Fillmore sat slumped in his chair. He was trying to hide the fact that he wasn't doing his homework. Instead, he had been reading the copy of "Bullies of the Night" that he'd taken from the creative writing fan club. It was the story of a seventh grade boy being tracked down, robbed of his lunch money every day, and still given a thrashing every day. He envies the bully, because he has so much more strength than him. But then, the bully is involved in a car accident that paralyzes him from the neck down. Through a turn of events, the two become best of friends.
"Mr. Fillmore," said Fillmore's English teacher. "You haven't been paying attention to a word I've said, have you? Can you even name me the indirect object in this sentence?" He slapped his stick on the chalkboard where the sentence, "I handed the dog a bone."
"Dawg," Fillmore said. The Teacher snorted, and then reluctantly continued his lesson.
Fillmore hadn't answered the question, though. He was just surprised that someone at X-middle school could write something so moving. This story had feeling; it was a good read; all in all, it was a good story.
"All right class," said the teacher. "No homework today. Just work on the story that's due at the end of the month." The bell rang, and everyone but Fillmore filed out of the room. Fillmore was still busy reading the story.
"School's over, Mr. Fillmore," the teacher said. "You can go home now."
Fillmore caught himself. "Oh, right," he said, shoving the story into his backpack. "Sorry, I lost track of time reading this."
"What were you reading?" the teacher asked.
"'Bullies of the Night' by Chase Kristofer. It's actually quite good."
"Well, if that's what you were reading, I guess I can understand why you weren't paying attention in class."
"Sorry," said Fillmore, but the teacher shook his head. "Don't be. That story is an embalmment of everything I'll teach you this year. If anything, I should be commending you for reading that." The Teacher leaned back in his chair. "Almost everything Chase has done has been what I'd call mastery. I was the creative writing judge that year, and when I read that story, I instantly fell in love with it. Mind you, that's only ever happened to me once before, and only with Shakespeare's 'Mac Beth.' The kid's got great potential, which is why I'm so disappointed that he hasn't been turning in all his assignments for a week."
"Chase has been experiencing some bully problems," Fillmore explained.
"Oh, you're kidding!" the teacher said. He was completely shocked. "I was giving him zeros on all the assignments he didn't turn in! I feel horrible now. Gee, thanks for telling me; I didn't know."
Fillmore smiled. "No problem. But I got to get going. See ya."
"Hey, you're smiling," said the teacher. "That's a big difference from when you came into my class earlier." Fillmore quickly caught himself and returned to his frown. He left without saying anything else to the teacher.
Almost immediately after he left the English classroom, Fillmore turned on his walkie-talkie. He pushed the button on the side, and said, "Ingrid, this is Fillmore. Do you copy?" He was answered with static. "Ingrid, this is Fillmore, over." Still static.
Fillmore turned his walkie-talkie off, and placed it back in his backpack. Ingrid's walkie-talkie had never been off before. But he needed to tell her about "the cove."
He ran quickly to the safety patrol office. But reaching there, he was greeted only by Danny O'Farrel, a red headed safety patrol.
"Hey Fillmore! How's it goin'?" he asked in his squeaky voice. Fillmore didn't answer, but blurted out, "Where's Ingrid?"
"She's out with the new kid looking for you," O'Farrel said. Fillmore raised an eyebrow. "If she's looking for me," he said, "then why doesn't she have her walkie-talkie on?"
"She does have it on," O'Farrel said, "but Vallejo told us all to switch to channel 5 on the walkie-talkies. I don't know why."
I do, Fillmore thought. He's intent on alienating me from the force for that stupid forced vacation.
"Thanks," Fillmore said to O'Farrel.
"Anytime."
Fillmore left the office and pulled his walkie-talkie back out. He switched it to channel 5, pushed the button, and said "Ingrid, are you there?"
The walkie-talkie emitted static, followed by, "Hello Fillmore. What's up?" from Ingrid on the other side.
Fillmore pushed the button on his walkie-talkie again. "Ingrid, I was playing with your interrogation with Bruce, and I found out the he said, 'Meet Victoria at the cove.' It was a bit fuzzy, so it's not exactly what he said. Do you have any ideas?"
"There's no coves around X-middle school; the nearest large body of water is 100 miles away," said Ingrid.
"Maybe he's taking about a place called 'the cove' or something like it."
"He might mean the 'Coffee Cove' down on 6th street," Ingrid offered.
"Yeah, maybe. Meet me down there in ten minutes."
"Fillmore, let me and my new partner handle it. Folsom said she'd expel you..."
"Folsom said she'd expel me if I was caught skipping school. There's nothing she can do to me for going to a coffee shop after school hours," Fillmore said. Chase Kristofer attracted his gaze. Chase was running toward Fillmore with a paper in his hand. "Fillmore, over and out," said Fillmore, and then turned the walkie-talkie off.
"Officer Fillmore," Chase yelled, "I've been threatened. Look at this, it was slipped into my locker earlier today?"
Fillmore opened the paper. Written on it, in dark pencil marking, was, "Hey worm, you've gone and made me angry! You shouldn't have gotten safety patrol involved! You have three days to get them off my back, or you'll be in pain!"
Fillmore pocketed the note. "Thanks," he said, "but this doesn't prove anything, I'm afraid. Just let me go now, and your bully will be apprehended."
"Thank you," said Chase Kristofer, as Fillmore ran out the front doors of the school down to 6th street. The Coffee Cove was closing in 15 minutes, and Ingrid was standing at the front door when Fillmore showed up.
"Where's your new partner?" Fillmore asked Ingrid. Ingrid jerked her head in the direction of the coffee shop. "Is your new partner as good as me?"
"We can't worry about that now," said Ingrid. "We've spotted Bruce Storm and Victoria Winters and table 5. But the coffee shop's closing in 15 minutes."
Ingrid and Fillmore went inside. There they found the new kid, crouching behind a decorative fern, located conveniently near table 5. Ingrid and Fillmore joined him.
"How are you today officer?" Fillmore asked.
"Please," Ingrid's partner replied. "Call me Jake."
----------------
Authors Notes: Well, that obviously closes the new kid search. Sorry Teazer, but the new kid just works better as a male. Don't worry though, your character will make an appearance in a future chapter, though. She's going to be very important for the ending. Also people, don't expect me to stop after this story, okay. You'll all get another chance when I write some more to get your name in writing. This story is coming close to the end, so I'm already going to tell you, be on the lookout for my next story. I'll try to do another whole mystery, but I can't make any promises about that.
P.S. To me, all reviews are welcome, no matter how many times you ask me to update.
"Mr. Fillmore," said Fillmore's English teacher. "You haven't been paying attention to a word I've said, have you? Can you even name me the indirect object in this sentence?" He slapped his stick on the chalkboard where the sentence, "I handed the dog a bone."
"Dawg," Fillmore said. The Teacher snorted, and then reluctantly continued his lesson.
Fillmore hadn't answered the question, though. He was just surprised that someone at X-middle school could write something so moving. This story had feeling; it was a good read; all in all, it was a good story.
"All right class," said the teacher. "No homework today. Just work on the story that's due at the end of the month." The bell rang, and everyone but Fillmore filed out of the room. Fillmore was still busy reading the story.
"School's over, Mr. Fillmore," the teacher said. "You can go home now."
Fillmore caught himself. "Oh, right," he said, shoving the story into his backpack. "Sorry, I lost track of time reading this."
"What were you reading?" the teacher asked.
"'Bullies of the Night' by Chase Kristofer. It's actually quite good."
"Well, if that's what you were reading, I guess I can understand why you weren't paying attention in class."
"Sorry," said Fillmore, but the teacher shook his head. "Don't be. That story is an embalmment of everything I'll teach you this year. If anything, I should be commending you for reading that." The Teacher leaned back in his chair. "Almost everything Chase has done has been what I'd call mastery. I was the creative writing judge that year, and when I read that story, I instantly fell in love with it. Mind you, that's only ever happened to me once before, and only with Shakespeare's 'Mac Beth.' The kid's got great potential, which is why I'm so disappointed that he hasn't been turning in all his assignments for a week."
"Chase has been experiencing some bully problems," Fillmore explained.
"Oh, you're kidding!" the teacher said. He was completely shocked. "I was giving him zeros on all the assignments he didn't turn in! I feel horrible now. Gee, thanks for telling me; I didn't know."
Fillmore smiled. "No problem. But I got to get going. See ya."
"Hey, you're smiling," said the teacher. "That's a big difference from when you came into my class earlier." Fillmore quickly caught himself and returned to his frown. He left without saying anything else to the teacher.
Almost immediately after he left the English classroom, Fillmore turned on his walkie-talkie. He pushed the button on the side, and said, "Ingrid, this is Fillmore. Do you copy?" He was answered with static. "Ingrid, this is Fillmore, over." Still static.
Fillmore turned his walkie-talkie off, and placed it back in his backpack. Ingrid's walkie-talkie had never been off before. But he needed to tell her about "the cove."
He ran quickly to the safety patrol office. But reaching there, he was greeted only by Danny O'Farrel, a red headed safety patrol.
"Hey Fillmore! How's it goin'?" he asked in his squeaky voice. Fillmore didn't answer, but blurted out, "Where's Ingrid?"
"She's out with the new kid looking for you," O'Farrel said. Fillmore raised an eyebrow. "If she's looking for me," he said, "then why doesn't she have her walkie-talkie on?"
"She does have it on," O'Farrel said, "but Vallejo told us all to switch to channel 5 on the walkie-talkies. I don't know why."
I do, Fillmore thought. He's intent on alienating me from the force for that stupid forced vacation.
"Thanks," Fillmore said to O'Farrel.
"Anytime."
Fillmore left the office and pulled his walkie-talkie back out. He switched it to channel 5, pushed the button, and said "Ingrid, are you there?"
The walkie-talkie emitted static, followed by, "Hello Fillmore. What's up?" from Ingrid on the other side.
Fillmore pushed the button on his walkie-talkie again. "Ingrid, I was playing with your interrogation with Bruce, and I found out the he said, 'Meet Victoria at the cove.' It was a bit fuzzy, so it's not exactly what he said. Do you have any ideas?"
"There's no coves around X-middle school; the nearest large body of water is 100 miles away," said Ingrid.
"Maybe he's taking about a place called 'the cove' or something like it."
"He might mean the 'Coffee Cove' down on 6th street," Ingrid offered.
"Yeah, maybe. Meet me down there in ten minutes."
"Fillmore, let me and my new partner handle it. Folsom said she'd expel you..."
"Folsom said she'd expel me if I was caught skipping school. There's nothing she can do to me for going to a coffee shop after school hours," Fillmore said. Chase Kristofer attracted his gaze. Chase was running toward Fillmore with a paper in his hand. "Fillmore, over and out," said Fillmore, and then turned the walkie-talkie off.
"Officer Fillmore," Chase yelled, "I've been threatened. Look at this, it was slipped into my locker earlier today?"
Fillmore opened the paper. Written on it, in dark pencil marking, was, "Hey worm, you've gone and made me angry! You shouldn't have gotten safety patrol involved! You have three days to get them off my back, or you'll be in pain!"
Fillmore pocketed the note. "Thanks," he said, "but this doesn't prove anything, I'm afraid. Just let me go now, and your bully will be apprehended."
"Thank you," said Chase Kristofer, as Fillmore ran out the front doors of the school down to 6th street. The Coffee Cove was closing in 15 minutes, and Ingrid was standing at the front door when Fillmore showed up.
"Where's your new partner?" Fillmore asked Ingrid. Ingrid jerked her head in the direction of the coffee shop. "Is your new partner as good as me?"
"We can't worry about that now," said Ingrid. "We've spotted Bruce Storm and Victoria Winters and table 5. But the coffee shop's closing in 15 minutes."
Ingrid and Fillmore went inside. There they found the new kid, crouching behind a decorative fern, located conveniently near table 5. Ingrid and Fillmore joined him.
"How are you today officer?" Fillmore asked.
"Please," Ingrid's partner replied. "Call me Jake."
----------------
Authors Notes: Well, that obviously closes the new kid search. Sorry Teazer, but the new kid just works better as a male. Don't worry though, your character will make an appearance in a future chapter, though. She's going to be very important for the ending. Also people, don't expect me to stop after this story, okay. You'll all get another chance when I write some more to get your name in writing. This story is coming close to the end, so I'm already going to tell you, be on the lookout for my next story. I'll try to do another whole mystery, but I can't make any promises about that.
P.S. To me, all reviews are welcome, no matter how many times you ask me to update.