed a sigh of relief. "But I also cant run a practice with only 6 people. All my lead actors are in this room!"
Luis grinned. "Well, get us out and we will come to practice"
"You want me to break you out of detention?" Meredith asked, shocked.
"No. We want you to offer to take over the supervision of our detention." Goldberg explained to her. "Meaning, get us out of here and let us go practice the play"
Meredith sat on the desk at the front of the room in her usual fashion. It seemed she was always sitting on desks, no matter where she was. "What did you do first?"
"Well, umm, you know the mysterious sickness that took Old Man Walsh?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, he has been running to the rest rooms all afternoon" She looked around the room, amazed. "You guys did that?"
"Yeah" all the boys admitted. Meredith burst into hysterical laughter.
"Well done!" She stood and clapped. Meredith didn't mind the occasional prank every now and then, and she had to admit that although Gareth Walsh was a staff member and deserved her respected, she could not hate him more. "How did you do it?"
Russ, the originator of the prank told her proudly. "Extra strength liquid laxative in his coffee"
"Oh, that is classic!" She laughed again. "I wish I had thought of that…"
"Problem was, we got caught" Ken told her.
"Yeah, see, I wouldn't have done that" Meredith smiled. She looked around the room. All the boys, Julie and some other girl that she didn't know (picking up the name list that Old Man Walsh had left on the table, she worked out that her name was Rebecca Roman) were here, but Meredith highly doubted that Julie or Rebecca were involved in the prank. "You are all in here for this?"
"All except Julie and Beck, they were not involved?" Fulton told her.
"Yeah, why are you here Gaffney?" Russ looked over his shoulder at her.
"Moral support" Dean mumbled.
Julie glared at Dean. "I skipped a class yesterday"
"You what?" Dean asked, in fake amazement. Julie rolled her eyes, he knew that she had skipped a class the day before, because the lesson that she had missed was the lesson that they had been in the hall, arguing and kissing and arguing and annoying the hell out of each other. "Wow, didn't think I would ever see the day that that happened"
"So, you going to get us out of here" Averman asked, ignoring his team mates and turning back to Meredith.
"I will see what I can do" She sighed. Meredith looked around the room quickly. "So, where is Walshie?"
Dwayne smiled to himself. "One guess"
When the door opened again, a very pale looking Old Man Walsh stumbled into the room. He looked around the room quickly, making sure that no one had done a runner, and then stopped when he realised that Meredith was sitting on his desk. Old Man Walsh straightened, smiled and approached her.
"Meredith, to what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Just wondering what I will have to do to get the entire cast of my production of out of this room." She asked, standing from the desk when he sat at it.
"Sorry, that will not be happening" Old Man Walsh told her, pulling a stack of papers that he had to grade towards him. He picked up his pen and tried to ignore the full class, and the other teacher that looked about ready to scream.
"Why not?" Meredith asked him.
"Each of the boys owe me 10 days, except for Mr. Portman, who owes me 30 days" Walsh explained to her.
At the back of the room, Portman raised his hand. "It was only 24 days sir"
"Well, now it is 30" Old Man Walsh replied, and Dean rolled his eyes as he saw the teacher write something down on the sheet of paper he had used to record Dean's new detention days. "Does that bother you, Mr. Portman."
"That is unfair Gareth" Meredith exclaimed, interrupting the discussion. She could tell by the look in Dean's eyes that he was just about to get up and protest, and that would just land him with about a thousand more days of detention. "And you know it"
"Unfair?" Walsh looked up at her, and suddenly, the maniacal look in his eyes was back. "No, I seem to believe it is justice"
"Right, so my boys are trapped in here for the next few weeks. What about Jules?" Meredith asked.
"Jules?" Walsh asked, he looked down at the list and then nodded. "Oh, yes, Miss Gaffney, she is only here for today"
"Cant it be arranged that the boys come and do their detentions with me?" Meredith asked her. The students could tell that Meredith was trying to keep her own anger in check.
"I am sorry, the Dean's strict orders. Afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays, lunch time detentions when they have hockey practice after school, and Saturdays till their time is up" Old Man Walsh stood, his hands pressed against the desk, so that he could lean over it and toward her. Meredith leant back a little and away from him. "Sorry Meredith, that is the way that it has to be, you can have your actors back in two weeks"
"Two weeks" Meredith exclaimed. "You don't understand, they preform on stage in a few weeks, they will not be ready if you take away their after school practices"
"One practice less a week will do no damage" he told her.
"Not true Gareth, you don't understand, these kids suck." Meredith told him. It was not true, she was pleasantly surprised by the acting ability and the way that these kids were able to absorb the information she was giving them, but she though that maybe if she told him that they were bad, he would take pity and let them get out of the detentions, at least on Tuesdays.
"We do?" Dwayne asked, some one poked him in the side. "Ok, we do"
"That is not my problem Meredith." Old Man Walsh informed her. "You should have known their ability before you began training them in the arts."
"Fine." Meredith sighed, crossing her arms across her chest. "So there is really nothing I can do"
Old Man Walsh came across to the other side of he table and stood before her. Meredith tried to take a step back from the man that was invading his personal space, but it was no good. Old Man Walsh, his gaze focused on her chest, smiled grossly at her and ran her hand down her arm. It made her shiver in disgust. "Well, there is…"
"Gareth, that is unprofessional and…icky." Meredith stepped back from Old Man Walsh and wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her arms to get rid of the chill that had set itself deep in her bones. Casually, Meredith turned to see all the boys in the room standing, each looked livid, about ready to beat up their teacher. "Boys, sit down, I am fine"
"Are you sure, it looked like he was putting the Mendoza moves on you" Portman told her. Fulton nodded in agreement.
"What's that Portman? Another week" Old Man Walsh asked, there was no question that he was feeling the sting of rejection and embarrassment, but also, if looks could kill, he they would have already convicted the room full of teenagers with murder. Meredith had to wonder if anyone would blame them for killing him.
Meredith sighed, steadied herself with a deep breath, but did not move from where she was standing between Charlie and Adam's desks. She was suddenly scared to be in the same room as Old Man Walsh. Meredith looked over her shoulder at the bash brothers sitting at the back of the room, wondering if it would be wise to go and stand between them. At least then she may have felt a little safer. "Cant they just do a lunch time detention on Tuesdays?"
"Why don't you do a lunch time practice on Tuesdays?" He told her.
"Sir, the string quartet practices in the auditorium on Tuesdays at lunch" A voice from the back of the room told them. Meredith turned to the girl that she didn't recognise, obviously Rebecca Roman, and smiled at her.
"There, see, space taken by the string quartet" Meredith replied.
"And what is wrong with your classroom?" Old Man Walsh asked her gruffly.
"It is so small for a production of this size" she explained.
"Then I am sorry, but they will not be coming to practices on Tuesdays" he told her with finality.
"My ass they wont" Meredith exclaimed, crossing the room to the doorway. "I will just have to speak to the Dean about this"
"And I already know what he will say." Old Man Walsh told her.
"Yeah, that it is important that these students, who will be representing this educational establishment to the general public, must be able to preform to the best of their ability." She replied. "Lost of big Dean type words for Tuesdays, these kids are mine."
"Fine Meredith, be a child and take it that far." He told her, shaking his head. "Go crying to the Dean"
"I will" Meredith told her colleague, stamping her foot like a toddler. She then turned to the class. "Sit tight Ducks, I may have you out of here by the end of the day"
"Meredith, we are nominating you for sainthood!" Goldberg announced. Meredith grinned, then left the room and closed the door behind her.
"Why are you all just sitting there?" Old Man Walsh exclaimed, turning back to the class who were all still smiling from their teachers last comment. "Get to work. I expect a personal reflection from each of you on my desk before you leave this afternoon"
Each of the ducks picked up their pens and turned to the sheets of paper before them. No one in the room had really written anything on their papers, and they were all now scribbling anything that they could think of, explaining what they were thinking.
Julie didn't know what she was going to write. Her mind was in a thousand places at once. She thought that maybe she could write about my life as though it was hockey, but then she also thought that Adam and Charlie would take that angle, since hockey really was their life, and always would be their life. Julie could not help but curse the fact that she only had a few more years until hockey would no longer be her life. She could play through high school, and maybe through collage if she was accepted into one of the two collages in the country that had female hockey teams, but other then that, she would have to stop. There was no Female National Hockey League, no career, she had no future in the sport. And that made her sad. Hockey was as much her life as it was the lives of the others on the team. If she wasn't hockey, she was no one.
Julie wondered briefly what Dean would be writing about. She also wondered why on earth she cared. She didn't have time to worry about what he was doing, because she had to do her own work. If she didn't, then she would have to come back and do another Detention. Detentions, although they were a new experience to her, it was something that she knew that she would not like to do again any time soon. Especially with a teacher like Old Man Walsh. She had never realised how sleazy the old man was.
As soon as she and Rebecca had walked in, his demeanour had changed. She could tell that before they had entered, the old man had been very unpleasant to the boys, then, he became different. There was a different look in his eyes as he looked at her and Rebecca. It was unsettling. And then he had, oh my god, he had touched Meredith. Julie was surprised that Meredith had not broken the older man's hands, but she could also tell that her English teacher was in shock. Scared to, Julie had seen the look of longing Meredith had as she quickly eyed the spot between the bash brothers desks. Julie had to admit that if she was in the same position, then she would want to be protected by them to.
Julie only hoped that Meredith was smart enough to tell the Dean about what had happened. She didn't think that she would ever be able to be comfortable in the presence of Old Man Walsh. The combination of the look in his eyes and the fear in Meredith's had been enough to make her skin crawl. What if a student was next to be propositioned by the pervert. Men like that should not be able to work in schools.
After ten minutes of thinking, Julie finally began writing. Suddenly, She knew what she wanted to say, how he wanted to say it, and as soon as she put her pen to paper, the thoughts flowed easily. It was not a personal reflection, it was a letter to the Dean, telling him what she had seen, and relaying her fears for the female population of the school.
Soon after, the door was thrown open, and a very happy (and a lot calmer) Meredith entered.
"Pens down Ducks" She announced, and they all cheered. "We have a rehearsal to get to"
"Sit down Ducks" Old Man Walsh told them, and the few that had had the time to stand up all sat down again. "Meredith, what is the meaning of this?"
"The Dean saw it my way, this is a note from him informing you that the Ducks are mine on a Tuesday afternoon" She grinned, handing over the folded note. "Oh, and look at this, it is Tuesday. I would appreciate it if you would dismiss my Duckies."
Old Man Walsh frowned as he read the note.
Meredith interrupted his reading. "Also, the Dean wishes to discuss a matter of … some importance with you, so you have to go see him as soon as you can. "
"Some one's in trouble" Ken smiled "Gross old pervert"
Julie sighed in relief, and then smiled at Ken. It was good to know that she wasn't the only one in the class who thought that it was gross and wrong that Old Man Walsh had done to Meredith.
"Please leave your personal reflections, completed or not, on my desk, you will each be finishing them in your next detention." Old Man Walsh told them, his voice wavering a little. A almost everyone stood and made their way to the front of the room, dropping their half completed reflections on the table.
Meredith looked around the room, her gaze resting on the girl in the back corner, who had just said a quick goodbye to Fulton. The young woman looked pale and some what sick. Meredith recognised the look in the young girls eyes, and even the look that she caught quickly in Fulton's gaze as he walked past her. "Miss Roman, I would like you to come along also"
"Me?" Rebecca looked up, surprised and a little relieved.
"Now, Meredith, she is not in your class" Old Man Walsh told her.
"But she is a musician" Meredith replied. There was also no way in hell that she would leave Rebecca alone in a room with the pervert. She would never be able to live with herself if something happened to the young woman. "Am I correct?"
"Yes Ma'am" Rebecca nodded.
"Please, call me Meredith" She grinned at the girl, who still looked a little shocked. Meredith made her way to the back of the room, and sat on the desk in front of her, facing Rebecca so that they would have a conversation. "You play guitar?"
"Yes"
"And you are a member of the string quartet?" Meredith asked.
"Yes, I play the violin and the cello" Rebecca replied. Meredith smiled. "Violin mostly"
"You would have a good ear for music then?" Meredith asked. Rebecca quickly nodded. "That's good, well…"
"Rebecca" she told Meredith.
"Rebecca, I would like to offer you the role of Music supervisor in the production of Romeo and Juliet." Meredith announced.
Rebecca smiled brightly and looked at Old Man Walsh, who was sitting at his desk again. She leant forward a little and whispered to Meredith. "Does it get me out of detention?"
"of course it does" Meredith replied in a low tone. "I would never leave you here with him. So, what do you say?"
Rebecca stood and packed her things quickly. "Then I accept"
"Good, come along" Meredith smiled, and her and Rebecca made their way to the door.
"Wait, Meredith" Old Man Walsh began.
"Bye Gareth, have a nice day." Meredith replied cheerfully, exiting the room. In the hall, Meredith did a head count. She had just busted 12 ducks and a musician out of detention, but only 12 kids stood in the hall. Dean was missing. She poked her head back into the classroom to see the enforcer still seated, scribbling something on the sheet of paper in front of him. "Come on Portman"
"Give me a second, one more line and I am finished my personal reflection" He finished the line, put the lid back on his pen and slipped it into his pocket. He then made his way forward and handed the sheet of paper to the teacher, who hopefully, would not be on the staff for that much longer. "They you go sir, I hope that this is up to your very high standards"
When he got to the door, Old Man Walsh called him back. "Portman"
"Yes sir?"
"What is this" He asked, indicating to the paper.
"A personal reflection in the form of a poem. By Dean. W. Portman." Dean smiled brightly. "Inspired by Dr Seuss."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A personal Reflection in the form of a poem, By Dean W Portman
Inspired by Dr. Seuss
I am Dean Portman,
Dean Portman I am
I do not like green eggs and ham
I do not like them, Dean Portman I am.
I do like a girl named Julie
I believe she is rather coolie
She does not like green eggs and ham
Dean does not like them, Dean Portman I am.
Julie and I play hockey
She believes I am rather cocky
I do not think I am
I do not think so, Dean Portman I am.
Green eggs and Ham, green eggs and Ham
I do not like them, dean Portman I am
Dean Portman I am, Dean Portman I am
Dean Portman who hates, green eggs and ham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That last section was Dean's personal reflection.
I was eating pixie sticks when I wrote that bit, but it cracked me up so much I had to let you all read it.
Shout outs.
BloodyRaine. - I want a friend like Fulton to. I always have. I guy who would cut class to spend time with the room mate of a friend, just because she needed some one to talk to. And he is artistic ("Bread boxes with hand carved trim"). Glad you like it, because Fulton will be in this story more. He wasn't, but now he will be.
Pixie13 - I think I would die if someone I know read my stories to. I write them for me, and as well as for others, but not necessarily for my friends. I fear that the comment, "Oh my god, only a loser would care about the personal life of a fictional character" would be brought into the conversation. But that is cool. Now I have fan fic friends (like you, yay). And I do love your stuff. It takes a lot of talent to write slash. I have tried it a few times, but I can never get it to feel right to me. Not that I am against slash, the opposite actually, I like it. But…well, you know what I mean. This was the detention chapter, hope it was up to standard. I loved writing this one, so I hope others like reading it. Next chapter may have something of interest in it for you. So there, I updated, now you just have to review. I agree, long live writing and expression of ourselves through story. Some use music, some use violence, we use fiction.
And one last note, I realised I have totally neglected Connie, so she is in the next chapter.
Disclaimer - Everything that does not belong to me belongs to some one else.
Notes - Ok, this is the longest chapter so far. 6336 words, not counting the notes. And this one is actually one of my favourites so far. Flowed so well, and turned out great. My only hope is that you people don't think it is lame.
Review for me please.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Mr. Wu?"
"Present"
"Mr. Mendoza?"
"Present"
As they had been warned, the Prank against Old Man Walsh, was not exactly the most successful one that the Ducks had played. It was not a matter of the laxative not working, because as the Ducks cheerily noted as they watched the old grumpy walk uncomfortably between the desks in the classroom, it had definitely had an effect on him. The bad thing was, that they had unfortunately been caught.
"Mr. Reed?"
"Present"
And now they were all sitting in detention. Walsh was walking slowly, marking their names off of the master detention list. Portman rolled his eyes and settled into his seat at the back of the detention classroom, he had a strange feeling that this was going to be a long and painful detention.
Old Man Walsh paused beside Adam's chair, tapping his pen on his role and making a disapproving tsking sound. "Mr. Banks"
"Present" Adam replied cheerily. Gareth Walsh had been one of his fathers fraternity brothers at Princeton., and the two men were still close. Adam knew that Old Man Walsh would call up his father that night and inform him of his sons adventure into the world of delinquency. Adam, fortunately, could not care less about what his father had to say about all of this. Ducks flew together.
"And oh yes" Old Man Walsh paused, a strange, almost maniacal gleam entering his eyes "Mr. Portman"
"Howdy Walshie." Dean grinned.
The other ducks could hear their teacher grinding his teeth from where they were sitting. "That is Mr. Walsh to you, Young master Portman"
When Walsh turned to walk back to his desk at the front of the room, Portman saluted his retreating back. "Sir, yes sir"
"We are only waiting on two more, then we may get started on this afternoons detention" He announced, looking out over the group that consisted completely of male ducks. "But I must say, having a whole flock of ducks in my detention room is definitely a highlight of the week"
Dean rolled his eyes and mumbled. "Jerk"
Old Man Walsh, who had been going over the attendance sheet again looked up at him, questioningly. "Did you say something, Mr. Portman?"
"No sir, not at all sir" Dean replied politely.
"Good. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of serving a detention with me, here are the rules, and I expect for them to be followed precisely." Old Man Walsh began. Dean smiled and turned to Fulton who was sitting at the desk beside him. This was their favourite part of detention with Old Man Walsh. "The first rule of detention…"
"Is that you don't talk about detention" The boys loudly whispered loudly together. In front of them, Russ, Ken and Goldberg each smiled.
"There will be no talking out of turn…" Walsh, who had not heard them, continued on with his much loved speech.
"No talking what so ever" Fulton mumbled.
"…No talking What so ever…" Walsh once again did not hear the two boys who were sitting at the back of the room, or their friends who were in hearing range, who all just sat and laughed silently with them.
"No whispering" Dean added
"…No whispering…" Walsh loudly echoed Dean's statement.
"No passing notes" Fulton smiled a little, flicking a folded piece of paper at Russ, who was laughing with the others.
"…No passing notes…" Old Man Walsh said.
"And you can not leave without my permission" Fulton and Dean completed together.
"…And you may not leave without my permission…" Old Man Walsh concluded, and then realised that the back half of the room were all stifling laughs behind their hands, all except for Fulton and Dean, who were grinning brightly. "Mr. Reed, Mr. Portman, is there something you wish to share with the rest of the group."
"No sir" they chorused together.
"Good" Old Man Walsh nodded, realising that something out of his control had just happened, and there was nothing that he could do to change that. "Now, as I was saying…"
But he was cut off by the door opening and two people walking in. Old Man Walsh, who never liked being disturbed, looked as though he was going to explode at the intruders until her saw that it was in fact two females. Old Man Walsh smiled at them.
"Sorry we are late sir" Rebecca Roman grinned a little. Beside her, Julie smiled. They had both completely forgotten about the detention that they had earned by skipping sixth period the day before, and had to run from the other side of the school to the detention room in order to assure that they would not be completely late.
"Oh, you two must be Miss. Gaffney and Miss Roman" Old Man Walsh decided politely, picking up the list of names of the people that he was to expect at the detention.
"I am Miss Roman, that is Miss Gaffney" Rebecca replied, smiling, and Julie could not help but smile at her friend. Rebecca was doing awesomely for someone who had just had their heart broken the day before. Julie knew that they could both be thankful to Fulton for that.
"Well, you are late girls, but I will not penalise you for it. Come in and take a seat." Old Man Walsh told the two of them. They scanned the room, hoping to find two seats together, but unfortunately the only two seats were on opposite sides of the room.
"Funny, any one else would have been given an extra day" Russ mumbled as the girls made their way to the back of the room.
"Did you say something Mr. Tyler?" Old Man Walsh asked. Russ shook his head. Rebecca crossed the room, and sat in the spare seat in the corner, but only after ruffling Fulton's hair as she passed.
"No, not at all" Russ replied as Julie settled into the remaining seat. One beside Dean. Damn, she thought, this was going to be a long and painful detention.
"Good, now, your task for your afternoon in detention, is to write a personal reflection on yourself, and what you did to get you into this detention." Old Man Walsh began, sitting behind the big desk at the front of the room. "If I do not believe that your work is up to standard, then I will add another day onto your sentence."
The little voice inside Dean's head told him to stay quiet, but before that voice could relay the thought to the other side of the brain, Dean's mouth was open, and the words were spilling out. "Gee, a personal reflection, how Breakfast Club."
Old Man Walsh looked up from the papers that he had begun to grade. "That time I knew you said something, Mr. Portman."
Dean shrugged. "No I didn't sir"
"Yes you did" Old Man Walsh replied.
"No, sir, I didn't" Dean plastered a look of pure innocence on his face. It was a believable look, he had had many chances to practice it over the years.
Old Man Walsh sighed. "Would you like another detention, Mr. Portman?"
He shrugged again, wondering why Old Man Walsh even bothered to ask him, it was obvious to all that he would have no say in the matter either way. Again, before he could stop himself, Dean found himself talking. "Is there anything I could say that would stop you from giving me one anyway?"
"That is it, one more day" he made a note of it on one of the papers that was on the table in front of him.
"Thank you sir" Dean replied. It was like he was in a car with no brakes, rolling down a hill and beginning to gain speed, as much as Dean wanted himself to shut up, he knew that he was on a roll, and there was no way he would be able to stop himself. He would just have to crash and burn.
"What was that?" The teacher looked up.
"I said thank you, sir" Dean replied.
"Two more days" Old Man Walsh informed him happily. "And you are welcome?"
Once again, he could not stop himself from making a comment. "I suggest you write it down so you don't forget it, sir"
"I will Portman, 5 days" Walsh made a note of it.
"How about an even 6" Dean shrugged nonchalantly.
"7" Walsh replied.
"Go 8 sir, you know you want to" Dean found himself taunting.
"Is 10 enough for you?" Walsh retorted.
"Wouldn't mind 11" Dean mused, cocking his head to the side.
"12, just for you, Mr. Portman." Walsh told him, amending his notes.
Dean yawned. "Doesn't bother me"
"Good to know you wont be bothered." Old Man Walsh smirked at him. "And I am sure that 14 will not bother you either."
Dean sighed and picked up his pen, signalling to the teacher, who was beginning to look a little red in the face, that he was through answering back. Dean smiled to himself, tapped his pen against his sheet of paper and tried to work out what he was going to write in his personal reflection. He wondered if he would get away with writing the 'Brain, Athlete, Basket Case, Princess and Criminal' speech from the Breakfast Club just to get a rise out of the old man. He was just about to begin writing when he realised that it is kind of sad that he knew that speech word for word.
He looked around the room quickly, every one else had started on their personal reflections. He wondered how many of them would be doing the 'Hockey is life' analogy. That analogy could be adjusted to fit every single subject that each of them to. Dean sighed, like all other school based assignments, he had no idea what to write.
Relaxing to begin thinking, Dean began to whistle. Others in the room all looked at him, smirked and turned back to their work. Without even realising it, Dean was whistling the song from the end credits of the Breakfast Club.
"Ok, who is doing that?" Old Man Walsh exclaimed, standing and looking around the room. His eyes rested on Dean, who was leaning back a little, his hands folded behind hid head. "I should have known. Would you like another week, Mr. Portman?"
"If you want to give me another week. But just remember sir, each detention you give me is a detention that you give yourself." Dean couldn't help but reply. Sometimes he really wished that he could control his rage issues. "You have to be here to supervise me."
"That's it Portman, I have had it up to here with your…your foolish behaviour…you are not James Dean, and this…" Old Man Walsh stood from his seat and looked as though the was going to come at him and yell into his face, but he only got to steps away from the desk before he clutched his stomach and went pale. "This is not rebel without a cause, you got that. One more word out of you and…urgh"
Old Man Walsh clutched his stomach again, turned, and ran from the room.
"Portman, you are the man" Some one called. Dean could not help but laugh.
"I know, I know, autographs after class." he stood and took a bow. At his side, Julie rolled her eyes. Cocky, arrogant Dean Portman was back again. She picked up her pen, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Dean did so to.
As much as she wanted to ignore him and get this work done, there was a question that she could not leave unasked.
She leant across the gap between their desks. "You've seen the Breakfast Club?"
"Sure, have you?" Dean shrugged. He tried to act casual and not let it show that he was amazed that she was even talking to him. He was so sure that he would never again hear Julie's voice, especially after the fiasco in the hall.
"It is one of my favourites" Julie replied softly. Around the room, the ducks were taking advantage of the fact that there was no longer a teacher in the room, so Julie felt at ease with talking to him at the normal volume. "I didn't think that that would be the type of movie that would get your attention."
Dean smirked. "I am mature enough to know that it has its merits as a film that paved the way in the genre"
"Meaning"
"Meaning my little sister watched it almost every day last summer" Dean replied. "It is her favourite movie as well."
Julie chuckled. "You have a little sister?"
Once again, she realised that there were still things that she didn't know about her friends.
"Yeah" He replied, then looked at her questioningly. "You sound surprised"
"No, I am not surprised" Julie informed him casually. "I just, didn't know that, that's all"
"Well, you do now" Dean replied and picked up his pen again, ready to turn back to his personal reflection. As much as he hated Old Man Walsh, he knew that he would not be let out of the classroom without some sort of personal reflection to hand to the grumpy old teacher who was, as his detention class sat gossiping, emptying his bowels for what was definitely not the first time that day.
"What's her name?" Julie asked. Dean's jaw dropped, and he quickly closed it before she could see the shock. She was actually talking to him, engaging him in conversation. He had been sure that she would hate him so badly today.
"Who? My sister?" He asked, and she nodded. Dean took almost a minute before he replied. "Joanna"
"You don't seem to sure about that" Julie smiled. It was odd that he had taken so long to remember his own sisters name.
"It is because we don't call her Joanna very often" Dean explained to her.
Julie nodded. Sure, she was still annoyed at him from the day before, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. "What do you call her?"
"Dean" Portman smiled proudly.
Julie blinked. Joanna Portman's nickname was Dean. So that meant that there were two Dean Portman's in that family? "Doesn't that get confusing?"
Dean shrugged. "Not really, my parents don't call me Dean when I am at home."
"Then what do they call you" She asked.
Dean smiled a little to himself. Yesterday she had been telling him that he annoyed her beyond belief, and today she was asking for an explanation to things that he had not even explained to his close friends. Once again, he shook his head and told himself that he would never, ever, for as long as he lived, understand women and the way that their brains worked. "All due respect to your inquisitive nature Julie, but why do you want to know?"
"I don't know, it is just, interesting, is all." Julie replied, picking up her pen and turning back to her own work. He saw her turn to her work and wish that he had not said that. He didn't mind telling her these things, because at least he knew that she was talking to him. "Sorry, didn't mean to be pushy"
"Its ok" He sighed. "I just thought that you were not talking to me because I am so annoying"
She paused and looked at him. There was a slight look of panic in her eyes, and she cleared her throat quickly. "Well, I am not talking to you, you are annoying"
"Didn't think so a few minutes ago" Dean mumbled.
"Actually, I did, you annoyed Old Man Walsh into running out of here sick" Julie replied. She could not believe that she just sounded like she was defending the annoying old teacher. Julie could not believe that he was turning this into a fight between them, again. Fighting was all they ever did these days.
"No, the laxative did that" Dean replied, smiling. "But nice angle, I literally annoyed the shit out of him…"
"See, You are annoying" Julie growled.
"Hey…" Dean was just about to get defensive. It seemed no matter what, they would end up fighting. He was glad that the others conversations around them soon drowned out their little fight before either of them said anything that they would regret.
"Hey Fulton." Charlie's voice cut through the din of the classroom, making almost every one quiet down to listen to what Captain Duck had to say. He was yelling from the other side of the room, so it would have to be something important. "Do you remember the last time the ducks were all in a detention like this?"
"Yeah?" Fulton smiled.
Averman, Goldberg, Guy, Charlie and Fulton all smiled together and chorused "I will not quack at the principal"
"Huh?" Ken asked.
"Yeah, explain it for those of us who are new" Luis added, looking at the original Ducks as though they were crazy.
"Hey, this is nothing about being new" Adam told him, with the same look of confusion on his face. "I don't even know what they are on about"
"Because you have been in preppy schools all your life Cake eater" Goldberg laughed, doing an almost perfect impersonation of Jesse Hall
"So come on, y'all, some one tell us what happened" Dwayne told them.
"We quacked at the principal" Fulton replied.
Julie's jaw dropped. "You what?"
"Calm down, it wasn't that bad." Charlie replied from the front of the room. "We were all in science, and the Ducks had hit their first rough patch. Fight broke out…"
Guy then took over from his friend. "Long story short, when the principal came to reprimand us, we quacked at her"
"Fun times, those were, fun times" Averman smiled.
"Yeah, but Bombay isn't going to come and bail us out of this detention, is he?" Fulton asked. The other original ducks nodded sadly.
Guy dramatically fell to his knees and held his hands in a gesture of prayer. "Please god, if you are listening, send us some one to get us out of this god forsaken detention"
The door opened and Meredith entered. "Here you all are!"
Everyone cheered. "Meredith"
Guy raised his gaze heavenly. "God, I will never doubt you again"
"Yeah Guy, pray for a million dollars" Averman told him.
"How did 12 of you manage to get a detention on the same day." Meredith asked, outraged. She began to pace the front of the room. "12 of the 13 ducks are in this room, how did you all get a detention together?
"Ducks fly together" Adam told her, smiling.
Meredith groaned. "Guys, this is no joking matter, you are all suppose to be at a rehearsal, this is my time"
"You said you would fail us if we didn't show up!" Russ exclaimed. Meredith held her hand up to calm the boy a little.
"And I wont, I cant." She admitted, and each of them breathed a sigh of relief. "But I also cant run a practice with only 6 people. All my lead actors are in this room!"
Luis grinned. "Well, get us out and we will come to practice"
"You want me to break you out of detention?" Meredith asked, shocked.
"No. We want you to offer to take over the supervision of our detention." Goldberg explained to her. "Meaning, get us out of here and let us go practice the play"
Meredith sat on the desk at the front of the room in her usual fashion. It seemed she was always sitting on desks, no matter where she was. "What did you do first?"
"Well, umm, you know the mysterious sickness that took Old Man Walsh?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah, he has been running to the rest rooms all afternoon" She looked around the room, amazed. "You guys did that?"
"Yeah" all the boys admitted. Meredith burst into hysterical laughter.
"Well done!" She stood and clapped. Meredith didn't mind the occasional prank every now and then, and she had to admit that although Gareth Walsh was a staff member and deserved her respected, she could not hate him more. "How did you do it?"
Russ, the originator of the prank told her proudly. "Extra strength liquid laxative in his coffee"
"Oh, that is classic!" She laughed again. "I wish I had thought of that…"
"Problem was, we got caught" Ken told her.
"Yeah, see, I wouldn't have done that" Meredith smiled. She looked around the room. All the boys, Julie and some other girl that she didn't know (picking up the name list that Old Man Walsh had left on the table, she worked out that her name was Rebecca Roman) were here, but Meredith highly doubted that Julie or Rebecca were involved in the prank. "You are all in here for this?"
"All except Julie and Beck, they were not involved?" Fulton told her.
"Yeah, why are you here Gaffney?" Russ looked over his shoulder at her.
"Moral support" Dean mumbled.
Julie glared at Dean. "I skipped a class yesterday"
"You what?" Dean asked, in fake amazement. Julie rolled her eyes, he knew that she had skipped a class the day before, because the lesson that she had missed was the lesson that they had been in the hall, arguing and kissing and arguing and annoying the hell out of each other. "Wow, didn't think I would ever see the day that that happened"
"So, you going to get us out of here" Averman asked, ignoring his team mates and turning back to Meredith.
"I will see what I can do" She sighed. Meredith looked around the room quickly. "So, where is Walshie?"
Dwayne smiled to himself. "One guess"
When the door opened again, a very pale looking Old Man Walsh stumbled into the room. He looked around the room quickly, making sure that no one had done a runner, and then stopped when he realised that Meredith was sitting on his desk. Old Man Walsh straightened, smiled and approached her.
"Meredith, to what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Just wondering what I will have to do to get the entire cast of my production of out of this room." She asked, standing from the desk when he sat at it.
"Sorry, that will not be happening" Old Man Walsh told her, pulling a stack of papers that he had to grade towards him. He picked up his pen and tried to ignore the full class, and the other teacher that looked about ready to scream.
"Why not?" Meredith asked him.
"Each of the boys owe me 10 days, except for Mr. Portman, who owes me 30 days" Walsh explained to her.
At the back of the room, Portman raised his hand. "It was only 24 days sir"
"Well, now it is 30" Old Man Walsh replied, and Dean rolled his eyes as he saw the teacher write something down on the sheet of paper he had used to record Dean's new detention days. "Does that bother you, Mr. Portman."
"That is unfair Gareth" Meredith exclaimed, interrupting the discussion. She could tell by the look in Dean's eyes that he was just about to get up and protest, and that would just land him with about a thousand more days of detention. "And you know it"
"Unfair?" Walsh looked up at her, and suddenly, the maniacal look in his eyes was back. "No, I seem to believe it is justice"
"Right, so my boys are trapped in here for the next few weeks. What about Jules?" Meredith asked.
"Jules?" Walsh asked, he looked down at the list and then nodded. "Oh, yes, Miss Gaffney, she is only here for today"
"Cant it be arranged that the boys come and do their detentions with me?" Meredith asked her. The students could tell that Meredith was trying to keep her own anger in check.
"I am sorry, the Dean's strict orders. Afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays, lunch time detentions when they have hockey practice after school, and Saturdays till their time is up" Old Man Walsh stood, his hands pressed against the desk, so that he could lean over it and toward her. Meredith leant back a little and away from him. "Sorry Meredith, that is the way that it has to be, you can have your actors back in two weeks"
"Two weeks" Meredith exclaimed. "You don't understand, they preform on stage in a few weeks, they will not be ready if you take away their after school practices"
"One practice less a week will do no damage" he told her.
"Not true Gareth, you don't understand, these kids suck." Meredith told him. It was not true, she was pleasantly surprised by the acting ability and the way that these kids were able to absorb the information she was giving them, but she though that maybe if she told him that they were bad, he would take pity and let them get out of the detentions, at least on Tuesdays.
"We do?" Dwayne asked, some one poked him in the side. "Ok, we do"
"That is not my problem Meredith." Old Man Walsh informed her. "You should have known their ability before you began training them in the arts."
"Fine." Meredith sighed, crossing her arms across her chest. "So there is really nothing I can do"
Old Man Walsh came across to the other side of he table and stood before her. Meredith tried to take a step back from the man that was invading his personal space, but it was no good. Old Man Walsh, his gaze focused on her chest, smiled grossly at her and ran her hand down her arm. It made her shiver in disgust. "Well, there is…"
"Gareth, that is unprofessional and…icky." Meredith stepped back from Old Man Walsh and wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her arms to get rid of the chill that had set itself deep in her bones. Casually, Meredith turned to see all the boys in the room standing, each looked livid, about ready to beat up their teacher. "Boys, sit down, I am fine"
"Are you sure, it looked like he was putting the Mendoza moves on you" Portman told her. Fulton nodded in agreement.
"What's that Portman? Another week" Old Man Walsh asked, there was no question that he was feeling the sting of rejection and embarrassment, but also, if looks could kill, he they would have already convicted the room full of teenagers with murder. Meredith had to wonder if anyone would blame them for killing him.
Meredith sighed, steadied herself with a deep breath, but did not move from where she was standing between Charlie and Adam's desks. She was suddenly scared to be in the same room as Old Man Walsh. Meredith looked over her shoulder at the bash brothers sitting at the back of the room, wondering if it would be wise to go and stand between them. At least then she may have felt a little safer. "Cant they just do a lunch time detention on Tuesdays?"
"Why don't you do a lunch time practice on Tuesdays?" He told her.
"Sir, the string quartet practices in the auditorium on Tuesdays at lunch" A voice from the back of the room told them. Meredith turned to the girl that she didn't recognise, obviously Rebecca Roman, and smiled at her.
"There, see, space taken by the string quartet" Meredith replied.
"And what is wrong with your classroom?" Old Man Walsh asked her gruffly.
"It is so small for a production of this size" she explained.
"Then I am sorry, but they will not be coming to practices on Tuesdays" he told her with finality.
"My ass they wont" Meredith exclaimed, crossing the room to the doorway. "I will just have to speak to the Dean about this"
"And I already know what he will say." Old Man Walsh told her.
"Yeah, that it is important that these students, who will be representing this educational establishment to the general public, must be able to preform to the best of their ability." She replied. "Lost of big Dean type words for Tuesdays, these kids are mine."
"Fine Meredith, be a child and take it that far." He told her, shaking his head. "Go crying to the Dean"
"I will" Meredith told her colleague, stamping her foot like a toddler. She then turned to the class. "Sit tight Ducks, I may have you out of here by the end of the day"
"Meredith, we are nominating you for sainthood!" Goldberg announced. Meredith grinned, then left the room and closed the door behind her.
"Why are you all just sitting there?" Old Man Walsh exclaimed, turning back to the class who were all still smiling from their teachers last comment. "Get to work. I expect a personal reflection from each of you on my desk before you leave this afternoon"
Each of the ducks picked up their pens and turned to the sheets of paper before them. No one in the room had really written anything on their papers, and they were all now scribbling anything that they could think of, explaining what they were thinking.
Julie didn't know what she was going to write. Her mind was in a thousand places at once. She thought that maybe she could write about my life as though it was hockey, but then she also thought that Adam and Charlie would take that angle, since hockey really was their life, and always would be their life. Julie could not help but curse the fact that she only had a few more years until hockey would no longer be her life. She could play through high school, and maybe through collage if she was accepted into one of the two collages in the country that had female hockey teams, but other then that, she would have to stop. There was no Female National Hockey League, no career, she had no future in the sport. And that made her sad. Hockey was as much her life as it was the lives of the others on the team. If she wasn't hockey, she was no one.
Julie wondered briefly what Dean would be writing about. She also wondered why on earth she cared. She didn't have time to worry about what he was doing, because she had to do her own work. If she didn't, then she would have to come back and do another Detention. Detentions, although they were a new experience to her, it was something that she knew that she would not like to do again any time soon. Especially with a teacher like Old Man Walsh. She had never realised how sleazy the old man was.
As soon as she and Rebecca had walked in, his demeanour had changed. She could tell that before they had entered, the old man had been very unpleasant to the boys, then, he became different. There was a different look in his eyes as he looked at her and Rebecca. It was unsettling. And then he had, oh my god, he had touched Meredith. Julie was surprised that Meredith had not broken the older man's hands, but she could also tell that her English teacher was in shock. Scared to, Julie had seen the look of longing Meredith had as she quickly eyed the spot between the bash brothers desks. Julie had to admit that if she was in the same position, then she would want to be protected by them to.
Julie only hoped that Meredith was smart enough to tell the Dean about what had happened. She didn't think that she would ever be able to be comfortable in the presence of Old Man Walsh. The combination of the look in his eyes and the fear in Meredith's had been enough to make her skin crawl. What if a student was next to be propositioned by the pervert. Men like that should not be able to work in schools.
After ten minutes of thinking, Julie finally began writing. Suddenly, She knew what she wanted to say, how he wanted to say it, and as soon as she put her pen to paper, the thoughts flowed easily. It was not a personal reflection, it was a letter to the Dean, telling him what she had seen, and relaying her fears for the female population of the school.
Soon after, the door was thrown open, and a very happy (and a lot calmer) Meredith entered.
"Pens down Ducks" She announced, and they all cheered. "We have a rehearsal to get to"
"Sit down Ducks" Old Man Walsh told them, and the few that had had the time to stand up all sat down again. "Meredith, what is the meaning of this?"
"The Dean saw it my way, this is a note from him informing you that the Ducks are mine on a Tuesday afternoon" She grinned, handing over the folded note. "Oh, and look at this, it is Tuesday. I would appreciate it if you would dismiss my Duckies."
Old Man Walsh frowned as he read the note.
Meredith interrupted his reading. "Also, the Dean wishes to discuss a matter of … some importance with you, so you have to go see him as soon as you can. "
"Some one's in trouble" Ken smiled "Gross old pervert"
Julie sighed in relief, and then smiled at Ken. It was good to know that she wasn't the only one in the class who thought that it was gross and wrong that Old Man Walsh had done to Meredith.
"Please leave your personal reflections, completed or not, on my desk, you will each be finishing them in your next detention." Old Man Walsh told them, his voice wavering a little. A almost everyone stood and made their way to the front of the room, dropping their half completed reflections on the table.
Meredith looked around the room, her gaze resting on the girl in the back corner, who had just said a quick goodbye to Fulton. The young woman looked pale and some what sick. Meredith recognised the look in the young girls eyes, and even the look that she caught quickly in Fulton's gaze as he walked past her. "Miss Roman, I would like you to come along also"
"Me?" Rebecca looked up, surprised and a little relieved.
"Now, Meredith, she is not in your class" Old Man Walsh told her.
"But she is a musician" Meredith replied. There was also no way in hell that she would leave Rebecca alone in a room with the pervert. She would never be able to live with herself if something happened to the young woman. "Am I correct?"
"Yes Ma'am" Rebecca nodded.
"Please, call me Meredith" She grinned at the girl, who still looked a little shocked. Meredith made her way to the back of the room, and sat on the desk in front of her, facing Rebecca so that they would have a conversation. "You play guitar?"
"Yes"
"And you are a member of the string quartet?" Meredith asked.
"Yes, I play the violin and the cello" Rebecca replied. Meredith smiled. "Violin mostly"
"You would have a good ear for music then?" Meredith asked. Rebecca quickly nodded. "That's good, well…"
"Rebecca" she told Meredith.
"Rebecca, I would like to offer you the role of Music supervisor in the production of Romeo and Juliet." Meredith announced.
Rebecca smiled brightly and looked at Old Man Walsh, who was sitting at his desk again. She leant forward a little and whispered to Meredith. "Does it get me out of detention?"
"of course it does" Meredith replied in a low tone. "I would never leave you here with him. So, what do you say?"
Rebecca stood and packed her things quickly. "Then I accept"
"Good, come along" Meredith smiled, and her and Rebecca made their way to the door.
"Wait, Meredith" Old Man Walsh began.
"Bye Gareth, have a nice day." Meredith replied cheerfully, exiting the room. In the hall, Meredith did a head count. She had just busted 12 ducks and a musician out of detention, but only 12 kids stood in the hall. Dean was missing. She poked her head back into the classroom to see the enforcer still seated, scribbling something on the sheet of paper in front of him. "Come on Portman"
"Give me a second, one more line and I am finished my personal reflection" He finished the line, put the lid back on his pen and slipped it into his pocket. He then made his way forward and handed the sheet of paper to the teacher, who hopefully, would not be on the staff for that much longer. "They you go sir, I hope that this is up to your very high standards"
When he got to the door, Old Man Walsh called him back. "Portman"
"Yes sir?"
"What is this" He asked, indicating to the paper.
"A personal reflection in the form of a poem. By Dean. W. Portman." Dean smiled brightly. "Inspired by Dr Seuss."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A personal Reflection in the form of a poem, By Dean W Portman
Inspired by Dr. Seuss
I am Dean Portman,
Dean Portman I am
I do not like green eggs and ham
I do not like them, Dean Portman I am.
I do like a girl named Julie
I believe she is rather coolie
She does not like green eggs and ham
Dean does not like them, Dean Portman I am.
Julie and I play hockey
She believes I am rather cocky
I do not think I am
I do not think so, Dean Portman I am.
Green eggs and Ham, green eggs and Ham
I do not like them, dean Portman I am
Dean Portman I am, Dean Portman I am
Dean Portman who hates, green eggs and ham.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That last section was Dean's personal reflection.
I was eating pixie sticks when I wrote that bit, but it cracked me up so much I had to let you all read it.
Shout outs.
BloodyRaine. - I want a friend like Fulton to. I always have. I guy who would cut class to spend time with the room mate of a friend, just because she needed some one to talk to. And he is artistic ("Bread boxes with hand carved trim"). Glad you like it, because Fulton will be in this story more. He wasn't, but now he will be.
Pixie13 - I think I would die if someone I know read my stories to. I write them for me, and as well as for others, but not necessarily for my friends. I fear that the comment, "Oh my god, only a loser would care about the personal life of a fictional character" would be brought into the conversation. But that is cool. Now I have fan fic friends (like you, yay). And I do love your stuff. It takes a lot of talent to write slash. I have tried it a few times, but I can never get it to feel right to me. Not that I am against slash, the opposite actually, I like it. But…well, you know what I mean. This was the detention chapter, hope it was up to standard. I loved writing this one, so I hope others like reading it. Next chapter may have something of interest in it for you. So there, I updated, now you just have to review. I agree, long live writing and expression of ourselves through story. Some use music, some use violence, we use fiction.
And one last note, I realised I have totally neglected Connie, so she is in the next chapter.
