Disclaimer: I do not own Recess!

Spinelli Woods, Esq.: Thanks! Well, things always get worse b4 they get better, as you'll see in this chappie! Keep reading!

Fantasy3: Thanks, our class came up with it in dedication to this boy in our class with cancer. Very sweet...hope ya keep reading!

angel9220042004: Thanks, hope ya keep reading!

Chapter Nineteen: Day of Decision

That Monday morning, everyone showed up for their first hour class–except Sammi. Since she was the class president, she had to go to the meeting that the parents and Skinner were having with Prickly that morning. When it was all over, she would tell them what the big decision was about graduation.

The kids were a little surprised to see a substitute in place of Mrs. Mitchells–except for T.J. of course. He had a feeling that she would take off a few days to get over the shock of her son being missing in action. Nobody else in his class knew about it, and hopefully it would stay that way. He didn't want any rumors spreading around or anything.

It wasn't until the middle of second hour that Sammi finally came back from the meeting. Everyone jumped up to hear what she had to say as soon as she walked in, but unfortunately she didn't jump up to tell them. In fact, she looked a little upset. Hustler Kid gave her a worried look, never having seen her look this way.

"Hey, what happened?" he asked, getting the feeling that it was something bad.

"We lost," was all she said–for the moment. Everyone stared at her in disbelief. They lost? What did that mean?

"Uh, sweetheart, you're going to have to enlighten us," Hustler Kid joked as lightly as possible.

Sammi plopped down in an empty desk before beginning her story. "First, I'll tell you guys what the plan for graduation is. You might want to hold on to something, because I nearly fell out when I heard."

Everyone prepared themselves for some bad news. Sammi finally said, "We're having graduation here at Ronald Reagan High, but that's not the worst part. The overflow of people, which are those that can't fit into the auditorium itself, are going to have to sit in our stuffy cramped gym and watch graduation from a projection screen, with cables reaching from both buildings."

Nobody said anything for a minute. The shock of this unexpected outcome was too much for them.

"A projection screen?" Vince asked, not sure if he believed it. "How in the world is that supposed to work out?"

"After all the letters and meetings and all that other junk," Spinelli started, feeling her temper rise. "That pompous jerk STILL won!"

"This is so SCANDALOUS!" the Ashley's gasped, in horror that they would have to suffer graduation in the auditorium.

"And everyone gets a packet of fifteen tickets to pass out to people," Sammi continued. "So, when they arrive at the door, some teacher will be collecting them. Those that don't have one will be kicked out and will have to go to the gym."

"That is so cruel and unusual!" Gus exclaimed. T.J. couldn't help but think that that sounded like something Mikey would've said.

"I can't believe this!" T.J. glared. "I thought Skinner and the parents were supposed to be helping us!"

"Yeah, right, Skinner was the one who suggested the stupid idea," Sammi muttered, laying her head on Hustler Kid's shoulder. "And then the parents were all like, Wow that's a really good compromise. Let's go for it!"

"A compromise between WHAT?" Gretchen wanted to know. "The only thing that happened was letting Prickly have his way, and then getting the parents to go along with it!"

"Just wait until graduation practice," Upside-Down Girl growled. "We'll show them how we feel about this!"

T.J. sighed. "The least these guys can do for us is let us do the programming how WE want it, and let us choose decor and all."

"They had better," Ashley A stated, pulling a tangle from her blonde hair. "Those school officials have NO taste in ornamentation."

"I don't care about THAT," Spinelli replied. "I'm just ticked about the whole thing! Next thing you know, they'll be telling the guys making speeches to make them over five minutes long!"

"Oh well, at least we have Hank and Miss Finster's party to look forward to," Gus reminded them, trying to liven spirits.

"Hey, I forgot about that!" Vince admitted. "We can still have SOME fun this year."
"Yep, spring break is just the break we need," T.J. agreed. "And nothing beats spring break than having a party–thrown cost free!"

"Yeah, and how can we forget the senior reception next Friday?" Spinelli muttered, not really looking forward to it.

Whoa, what a scandalous decision those adults made? What were they thinking, you ask? Don't look at me, I'm still confused over that issue. But they all still have a party to look forward to! Keep reading, and don't forget to review!