Consequences or Rewards?
Author's Note: Attention students and readers! Attention. I want to go over a couple of things before we continue. I'm officially impressed by all of you. Taking time out of your lives to read my work? It is very satisfying to me! And gaining the slightest bit of attention day by day shows me one thing in particular, The Wayside Fandom isn't dead! A couple of months ago I saw an episode on my recommended YouTube list. Then I decided that since it was a very small part of my childhood when I saw two or three episodes, I should check it out. I regret nothing! But enough about my opinions. Let's get back to our friend Todd.
Just before I begin walking down the thirty floors I just walked up, I see Mrs. Jewls walking away. I call to her.
"Where are you going?" She turns around.
"I have a class to teach Todd. Just because one of my students is hurt doesn't mean I can stop teaching." She says. I look back at Maurecia.
"Can you at least call an ambulance?" I ask.
"Of course I will but you need to get to the principal's office now Todd!" She says vigorously.
"Okay." She turns around and walks away. As I walk down the first half of the stair flight I stop to make sure Maurecia is okay. I place my fingers on her neck and fortunately, I feel her pulse. The crash didn't kill her. I was worried she'd either hit her skull too hard that her brain would get crushed or that her neck would've broken. I tilt her neck forward and feel something warm on my hand.
"Oh my god!" I exclaim. The back of her head was bleeding. Luckily it wasn't a large abrasion but still, feeling her blood on my hands made me feel like a murderer. I meant to hit Maurecia but I didn't mean to do this much damage. I assumed she'd either fall on her back or slow down on the knockback. I didn't think she'd roll all the way to the stairway. I sit there for a second, thinking about what I'd done. I feel ashamed. More so than the Kindergarteners at my old school. Because I might've lead to the toys getting shredded but no one actually got hurt. I feel I need to do something. It'll take the paramedics a long time to make it to the thirtieth floor and then walk back down.
Time to get a grip Todd! My subconscious tells me. I grab Maurecia gently by her legs and hoist her into my arms. She's actually pretty light but that's probably because she's always energetic and goes places at irreducible speed. I fold the right sleeve of my white undershirt over my hand and place it under her head. I don't want to hold my bare hands on her open wound or she could get infected.
"Let's go Maurecia." I say with determination as I slowly start walking down the stairs. As I walk I can't help but think of what I'm doing. Part of me feels like a hero but another part of me thinks heroes don't hurt people before they save them. And to think I could've just stood there and let her punch me another time, this wouldn't have happened. But taking the abuse wouldn't have been enjoyable for me either.
After about five floors down my arms start to get tired… well my left arm. She'd often hit me on the left side so it sort of hurt to carry her. I still have my right arm covering her head but chances are it'll get tired as well. Then I ask myself another question.
Would Maurecia do it for me? It's hard to say honestly. I know if she did she'd do it a lot quicker. I flinch and look at her skates. I'm very tempted to take them from her until I get to the first floor. But then I think that since I haven't ridden any non-vehicles in over a year I'd only screw it up.
"Oh! Stop complaining Todd!" I exclaim out loud. Then with newfound strength, I ignore my pain and keep walking. I manage to make it down another 15 floors before my shoulders were ready to give out. Both of my arms are tired and frankly so is my back. If you're a fourteen year old boy who doesn't lift weights or do sports, you're not physically ready for things like this. I decide to take my chances. I set Maurecia down gently and remove her rollerblades. It's time to escape my comfort zone for just a few minutes. Luckily they fit me pretty well.
"Alright let's do this!" I chant as pick her back up and skate down the tenth floor and onto the ninth. I'm lucky enough to not crash into any walls and pray my luck will hold on. As I make my way lower and lower into the school, passing the eighth, seventh, and sixth floors I realize I'm moving a lot quicker than before and I'm a little better at rollerblading than I thought I was until suddenly, when I got to the stairway between the fourth and third floors I feel my leg misstep.
"Whoa!" I start moving uncontrollably down the stairs. My last thought before I hit the wall is to keep Maurecia safe. I hug her tightly and face forward preparing to take impact.
"Ow!" I yelp once I hit, with my knees then my face flew forward. I'd stuck my knees out just a little further and I'm grateful they slowed my facial crash for me. My face has endured pain like that all the time so there wasn't going to be any long term damage in that regard. But I'm still conscious.
"Oh." I say weakly as I get back on my feet. Both of my knees are now bleeding and I'm just flat out exhausted. But I'm not to my destination yet. I get up and take the skates off as I now see how dangerous they can be. Also note to self: Next time make sure you have knee pads with you before you skate. I touch Maurecia's neck again to ensure she's still okay and luckily she didn't take any damage from that crash I just had. I put them back on her feet and remember I left my shoes on the tenth floor. But there's no point in going back now. When I finally make it to the bottom floor I hear the ambulance siren and I see Louis talking to the paramedics.
"Where is the injured child?" One of them asks.
"I have no idea." Louis says. "I didn't know there was an injury here." I walk up to them quietly.
"Here she is." I say. Holding her out. A few of them gasp.
"Whoa Toddster what happened to Maurecia?" Louis asks. This isn't going to be fun.
"I punched her in the forehead then she had a skating accident. She fell down the stairs backwards on the skates until her head hit the wall." I say in an ashamed tone. Louis looked surprised.
"You punched her?" He asked. "Like… intentionally?"
"Yes. But I didn't know she'd fall down the stairs." I hand her to one of the men.
"Thanks son. We'll take it from here." He assures. I speak up in concern.
"Please take good care of her. She's someone I'm probably never going to see again." I say sadly. I see Louis almost tears up after hearing me say that. A female medic comes towards me with a roll of bandages.
"Would you like some bandages for your knees?" She asks me.
"Yes please." I say as she helps me apply them to my knees. It stings a little but not as much as my arms still do from carrying Maurecia down twenty nine stairways. I then watch them get back into the ambulance but I can't watch them drive away. I have an office to get to.
I get to the principal's office but Kidswatter isn't there. I know it's only 9:15 but I still expected him to be there. I sit there for a while. I sit for a solid seventy five minutes in silence feeling too sad to play my Game Boy and too bored to write or draw something. He finally enters the room and greets me.
"Ah! Welcome Three Forty Four! What brings you here this fine morning?" He asks. I really wish he'd at least make an effort to remember my name but at least he doesn't change the name every time he sees me like he does with Myron.
"I got in trouble. But where have you been?" I asked in annoyance.
"Figure skating." He says. It figures. That's all he's ever doing if he's not on the PA or getting students to do a ridiculous activity. "But seriously what are you doing here?"
"I told you I'm in trouble. I punched a girl and she ended up hitting a wall head first." He gasps.
"You injured someone?"
"Accidently. But it was supposed to be a single punch instead of a critical blow."
"Listen Three Forty Four. If you punch-" I had to interrupt.
"Please call me Todd!" I couldn't help but blurt. He stammered for a second.
"Okay 'Todd'. Punching someone is simply not nice." Well I wish he was present every time I was alone with Maurecia. "It's violent, cruel, and just flat out frowned upon." He told me.
"Yeah I get it." I say not looking in his direction. "But why are you concerned over such little things like hitting another person and not to things like teachers abusing their power?" I ask thinking about Mrs. Jewls.
"Well Three Forty Four- I mean Todd, back when I was in school I got punched all the time." I never knew that.
"You did?" He nodded.
"But I learned to get used to it. Then I learned how to dodge punches, with style!" He grinned.
"What do you mean with style?"
"I learned how to dance like a true professional. After that was over I moved on to figure skating to continue getting better at that sort of thing. Then I became principal so I'd have superior power to all people in the school like I always used to dream of." This was all really new to me. I didn't ever learn his motives for becoming principal until now.
"Well good for you. But Mrs. Jewls sent me down here to get punished. Are you going to issue a detention for me or something?" He shakes his head.
"No Todd I can't do that." He says with his usually egotistical grin. "Do you really think I have time for students after school is over? I have a life and so do you. So today only, since you're the smallest threat to my school and for that reason only, I'm letting you off with a warning." I smile.
"Thanks Mr. Kidswatter. It really means a lot to me. But I still think I ought to have some other punishment for knocking Maurecia out." He flinched.
"Did you say Maurecia? Like the girl on roller skates 24/7?"
"Well yeah." He grinned.
"Well Todd, it's about time someone gave her a taste of her own medicine! She took me out in a dodgeball game, she crashed into me between stairs before I banned round items, and when she wanted to do a stunt she trespassed in my private skating rink!" He said unconcerned about her injuries. "Todd. Today you have diplomatic immunity!" He grabs me and shakes my hand. "Congratulations." I wonder what he means by that. But if it means Mrs. Jewls can't boss me around then I'll take it.
"Well… thanks? But can I have a pass for it or something?" I ask.
"Sure thing!" He writes a paper up. "Just sign here please." I sign the location. "Perfect! Now please enjoy the rest of your day." He says pointing towards the door.
"But Mrs. Jewls said I should stay here for the day." He raises an eyebrow.
"Is Mrs. Jewls in charge of the school?" I'm speechless. "No she isn't. So you can tell her I said you're her problem and not mine." He says as I walk out. I'm honestly starting to feel good about myself until Louis walks out of the other room looking kind of sad.
"Hey Louis what's up?" I ask.
"Not real good things." He says. I'm immediately concerned.
"What happened?"
"Todd, this might hurt you more than it hurts me." He says. "I just got a call from the hospital and Maurecia isn't doing too well." It feels like a spike jabs into my heart.
"She is alive though right?" I ask nervously. He nods.
"She's alive but she lost quite a bit of blood from that incident. She's in a coma." I shiver a little. "And most victims of an injury like this are out cold for weeks."
"Weeks?" I ask. "I don't have weeks left Louis, I have a few days!" He shrugs.
"And some people… end up dying from this."
"WHAT?" I nearly shouted there could be an avalanche in mountain territories. "How is that possible?" He sighs.
"Some people end up braindead. They are too damaged to even open their eyes again." A tear falls down my face.
"So I might've killed someone?" I say with my voice breaking.
"Well… maybe you had some responsibility?" He said. I couldn't contain my tears anymore.
"I'm a terrible person!" I cry. Louis quickly pats me on the shoulder.
"No you're not Todd."
"Yes I am!" I whine.
"No you're not Todd." He squeezes my shoulder lightly. "A terrible person wouldn't carry the person they hurt down thirty floors would they?" He asks. I slow down my tears.
"Well… probably not." I respond.
"Would a terrible person risk injuring their knees to do that?" He's right.
"No."
"And would a terrible person use the phrase; "Please take good care of her" to the paramedics?" He asked me.
"Oh you heard me say that part huh?" He shakes his head gleefully.
"No they wouldn't!" He says fiercely in excitement. "You're a good person Todd. You're a good hearted, heroic, person. And to think if the medics would've had to walk up thirty floors then she'd likely not have made it. But you saved her Todd." I started to feel a little better. "Maurecia would've been a goner if it took them forty minutes to an hour to get her to the hospital and you reduced it by about 60%."
"I did?" I said smiling lightly.
"Yeah and I like to look at it as Maurecia is 60% more likely to pull through because of it!"
"Really?" I've never heard Louis be so supportive.
"Yeah! And I promise Maurecia will be notified when she gets back." He says. "They said they don't think it'll be too critical anyways. It was only a minor collision."
"Thanks Louis. Please tell me more if they tell you anything." I say as I walk up the stairs.
"Will do Todd. Will do." I hear him say behind me.
I picked up my shoes on the way through floor ten and put them back on. When I'm on the fifteenth floor I notice its 11:00 which is lunch time. And this time I'm here freshly as opposed to having to scale half of the building to get here. I make my way to the cafeteria and pull out my lunch box. I just recently decided bringing lunch each day is safer than eating Ms. Mush's food. About ten minutes into lunch I'm sitting alone and just a few meters away is a large table full of my classmates. Most of them are staring at me to the point they aren't even moving their heads. I want to ask them what they're looking at but I think that'd be rude. What I don't hear is them saying a couple of things.
"Todd looks awfully lonely over there." Says Dana. "Do you think we should join him?" The three Erics shrug in unison. John shrugs his legs. Stephen turns to his pumpkin. Joe scratches his afro. Jenny rings her bike bell softly. Then to my surprise Sharie opens her eyes.
"Poor Todd." She says softly before falling asleep again. I look down at my food, trying to avoid making eye contact with them. I know most of them are probably scared of me even though I'm sure at least one of them, like Jenny, is stronger than me. I mean I wanted more respect from my classmates but I didn't exactly want it to be from them fearing me. I didn't know beating up the toughest girl in school would instantly intimidate everyone else. I want to tell them it was an accident but I don't think they'll believe me.
"I don't know." Myron says. "He scares me. It's like a piece of him just snapped and now he's dangerous." I hummed to myself to try to block out their conversation. Just as I finish my sandwich I open a small pack of peanut butter crackers. Peanut butter is really good and sometimes when I eat it I feel the numbing of my emotions. Delicious! Suddenly I'm greeted by Dana who looks eager for reasons that escape me.
"Hey Todd." She says.
"Hey Dana." I respond in a sad tone, not bothering to lift my head.
"May I sit next to you?" She asks and then my head pops up.
"What?" I ask.
"Does that mean no?" She raises an eyebrow.
"No, no. That's fine." I say as she takes the seat beside me. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather eat with your best friend Myron?" I ask her. She shakes her head.
"No Todd. I wouldn't for a couple of reasons." She states. "For starters he's been acting like a coward all day saying you're gonna come for him next." Myron would probably be my next target if I was violent but I'm not violent so it's not likely. "And more importantly I'm his best friend, but I never knew for sure who yours was." I flinched after hearing that. To be honest I don't really have one.
"Thanks." I mumble quietly. "But I think you'd be happier around them than with me." She puts her hands on her hips.
"Todd. I'm going to ask you this. Would you be happier if I were with them?"
"I don't know. My emotions aren't being clear with me today. I can't tell if I'm happy to not have gotten abused, sad to think I maimed someone, angry to know that I'm probably everyone's least favorite person here… though that part was self-explanatory since the day I arrived. Or if I'm confused because I don't know who are my friends and who are my foes."
"Todd. I want to be your friend." She says. Though I can't make an enthusiastic response.
"Okay thanks." I mumble.
"Alright good." She says cheerfully. "What do we do now friend?" She asks, though my mood isn't lightening at all. I gain my words.
"Okay Dana. Don't take this personally. I appreciate that you feel sorry for me, but I really don't think you are going to play a factor in whether or not I stay here." She frowns.
"Why not Todd?"
"Well because you're only one person. And I've got bigger problems with Maurecia and Mrs. Jewls than I do with you." She sighs.
"Well Todd I just wanted to say thank you for saving us from the trash compactor." She says sincerely. I make eye contact with her and smile lightly.
"You're welcome."
"And even though the other students are scared right now, they too are grateful for being saved." She says. I question that a little.
"No one ever told me thank you after it happened. And Myron never will since he wasn't there." She gets into her analytical tone.
"What about the time the glow guppies attacked the class? You were there to save us then to, including Myron." I shrug.
"Maurecia pulled the lever that drained the classroom. I just happened to be in the raft." I said. Only to get an unexpected response.
"But she wouldn't have been in the raft if it weren't for you now would she?" She asks. I counter with a depressing argument.
"She also wouldn't be in the hospital right now if it weren't for me." I say unwrapping my cheese stick. Dana frowns.
"Are you still beating yourself up over that?"
"Well it's not easy being in a school after you lead to someone getting badly injured." She rolls her eyes.
"Todd you were just angry and honestly a lot of us thought you didn't have a breaking point. After all those times she hit you she had a little karma coming to her. Some of the students may think you're a monster but I'm pretty impressed. And you've said you were sorry ever since it happened so I know you're not a monster." I've never really expected this coming from Dana. I mean I guess it's not as unlikely as hearing it from Myron or another student but I'm still pretty surprised.
"Thanks for making me feel better but I still think I'm going to have a boring or obnoxious bus ride in about 35 minutes." To my luck she withdraws her rulebook.
"Actually Todd. Read the Teacher's and Guardian's Guidelines!" She nearly shoved the book in my face. I read it silently.
"What part in particular?" I ask.
"Principal's Rule." She says while pointing to it. I read it for a second and a mischievous grin reflexively appears on my face.
"Oh-ho-ho-whoa!" I say in a half chuckling tone. "This, Dana is more than I needed from you. Do you have any idea how much power you've just handed me?" She grins and nods.
"I thought it'd be easier to let you read it for yourself." She then laughs evilly for a few seconds. "I can't wait until class time!" She exclaims. I look back in the book for a minute with a dark grimace.
"Neither can I Dana, neither can I."
About twenty minutes later we're back in the classroom and everyone's about to take a test. Just as we get into it I stare at my watch. I get through about two learning targets then I see Mrs. Jewls come to my desk. I glance at my watch and it reads 11:40.
"Todd you know what it's time for?" She asks me. I shrug. "The Kindergarten Bus." She says in that careless tone.
"But it isn't 11:45 yet." I say. She nods.
"That's true. I just wanted to be generous and give you an extra five minutes due to your scraped knees."
"It doesn't hurt Mrs. Jewls. Just stop bothering me and let me finish my test!" I spoke up a little and nearby classmates looked at us. Mrs. Jewls looked embarrassed.
"There's nothing to see students. Go back to your tests please." She says.
"And you go back to your seat Mrs. Jewls." This time the entire class faced us a few of them had their jaws open. I felt like a lawyer. Mrs. Jewls glared at me.
"Todd that is no way to speak to your teacher."
"And micromanaging isn't legal to anyone who doesn't have a 504 plan prematurely written with parental permission. You're a licensed teacher so you should know that." Everyone gasped and I even saw Sharie staring our direction with eyes wide open.
"That's it Todd! I've had it with your behavior!" She dashes to the chalkboard and writes my name, checkmark, then circles it. "If only this chalk were permanent!" She says in frustration. I grin.
"If it were maybe Kidswatter would remember me by my name." A couple students chuckled. I quickly finished my test then turned it in. "Here you go Mrs. Jewls." She frowns in an unamused manner.
"Thank you Todd now its 11:45 so get out of my classroom!" I hear students behind me drop their pencils. I turn around and they all look kind of nervous. It's like they want me to win this argument.
"Oh okay. I guess I get to go to recess early huh?" I hear chuckling. "Thanks Mrs. Jewls." I say stepping towards the door.
"Uh, uh, uh Todd. Your destination is the Kindergarten Bus. Go down there this instant." She said sternly. I heard Jenny call me.
"Don't do it Brother Todd!" I turn around slowly and withdraw the rulebook, opening it to early dismissal policies.
"It says here that if a teacher wants to send a student home early she needs to have very valid reasons for it. Because if that student is gone then he or she isn't able to continue learning for the rest of the day which could further affect their education." There was utter silence in the classroom. She glared into my eyes and I could tell she was angry. But who is she to say she's angry? She doesn't know the half of pain or humiliation I experience daily and she's often half of the cause.
"Well Todd talking back to the teacher isn't acceptable."
"That's true." I hear Eric Ovans mumble.
"Disciplining a student for doing their job taking a test isn't either."
"Seconded!" Myron exclaims. Mrs. Jewls raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Telling me to sit down isn't something a student is allowed to do."
"Actually Mrs. Jewls, asking for privacy is every student's right. If a teacher isn't willing to back off it's their right to protest for it. That's why I raised my voice and told you to back off."
"That he did!" Dana cheers.
"Well Todd you are never allowed to yell at your teacher." She said getting more frustrated but keeping her cool.
"And you as a teacher are never allowed to interrupt a student during a test. The only exceptions are if they're cheating or the period ends." She pauses for a second.
"But Todd I-"
"No buts Mrs. Jewls. You have no basis for those. I've just debunked my name, checkmark, and circle's discipline reasons so do your job as a teacher and take my name off the board." I hear my classmates laughing as I fold my arms. Mrs. Jewls stood up looking steamed.
"Todd you get your butt downstairs right now!" She yelled and all my classmates fell silent. I looked into her eyes.
"Why? You never answered my question. Why'd you interrupt my test?" I asked.
"So I could tell you to get out of my classroom and get to the Kindergarten Bus!" She yelled loudly. I only grinned.
"If you were sending me home on the Kindergarten Bus anyways, your reasons I just debunked were irrelevant. Ergo I shouldn't have needed to debunk them."
"Todd is back baby!" Eric Bacon exclaims.
"Go to the bus now Todd! I wouldn't want you to miss it!" She says in absolute frustration. I take a step back.
"This sudden anger is very unprofessional Mrs. Jewls. This will cost points on the next Teacher's Parent Conference." She looked ready to hurt me. "But before I go to the bus I need a reason for it. You can't use those other reasons as part of your argument at this point so you'll need to dig deeper."
"Well let's see Todd. Oh yeah, you injured another classmate this morning! You caused Maurecia to miss out on class the entire day!" She yells really loudly. I grinned darkly.
"You're right I did. And didn't you say this was "Principal's Office" material?" I asked and she started to diffuse.
"Well… yes." She stammered.
"Are you the principal?" I asked.
"No but I'm still your teacher and I have authority over you." She says annoyed. I feel like I'm about to scar her permanently. I reach for the book and flip to Principal's Rule.
"It says here that if a teacher plays the principal card on a student, they're handing full authority to said principal." I close the book and grin menacingly to her face. "Therefore you have no authority over me in this situation and cannot give me any consequences." She gasps as the students all make an astonished face in unison. A few of them make remarks like 'ouch' and 'got her!'
"Way to go Todd!" Dana shouts.
"QUIET!" Mrs. Jewls screams and the class pauses. "You have no proof of this Todd. Therefore you cannot make this case. For all anyone knows you could've easily ditched the principal's office and pretended to be there all morning."
"Well." I slowly retract my pass from my pocket. "Unless this diplomatic immunity slip, with both mine and Kidswatter's signatures on it doesn't count as proof." The entire class gasps. "Then I think you'll need to put up with me for three more hours." She grabs it from my hands.
"It's… real." She says defeated. The entire class stares at her. "Okay you can stay for the rest of the day." She says quietly as she steps out of the room. The next thing I know Myron gets out of his chair and holds out his hand.
"High five Todd!" He said with excitement. I slapped hands with him. Then I hear multiple classmates calling at once.
"That was amazing Todd!" Stephen shouts.
"Great job!" John exclaims.
"You rock Brother!" Jenny says. I also see Bebe sketch a thumbs up.
"I'm proud of you friend." Dana gives me a thumbs up and winks. I signal her back. It's going to be an easier last week than I thought.
By the time I get home three hours later I read my standard chart. If all of these are completed by the end of the week I won't leave Wayside.
"1. Get Maurecia to stop punching me:
2. Stop getting sent home early:
3. Gain respect from classmates: √
4. Find something I can say I care about that can ease the pain."
I think I can check that third one off. I know the other three will be more difficult to complete but I've still got time. And if Mrs. Jewls is accepting then maybe I can check off another one.
Author's Note: Well that may be the most satisfying chapter yet, to me at least to write. But I'll be darned if I can't make the next one any better. Thank you all for reading, hope you enjoyed, and Goodnight.