The teenage Chimby's paws clenched and unclenched repeatedly, expressing the fear and nervousness that was speeding through his body at a high rate. Half of his attention was focused on his teacher as she spoke in her dull tone, hoping that something would aid him in his distress while the other half was in a frenzy, trying to grasp facts and historical dates. His heart rate speeding, he looked up as his teacher dropped a stack of stark white newly-copied papers onto her desk.
"Before I distribute the test," She began in her monotone voice that could make you fall asleep even if you were interested in what she was saying, "I'll give you all ten minutes to do some last minute studying. I hope you all brought your studying materials to school."
A chorus of groans arroused from the students, among them the Chimby's. He mentally slapped himself for being such an idiot and only bringing his binder but not the textbook. The teacher sat down and began doing work probably as boring as herself, aware that some of her students were freaking out. Though it was evident the Chimby was not the only one having a mental break out at the aspect of failing the test, it was a fact that he was the one who was freaking out the most. A top student of the clas.s, he made it his goal to achieve at least a 90 on every test.
Just recently he began to struggle with history. The miggrating of the Tesuris from Scria to Atquati confused him for reasons he couldn't understand. Sometimes he messed up- was it Atquati to Scria or Scria to Atquati? A shudder ran through his body as he thought about getting a failing grade on the test- he remembered how horrified he had been when checking the practice questions and discovering he had gotten over two thirds of it wrong. As he grasped the corner of his binder and withdrew it from his messenger bag, a small slip of paper fell out onto the floor.
It was the size of one of those tiny pieces of paper you find in fortune cookies. The paper had landed face down, so the Chimby leaned over and picked it up to read what was written on the other side. A slam of a textbook on a desk from his neighbor jolted him to reality before he could read it and his panic replaced his curiosity. The Chimby shoved it to the corner of his desk and began to scan over his notes in his binder, taking in dates and important people that he couldn't give a Jaaku's nonexistant tail about.
The teacher rubbed her eyes as if she was boring herself and stood up, "Alright, books away now, I'll give out the tests."
More panic went through him, but he felt slightly better since he had looked over his notes. As he put his binder back into his backpack, he remembered the slip and glanced over at his desk. He wouldn't take the test without reading it- he wouldn't be able to wait that long! In a quick motion he swiped the slip of paper and read it over, his dark brown eyes peering at it. In his mother's familiar scribbley handwriting, she had written;
I know you'd be nervous, but I know you can do it. Don't give up.
The Chimby smiled, reas.sured by his caring mother's word. The teacher's boring voice with an edge of strictness reminded him to put everything away, startling him a bit. With a small nod, he obidiently dropped the paper into his backpack without looking, his mind already skidding back to the facts he had just studied. The Chimby missed though, and the paper floated down beneath another student's desk...
---
She beamed confidently as she finished her test, her pen dropping to the table with a light clatter. There was no need to check it over- she knew that she got them all right; or so she thought. A few minutes later, the teacher announced the end of the test and proceeded to walk up and down the aisles collecting the papers. The sepia Valabex quickly scooped up her lavender drawstring bag, bustling in a hurry past the Chimby ahead of her to get out the door. As she walked by, she stepped on a slip of paper face down on the ground. A small piece of gum on the bottom of her shoe she was yet to discover clinged to the paper and brought it along with her.
As she did every single day, she quickly melted into the crowd of other students hurrying to their clas.ses. The daring and careless ones stood off to the side and talked to their friends, not caring if they could possibly be late. She cast them an angry glare before swarming with the rest of the early students into her next clas.s- lunch. It wasn't exactly a clas.s, but she knew the lunch aids would blow a fuse if they caught anyone trying to come in late.
"Hey," She greeted her friend as she did every day, taking a seat next to her friend, "What's for lunch today?"
The lemon Mirabilis shuddered, "Rubbery noodles that taste like strips from car tires."
"You know what tires taste like?"
She laughed, "You get my point."
"Well," The Valabex beamed happily, pulling out her brown bag, "That's why I bring my own lunch- as not to submit and suffer at the hands of cafeteria food."
She crossed her legs and saw the slip of paper, the corner of it attached to her shoe by a piece of gum. With a small cry of digust, she quickly left the cafeteria without telling her friend what she had found. After a few scrapes and moans, the paper ripped off by the corner and fell onto the bathroom floor. The gum, sadly, would not come off and she began rubbing the sole of her shoe on the wall, not caring if she got it dirty. With a sigh, she gave up and sat on the window sill, staring out at the garden, colorful and perfect.
Perfect.
That was all she wanted to be. She had to know what to eat, what to look like, and how to respond so that the majority of people agreed with her. She had to always keep her looks the best they could be and she couldn't have a single flaw in her looks. A single piece of gum on her shoe would make her look careless that she didn't watch where she was going and that she was messy. She again tried to scrape it off, failing. With a sigh, she looked at the paper and held it up daintily as if it had numerous germs. She read it.
I know you'd be nervous, but I know you can do it. Don't give up.
Nervous? What did this stupid piece of paper know? She glared at it as if it knew that what she wanted was perfection and she was nervous in case she failed to do so. The Valabex sighed; she had been told many times there was no such thing as perfect. It didn't matter because she would strive to come as close as she could to that level. Her eyes went back to her shoe and she put the paper down, determination renewed. From her back she withdrew one of the many bobby pins that she kept in their. After a few efforts of twisting it, she began to try and push the gum out of the crevices of her shoe.
"Yes!" She cried out as it all came out.
Then she realized something. Stressing and freaking out over a tiny bit of gum in her shoe was what? It was silly. She wouldn't have to do all this stuff just to try and be the best she could be. She would just be herself. The Valabex smiled and stood up, her bag on her shoulder, and left with a happier air about her. Perfection wasn't trying to be what everyone else was and kicking out all flaws- perfection wasn't even real. The only thing she would have to strive for is being the best person that she could be. The slip of paper sat forgotten on the window sill in the bathroom.
---
Darn it, why couldn't she stand up to them? The orchid Zenirix stumbled into the bathroom before losing her stiff composture, sobbing into her paws. Hot, salty, tears dribbled down her face, mixing in with the slop that dribbled out of her nose. She cried harder, huddling on the window sill. Why her? It wasn't her fault that she had an accent. It wasn't even something to make fun of her for, yet they did so anyways. I should be stronger, the Zenirix thought, her chest aching from the sobs.
It was always her, wasn't it? The target of the bullies, the one who got laughed at and wasn't answered when she prayed. No matter what school she went to, it was always the same- just like some curse. Her shoulders heaved as she began to sob again, harder, and she felt like curling up right then and there on the filthy bathroom floor to cry for all of eternity. Instead, she leaned against the wall and slid down, huddling there like the vulnerable and broken soul she was.
"Why?" She blubbered to herself even though she knew nobody could hear, "Why me?"
She continued her sobbing, thinking that no matter how long she'd stay in there, the teacher wouldn't care enough to send anyone to get her. Nobody cared about her, except her owner and siblings who weren't even here so it didn't matter. The Zenirix allowed her eyes to sweep across the floor. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she did find the slip of paper. Sniffling back some of the wetness that had come out of her nose, she picked it up and opened the paper.
I know you'd be nervous, but I know you can do it. Don't give up.
What? She squinted at the paper, wondering if the tears blurred her eyes to the point of misreading it. Yet, despite the tears that were drying and tightening her face, she knew what it said. The young girl sighed and flopped the arm that wasn't holding the paper to her face, mumbling something about how stupid people left stupid notes with stupid sayings to give her stupid hope. Stupid, stupid, stupid, She thought with strong emotions, Just like me. With another sigh, she stood up and eased open the bathroom window, peering out to the side of the building where the cafeteria was visible through its blindless windows.
There was the Rose Meragon that made her life terrible along with his circus of cursing and violent friends. She shivered and felt a singe of hatred for him. What was his reason for doing it, anyways? There was a reason for everything, wasn't there? The Zenirix subconsiously inserted a lock of pale hair into mouth and began to chew- her thinking action. Her eyes went back to the paper again and hope flooded through her. Anyone could do it, right? If he had some reason, it was probably bad. She wouldn't remain silent anymore. Perhaps she wouldn't go up to him and slap him as her older brother did, but she would fight back.
With a smile on her face, she picked up the paper and left the bathroom. She could do it- she wouldn't let him best her. All he did was torment others and they didn't say anything. His frightening stance and gaze could make them lose all thoughts of help. But not her. At first she was surprised- where had this sudden courage come from? Shrugging, she lightly jogged to the main office and eased open the door. In her office, typing at a computer, was the Dean. Seeing the person made the Zenirix's legs weak. He would know. If she told the Dean now, then it meant the Meragon would get in trouble. He surely wouldn't get expelled until he killed someone- her heart hammered; What if that's me? As soon as her worry came, she mentally slapped herself. She was going to do it.
"Excuse me," The Zenirix said quietly, taking a seat by the table and dropping the paper on the seat beside her.
After a few moments of typing, the Dean looked up and acknowledged her, "May I help you? Do you have a clas.s slip?"
"No...I don't, I'm sorry," She began to talk faster in case she was kicked out, "But...I want to report a student. He was always hurting other people including myself. Nobody wanted to tell because he threatened to do bad things once his punishments were over. I was crying in the bathroom but then I got hope and came here...would you be able to do anything?"
"Yes," The Dean answered almost immediately, "Students such as that will be penalized for their wrongdoings. It's against everything we have tried to teach. Can you please tell me his name? You can whisper it in my ear if you're afraid anyone would hear."
The Zenirix obeyed, and as the whisper left her lips, she felt free. She had done it. Pride blossomed in her chest as she thought that she was the one that would tell on the bully, the one that frightened even the older kids. The Dean picked up her phone and called someone, though she didn't know who. After a few words were exchanged, the Zenirix was given permission to leave. She almost skipped to the cafeteria, not scared that she would likely run into him. Halfway there, the intercom went on and called for him to go to the main office. He eased open the cafeteria door and began to walk by her. Worry was etched on his face, along with some determination. She didn't pity him, after everything he had done.
I did it, She thought again happily, I stood up for myself.
---
The Dean glanced up as the Rose Meragon entered the office, his face emotionless. She opened her mouth to speak when the principal walked in, his mouth set in a grim line. They stared at each other for a moment. Feeling slightly uncomfortable despite him being so determined, the Rose Meragon cleared his throat to show that he was still there. The principal threw him an angry glare.
"Please wait outside," He commanded in an edgy voice, "We'll be with you later."
Now, normally he would have said something snappy and rude, but sensing something worse, he just shrugged and obeyed.
"I'm sorry to say this," The principal began slowly right after the Rose Meragon shut the door, "But I am finding your quality of work to be slowly decreasing."
"My quality of work?" The Dean repeated in disbelief, "What do you mean?"
He coughed and clasped his hands together on the desk, "The way you deal with things don't have much effort as they used to have, in my opinion. Such as the Zenirix that left- you should have asked her if she wanted to speak with her guidance counselor to feel better."
"But she looked fine!"
"No she didn't," His voice grew hard, "She was frightened to tell you. I'm sorry, but if your effort doesn't improve within a week, you're fired."
The principal stood up and left the room silently, leaving the Dean to drown in his words. Long after he left, she was still thinking about what he said. She sighed, to be honest, she hadn't really enjoyed her job as much as she used to. Students came off to her as rude and obnoxious when she used to enjoy their company. The pen made a clicking noise as its point withdrew. She sighed again and peered around the room. The rolling chair slid backwards a bit as she stood up, surveying her office where many kids had come and gone, cried and smiled, screamed and shouted.
She glared at her desk. She didn't want this job, but at the same time she did. Oh, she absolutely hated what she had to deal with, but...some of them were so pleasant. Take the Zenirix, for instance. Students like that who just got things done and over with without making a fuss would get an A if she could grade them. The silver Otachie began to pace in a circle, stress furrowing a line in her brow. The fifth time pacing around the table, she noticed a slip of paper on the seat. The Zenirix had come in with it earlier and had forgotten to pick it up. With a sigh, she picked it up and read it.
I know you'd be nervous, but I know you can do it. Don't give up.
The first sentence didn't really stand out to her, but the last one did. Was it that the Zenirix had lost hope? This paper surely could have brought out the courage in her. The Dean sat down and stared at it, feeling strange. Her job was in jepoardy and she didn't feel she could do any better. But could she? Could she improve her quality of work? A student could overcome a bully, so she could overcome the annoying pressure of her boss.
"I can," The Dean whispered, a smile on her face, and she sat down in front of her computer, "I can."
She typed, putting down records of things she hadn't bothered to put before. She would try- she would put effort. Nothing would stop her. This was her job and she was determined to keep it. She placed the slip of paper on the window sill and continued her work, deep in thought. The principal smiled in approval as he watched her work, lost in concentration. She was improving.
---
The wind blew, sending the slip of paper out of the school building. It was just about time for the students to be let out for the weekend. Anticipation built up as eager eyes watched the clock, waiting for it to strike twelve. The second it did, the doors burst open and students flooded the halls, uncramming their lockers and talking with friends. It wasn't long before the school doors were also opened- students running out into the sunshine, happy to be free of the pressuring teachers.
The paper lay forgotten in the school yard until yet another gust of wind picked it up, propelling it somewhere else. After flying across many streets and careening beneath the feet of normal every day people, it landed in a yard. At that moment, a certain Chimby was about to walk towards his house. His eyes fell upon the paper and he lifted it up, already knowing what it said. He smiled and put it in his pocket, intending to keep it. The paper was special- it had helped him when he needed it. People may have just said it was a paper- nothing to care about, but he liked it.
It's not like it helped anyone else, anyways, right?
The End
Normal User
Normal User
Normal User