Buzz stands still, hugging the easel to the side with the calendar Velcroed to it. His tears aren't strolling down any further and no one has noticed him. Scared, he realizes no one has noticed the little girl in the corner either. He shyly walks over there and sits down across from her. Up close, he can see she is fiddling around with colored clay.
"Wanna play restaurant?" She asks bashfully just barely looking up.
Buzz nods and he is instantly given a piece of flattened red clay.
"Look at the menu. I'm the chef."
Buzz smiles and pokes at something random, pretending to find his favorite meal. "I want frenchie fries in chocolate milkshake."
"Mmm, my favorite."
"Mine too."
In second grade down the hall, Shawn is trying to initiate a game of superheroes and supervillains. He has climbed onto the desks and is hopping from one to the next. The teacher has asked him to get down but he simply shook his head.
"I'm a mind reader!" He exclaims. "And you wanna play too!"
"Shawn, get down!" Gus calls to his best friend. He is still sitting at his desk with a pencil and paper ready. "You'll hurt yourself."
"Don't be a jellyfish donut, Gus." He complains. "I've got superpowers!"
Lulu is now on the desks as well. But, rather than play the game, she is tugging on Shawn's arm. Shawn pulls back but Lulu is sure he will get hurt if he stays up there. Shawn tries to pull away again and run-jump to the teacher's desk. Instead, his run is cut short as he is pulled back once more. He topples off the desks, crashing into Lulu on the way down. Lulu's head hits the back of a chair, whereas Shawn faceplants into the thin carpet. Gus and Juliet who had been singing a song about fruits and vegetables are asked to take Lulu to the school nurse. Shawn is given detention.
Across the hallway is the third grade glass. Abby is sitting very close to Crazy Old Erwin's desk while he is grading papers. The young girl is attempting to distract him by reminding him all the things she has done "to make this classroom a better place" in the past month a lot of which are blatant lies. Mindy scoffs at Abby's efforts and continues playing Academy Award with Chelsea and uninterested Marlowe. Clive is sneaking a candy bar, while Ryder is flicking broken crayons at people via rubber bands.
Down another hall, exact opposite to its wall on the third graders, is the fourth grade classroom. Hank is up front, explaining the whole fraction-to-decimal-to-percentage evaluation. The students are more than bored, even Carlton. Most students are asleep, but Peter is taking notes and Carlton is staring off into space. A phone call disrupts the class and Hank goes to answer it. After a few minutes, Hank returns to address one student in particular.
"Carlton."
"Hank?"
"Lulu's down in the nurse's office. She fell off some"
He barely continues his sentence as Carlton runs out into the hall. Hank had been anticipating this, considering how close the two look out for one another. Carlton easily finds the nurse's station and is shocked to find his younger lying on a bed in the back.
"Is she okay?" He asks a little breathlessly.
The nurse welcomes him with a short smile. "Lauren will be fine. She's got a bad bruise on her head, but after some rest, she'll be okay. You'll need to come get her after school."
"Yes, ma'am. How did she fall off the desk?"
"From what I gather, she was trying to get a classmate of hers off the desk. A Spencer something. I wasn't there, but I'm gathering from . Carlton?"
Carlton is already gone, passing Flint in the hall. Flint either doesn't see him or doesn't care. Carlton's money is on the latter. He races to the second grade classroom and catches his breath. He then inhales slowly and opens the door, distracting the class from their spelling list.
"Can I help you?"
"Spencer." He answers. "Spencer needs to see the nurse."
He scans the room and notices one face twist up in particular. Without waiting for the younger boy to answer, Carlton walks over, grabs him by the arm and starts walking him out. Shawn sighs in defeat, waving to Gus. Turning toward the boy pulling him out as the exit the door, Shawn cannot help but ask.
"How'd you know it was me?"
Carlton growls without looking back. "I'm psychic."
Across the way and down the hall is the room for the fifth graders. Mr. Kessler's long-
winded monologue about the history of German cheeses is enough for most of his class to be drooling on their desks. Donny, on the other hand, is fascinated. He looks as if he was daydreaming, but he continuously has questions involving Swedish integration and scientific experiments involving the aged odors. Down across the playground, there are two buildings. One is the miniature house for the junior high level classes which at the moment is only eighth grade. The other building is a storage area, mostly for the lawn mower and other yard work tools. This is where Carlton drags Shawn. After locking the door, he shoves Shawn against it.
"So, uh, new nurse station?" Shawn asks hesitantly.
"You'll need the nurse when I get done with you."
"Can I give you a rain check on that?" Shawn questions, turning to find the hatch.
Carlton is quicker. He pins the door with one hand and punches Shawn hard across his jaw with the other. Shawn is determined not to cry and only whimpers a little.
"What did I do?" He cowers, attempting to duck another swing. He falls to the ground and quickly removes his other shoe, lifting it up to the other boy. "You can have my right Roo! There's five dollars in there, honest!"
Carlton kicks the boy's stomach. "Tryna bribe your way out of this, Loser?"
"I don't know what this is!" Shawn whines, clutching his stomach.
"Punishment!" Carlton hits him again. "For what you did to Lulu!"
"That was an accident!" He cries out, voice straining. "I fell into her when she was tryna get me down! Why do you care? She's just a dumb girl!"
Carlton angrily picks up Shawn by the front of his shirt, thrusting him against the lawn mower. The younger boy lets out a yelp, realizing that may have not been the best thing to say. He may only be seven, but he is the son of a cop even if said dad has been out of his life for some time. Distracted by his thoughts, he doesn't notice Carlton's fist sailing into his face until it is too late. Shawn kicks his shin, which elicits little response. Shawn takes his chances and swings out with his left leg and brings in his right fist. He gives Carlton a bit of a shiner and the older boy brings their faces dangerously close.
"Wanna ask that again?"
Shawn gulps audibly. "W-Why do you care?"
"She's my sister." Carlton answers, throwing Shawn to the ground.
Shawn' eyes widen. "I'm sorry."
Carlton nods and looks down at his watch. "It's almost ten."
"Okay."
Carlton rolls his eyes and unlocks the door. "Your class is about to have recess. Meet you on the playground."
Shawn nods absentmindedly, feeling all the bruises. He ambles out of the small shack, already seeing the first and second graders running to the playground. The third graders won't be too far behind. Annie is in the sandbox with Molly when she sees Shawn badly bruised. She looks past him to see Carlton walking back to the school. The older boy has a black eye and is massaging his knuckles.
Annie stands and is about to call the teacher on Carlton when an alarming shout disrupts her. She turns to see Shawn lose his grip on the jungle gym. He hits himself on the bars below, landing on the Astroturf rather than the grass, sand or mulch. Miss Bridgewell leaps up to check Shawn for bruises and cuts which of course he has. She asks if he wants to visit the nurse's office, but Shawn declines, stating he is good and ready for what the playground has to offer.
Even still, he is asked to sit by the first graders on the other side of the sandbox. Shawn rolls his eyes but obliges. He walks over to Josie and Buzz, gaining two new friends. Josie is excited over Shawn's "battle wounds", but Buzz just looks uncomfortable. Fifteen minutes later, the fourth, fifth and eighth graders are out as well. Adrian and the Barry twins fight to the top of the slide castle. Eileen is sitting in the other end of the sandbox, braiding Mindy's hair.
Flint, Howie, Ewan, Ryan, Ryder and Carlton are playing tackle football in the open grassy space. Chelsea is playing with her doll at the bottom of the slide while the boys are busy fighting over who will become King of the Castle. Peter, Abby and Gina are playing jumprope. Peter is currently in the middle, expertly singing "F, my name is Frankie and my wife's name is Felicity, we come from Florida, where we sell French fries ." Gus is at the sandbox with Mindy and Eileen, building a big castle or maybe it's a skyscraper. Henry and Donny are having a fight over where Henry's lunchbox disappeared.
Bryant and Douglas trip Adrian and their classmates starts rolling down the slide in a barrel roll. He crashes into Chelsea, and the two crash into Peter in the middle of his Ms. He collapses with the rope and Gina falls on top of him. Abby tries to maintain her balance but screams when she realizes her gum is gone. Henry shoves Donny down, tripping Abby into Eileen. The gum is in Mindy's hair and she screeches, knocking down Gus's tower. The football is on the loose and crashes into the slide tower. Douglas trips over it, falling down the stairs. The football flies into the sandbox and strikes the back of Buzz's head, causing him to scream and topple over, into Shawn. Lucinda is crawling around over there and she struts over to the football players. Though Flint is seven years older than her, she gets in front of him and throws the ball into his genital area. Flint drops; Howie, Ewan, Ryan, Ryder and Carlton start laughing. Ryan is the first to stop laughing and moves to help. Instead, he trips over his own shoelaces and accidentally punches Ewan. Ewan reels back to hit Ryan, who ducks, and hits Carlton instead.
At 10:45, grades one through three are walking back inside. Buzz, Shawn, Ryder, Gina, Abby and Chelsea are in pain. Juliet and Dennis take Chelsea to the nurse's office. Gus and Mindy are mad, but the others just walk in. Billy, Sissy, Annie, Molly, Steven and Lucinda decide to focus on classwork, since everything seems to be happening today. Jason is the only non-hurt, non-mad, not volunteering student in second grade. Marlowe walks in with Clive.
Five minutes later, recess is over. Henry, Bryant and Douglas get detention; Flint and Adrian are sent to the nurse's office. Howie, Ryder and Ryan push and shove as they barrel in. Eileen, Peter and Donny are playing Horsie, charging into the school doors. Henry whines but follows the Horsie kids. Ewan and Carlton are the last to leave. After given ice, Flint corners Dennis and steals the kid's pudding.
Back in the first grade class, the kids are in beanbag chairs, listening to the teacher read a story. In second grade, the kids are sitting on the carpet, but doing the same thing. In third grade, the kids are working on their vocabulary. The fourth, fifth and eighth graders are back to math and science. There isn't much of a break between recess pain and a learning headache in class. After another hour, the bell rings for early lunch.
Well, there goes another chapter. Let me know how/if you like!