Ch. 17- Kyler and Johnny Save the Assembly
Lunch went by the same way that it did the first day of the storm after most of the students left. The students that were around were talking amongst each other, eating their food. The talking was broken when a loud voice shouted, "Food fight!"
Shanks walked into the cafeteria right when food was being thrown around. Kyler and Johnny were nowhere to be seen and all three lunch ladies were leaving their stands to attempt to stop the fight. Thankfully, the fight only lasted about twenty minutes after all the food was plastered on the walls, floors, and most of the students' clothes and was no longer able to be thrown.
All of the students sat down in their seats and continued eating and talking as if nothing happened. Kyler and Johnny were still nowhere to be seen. They were actually gone for the rest of lunch. When they finally reappeared, the students were returning to their classes and they met their class at the halfway point of the stairs.
"Where were you two?" Shanks asked as soon as everyone got into the class.
"We…had some business to take care of." Kyler explained.
"And that business was?"
Kyler didn't answer that, but Johnny did. "We promised to help out with the assembly. There was a machine malfunction and I helped take care of it. Kyler was with me to move the machine so I could be sure that it was good and could move."
Shanks was a little skeptical about this and he showed that he was by raising an eyebrow. If Johnny and Kyler were to be coming up with excuses, they would have to be the hell of a lot better than the one Johnny just told him.
Johnny could apparently tell what the look was saying. "I'm serious. If you don't believe me, ask Manson, but I have a feeling it's going to be hard finding him since he's already waiting to open the gym doors for the assembly to start. "
Shanks still didn't believe him, not only about the excuse, but also about Manson, but he found out that the excuse about Manson being in the gym was likely true. The time on the clock said 12:25 and the voice of the vice-principal came over the intercom saying, "Attention staff and students. Please leave for the assembly in the gym. All students are to be seated with their teachers on the bleachers. Principal Manson will be meeting you in the gym to start the assembly." Okay, so the second part of what Johnny said was true, but Shanks still didn't believe him about the part about working with machines.
"Okay, guys. Line up, now! We're going down to the gym!"
Lazily and unenthusiastically, all eight lined up and walked down the stairs and towards the gymnasium. By the time they got there, the gym was half filled with students and teachers. On the outside of the door, were two large wire baskets full of paper bags with something inside. On the outside of the baskets was a note in Manson's handwriting reading, "Do not open or use until the guest stands in front of the podium." The nine of them grabbed a bag and entered the room.
As soon as all of the eight entered the gym, Elie, Kurt, and Lynn headed off in their own directions. Lynn headed to the far left side of the wall with the bleachers and sat with her little clique. Kurt and Elie sat in the far left corner of the bleachers, where nobody else was.
"Nobody ever listens when they tell us to stay together for assemblies. We all just go our own ways." Victoria explained to Shanks before taking a seat on the middle part of the bleachers with Kyler, Maura, Johnny, and Larry. Shanks joined her and waited for this "assembly" to start.
As everyone waited, Shanks took this time to look around the gym. The right side of the building still had its bleachers folded up into the wall, likely because nobody was going to be using them. A podium and microphones were standing in front of the folded up bleachers, around the center of the building. To the left of the podium were four chairs with three people seated: two men and a girl holding a saxophone. To the right of the podium was a large canvas cover and a machine.
As soon as everyone was inside, Manson came in and walked up to the podium and spoke into the microphone, "Welcome students of Morning Glory High School. Please stand while our national anthem is played by Natalie Ray." He stepped away from the podium and the girl with the saxophone came up.
The girl took a deep breath, brushed her long, black hair behind her ears, and placed the instrument up to her deep red lips. The first few measures of the song sounded nice, but when she tried making the song extra jazzy, that's when things started turning a bit sour. The notes began to turn into squeaks and her dark cheeks began to turn red. A few times her fingers slipped and she played the wrong key. By the time she was done, most of the people on the bleachers were covering their ears. When the music stopped, they removed their hands and cheered, not because they loved the performance but because it was over. The girl went back to her chair and sat back down.
Manson walked back up to the podium, "Thank you, Miss Ray. Now, to start with the assembly. I know to some of you vandalism may seem like a fun thing, but I assure you that it is no laughing matter. Just repairing the damage can cost up to hundreds of dollars not to mention that the action could be hurtful to others. Our last act of vandalism was ten years ago when two students spray painted a very hurtful message on the side of the school. The cost of that action was $200. However, now this has gone too far. If you insult our president, then you are insulting our country and I will not have anyone insulting our country! So, if any of you want to confess, speak now and no punishment shall be given." Nobody stood up, not even those that knew who did it. Manson was not at all happy, "You are all making a huge mistake. We have a very special guest here to talk about the importance of being an American. Retired Navy Colonel and mayor of Starlight Island, Mr. David Boyer."
While most of the students clapped and cheered when Manson walked from the podium and one of the two sitting men went to the podium, Kyler, Johnny, Maura, Victoria, and Larry groaned softly.
"What's wrong with him?" Shanks asked.
"Mayor Boyer used to grow up with Maura, Victoria, and my fathers. He thinks he can go anywhere and do anything because he's rich. He invites his children to any birthday party with no presants even if they aren't invited." Kyler answered.
"He even invites him and his wife on anniversaries that aren't theirs. A few years ago, Victoria's parents were going to Hawaii for their anniversary and the mayor invited him and his wife to go along, too and because he said that the two were with Victoria's parents they had a horrible anniversary." Maura added.
"He thinks that because he is a retired Navy Colonel, he knows everything about this country. I even heard that he wants to be the President of this country." Larry added.
"He is so arrogant and rude that it's almost unbearable." Victoria added.
"He's an asshole." Johnny finished.
Shanks looked at the new man on the podium. He certainly did look like the stuck up, arrogant types. He wore a dark green outfit with metals on it. His hair was a salt-and-pepper black and white and a look that read "I'm better and know more than you, so you'd better bow to me and kiss the very ground I walk on or else." on his face.
The man's voice was very deep, deeper than Shanks thought it would be when he started to speak, "What you have done is a horrible crime. After what happened, I must say that I am appauled! I fought in two very important wars to defend this country and this is the thanks we get. And to make things worse, you decide to join the sides of those who are unpatriotic and insult our president. It sickens me!"
"He seems to know what he's talking about." Shanks whispered to Victoria.
"Just wait. He'll start to mix up what he's saying because he doesn't really know what he's talking about." Victoria answered.
"What you have done makes you un-American! As you know, real Americans are ambidextrous." The mayor shouted. Real Americans could use both hands equally well? That didn't sound very good.
"You should all be ashamed of yourselves! I suppose you haven't fully learned what it means to be a true American. That's why I have taken time off from work…" the mayor continued.
"Yeah, stuffing his face of éclairs and doughnuts." Maura muttered.
"To talk to you and show you this important video of what it's like to live in a country based upon freedom!" the mayor finished.
As he finished, Manson and the other man moved the large canvas in front of the podium and placed a little machine in front of it. The lights were dimmed and the machine turned on. It looked like some sort of TV show, but it seemed so much different. The camera was a tad bit shaky, sometimes the color was a bit pale, the mayor's voice was talking the entire time about being an American, and most of the shots actually had the mayor in them.
The little "movie" didn't exactly make much sense either. It talked about wars and freedom, but because the movie was mostly based upon the mayor and his actions, the messages were hidden behind the mayor's life. It dragged on for a half an hour before it finally ended. The canvas and machine was moved out of the way and the mayor took his spot back on the podium.
"Now, what have you all learned from this movie?" the mayor asked. Nobody said anything. "Come on. Anybody?" he asked again. Like before, nobody said anything because they hadn't learned anything. This greatly displeased the mayor and he didn't know why. "You are all completely un-American! Your families should be ashamed of you! That's why, starting next week, there will be a new rule for Starlight Island. Anyone proven to be un-American will be forced to pay a small tax of $50, especially students of Morning Glory High School."
It was at that very second, all the students dug into their bags and brought the tomatoes inside. Then, they all, even the rich students, booed and hurled the tomatoes at the mayor, most hitting him and turning him into a tomatoey mess. After all the tomatoes have been thrown, the students began laughing hysterically. Shanks joined them. A bunch of the rich students took out their cellphones and pointed them at Manson.
"What are they doing?" Shanks asked.
"They have camera phones. They're taking pictures of the mayor." Johnny explained through laughs. Well, he did look pretty funny.
It was difficult to see if the man was turning red from underneath the tomatoes, but it definitely sounded like he was when he began to shout over the microphone about disrespect and being "un-American". Nobody was paying attention to him as he rambled on for another half an hour. When he left the podium, he did not move back to his seat, he stomped out of the gymnasium and refused to come back.
Manson walked back on the podium and he did not look pleased. "That was our mayor. I know you did not like what he did, but that is absolutely no reason for you to do something like that to an American hero. What you did is almost as bad as the vandalism of the school's field. Mark my words: if any of this happens again to a guest of ours, you will all suffer! Do I make myself clear?" he shouted through the microphone.
All of the students responded back unenthusiastically, "Yes, Principal Manson."
"Good. Now, we have one more guest: Mr. Frank Smith, the leader of the Board of Education. Do not throw anything at him!" Manson ordered. He left the podium and the other man walked back up.
The other man didn't look as stuck up as the mayor, but he still looked like the type that refused to take anything from anybody. He was dressed in a drab gray business suit, his hazel eyes were sharp and his dirty blonde hair was short and cleanly cut. He did not have a smile on his face. "The vandalism to this school is completely inexcusable. Because of this, the money to pay for this damage would have to come out of the school."
Johnny smirked and pulled a remote control with only six buttons on it out of his pocket.
"Johnny, what's that?" Shanks asked.
Johnny smirked and pressed one of the buttons. A loud, muffled squeak came from the podium. The students chuckled.
"When I was a student going to this school, we would never do something like this even if we did disagree with what our president happened to be doing!" Frank continued.
Johnny pushed a button next to the last one he pressed. This time, a normal farting sound came out of the podium. The chuckles turned into giggles.
Frank was starting to look irritated. He shouted over the sound, "Whoever's making those sounds better stop!" Johnny didn't press any buttons, so the man continued, "That's better. Now, I want you all to believe that although we live in a country that gives us the freedom to say whatever we want, we must be careful with what we say and how our messages go out…"
Johnny pressed the next button. A loud farting sound came out of the podium. The giggles turned into laughs.
Frank's face was starting to turn a slight pink as he shouted over the noise, "It is childish and completely immature with what is happening…and I don't want to hear any excuses about how things are nowadays…"
Johnny pushed the fourth button and this time, an extremely large fart, one that sounded like someone farted and crapped their pants, came out. The school was in hysterics.
The color in Frank's face began to darken a bit, "So many things are going around and I know that you want to follow in their footsteps, but enough is enough! You, as the future of this country need to learn to do some respect for others…"
"Dude, give me that." Kyler ordered Johnny. Before any action could be made, Kyler grabbed the remote out of Johnny's hands and began to mess around with the controls, pushing down button after button, making fart after fart come out of the podium and making the students laugh so hard they began to cry and had problems breathing.
Frank's face was now a dark red and his body was shaking in anger. He tried screaming over the sound of the farts and laughing students, but nothing else could be heard. He screamed for a good fifteen minutes before finally giving up. Without warning, he stepped away from the podium and stomped out of the door and refused to come back.
Manson came back onto the podium and he looked just as angered as Frank did before he left. Johnny grabbed the remote from Kyler and the noises stopped. Eventually the laughing stopped, too.
"That was the leader of the school board! You do not do something like that to someone that important. The mayor was one thing, but the school board is a whole different story! I want you all to head back to your classes for the rest of the day and mark my words: if we do not find who did either the vandalism or the damage to today's assembly, everyone will pay!" Manson shouted.
At that second, everyone on the bleachers walked from their spots and headed back to their classes. Johnny hid his remote in his pocket so nobody would see it. When Shanks and the eight of his students made it inside of the classroom, Shanks immediately closed the door and ripped the remote out of Johnny's pocket.
"Is this what you've really been doing? Rigging the podium and giving tomatoes for everyone to use?" he asked.
"We did say that we were going to help with the assembly." Johnny answered.
"How is getting tomatoes to throw at the guests and rigging the podium to make farting sounds helping out with the assembly?" Shanks asked.
"We saved the assembly." Johnny answered back.
"Saved it? How did you save the assembly?"
"Most of the assemblies we have are boring as hell. They're all just long lectures out of boring old men and end in a Q and A. We had to save it by making it interesting." Kyler explained.
"Nobody has even thrown anything at an assembly except for the start of the year pep rally when a few random students from different grades have to play little games like throwing things at another person in their grade. The tomatoes stood for something different and a little revenge on the mayor." Johnny explained.
"And what about the podium?" Shanks asked.
"I rigged the podium to do something that no school has ever done before. It was very easy. I just took this old toy that used to belong to my little brother and just fixed it so that the remote control could make different sounds from a longer distance than before." Johnny said proudly.
"So, what do you think is going to happen when Manson finds out what you've done to the assembly?" Shanks asked.
"He's not going to find out unless someone in this class is a snitch and tells on us." Kyler answered. All eight eyes of the students looked at Shanks, as if accusing him of being the class snitch.
"I'm not going to be saying anything to anyone, but you heard Manson. If nobody admits to what happened, everyone's going to suffer the punishment."
"Like we said, he's not going to find out. The only way he's going to find out is if somebody turns into a snitch. Besides, the mayor deserved to be pelted with tomatoes for being a jerk and the school board guy deserved what he got." Johnny said.
"Why did the guy from the school board deserve what he got?" Shanks asked.
"He's an asshole, that's why. Trust me. Nothing's going to happen to anyone unless another person, probably the rejects again, pulls a stupid prank to get everyone in trouble." Kyler said.
Kyler was right about the mayor deserving what he got. If Shanks had grabbed one of the bags, he would have thrown a tomato at the mayor too after that tax. Besides, the man thought he was all that and people like that deserved to be humiliated. It was one of the rules of being a pirate, but why did they have something against the school board guy?
"And what did the school board guy do to be an asshole?" Shanks asked.
"He's the one that made room 314 and he's responsible for the money that goes to certain parts of the school and half of the leftover money he has, he uses for his own luxuries." Maura answered.
"Well, that really does seem like something an asshole would do." Shanks admitted. "And it was funny what you did. Good work."
The bell rang and, without hesitation, everyone headed out of the room and back to the cafeteria, where they were met by the other playmembers.
"I have good news and bad news." Victoria announced, "We have found someone to make new costumes and she said that I have to show her pictures of what I want the costumes to look like and she'll draw them." The play members cheered. "But, there is a catch. We all need to pay for materials. Today when I give the drawings to the designer, she will tell me how much it will cost and I will use that to figure out how much the cost per person will be. Is that alright with everyone?"
The other play members didn't seem to mind. They kept cheering, saying, "Yes! New costumes!"
"I don't think they mind." Maura told Victoria.
"I guess you're right. Okay everyone, we will be doing the scene where we enter the forest…" Victoria announced.
LATER
The practice for the play went off peacefully. No person that was not in the play bothered anyone and it was not difficult to get to the important parts. In fact, it seemed like the rest of the day and evening got along well with everyone else. The practice was a success, the weather was nicer than it was the day before, and Shanks didn't have to worry about bringing any stray kids to stay at his ship for the night.
The weather was just as nice the next day, but it wouldn't take long for the day to turn from sweet to sour. There were a lot of cars parked around the school when Shanks walked up to it. Not only that, but the side of the school was spray painted with messages about the leader of the school board calling him names like "bastard", "asshole", and other names that were ten times worse. The inside was even more of a mess. Papers were taped all over the walls with painted messages insulting the leader of the school board on them. All the walls, shelves, and cabinets were covered in toilet paper. The part of the school that held the lockers was completely spray painted. Not a single locker wasn't spray painted.
Every student of the school he came across was not happy about this incident. If anything, they were extremely pissed off. With the painted lockers, because some of the paint went over the vents, the paint got inside and ruined a few items inside, some belonging to the school and some belonging to the student. Some of the paint from the pictures in the hall went through the paper and onto either the wall or poster it covered and some of the posters were priceless. Lynn and her little group were crying because of the paint from the papers. One of the posters was destroyed and it was a very important poster. "That was a poster of us cheerleaders winning second at last year's competition." Lynn explained through tears.
As Shanks walked to the stairs, he noticed some of the uniformed men that came across Kyler's car the first day Shanks had ever met Kyler and Maura, talking to a few random students, asking questions and getting answers.
Kyler, Maura, Johnny, Victoria, Kurt, Elie, and Larry were already in the room, talking amongst each other about the way the school looked. So far, only Kurt and Elie didn't look upset about what was going on with the school. They looked like they didn't really care.
"Okay, before anybody says anything, I want you to tell me the truth. I know about what you did at the assembly yesterday, but did any of you cause any of this damage?" Shanks asked.
With no hesitation, all seven shook their heads.
"The things Kyler and I did yesterday were nothing but harmful pranks. We wouldn't do any actual damage to the school. It takes up too much time and besides, most of our parents would kill us if we really did do something like this." Johnny admitted.
An uneasy feeling overcame Shanks as he remembered the students in the halls answering questions by the men. The same thing happened a few days earlier, when the field was vandalized. The students of his class were sent to the office because they were accused of doing the damage and he had a feeling it was going to happen again. Shanks answered, "Somehow, I don't think you're going to be getting away that easy."
He couldn't have been more right. As soon as he finished saying that sentence, a group of the men barged in and began grabbing the students and handcuffing them from behind. "You seven are under arrest for the threatening of Frank Smith and the severe vandalism of Morning Glory High School. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law…" one of the men said over the shouts of protest from the seven students.
Shanks followed the group of men as the led the seven handcuffed students out of the school and into a large black truck. He shouted at Manson that he was going with them to make sure that nothing was happening with them. He walked into the truck and closed the door behind him and felt the bumps of the rocks and branches as the truck sped off to a destination unknown to the pirate.
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A/N: Well, that's chapter 17…and yes, that does mean that they have been sent down to the police station.