Embarrassing the Kids

The house phone rang at about twelve-thirty in the afternoon in the Arc residence, and Jaune Arc picked up the phone as he cradled his youngest child Kokina in his arm. "Yello~?" he answered.

"Mr. Jaune Arc, this is Headmaster Glynda Goodwitch of Beacon Middle School…" began the caller.

"Hi, Glynda, nice to hear from you. Gods, it's been, what, nearly 20 years?" he went on.

"Mr. Arc, as much as I would like to reminisce the old days when I taught you and your wife in school, I have to talk to you about your children, Jaundice, Sephyra, and Liakada."

"Are they alright? They're not hurt, are they?" Jaune asked, now growing worried.

"They're perfectly fine, but they are in trouble. I caught them leaving academy grounds during their lunch and break period to go into Vale, where they apparently went to the nearest McRonald's restaurant to get food, without permission."

"Oh geez…"

"I propose that they receive detention for today and the rest of the week, if you do not mind."

"Actually, if you don't mind, I'd rather punish my children myself." Jaune answered.

"Excuse me?" Glynda was flabbergasted.

"Professor, trust me. Just keep my children until the end of the day, but have them meet Pyrrha and I outside with the rest of the students to pick them up, and I'd appreciate it if you would stand outside with them. You'll understand when we arrive."

Glynda was silent for a moment. "Very well, I'll trust your word for it. Please pick up your children at three o'clock sharp." Jaune agreed and hung up, where he then dialed Pyrrha's scroll.

"Honey, any possible way you can come home early, at maybe two?" Jaune asked her. "Our kids got in trouble at school, so we gotta go pick them up, and you know what we gotta do."

On the other line, Pyrrha stifled a giggle. "They're going to learn a valuable lesson today! I'll be home as soon as I can! See if Corona can watch Kitrino and Kokina while we're gone when she gets home from school." With that, she hung up.

Pyrrha would arrive home within the hour, where the two took a shower and got cleaned up to pick up their kids. For their clothes, Pyrrha pulled out a long sundress of horrible tacky colors, a joke gift from her last birthday, and slipped it on alongside matching white panties and a bra with sandals. Jaune grabbed an equally silly Mistralian shirt with horrid colors and design prints all over it with a pair of Pumpkin Pete cargo shorts and bright pink sneakers. "I think we both look equally stupid and should be embarrassing enough for the kids," Pyrrha giggled after seeing Jaune come out of his closet.

A litter after two o'clock, Aurelia arrived home from high school to see her parents getting ready to leave, making sure they had everything together, and she instantly recognized what their plans were. "Jaundice, Sephyra, and Liakada got in trouble?" her father said "yup." "And you need me to babysit the twins while you go pick them up." Pyrrha answered with a "yes." "Alright, I'll do it."

"Thanks, honey. Watch as much TV as you want or do whatever you usually do, but as soon as we get back home, you start on your homework, alright?" Pyrrha proposed, which her daughter agreed to. With that, Jaune and Pyrrha left their eldest daughter and youngest children alone and drove to the school. Along the way, Pyrrha pulled out a CD from the glove compartment and a wicked smile spread across her lips.

"Which song should play when we roll up to the school?" she asked her husband.

"So many to pick from…How about 'Clarity' by Zedd?"

"Nah, not embarrassing enough. What about 'Toxic'?" she suggested.

"Let's save that as a back up. I know! The ever-so-classic 'I Want It That Way'?"

"YES! That one! And if we need to wait any longer, let's have 'Clarity' as the next song!" Pyrrha hooted as she slid the CD in and set the song to play "I Want It That Way."

By two-fifty, the Arc couple had pulled up into the school'd roundabout that served for parents to pick up their kids. Jaune had the car parked directly in front of the school where the kids would pour out. "Alright, watch the clock and let me know when we should do it, and remember, we'll be able to hear the bell announcing the end of school," Jaune instructed his wife, who flashed him a thumbs up. They waited patiently, eager to embarrass their kids, until, finally, the end of day bell rang. They waited a moment for the bell's sound to quiet down before Pyrrha smashed the play button and the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" began blaring out the car speakers just moments before the kids started flooding out, with the Arc children and Glynda among them. Pyrrha began singing along to the song off-key while Jaune got out of the car, exposing his hideous shirt to the students.

"Hey, kids! We're here to pick you guys up! Jaundice! Sephyra! Liakada! It's us, your parents!" Jaune yelled loud enough for everyone to hear, catching the attention of dozens of students, many of whom pulled out their scrolls to video record the embarrassing scene before them, some pointing and snickering, and others were connecting together that the oddly-dressed couple were the parents of the Arc trio. Some kids were closing in on the car to record Pyrrha singing to the radio.

"Ain't nothin' but a heartache~~Tell me why! Ain't nothin' but a mistake~~ Tell me why! I never wanna hear you say~~I want it that way!" she sang as she danced in place, sneaking a wink at the recording children and blowing them a kiss, making them laugh.

"This is going on MeTube!" exclaimed one kid.

Jaundice's reaction was to throw his hood over his head and tug at the ends to cover his face. Sephyra cover her face as best as she could, and Liakada shut her eyes and looked as if she was about to cry. Jaune strolled over amidst the students, some of them laughing at his outfit. "Sorry that your parents aren't as awesome as I am, kids!" Jaune called out to everyone, earning around round of laughter. "So, kids, I hear you skipped school to go out to McRonalds for lunch?" The Arc kids––in front of everyone––all nodded. "You should know I'm VERY disappointed in you three. Now get in the car." The Arc children got in the car while everyone watched, though their attention soon turned to Pyrrha, who started dancing and singing to the next song "Clarity" by Zedd and Foxes.

"Cause you are~the piece of me~I wish I didn't need~~Chasing relentlessly~~Still fight and I don't know why~~~" she sang off-key to the small crowd gathering around her. The kids all squeezed into the back seat, still covering their faces as their fellow students crowded the car to laugh at them.

Jaune, however, waited a bit longer so he could talk with Glynda. "See what I mean?"

Glynda adjusted her glasses and gave her former student a smile. "That I do. Humiliating a child in front of their peers is a worthy punishment, and one that will correct their behavior, in theory. I'll leave them to you, but I'd rather they be suspended for a day."

"I'm fine with that. I'll put them to work tiding up the house tomorrow." With that, Jaune got in the car and drove off with many students waving them goodbye. After leaving the school grounds, Pyrrha turned off the radio and faced her children.

"Now, did you kids learn your lesson about misbehaving at school?" she asked. They all nodded. "I want to hear you three say it."

"We're sorry."

"Good, now let's go home."

"You kids are suspended for tomorrow, so I'll be waking your butts up at six in the morning and you're spending the day cleaning up the house, both inside and out," Jaune warned them, making them groan in response.

"Another brilliant act of discipline from the Arc parents, right, Jaune?" Pyrrha giggled before leaning over and kissing his cheek.

"You betcha."