It was the calm before the storm. It was a regular day at Kadic Academy for the girls in gym class. Aelita peeped in through the glass window. Thankfully, she only had to do study hall this week instead of gym due to some less than stellar circumstances. She looked at the girls who made her day a living Hell last week. She could only hope that Ms. Rachel Keningston knew what she was doing. When the bell rang, she became startled and scuttled off to the library.
"Alright, role call ladies!" Ms. Keningston held a clipboard close to her chest. She alternated between looking at the sheet on the board and to the girls. Aelita peeped in through the glass window briefly before scurrying off to the library. "LeDuc?"
"Here!"
"Grandjean? Florenceau?"
"Here."
"Delmas? N'Guyen? De Vasseur?"
"Here!"
"Girard? Klinger? Gauthier?"
"Present."
"Zlicaric? Abulabbus? Ugrup?"
"Here!"
"And Le Bihan?"
"Here!"
Once Ms. Keningston got through the female roster, save for Stones, she put the clipboard at her side. "Okay, line up. Well, what are you waiting for? Line up! Move it!"
The girls scattered to the center of the gymnasium. When Ms. Rachel Keningston raised her voice, that's when the girls knew that she meant business. The girls all stood in two rows waiting for the teacher's next command. She was probably going to make them play more football or some other outdoor sport like they had last week. Any remaining chatter that lingered had dissipated when Keningston came up to them, not with a clipboard, but with a duffel bag draped over one shoulder. Her demeanor even changed as well. Initially, she was cold and had no time for nonsense. But here, it seems as though something is taking control of her. She was even wearing a smile. The girls in the class didn't know what this meant, but they were glad that they most likely weren't getting lectured today.
"Well..." Keningston paced up front, back and forth between ends of the formation. "Aren't you a bunch of lovely young ladies?"
The girls looked to each other, then back to the teacher, then back to the teacher. Was she being serious? They were flattered, yes, but also confused.
"You all excited about the prom coming up?" Keningston asked lightheartedly. "I bet even some of you even have your gowns and dates prepared."
The girls couldn't help but smile. There was whispering unfolding once again, but Keningston either didn't care enough to end it or had something up her sleeve.
"Sophie!" Keningston called on one of the students. "Who's taking you?"
"Alexander Pipin." Sophie Florenceau blushed as others giggled.
Keningston smiled warmly. She had her eyes set on another student now. "Laura! Who are you going with?"
"Ulrich Stern."
This time it was a nod. Last, but not least, there was Sissi. Now she was starting to grow suspicious. "Elizabeth Delmas..."
"Yes?" Sissi asked.
"I imagine that you can take your pick. Who's the lucky guy?" Keningston got closer.
"William Dunbar."
"I'm sorry, who?" Keningston pretended not to hear her.
"William Dunbar!" Sissi exclaimed.
"Now isn't he the lucky one?" Keningston felt like he was a little too old for the principal's daughter, but she didn't bother to press on that matter. Sissi could feel a sinister air grow around them when Keningston said that line. She walked away from Sissi and headed back to the center of the front.
"Hey, I have an idea." Keningston clapped her hands together, her bag shuffling. "Why don't we skip football for today?"
"Yeah!" One voice chirped up. The others nodded in agreement. They all liked where this was going so far.
"I was thinking we could make boutineers for your dates instead." The confusion rattled up once more. The girls anticipated to see what was in the bag their teacher was carrying. Keningston opened up the large zipper on top of the black duffel bag. "Here... you can make one of THESE!"
Before the girls could react to what was happening, Ms. Keningston threw a full bag of untouched sanitary items at the girls. Light screams were heard and jumps occurred. The small class scattered to try and get away from what was perceived to be little grenades. Ms. Keningston aggressively threw the bag more and more until the contents inside were emptied out on the floor. Her stern demeanor was back again, and they were all afraid. All except one.
"I'm out of here..."
Just before Sissi could leave, Keningston roared.
"You aren't going anywhere, Delmas!" Sissi reluctantly, and rather defiantly, went back to her spot.
"You can't do that to us! Wait until my father hears about this!"
"I don't really care about what he has to say right now, Delmas!" Sissi grew silent. "If any of you think I'm playing games here, you are ALL sadly mistaken."
Apparently one girl thought the whole debacle was funny. The other girls could hear her feet stomping towards her. With an unwelcoming tone, the teacher said "Wipe that smirk off your face, Magali."
The red haired girl's smile left as soon as Keningston opened her mouth. She could now hear the very subtle sound of a bubble popping. She went to the back row to find the source of the noise. "And you. Spit out that gum."
"But where do I even put it?" Sorya inquired half sarcastically. "There isn't even a trash can."
Keningston got up in Sorya's face. "You can choke on it for all I care. Just get it out of your mouth."
This promped Sorya to put the used wad of chewing gum behind her ear. Now the whole gymnasium was back to inhabiting complete dead air. All the girls were scared about what was going to happen next, even Laura Gauthier. Then it started to click for her why she was doing this. Keningston went back to pacing, her piercing brown eyes containing small flames.
"I want you all to know that the stunt you pulled last week was a really shitty thing." The only sound that occupied the air was the sound of Keningston's workout shoes hitting the floor. "Did any of you stop to think that Aelita Stones could have feelings, too? Do any of you ever stop to think at all? Judging by recent events... I doubt it."
Guilt was setting in for most of the girls. Whether or not that was due to them being caught or out of having genuine remorse was up for debate. They all eyed each other in shame. At the time, especially not either Laura or Sissi, thought it was that serious at the time. They tried to justify it internally at first by saying they were just having a bit of fun. It seemed as though only Laura was starting to learn something between the two.
"Is it because you think she's ugly?" Keningston eyed the girls. "Well, if that's the case... I think you're all ugly."
"You can't talk to us like that! Need I remind you that my father's the-" Sissi spoke out again.
"SHUT UP!" Keningston poked a finger between her eyes. "Open your mouth one more goddamn time and I'm gonna plug you up."
The other girls were getting upset at Sissi now. She wondered how long her little act of defiance was going to last.
"Now, my original punishment for all of you was five months suspension and refusal of your prom tickets." Keningston turned her back on the girls. The girls gasped and whispered 'no' among each other. "
"However..." Keningston turned back around. "There were some disagreements regarding what to do with you. So Principal Delmas and I agreed to meet each other half way. You will all be getting only two and a half months of detention."
The breathing between the girls drifted between light and heavy. This certainty wasn't helping to bring any calm to the storm.
"BUT... It's going to be my detention." Keningston continued. "Every day, for fifty minutes after classes, out on the track. And I am going to run. You. Ragged."
"I'm not going to come, then." Sissi crossed her arms.
"Well, that's up to you, Delmas. That's up to all of you. But if any of you skips detention, that means you get suspended and you're not going to prom. Capiche?" The girls nervously gulped and nodded. "Good. Now change up."
/
"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR! ONE, TWO THREE FOUR! ONE, TWO, THREE FOUR!" Keningston set the pace at the school's track. "KEEP MOVING, LADIES!"
Ms. Keningston started off with having the girls do a set of jumping jacks, followed by a set of squats, sit ups, and push ups. After those sets were complete, the girls were required to do two more. After the first ten minutes, half the girls felt like giving up. But since their prom night was on the line, they simply chose to put up with it. Sissi, on the other hand, appeared to be whining the whole time.
"KEEP YOUR KNEES UP! Ms. Keningston reminded them. They were only on the third lap, but it was proving to be a daunting task.
"This is bull!" Sissi yelled out of frustration.
"That's it! Thanks to Delmas, you're now running three miles!" Keningston moved the goal post. The others groaned in anger. "During all this, I want you to picture yourself in Aelita Stones' shoes! Think about how you all would feel if you were given the same treatment!"
Another four laps passed by and Sissi couldn't take it any more.
"She... can't... do this to us." Sissi panted heavily. "This is all... that Aelita girl's fault..."
"Just... let it... go, Sissi. We're... almost done." Laura ran right beside her.
Sissi formed a scowl and stopped running. The other girls inched farther away from her before stopping themselves to watch the spectacle. "Like hell I will."
Keningston instantly saw Sissi's little stunt. "Keep moving, Delmas! Do you want to go to prom or not?"
"Shove it!" Sissi yelled.
"...What?"
"I'm not... going to run... another step... because Aelita Stones was too stupid to know what her period was!" Sissi got progressively more agitated.
"Well, if you're going to behave that way, then you're out of prom AND my class." Keningston coolly said.
"No! This is bullshit!" Sissi looked back to her classmates and went closer to us. "She can't do this to us! Jeanne, you have a heart condition, right? You could die! If we all stick together, there's no way they're gonna kick us all out of prom! There wouldn't be a prom without us! Right, Sorya?"
Sorya bit her lower lip and eyed everyone else.
"Magali? Claire?" The former shook her head.
"Laura!?" Sissi turned to her last line of defense. "Come on, say something!"
"Shut up, Sissi." Laura had finally gotten fed up of her antics and said what everyone else wanted to say to her. "Just shut up."
Everyone could now feel Sissi's blood boil. Tears were forming and her hands were shaking. She screamed out loud and started stomping away from the class. "This isn't over! This isn't over by a long shot!"
"Goodbye, Delmas." The teacher pretended to sound threatened. "Well, what are the rest of you standing around for? Let's move it!"
By the time Sissi left and that their detention time was over, Laura only hoped that she did the right thing by telling her off. However, there was still something that she had to do if she wanted to truly be rid of this guilt she felt inside.