The next morning, the walk to school was colder than usual, so I didn't wait for Henrietta; I hoped she wouldn't be upset. I only did my makeup today and tossed my hair in a bun because I was running late, meaning I didn't have coffee; since I didn't have time to wait for the coffee pot, I called Tweak's and asked if Tweek could bring me a cup on his way to school; his mom drove him into school most days and said it wouldn't be a problem; I was incredibly thankful for this. His family could be a little, mysterious – I still didn't believe Michael's claim of the drugs, though – but they were nice people overall; just strict, I suppose.
Upon entering Mr. Garrison's class, I was greeted by Tweek with my coffee and Jimmy with a joke about the cold. I took a seat at my desk, which was moved to be next to Wendy, and greeted her.
"Did you hear that someone replaced the principal?" She said, surprised. "I'm kind of upset; I really liked her; she always stood up for me."
"Really?" I asked. "That's crazy. Did she quit?"
"I think she was forced to," She responded.
"Quiet down, class," Mr. Garrison said. "We have to get through these equations quickly so we can be present at the assembly in an hour."
The class groaned. An hour went by in what felt like days and we were being walked down to the gymnasium; I was in line behind Kenny but in front of Butters; Kenny didn't talk much, but he listened, so once we sat down in the gymnasium, I talked to Butters; it felt like days since I'd seen him.
"Where have you been, Butters?"
"Oh, me?" He seemed shocked I was talking to him; a bit hesitant. "I was grounded."
"Wait, so you don't go to school when you're grounded?" I asked; damn, I'd be okay with getting grounded if I could stay home and play my guitar all day long; that would be a vacation to me.
"Yeah and it sucks," He pouted. "I get locked in my room and all I have is my hamster to keep me company."
I sighed, "I'm sorry. That must suck. Well, it's good you're back."
"Quiet down, m'kay," I heard over the loud speaker; Mr. Mackey stood on the gymnasium floor. "This assembly is to present you with your new principal. So, let's welcome, PC Principal, m'kay."
A man then proceeded to burst through the doors, wearing a douchey smile on his face and ran up to Mr. Mackey to take his microphone. Before speaking, he took a sip of what looked like a sports drink. I could already tell he scored this job fresh out of college; I just wanted to know what happened to the old principal.
"Hello, South Park Elementary," He began his speech. "My name is PC Principal and I'm here to make grade school a better and safer place…. HEY! You up there; girl! Shut up!"
I looked over to see who he was yelling at; it was just Leslie who looked like a deer caught in headlights; I felt bad. I was a bit nervous about this guy. I took a sip of my coffee and sighed. His speech went on for a while and I was dozing off, until he brought Nichole and the kid who was sitting with Craig's group down to the floor with him.
"And, you see, this is racism at its finest," He began. "There are only two African American kids in this entire school."
I knew it was a lie, but I also wasn't sure if I should speak up after he yelled at Leslie for simply whispering to her friend. South Park was definitely not the most diverse place, but you could still see diversity amongst its student body if you calculated all the grades together. I mean, even Michael was half Asian, but nobody realized that because of the white powder and eyeliner he wore.
The assembly went on until the new principal ran out of steam and finally dismissed us back to class.
"That guy is crazy," Kyle muttered as we walked back to class; we weren't really in a line anymore, as PC Principal banned walking in lines because they were too strict and weren't PC enough for him. He sounded like a damn stoner, which I guess would make sense since he said he moved to Colorado to go to college for a 'better life'.
"Yuh-yeah, cruh-crazy," Jimmy said.
"And I thought that I was seen as the crazy one," Tweek murmured as we were walking back into class.
Not long after we returned to class, Mr. Garrison got a call on the school phone. After he hung up, he sighed, "Emma, will you please go down to the office."
"Um, yeah, I guess."
I hesitantly made my way to the new principal's office, unsure of what was to come, but afraid.
I knocked once.
"Entre-vue," He said. That wasn't even a word in any language, but I knew what he was trying to go for and entered anyways.
"Um, actually, if you wanted to say enter in French, it's 'enterer'," I said, sitting down. "And Spanish is pretty much the same, except pronounced slightly different… um, same with Italian."
He was staring at me, curiously.
"It's just cultural appropriation and I took a lot of basic classes in language back in New York, and…" Eventually, I just stopped because I was uncomfortable and didn't want detention.
I was surprised, however, at what came out of his mouth.
"Thank you, I didn't know that. Cultural appropriation means a lot to me and I think that it should be something that means a lot to others as well. Perhaps I'll let you speak at the next assembly," He said. "However, today, I've brought you here to discuss something that has come up regarding a boy in your class named Eric Cartman."
"Oh, jeez," I sighed.
"He says that you and your friends lied to him so he wouldn't join you for coffee yesterday. Do you have anything to say regarding that?"
"The truth?" I asked. "Because nobody ever wants the truth when it comes to him."
He nodded and I proceeded.
"The friends we were meeting are of the Goth culture," I was trying my best to speak PC to him so I wouldn't get detention or a parent call. "And Eric often chooses to bully them because of it and it's wrong to bully others for how they look and live their life. That's why we lied; it wasn't to hurt him, however to prevent the others from the ridicule that they face every day because of him and many others at this school."
He nodded and took it all in.
"I understand, thank you for addressing your concerns," He said. "I won't be calling your parent, however you will have to serve one lunch detention just so Eric will feel satisfied that his complaint was adequately addressed."
"I understand."
I stood up to leave.
"And if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye out for bullies, that would be honorable of you," He added.
"No problem," I said and returned to class.
He didn't seem too bad; I still missed the old principal though.
Hey guys; lemme know what you think. Who's your favorite character so far? What are you hoping to see in upcoming chapters? Who do you want to see Emma end up with? I already have a few ideas in mind for the loops of this wacky story, but I still want to see what y'all think! Thanks and much love :)
