Chapter Nine: Waldo Weatherbee and Nirvana
As the principal of Riverdale High, Mr. Waldo Weatherbee made it his duty to always look after his staff and students. Not many principals were willing to devote plenty of their time to ensure the safety of the school. Or was he? Rumors were abound that the principal's main concern was Riverdale High's reputation, nothing else.
"I assure you, this school will never be brought down by all these recent… events that has plagued our town."
"Together, we will make Riverdale High the best high school in all of America and beyond."
"This high school is known for producing the best students America has ever seen, and I want all of you to keep our reputation as spotless as possible!"
"There is nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. I promise, this year will be the best year you'll ever have!"
Principal Weatherbee's love for grandiose but boring speech was well-known by everyone, so it wasn't a surprise to see a dozen or so kids dozing off mid-speech. Even some of the teachers were so used to them, they collectively chose to ignore the big man as he spoke. The principal, weirdly, rarely noticed this.
Only his tokay gecko Daemon, Nirvana, appeared to notice the teachers' utter disinterest. She would've alerted Weatherbee of what happened, but the poor thing were trained, commanded, not to speak whenever the principal delivered his talk. Heck, Nirvana nearly forgot the time when she was ordered not to talk to her human.
It all happened so many years ago when she Settled as a fat tokay gecko, much to Weatherbee's mirth as he'd like to see Nirvana chose a bigger, more impressive form. The principal himself could scarcely remember a time when his Daemon would confidently speak up towards people, while he stammered through his own words. As time went by, Waldo Weatherbee became more outspoken, but also more spiteful towards the gecko Daemon. He often blamed any misspoken messages or speeches on Nirvana.
Back then, Nirvana would argue that she merely provided advices and encouragement to her human. At first, Weatherbee quickly apologized and let it slide. But the Daemon never forgot. As the man grew older and more influential, the gecko found herself talking less and less, until she barely spoke at all.
"Now, would you kindly stay out of trouble and don't embarrass our school with your antics."
"We have received reports of suspicious men lurking around the campus proper. If you believe that they're dangerous, please alert the school staff immediately."
"My number one priority is, and has always been, your safety. Let's work together so we can make Riverdale High a safe and fun place for learning!"
"Also, no spray-painting on our walls, please. If I catch anyone of you vandalizing the school's property, there will be consequences."
Oh please, Nirvana thought, the big man had no intention to look after these sorry students, especially after the bad things that happened all year round. It was all empty buzzwords, really.
Firstly, there was Jason Blossom's murder, which spurned the town into a wild frenzy of sorts as they try to discover who did it and why. And then the local gangster began making trouble in the campus' vicinity while selling drugs to the kids. Not to mention a complaint filed by Kevin Keller that a tall, scary thug supposedly broke into the school and nearly beat his friend Archie Andrews to death. In any other high school, situations like these might be reason enough to warrant a thorough investigation, if not a total closure of the school.
Clearly, Riverdale was such a hellhole if a school like this became a hotbed for criminal activity. Yet her human had fallen to deep in his own delusions, he'd do everything in his power to sweep those problems under the rug.
Sometimes, Nirvana found herself wondering, could things be any better if she Settled as a big and majestic animal? It might be, or it might not.