Punishment Part 2
Ms. Young got up blowing on her semi-wet nails, and leaned against the front of her desk. "First of all I want to apologize."
Sue was confused and asked, "Ok, why?"
"I know I told you I needed your help because all my graders have been laid off…well, why that is true, that's not why I asked you here." Sue was getting a bit nervous now. What was this all about she wondered. "I read the note," Ms. Young explained. Sue immediately thought about Ben screwing her over. "Now don't blame Ben. I pretty much had it figured out before I even talked to him." Ms. Young almost laughed out loud at that statement because she had no clue till Ben explained the situation to her. "Is it true you invited him to the janitor's closet?"
Sue was totally embarrassed, but it was true. Damn Ben she thought to herself; he was supposed to cover my ass. Nervously she answered, "That's correct Ms. Young. I was the one who wrote the note, and passed it to Ben."
Ms. Young smiled and said, "I'm glad you told me the truth Sue." Ms. Young loved seeing Sue squirm a bit. Take my man will you; I don't think so she thought to herself. "Ok, this janitor's closet, where exactly is it?"
"At the end of this hallway outside." She answered in a guilty voice while pointing in the closets direction.
'Hmm, well I've never been in it; what's so great about it," Ms. Young questioned while moving her hair out of her face. Sue hesitated, since she didn't know how to answer that question. "Let me clarify Sue. I'm going to assume you weren't inviting Ben to collect cleaning supplies to scrub the school's toilets. Am I close on that one?" Sue suddenly burst out loud into laughter. Ms. Young's eyes went wide with surprise at her reaction. "Did I miss the joke Sue," she asked in a harsh tone.
"No, no, Ms. Young. I'm sorry. You're totally right I didn't invite Ben to scrub toilets. I would never scrub a toilet; that's disgusting," she declared.
Ms. Young leaning on her desk thought to herself this little princess needs a good smack across the face. "Focus Monica," she whispered to herself. This is one of your students here, and you have responsibilities. She didn't hate Sue, but when she looked at her she couldn't help but be reminded of her first love affair ending in disaster. The cheerleader she despised in college that stole her boyfriend at the time. She was truly in love with the guy; after three years together she was thinking graduation, and then a wedding. The cheerleader seduced him and then dumped him just to ruin her relationship. It worked too, he did come back to her, but it was ruined. It wasn't so much how Sue looked as it was her demeanor, and her attitude towards men. Ms. Young could see that type a mile away. "All right I going to assume again, and say you invited him there for some kind of sexual contact?"
"Some kissing maybe; no big deal," she said as she shrugged her shoulders.
In disbelief Ms. Young asked, "No big deal?" She walked around her desk, and flipped through a few papers. She picked one up and walked near to Sue. She read out loud, "One in three girls has sexual intercourse while in high school. One in six gets pregnant." She looked down at her, "Sue this is a big deal; don't even get me started on STD's. I've got a ton of information here," she said as she walked back to her desk while waving the piece of paper. Sue thought to herself what is this crap; whoopee you can use the internet. "I know, so what if Ms. Young has a subscription to WebMD, and printed off a bunch numbers." She sat in the desk next to Sue, and in a serious, but compassionate voice, "This kind of thing is rather personal to me." She took a minute to think about how she was going to say it. "My sister became pregnant her senior year in high school. It damaged her, and my family."
"Oh I'm sorry about…," Sue was interrupted when Ms. Young quickly got up, and walked over to the windows of her classroom before she laughed out loud.
"Ms. Young are you all right," Sue asked wondering if she was crying.
Ms. Young tried not to laugh, but a low whimper did escape. She turned around and declared, "I'm all right; it's just difficult to talk about." She almost lost it again, "I'm sorry I laugh when I get nervous." Sue was wondering to herself if this was why Ms. Young was acting so strange lately. Perhaps her sister had called, and brought all the bad memories back. Unbeknownst to Sue though, Ms. Young had totally made this story up. She did have an older sister, but she hadn't had a child to this day. She could see that Sue was finally taking her seriously, and that was her point. She wanted Sue to back off long enough for her to patch things up with Ben. It wasn't out of purely selfish motives that Ms. Young made up the story. She knew that Sue was promiscuous and needed to be slowed down somewhat. Ms. Young turned around, walked towards Sue and in full intimidation mode asked, "Sue? Tell me? Are you a virgin?" Sue couldn't believe the question she was being asked. Again she had no answer, and while she searched for the words nothing came to mind. "Before you answer…I'm not a police officer, just your teacher, and if don't want to answer this rather private question, I understand."
Sue nodding her head quickly and nervously answered, "I don't want to answer that question."
Ms. Young just stared at her for several seconds, and assumed Sue was not a virgin with that answer. If she was why wouldn't she just answer I am she thought? Ms. Young turned around and walked toward her desk. "Ok, punishment," she declared, "I think I've come up with something fair. I could have given you numerous detentions, or even recommend suspension," Sue gulped, she thought she might get sick, "But that would be a waste of your talents." With a big smile she walked up to Sue's desk and placed a piece of paper, and pen down.
Sue looked it over and asked, "What is this?"
"There's a group on campus, "Ms. Young pointed to the title on the page, "Wait Until Marriage. Isn't that great," she excitedly asked.
Sue was a bit confused, but she had heard of the pro-celibacy group, in fact Jackie mentioned they tried to recruit her. Sue considered them a joke. "Ok so what does that have to do with me?"
"You will be joining WUM for thirty days. They have rallies, fundraisers; get out the word drives, etc. I think you would be good at it. You remind of a cheerleader I use to know, and that's what some of this is – pure cheer." She lost her train of thought as thought about that cheerleader. "What college were you hoping to attend again?"
Sue looked up and answered, "Uh Princeton."
"Oh well this is perfect. It will look great on your transcript; like a leadership…thingy," she handed her the pen. Excitedly she continued, "You don't know how much I wish I had one of these at my high school." Ms. Young was getting a little scared at how easily she was able to lie to a student. Sue took the pen, but hesitated. Ms. Young waited, and then finally said, "I can't force you to do the right thing, but if you don't agree with my punishment I will have to go to the principle about the note and its contents. He may even have to notify your parents." She's got to be kidding, all this for a note Sue wondered. This was one of the weirdest conversations she had ever had with a teacher – ever.
"This could really ruin my reputation Ms. Young," Sue wined.
Ms. Young went in for the kill. She sighed, squinted her eyes a bit, and in a firm voice stated, "Sue I don't mean to be rude, but from what hear this could only improve your reputation." Sue's mouth went wide. It's true she did get around, but her reputation wasn't quite that bad. Sue's eyes watered up, and she almost gave out a cry. Ms. Young saw this, and felt sorry for her for about one nanosecond. Sue quickly signed the form realizing she wasn't going to win this battle. "Good," Ms. Young picked up the form and walked to her desk. "I'll just need a weekly report on you're activities there; are Thursdays good for you?"
"Yes," Sue answered quickly. She just wanted to get the hell out of here.
"Ok, well you have time to study your lines, or home work. I'll see you at rehearsal," she said in a pleasant voice.
"Thank you Ms. Young," Sue said and quickly headed for the classroom door.
"Oh Sue," Ms. Young called out. Sue stopped and turned to listen. "I probably won't be here much longer so we may have to reschedule our weekly meetings."
Sue was confused and asked, "I don't understand, are you leaving the school?"
Ms. Young looked up from writing on her desk and answered, "That's right. Better opportunity elsewhere; just made the decision today," she said as she smiled. Sue thought to herself today? "Bye," Ms. Young said with a half-hearted wave, and started writing again.
Sue exited the room, and leaned against the wall in the deserted hallway. "Oh my God," she whispered to herself. She tried to relax and let the stress leave her body. "That was bizarre," she declared, and headed down the hallway. As she rounded the corner she eyed the door to the janitor's closet wondering how could she have been so stupid. She actually blamed herself, but was still pissed that Ben hadn't protected her. As she continued down the hall it suddenly dawned on her. Ms. Young is quitting her job? Ben's mother is quitting her job on the same day? What were the chances of that – one in a million? She kept walking, but the more she thought about it the less sense it made. Ms. Young verbally hammered Ben for some minor bullshit today. She just verbally hammered her just minutes ago. Ms. Young and Ben don't get along; what was that all about. Sue had to turn around, and confront Ms. Young.
Ms. Young was staring out the windows watching people park their cars. She suddenly let it all out and laughed. "Ah God Monica,' she said to herself. She couldn't stop giggling after the exchange with Sue. She was surprised how far she took it, and especially surprised that it worked. Suspension for note passing; highly unlikely she thought.
Sue came around the corner, but stopped and quickly backed up behind the corner. She peaked around and saw Ben at the door to Ms. Young's classroom. He had finally got out of the window of the sports center, and ran up to Ms. Young's classroom. He was just standing at the door with his hand on the handle. "What is he doing here," she whispered. She thought there's too many odd things involved with these two.
Ben opened the door, and saw Ms. Young giggling to herself. She had her back turned to him so he took a minute before he said anything. He smiled; he thought it was nice that she was laughing rather than crying. Ben finally said, "Monica."
Sue wasn't sure if she heard him correctly and quietly asked herself, "Did he say Monica?" Something's up she thought; she wasn't sure what, but she was going to find out.
Ms. Young was caught by surprise, and quickly spun around to see Ben standing there. "Oh Ben," she said as she smiled. She began to gently blot her eye with her thumb as it had watered up from all the laughing. "Aren't you a sight for soar eyes? Come in sit down," she commanded as she patted with her hand on a desk in the front row. He walked in letting the door shut behind him. Sue quickly ran down the deserted hallway, and stopped at the door.
"Damn," she whispered to herself. She could hear that they were having a conversation, but couldn't hear what they were saying. If she opened the door they would instantly hear it. She decided to go outside, and listen by the windows, it was warm, and one of them had to be open.
"You seem happy," Ben stated as sat in the desk.
Ms. Young sat at the desk next to him as they faced each other. "Well I am" she answered happily. "I told you I'm quitting my job."
Ben struggled to understand, "How does that change anything? We would still have an age problem," he pointed out.
She was annoyed with his statement and while looking up at the ceiling said, "It's just a number Ben. You're a mature young man, and I'm…well, immature I guess," she embarrassingly laughed, and looked down while playing with her hair.
Ben felt bad and said, "No your not."
She looked up at him, batted her eyes and softly said, "Thank you."
"It's still a problem we can't get around." Ben sighed and tried to make her understand, "I know you could find someone closer to your age. Someone with your interests. And I can find someone closer…,"
She quickly interrupted, "It sounds like you've already found someone? Sue perhaps…"
He knew that was coming and countered, "…No. We're just friends." Ben then got a bit upset, and asked, "What's this I hear; you're having Sue grade quizzes or something. That's why I'm here, so you don't make some dumb mistake confronting Sue over nothing."
"Em so these hot gym close aren't for my benefit," she questioned as she yanked on his shorts. "Damn, I was going to talk dirty too…,"
"Monica," he interrupted as he lightly slapped her hand. "Please, can you be serious for just a few minutes?"
She sat up straight with a peeved look on her face. "Fine," she said in an annoyed voice.
"What happened between you and Sue? She didn't grade quizzes did she?"
"Of course not; I'd never trust a student to grade quizzes," she stated.
Ben scratched his head in frustration and asked, "Then what?"
Ms. Young smiled and answered, "I issued her a punishment."
"Why doesn't that sound good to me? Punishment; for what?"
She looked at him with an expression that indicated you should know. "For being a slut Ben!" She put her hand through her hair while looking down, and in a guilty voice admitted, "I didn't put that way of course."
"Thank God," he said to himself.
"I told her it was wrong for proper young ladies to invite boys to the janitor's closet."
"Just ambush them there I guess," Ben remarked about their time in the closet Ben regretted saying it the second it came out.
Ms. Young was taken aback by the comment. "I don't remember any complaints from you," she asked in an insulted fashion. "A lot heavy breathing; but no complaints!"
"Your right, I don't know why I said that," Ben said shamefully. She moved out of the desk and maneuvered behind him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and began to massage him.
She leaned in towards him and whispered, "That's ok we both know I'm not a proper young lady," she then quietly laughed. Sue couldn't believe there wasn't one window opened not even a crack. She finally tried to peak in and quickly saw Ms. Young rubbing Ben's shoulders.
"Oh my God," she quietly said.
Ben jumped up out the desk realizing he was losing control of the situation. When she turned the charm on he was usually a sitting duck. He turned around to face her, and he tried to compose himself before he spoke. "The punishment," he questioned, "What for?"
Ms. Young walked up to her desk and began writing while she stood. She knew Ben was waiting for an answer. She looked up at him and she answered, "For the note of course."
"I get that, but was it the note itself, or was it for what was on the note," Ben asked.
"What do you think," she questioned him.
He already knew. It felt good that Ms. Young was a bit jealous about him. He didn't want her to be that way, but it felt good to be wanted by someone else. He wasn't going to change her mind anyway. "Ok so what, are you making her wash your car?"
She laughed and answered, "Oh that's good; I wish I had thought of that. No I decided on something very constructive for her. I made her join Wait Until Marriage for thirty days; isn't that perfect," she asked giggling.
Ben was confused as he had not heard of the group and asked, "Who?"
Her smile was replaced by surprise, "Yes the pro-celibacy group on campus. You've haven't heard of them?"
"Pro what," he asked.
"Celibacy. They're against sex.. Well at least until marriage as their name suggests."
Ben finally got it, "Oh. Ok, yeah that's good, I like that." He was relieved it wasn't something to dramatic. Joining a club wasn't so bad he thought.
Ms. Young continued writing and in a sarcastic voice, "Yeah, some of us old chicks come up with a good idea here and there."
He sighed and walked behind her desk closer to her. "Monica it's not your age that's the problem. It's mine," he pointed to himself.
She put her pen down and looked at him. "I've heard that line before; it's not you it's me that's the problem. Ben you perused me! You grabbed my arm behind the tent; do you remember that? Well you got me; I don't care what happens…"
He interrupted, "I wasn't thinking then…,"
She quickly countered, "Your thinking too much now!" While she enjoyed games she was only going to beg so much. She put her hand up and said, "Listen, you know how I feel. Do you want me or not?"
Ben quickly answered, "No." He got it out; he wasn't sure if he could do it. "You were right earlier I'm interested in Sue." He was getting desperate and decided this would finally get her to give up.
She was shocked by his statement, and actually took a step back while putting her hand up to her mouth. She thought that she knew what he was feeling, but now she wasn't sure. She didn't believe he would ever deliberately hurt her feelings so it could be true. "So you've being lying to me?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, but I didn't know how to tell you," he explained. Ms. Young just stood there stunned staring at him. A tear quickly ran down her cheek. Ben hated this and tried to speak, but she stopped him. She said, "No" loudly as she raised her hands. "I'm all right" she quickly wiped the tear from her cheek. She tried to keep it together, smiled, and asked, "So that's it?"
"Yes that's it. I'll finish the play, and your English class then that's it. No more contact." It's working he thought to himself.
"Ok," she said. Softly spoke, "You've made your decision; I can't force you into a relationship you don't want to be in. Nor would I want to do that to you." She smiled, and wanted to cry, but refused to. The two stood there for several seconds looking at each other. Ben finally attempted to leave when she said, "Can…can you hold me one last time," she lovingly asked. Oh no, he thought to himself; don't do it, don't do it, he kept telling himself. The easy thing to do would be to say no and leave, but he felt he owed her this last embrace. He moved closer and opened his arms. She quickly latched on to him. As she held him she couldn't believe it was ending so quickly. Ms. Young looked up at him hoping to see that Ben regretted his decision. He tried not to look at her, but that didn't last long. She promised herself she wouldn't cry, but she couldn't help herself. Ben wanted to comfort her, so he placed his hand on her hair, and gently stroked it.
Sue looking through the window witnessed the whole embrace. "Oh my God they're lovers," she said in a shocked voice. Sue was simply blown away by this. She leaned against the wall looking up at the blue sky wondering what to do. Should she tell someone? The principle? She quickly dialed Jackie's cell phone. "Damn, no answer."
Ben suddenly stopped stroking her hair and said, "Goodbye Ms. Young."
She got the message, let go, and backed up. "Goodbye…," she tried to compose herself and continued, "Goodbye Ben Conner."