Here's the next episode of this series, which is going to be 'False Alarm'! Anyway, enjoy!
A little later that day, me, Phoebe and Nadine were walking along our classroom, just getting out of lunch when all of a sudden, we heard... the fire alarm?
"Ouch!" I groaned, covering my ears, the loud fire alarm blaring. "I swear, the school has to change that fire alarm someday."
"It can't be a school fire drill, it's too early for this." Phoebe tried to yell over to me.
"What? I can't hear you over the painful screams of the students and the fire alarm." I said.
"Come on!" Nadine said as she dragged me over to the exit of the school.
As me, Nadine and Phoebe got out of the school, nearly around every student of PS 118 was outside as they waited. We joined up with our class as we waited, and I almost swore I saw Curly giving a really, REALLY unusual smirk... I mean, his smirks were unusual, but this smirk wasn't natural unusual, more 'My plan succeeded' unusual.
I turned to Arnold as I asked, "Did you know... I'm sorry, hang on..."
I bopped my ears a bit as the blares were still blaring from inside. Sheesh, I never liked that sound. I turned to Arnold again. "Did you know about any fire drills scheduled for today?"
"No, and quite frankly, I didn't expect this, either." Arnold said.
"Well, then I guess somebody pulled the fire alarm by mistake..." I started.
"...or on purpose." Arnold said.
I raised an eyebrow. "Who would pull the fire alarm on purpo-"
I then looked around and noticed we were one short. "Where's Eugene? Shouldn't he be with us?"
Gerald, who happened to be nearby, frowned as he looked around. "Now that you mention it, he isn't here..."
We then heard Principal Wartz's voice coming from the speakers, "Students, this is a false alarm... caused by someone who will remain anonymous..." And then he coughed. "Eugene." He coughed again. "You all may go back to class... except for our third graders. We're holding a trial over at the cafeteria!"
"B-but..." We heard a familiar voice coming from the speakers.
"That'll be all." Principal Wartz's voice said before the mike turned off.
Everybody was heading back as all of us third graders walked over to the counseling room, as requested.
The next thing we knew, we were selected to sit down as I was part of a jury, watching as Principal Wartz was glaring at Eugene, who was sitting down nervously. I looked over at the other members of the jury, consisting of Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe, Harold and Curly, as I looked back over at Principal Wartz. Apparently, Principal Wartz had found Eugene stockpiled in a closet next to the fire alarm after it was pulled, considering the peanut butter that was on the fire alarm, the tracks that led towards the closet, and Eugene was found clutching a mop, nervously.
From what I've tried to catch as much as I could, Eugene seemed to have done this on purpose... which immediately set something off inside of me. Something wasn't right here. If Eugene had pulled the fire alarm, he'd probably have done it on accident, not on purpose, but as Eugene tried to defend himself, everyone just laughed. I looked around the jury and noticed that except for Arnold, the other members of the jury seemed to believe Principal Wartz's witnessed side of the story... and I also noticed that Curly was laughing a little HARDER than the rest of the class. That's when I immediately KNEW something wasn't right. If Curly was laughing harder than the rest of the students, then he KNEW something about this... more than we all thought.
"Now, according to the bilaws of the school district, you can only be expelled after being found guilty by a jury of your student peers." Principal Wartz instructed.
After Eugene tried to defend himself some more, they just continued laughing at him.
"Jury, you will be dismissed to the library where you can discuss your votes." Principal Wartz instructed.
Harold nodded as he got up and led everyone to the library.
Once settled into the library, Harold gave a smile to the rest of us as he said, "Well, it should be obvious what happens, right."
"Yep." Everyone but me and Arnold said.
"Very well, let's get..." Harold said as he started to get up.
"Wait, don't dismiss it yet!" Me and Arnold said at the same time.
I was kind of shocked Arnold didn't believe the story either, but at the same time, I guess I shouldn't have been THAT surprised. Arnold always found the good side of people... unless he noticed something in the story that maybe I didn't catch. I know for sure Curly had something to do with it... all I can hope for is that we stall until he snaps.
Of course, the four groaned as Harold frowned, "Oh come on, I'm hungry! Why would you two not want to dismiss this."
"Something just doesn't add up, all right?" I frowned.
"What Rhonda said, I'm not convinced Eugene did it. He could be innocent." Arnold said.
"Yeah, and pink elephants would be ice skating on a pond of spaghetti." Harold rolled his eyes. "Come on, you two, can't we just make this unanimous?"
"Sorry, fellas, but we still got some of the school day to finish." Gerald said.
"And we have to get started on our homework after school." Phoebe said.
Curly didn't say anything as he just frowned. Okay, now I KNOW he knew something we didn't.
"Look, what's more important, wanting to go into your selfish desires, or giving Eugene a fair trial?" I asked.
"Look who's talking about selfish." Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Look, the least we can do is look over the evidence." Arnold said. "If all of you can convince me and Rhonda that Eugene is guilty, we won't delay it further than we need to."
"Of course. At least give us a fair chance." I said. "If you're still convinced, we'll go back to our regular lives."
"Fine, sure." The other four frowned.
"Good." I said as me and Arnold sat down. "Harold, we'll start with you. What convinces you that Eugene was the one who pulled that alarm?"
"Okay, well, here's why I think Eugene did it." Harold started. "It was just after lunch and we were all coming out of the cafeteria. I remember, because I just finished my third pudding pack, and I wasn't as hungry as..."
"Harold, we want to hear about the fire alarm and Eugene, not your diabetic needs." I frowned.
"Anyway, according to the testification of one Squeaky Peterson..." Harold started.
"Hold it a minute." I frowned. "What trial did you witness, because the only person with the last name Peterson was Stinky. Did Stinky have another cousin that I was unaware of, because I have never heard of anybody named Squeaky!"
"Okay, okay, so it was probably some random girl." Harold frowned. "Anyway, just before the fire alarm was pulled, she 'observified' Eugene... walking by the fire alarm!"
"Observified is not a word."
"ANYWAY..." Harold glared at me. "It was at that moment that someone, unknown to the rest of us, but definitely not ME, you guys, pulled the girl's right pigtail HARD, detracting her."
"Distracting." I sighed. "The word you are looking for is 'distracting'."
"Will you quit nitpicking my stories!" Harold frowned. "The point is, Eugene had the opportunity!"
"So Eugene had the opportunity, so what?" Arnold frowned. "Lots of kids were there, they all had the same opportunity!"
"Yeah, but Arnold, how many kids had peanut butter smeared all over them?" Gerald asked. "The fire alarm AND Eugene's hands were covered in it."
"It could just be a coincidence." I said as I noticed Curly shuffling his hands. "I mean, somebody could have had a HAND in Eugene's peanut butter trick."
Curly shuffled his hands again when he heard the word hand. I nodded. Ah ha... I think Curly DOES know something.
"Well, what about the glasses and the footprints?" Harold frowned.
I guess I should explain the glasses. See, at the scene of the crime, a pair of glasses was seen next to the fire alarm, which Principal Wartz also used as evidence against Eugene. I have never seen Eugene with reading glasses before... except for every Monday... which could be the signal that he did do it... had I STILL not be suspicious of Curly.
"I believe I've taken some notes. Do you want to hear them?" Phoebe asked.
"Sure." I said. "Just tell us why you believe it's Eugene."
"All right." Phoebe said as she opened her notebook and looked over her notes. "I believe the peanut butter smeared on the fire alarm was of the same style, creamy, which Eugene usually eats. Although he testified that he has also enjoyed chunky on occasion, though usually when his mom was out of creamy, but-"
"Phoebe, can we have the abridged version, please?" I said, actually starting to get bored of her testification.
"Oh, sorry." Phoebe said. "In addition to the peanut butter, a pair of eyeglasses were found a few feet from the scene of the crime. A few minutes after the fire alarm, the students were allowed to reenter the building."
"Only because Principal Wartz said it, and he said we had to hold a trial." I said.
"It was at this point the eyeglasses in question were discovered by our classmate Sid." Phoebe explained.
"A few minutes BEFORE the trial, I may add." I said.
"Since the eyeglasses which have been positively found as Eugene's were discovered next to the fire alarm, and since it was a Monday and on Mondays Eugene HAS to wear his glasses..."
"I think we get the idea." I rolled my eyes. "But what about the footprints?"
"Footprints were found leading up to the fire alarm and leading to a nearby broom closet. They were of the same size and unusual make of Eugene's distinctive sandals."
"I always wondered, why does Eugene wear socks with sandals?" I said.
"Rhonda!"
"Just asking."
"And finally, a pencil stub with the word "Wankyland" was found outside the broom closet. Therefore in conclusion, it is with deepest regret that Eugene is guilty. The evidence don't seem to hold up well." Phoebe said.
"Let's face it, man." Gerald said. "Eugene was hiding in the broom closet."
"Oh really?" I frowned. "Care to tell YOUR reasons, Gerald?"
"I will." Gerald nodded. "Now, I think after the above-mentioned heinous crime, Eugene decided to hide in the broom closet, until all the kids ran past, but he accidentally locked himself in..."
"Accidentally locking himself in is in character of Eugene, but I'm not convinced of the other things." I frowned.
"And THAT's where Principal Wartz found him about a minute later." Gerald said. "So, therefore, we can conclude that while Eugene is not exactly a criminal mastermind, he DID get caught fleeing the scene. Arnold, Rhonda, face it, he's guilty."
"I'm still not convinced." I frowned.
"Neither am I." Arnold nodded. "Which is why I want to point out, something doesn't add up."
"Arnold, would you like to tell YOUR version?" I asked. "I'd like to hear it."
"Gladly." Arnold nodded as all attention turned towards Arnold. I kept a close eye on Curly to make sure he'd break. Maybe Arnold's story will be the one to break him.
"Maybe when he was eating lunch, somebody distracted Eugene from his peanut butter sandwich, and then later, when he was coming back from lunch, he could've tripped like he does every other day."
Curly paused as his hands were starting to shuffle themselves again. I smirked. Hmmm, looks like he's getting a little nervous now.
"So you see, every single piece of evidence could have been set up." Arnold explained. "There's just one piece of evidence that doesn't add up."
I paused as if to add the evidence up... then smiled. "I think I know what you're talking about. It's the Wankyland pencil, right?"
"Exactly!" Arnold said as he stabs his pencil with a chocolate bar. I looked over the corner of my eyes to see Curly break his own pencil nervously. He was shaking now as Arnold explained an incident that Eugene had in Wankyland last year, involving the Thanksgiving Parade floats AND tripping over the bandstands. I kept watching Curly as he was about ready to snap... as soon as Arnold was about to finish his sentence, I said to Curly, "Curly, you've been keeping quiet since we've entered. Do you have anything to add?"
That did it. That was Curly's breaking point. "Okay! Okay, I did it! I confess, I planted the peanut butter, I made the shoeprints, I left the glasses at the scene of the crime!"
"I knew it." I smirked. "Eugene is always accident prone, NEVER on purpose, and he wouldn't be stupid enough to pull the fire alarm... only someone CRAZY would do that... and if I know crazy... you're the craziest."
"I just don't understand why, Curly." Arnold said as everybody was turning to Curly in surprise.
"Because 3 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days ago, Eugene had borrowed my favorite pencil. The pencil I got last summer at Wankyland - and then, when he finally returned it, it had chew marks all over it! And he sharpened it down to the metal parts! I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat. All I could think about was Eugene writing with my pencil, Eugene chewing on my eraser and Eugene... Sharpening, sharpening, SHARPENING!" Curly laughed crazily. "And when he finally returns it , he says "Oh here, Curly"... like it was no big deal! I couldn't take it just lying down. I had to do something. So I got this plan, see... the fire alarm. I'd pull it, and then I'd frame Eugene for the crime! All I needed to do was plant the right clues. The peanut butter, the glasses and to top it all off, the pencil! Bingo! He'd be branded for life!"
Curly started laughing crazily as everyone looked at him in concern. On the other hand, I just frowned.
"...That's it? You wanted to frame Eugene and hopefully ban him from school... because of a pencil?" I frowned. "That is so childish of you! Also, how do you know the exact day you gave Eugene the pencil? Oh, right, you're Curly, you're crazy enough to know the exact days!"
"That's for me to know, sweetheart!" Curly said. "And for you to never find out!"
Curly was seen digging around in his pockets as he pulled out a paper clip. "I've got this, and I'm not afraid to use it!"
I shook my head. "Really, Curly? A paper clip? You're going to threaten us with a paper clip if we don't tell the principal? Oh, we won't be telling the principal..."
"That's good." Curly smirked... before he yelped as I grabbed his hands.
"You will!" I frowned as I turned to the others. "I think the witness speaks for himself. Want to place a vote?"
Everyone nodded as they all agreed...
"In light of recent evidence and by request of the student jury, the court finds Eugene... innocent." Principal Wartz said as he banged the gavel.
Every kid cheered as Eugene sighed in relief. I smiled to my fellow jurors as Gerald and Phoebe nodded. "I never knew you two could stand up to a whole jury. I'm proud..."
"Kinda like a 12 Angry Men thing in a way." Phoebe said.
We all looked at Phoebe, not understanding. Phoebe sighed. "12 Angry Men... it was a movie... 1957... the plot we did was similar to this..."
We only just blinked in confusion. Phoebe groaned. "Forget it, you're not well read on old movies..."
"But how did you know it was Curly?" Gerald asked me.
"Simple." I shrugged. "He was showing obvious evidence that he was the one... he laughed harder than everyone else, he shuffled his hands when the word 'hands' were mentioned, and he had a huge smile the whole time. If it hadn't been for Arnold's backing evidence, it would probably feel empty."
Arnold blushed a bit. "Well, you know me, having my doubts..."
"We'd work good together, guys." I smiled as I took Arnold, Gerald, Phoebe and Harold by the arms. "We all do..."
All of a sudden, the fire alarm blared again as I covered my ears. "Ouch! I really hope they change the fire alarms next year!"
"Curly again, no doubt." Arnold sighed.
"What? I can't hear you over the painful screams of the students and the fire alarm!" I yelled.
Well, even though Curly was in trouble... he would always come back again... after all, Principal Wartz doesn't keep anybody away from school forever unless it was a REALLY serious crime. Well, either way, today was good.
And there is the eighth episode! How do you like it? Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!