Story: Beginning Part 6
[[Continuity Note: Unnecessary.]]
She then headed down the aisle, presumably to stare some different students into submission. Alf stood discreetly, pretending that he didn't hear the remaining students' whispered remarks as he passed by them on his way to the 'bathroom'. He headed to the bathroom, despite the fact that it was not generally accepted practice for any student to leave the hall while someone was speaking. After all, assemblies were only a half hour long.
Alf strode down the corridor as though he wasn't a man on a mission to use the nearest toilet. And he wasn't, so he wasn't unjustified in his approach, though his acting skills did leave something to be desired. It seemed that every student in that room knew where he was headed. Stepping past the door to the nearest male bathroom, Alf turned left, past the female door and to one marked "Do Not Enter". Although he'd never been through it before, Alf, and everyone else at school, knew that it was the entrance to the school hall's stage.
He reached for the knob and turned it, looking left, then right to make sure that he hadn't been spotted. Alf quickly darted into the room. He was spotted immediately. As soon as the door had opened, a beam of light crossed the face of one of the teachers, and a hand was suddenly upon his shoulder. Alf wasn't quite certain how he managed to stifle the scream, but when he turned he was greeted by the stern face of Ms Welch, the most formidable teacher in East Hills High School. Or at least, the most formidable at the moment. Anyone with any less dignity than Alfonso Struthers would already have soiled their underwear, and would likely have soiled more than just their socks by the time she was through with them.
"Alfonso," she pronounced, lips pursing. "Exactly what do you think you are doing here?" One of her eyebrows lifted in question, though the tone of her voice made it seem to Alf as though she already knew the answer to that question. She gently steered him away from the "Do Not Enter" door, and shut it behind him. "I hope you weren't planning to do something," here she paused, as though searching for a word like 'stupid' that was much more refined. "Out of character for you."
"Of course not, Ms Welch," Alf replied, then wondered why he had. That was obviously not the right answer to that question. Though, since Alf was about to do what he was about to do, surely that meant it was in character for him to do whatever he did.
As though reading his mind, or at least coming to the same conclusion herself, Ms Welch retracted her previous statement. "Or perhaps I misjudged your character, Alfonso."
And here Alf swallowed, feeling more ashamed than he had in all his contemplation of the act. It almost looked like she was disappointed with him. Anger, he could take. Disgust, condescension. Alf was okay with those. But disappointment was a hard one to deal with. Disappointment meant that the person had expectations of you, that they thought you were better than that. Disappointment meant that they cared. And when someone cared, well, how could anyone think of disappointing them? It made him want to cry. And he couldn't possibly do that.
"I heard a rumour, Alfonso. A rumour that I'm sure you're aware of."
Alfonso gave no indication that he was aware, neither did he give one to the contrary.
"I heard that you were going to disrupt this assembly almost the worst possible way. I heard that you were going to disrespect a man to whom you owe a debt. A man who looks out for you, who takes care of you. But do you know what, Alfonso?"
Alf didn't. But he didn't say so, either. In fact, at this moment, all he knew was that no one had ever said his first name so many times in the span of five minutes before. And he didn't like it.
"I didn't think anything of that rumour. Because I thought you were an estimable young man. So tell me, Alfonso. What has been happening? What made you even try to do this?" Her eyes were upon him now, expectant.
Alf had never been red with shame until this moment. He was so ashamed that he couldn't even consider adopting his nail-biting nervous habit. He wasn't sure how to answer, either. He didn't really think 'I decided to leave Rock overnight in a carpark, so out of guilt I decided to a favour for him that really turned out to be kind of mean' was going to cut it with Ms Welch.
Instead, he shrugged. "It was a dare," Alf stated.
"Oh?" An eyebrow raise.
"I was dared to pull Principal Porter's pants down in assembly today," Alf confessed to the floor, then met the gaze of his teacher. "And I was going to do it, too."
Ms Welch took that as a challenge. "Right, you're going to the principal's office. And you are going to wait there until assembly is finished. And then we are all going to have a talk about this, and by we, I do mean your parents, too, Alfonso."
Alf cringed internally, but followed Ms Welch. He knew that it would be more than suicide to disobey her now. At the same time as he was being led across the school toward the principal's office, the assembly began to let out. He guessed Principal Porter's talk was a short one this time. He didn't often have things to say besides: wear your uniform, it reflects better on the school. As he followed Ms Welch, a single student caught his eye. Rock, of course, the puppeteer behind this fiasco.
Rock smirked at Alf. And suddenly, Alf was filled with a blinding rage. Rock was the cause of this. In that moment, Alf realised that this was what Rock had wanted all along. He wanted to see Alf humiliated and disgraced. He wanted to see him suffering. And Alf was angry at himself for not realising it sooner. All he could think of was some other way to get his revenge. Revenge that preferably involved the removal of his pants and the exposure of underpants to the world.
And then Alf saw them. Dark green and black striped boxers. He was seeing Rock's underwear, not quite believing. Rock's pants were around his ankles and Alf knew, somehow knew that he was the one who had put them there. And by the glare he was throwing his way, Rock knew too.
"Alfonso!" Ms Welch called.
And obediently, he followed.
-=-=-=-=-=-
That after school impromptu punishment session really wasn't so bad. Alf was sentenced to an hour of after school detention, and that was all. He felt that he'd been saved by the fact that he had been caught by Ms Welch before he had carried out his crime. He knew better than to pretend that he hadn't been planning on doing what he almost did.
The problem wasn't the talking to, or the punishment. The problem was that the adults were certain that something was wrong with him. That Alf was acting so out of character. It made Alf want to scream and shout 'Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought you did'.
After all, he'd spoken to the principal maybe twice. Once he'd been called down to see him because they were accusing him of doing something unseemly on public transport. To which he'd remarked that he walked home every day. The only other time in his recollection was when the principal had organised getting to know you luncheons with a small group of students and himself.
Ms Welch knew him because she'd been their year teacher since year seven, but they were only in year nine, and Alf didn't like to attract attention to himself. Not all troublemakers were attention seekers.
His parents should have known him, but they were parents, of course he didn't tell them everything. And he was fourteen now. A teenager. And he'd heard all sorts of stories about how teenagers grow apart from their parents.
Their concern was touching. And it made Alf hate himself, and in turn them for making him hate himself. And that was a never ending cycle because then he'd hate himself for making them make him hate himself.
"I wish you'd just tell us, Alfonso," his mother implored as they left the room. "What could possibly make us think the less of you?"
He didn't quite know himself, but he was certain that his parents weren't going to react positively to the news that he'd succeeded in pulling down a boy's pants from across a playground. They would certainly not be thrilled.
[[And so ends the beginning. YES!]]
posted by Cedric @ 9:14 pm
