'Hopefully the stick I put in the door will still be there' thought Miss Q as she left the Ashley building.
The door was usually locked from the outside. You couldn't get back in and therefore you had to walk all the way to the front of the school to get back in for lunch. Not Miss Q. Hopefully, no one would remove the stick and no insane shooters would sneak in.
As always, the Anderson hallways were brightly lit and there was plenty of cheer to go around. Like a disease, it had even spread to the custodians. Elementary staff is like that.
By the time Miss Q arrived, Miz Boss was about to line the kids up for lunch. Miss Q wondered what would happened if she tried to walk in sort of nonchalantly. You know. Incognito.
"MISS Q!!"
Not Happening. When they lined up, Miss Q got to observe a great moment though. The Boss was not happy.
"I am sick and tired of gum chewing in this classroom. Really! I'm tired of asking. Miss Beiber, Monet, you have an N now." Aww man. Monet gave a huff. Miss Bieber as always had her usual sly look. The whole class was silent however. Miz Boss's bad side, though never loud or abrasive and carried out in a business-like tone, wasn't a comfy spot.
"I stopped Miz Boss. I haven't chewed any gum." said Beancurd, deciding it a good time to clear his name.
"No. Actually you did. I saw you yesterday."
'Shouldn't have said anything, Beancurd' thought Miss Q.
There would be some drama for her to try to sort out at lunch. However on the way to lunch, Nancy Drew had a fact to deliver.
"Happy Puxatanifield Day! (AKA Groundhog Day)" Miss Q made sure to write that down...
Isn't Groundhog day in the Spring?
"Miss Q, why is your hair so puffy?" CP (that stands for Class President), always with tons of enthusiasm, wanted to know.
Good question. Miss Q's curly afro was indeed something worth assessing. Miz Boss saved her though.
"What dya think happened to my hair. Yeah, wind. Wind." Haha.
Miss Q ended up dealing with plenty of drama at lunch.
Beancurd and Miss Beiber have an ongoing, intense, malicious and backbiting rivalry. Despite this, the two still prefer to always be near each other. Kind of like two cats who try to walk away but always go back because they refuse to leave their backs open.
Monet was also mad at Beancurd for being a 'snitch'. Miss Q felt she did a pretty good job of handling that one.
"...So who's fault is it you got in trouble?"
A huff.
"Mine." she admitted. Miss Q was proud of Monet's humility... odd as that sounds.
"So can we give Beancurd a break?"
"Yes..."
After that, Miss Q was kept busy all throughout lunch trying to distract Beancurd from his focus on Miss Beiber. He actually came and sat next to Miss Q to explain what was going on. She did her best to point out that for every three "she did this"s he had sneakily snuck in something he had done to keep the drama going.
"So what should you do next time?" asked Miss Q
"Tell the teacher. But I did and she kept..."
So then Miss Q decided to help him calm down by distracting him. Turn around Beancurd. That's right. So, you go to the Mustard Seed?
The Mustard Seed is where Miss Q wants to work during the summer. She considers it an extenstion of her childhood afterschool program, the Brigade Boys and Girls club, because it's run by the same people. Fate, who sat across from me, simply wasn't invested in all the drama. We did get some discussion in about the Mustard Seed (Fate goes there) and she said she would beg the people to let me work there.
Miss Q loves Fate very much.
Fate loves attention, but at least she interrupted politely. Lately, Miss Q had been teaching the chilluns to say "Excuse me", when they simply can't hold in their statements.
Miss Q ought to watch Miss Bieber though. By almost all accounts she seems to be the center of most of the trouble. By the time she gets to her, she's all sly smile, half-lidded eyes, and a shrug.
Miz Boss had one last message for everyone when they got back:
Don't get mad because you got caught. Tattling, chewing gum, and name-calling are not cool. It's wrong to tattle but it's also wrong to break the rule to begin with. Now, were done. I'm very upset with you.
Now notice why Miss Q loves Miz Boss. The kids look at her almost like you would a court judge or someone completely trustworthy. She doesn't go for excuses. Miz Boss often becomes the Overseer of Justice in sticky situations. But just from watching her, Miss Q has learned to imitate that quality. During lunch, Miss Q began to pull out kids to talk to them, and she became the Overseer of Justice. But the most amazing thing was that Miss Q, despite only being Miss Q, had earned the right to judge somehow.
Somewhere along the way, she had become trustworthy enough to handle the great complaint of She's Talking About Me.
Even now, Miss Q sort of puffs out her chest. "Of course they come to me." she insists. "They know I watch them. They know they better have their stories straight."
Of course, Miss Beiber and Beancurd will probably still be at it the next day.
"I saw you say something to him, Miss Beiber. I hope it was nice!"
A post written like a short story...be still, my heart. I like how this post shows your growth. You aren't just the "new kid on the block"...now, that's a blast from the past! You aren't just a novelty to them anymore. They see you as someone with authority and as someone who loves them. Combine those two ingredients and you have the power to change the world...one turtle at a time.
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