Chapter 2

Elizabeth and Mike waited patiently for the school bus to come pick them up. "Mike, what do I do if that girl bothers me again?" She asked her older brother.

"Come get me and we'll go talk to the principal," he said to her. "Let me know if your teacher is mean to you too, okay?"

The little girl nodded and the bus pulled up, to which the two climbed on, Mike making sure his sister climbed the steps safely before he climbed up behind her, both siblings taking a couple of empty seats nearby. The bus ride was noisy, but uneventful.

Mike took Elizabeth to her classroom and hugged her. "Have a good day, okay?" He said. "And you know we can call Mom if anything happens."

"Okay," the younger girl said.

She went in to go to her desk, but just as she sat down and put her backpack beside her desk, something cold and icky came crashing down over the girl. She screamed as it dripped down her and then she heard the girl that had bullied her laughing at her. "That's what you get for tattling!" The mean girl said.

The teacher came in and sighed. "Those are the consequences of your actions, Elizabeth," she said, not caring that the child was covered in was looked like a slime mixture.

"How?" Elizabeth asked. "I didn't ask her to be mean to me."

The teacher glared at her. "One more word of backtalk out of you and you'll stand in the corner," she scolded her.

The child looked up at the teacher and heard the mean girl laugh again. "I think she's going to cry," she said mockingly.

Just then, Mike stormed in and he went up to the mean girl. "How dare you!" He yelled at her, making the girl jump back in shock and look up at him in fear.

"Michael, you can't just barge into my classroom...!" The teacher tried to say.

"I can when my little sister has been hurt and you're not doing a thing to punish this little brat!" He said, pointing to the bully girl.

"I didn't do anything!" The bully said, giving him a haughty look.

Just then, a police officer came in and the bully ran to him. "Daddy! That boy yelled at me for hurting his sister, but I did no such thing!" The girl said.

The man sighed. "Stacy, I saw what you did to that girl," he said, making the bully look up at him. "I was wondering why you were bringing slime to school, but I thought it was for show-and-tell."

"It is for show-and-tell, sir," the teacher said, looking nervous.

"Then why is that young girl covered in slime and my daughter not being punished for her actions?"

The teacher couldn't speak as she was trying to figure out what to say, but the policeman shook his head. "I came to get your older brother because he was sick, but it looks like I'm taking you home too, Stacy," he said. "Get your things. You are grounded. You will be doing all your school assignments for today at home."

"But Daddy! I didn't do it!" Stacy tried to lie.

The man looked around and saw a few students looking at Stacy. "Did my daughter throw slime at this young girl?" He asked, gesturing to Elizabeth.

The other students nodded, not daring to lie. Stacy glared at them angrily, but no one came to her defense. The principal came in and she sighed. "I thought the talk I gave you last time would have been enough, Stacy," she said. "Since your teacher refuses to punish you, you will be in detention for one month and writing not only sentences, but also an essay about the consequences of bullying and lying."

She turned to Stacy's father. "Does that sound reasonable, sir?" She asked, hoping he'd agree.

"Yes, that is more than reasonable," he said. "And she will work on those sentences and essay after she has done her schoolwork for the day. I'll be keeping an eye on her."

Stacy stomped her foot. "No! I won't!" She shouted.

But her father gave her a look that made the girl quiet down. "March, young lady," he said in a voice that said 'do not argue with me'.

"Come on, Liz," Mike said. "You go get cleaned up. I'll stand guard at the bathroom door."

Nodding, the siblings went to the restrooms and while Elizabeth went inside, Mike stood outside, guarding the door. The principal relieved the teacher of duty and called in another teacher to teach the class. Once that was done, she went to check on Elizabeth.

She entered the bathroom and saw the child trying to clean up, but it was hard. "I think a shower might be best for cleaning the rest of that slime out of your hair," she said. "And a good soap scrub before washing your dress should get that slime off of it."

The child sniffled. "Can you call my mommy?" She asked.

"Of course," the principal said.

When Clara heard what happened, she was very upset and called William, who was equally upset too. "I'll go get the kids and bring them home," he said, letting his boss know. His boss graciously allowed him to do so, understanding it was an emergency.

"You can come in later to finish your hours," the boss said.

"Thank you, sir," William said before heading to the school.

Mike helped his sister gather the schoolwork for the day and when his father came, he politely asked his teacher if he could be excused for the day and take his schoolwork home too. The teacher wasn't going to allow it, but the principal overrode that decision, even allowing the two siblings to take the rest of the week off from school.

"I'll bring the schoolwork for you two to complete in the mornings before I head into work," she said.

"Thank you, ma'am," Mike said.

William nodded. "Thank you, ma'am," he said. "I hope things are taken care of?"

"Yes. Stacy's father came in and he caught her in the act. To my understanding, he grounded her and as punishment, she is writing sentences and an essay about the consequences of bullying and lying. I also excused Elizabeth's teacher from duty and she won't come here again," the principal said.

Nodding, William took his children home before he headed back to work and Clara had Elizabeth go to her room to not only grab a change of clothes, but also go to the bathroom to wash up.

Mike sighed, to which Evan looked at him. "What's wrong, Mike?" He asked.

"Just thinking about what would have happened had I not been delivering something to the principal's office this morning," the eldest boy said. "Liz would have been stuck in the corner by her mean teacher."

Evan hugged his brother. "But you saved her, Mike," he said.

"Yes, he did," said Clara as she came downstairs and hugged her eldest son. "I'm proud of you, honey."

"I did yell at that girl though, Mom," he said.

"I can't blame you. You were very angry at what happened to your sister," she said. "I'm going to make your favorite for dinner tonight along with your favorite desert."

Evan perked up at that and Mike was surprised. "Really?" He asked.

"Yes," she said.

William came back after a few hours and he hugged his children. "Liz, are you okay?" He asked her.

She nodded. "I'm okay, Daddy. Mommy was able to save my dress and the slime is gone," she said.

He nodded and looked at his eldest son. "Son, I'm proud of you for standing up for your sister," he said, hugging him again.

"You taught us to stand up for each other when the other is being bullied, Dad," Mike said. "And I've seen you stand up for Mom many times against that one rude lady."

Clara chuckled. "Alright, pork ribs with barbeque sauce, cheesy garlic bread, and steamed lima beans are nearly ready for dinner," she said.

"Oh, Mike's favorite," William said as Elizabeth lit up.

"And we'll have banana splits for dessert," Clara said.

The kids all perked up at that and William chuckled. "I got the stuff for the dessert," he said.

Elizabeth hugged Mike again. "You're the best big bro in the world," she said.

"Uh-huh!" Evan said in agreement as he joined the hug.

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GoldGuardian2418