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Young Boys Hidden Truth Exposed in School Drama Poster's notes This is a series originally posted on Nifty by a friend of mine. On his behalf (because for some reason, he couldn't get an account here), I'm posting it here. He reckons people who read here might like it too. The tags for this story aren't specific to any one chapter, but are general for the entire series. It's a work in progress, with currently 8 chapters and counting. Chapter 1 serves as a prologue. Chapter 2 is the actual start of the story, with Chapter 3-8 containing the real meat of the story. I will be posting each chapter exactly as it is found on nifty sans my friend's author's notes. He highly appreciates feedback, criticism and encourages people to spot any typos or errors and if you wish to email him he's at: horn1269@gmail.com I hope you enjoy his story. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7: Not That Kind of Doctor William James was not unlike most boys his age. He woke up that Friday morning expecting a repeat of the usual weekday routine, all leading up to another ordinarily bland and boring school day. If there was anything to be excited about, it was the enactment of his well-prepared plan to get his best friend back. William went about his morning preparations with unusual haste. He was already dressed for school and down the stairs for breakfast in the time it usually took him to force himself out of bed on any other day. He poured himself some cereal as he wondered where his mother was. She was usually up earlier than him and already going about the kitchen already dressed for work. He wondered about her conspicuous absence from the kitchen and mused if the sudden break in routine represented some ill omen. It was only after he had finished his breakfast when his mother came in, dressed for work, although her hair was still unruly and she still had her slippers on. She was busily chatting away on the phone and seemed genuinely surprised that William was there at all. “…and of course. …the next moment changed everything
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Young Boys Hidden Truth Exposed in School Drama
Poster's notes
This is a series originally posted on Nifty by a friend of mine. On his behalf (because for some reason, he couldn't get an account here), I'm posting it here. He reckons people who read here might like it too. The tags for this story aren't specific to any one chapter, but are general for the entire series. It's a work in progress, with currently 8 chapters and counting. Chapter 1 serves as a prologue. Chapter 2 is the actual start of the story, with Chapter 3-8 containing the real meat of the story.
I will be posting each chapter exactly as it is found on nifty sans my friend's author's notes. He highly appreciates feedback, criticism and encourages people to spot any typos or errors and if you wish to email him he's at:
horn1269@gmail.com
I hope you enjoy his story.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 7: Not That Kind of Doctor
William James was not unlike most boys his age. He woke up that Friday morning expecting a repeat of the usual weekday routine, all leading up to another ordinarily bland and boring school day. If there was anything to be excited about, it was the enactment of his well-prepared plan to get his best friend back.
William went about his morning preparations with unusual haste. He was already dressed for school and down the stairs for breakfast in the time it usually took him to force himself out of bed on any other day. He poured himself some cereal as he wondered where his mother was. She was usually up earlier than him and already going about the kitchen already dressed for work. He wondered about her conspicuous absence from the kitchen and mused if the sudden break in routine represented some ill omen.
It was only after he had finished his breakfast when his mother came in, dressed for work, although her hair was still unruly and she still had her slippers on. She was busily chatting away on the phone and seemed genuinely surprised that William was there at all.
“…and of course. Now hold for a second, dear, William’s up. “
“Hey, mom. Who’s that?”
“It’s your dad. Why are you up early? I rather thought you’d still be dragging yourself across your bedroom trying to wake up.”
“Well, uhm, I just had a good night’s sleep?” William replied sheepishly, suddenly remembering that he indeed had a great orgasm last night that helped him fall asleep.
“Just as well, I’ve been meaning to call you down. Your dad wants to talk to you,” said Mrs. James in her characteristically crisp manner. William couldn’t help noticing that she was eyeing him strangely as she handed him the phone.
“Hey, dad. “
“Hey there, sport!” said Mr. James jovially.
“Hey. It’s great to hear from you. But, uhm, why did you call just now? I mean, I’ll be going to school in half an hour and it’s gotta be like, what, midnight over there. I mean, not that I’m not glad you called or anything…”
“Yes, well, some things are urgent enough for bad timing, haha!” Mr. James said. What William liked about his father was that he had an easy-going personality despite any situation that would require him to act otherwise. He was the kind of person who would be gravely serious while talking to co-workers, and then at a moment’s notice switch to his informal ‘chill’ personality when talking with William. He was such a great father in William’s eyes that the only thing missing was for him to actually be at home more than twice a month. As part of an elite cadre of UN diplomats, Mr. James was expected to frequently travel abroad.
“Well, okay. So what’s up?”
“Look, sport, I want to be honest with you. It’s a lot harder for the both of us -well more for you anyway-if I beat around the bush so I’ll get right to the point, that okay with you?” Mr. James said without losing his warmth.
“Well, okay, dad, though I still don’t get what you mean…” William replied with apparent confusion.
“A couple of days ago, your mom got a strange call. She told me about it and I decided that I’d call you the next chance I get and talk to you about it. You see, William, that call was about you.”
“About me? What? Was it from school? Wait, don’t tell me I got an award for something?” William suggested to his father while grinning.
“Haha! I would like for nothing more, believe me. Why, if that were the case, I’d quit my job and fly back there as fast as I could just to pat your back!” Mr. James laughed heartily.
“Well, since you haven’t, I guess it’s not the case, huh?” William asked still grinning.
“Nope. And I found it really strange to say the least. You see, sport, Mr. Watson was the one who called your mom and he uh…to put it simply he warned us to keep you away from his son because he said you were a…‘homosexual influence’,” Mr. James said delicately.
“What...” came William’s flat and dumbfounded reply.
“Well, that’s the gist of what he said anyway. What he said was a bit longer. He was…very creative in his choice of words. Not to mention a bit loud and agitated. “
William didn’t reply. His heart was throbbing and his knees were starting to shake. It appeared that John’s parents found out about them. And now, his parents knew too.
“William, are you still there?”
“Y-yeah, dad…”
“From what I understand here, you’ve been…well, playing more…uh, mature games with his son. If I remember correctly he’s your best friend. His father is concerned that you two have been…becoming a lot closer than best friends though…am I right?”
William gulped audibly. He tried to reply but his fear reduced his words to incoherent mutters.
“William, I know that right now you must be scared, since your secret’s apparently out. But please, be open with me, son. I need to hear this from you. Is what Mr. Watson said true?”
“I-I…well…uhm…that’s…”
“William?”
“Y-yeah…it’s all true dad…” and before Mr. James could reply, William added a hasty “I’m sorry dad!”
“Sport, listen to me.” Mr. James said. “I’ll admit that I was surprised. But well, I’m not angry with you, really.”
“W-why not? John’s dad seemed really angry…and I thought you’d be too…” William said morosely.
“But I’m not his dad. I’m yours. We both think differently. And I really don’t think I’m in the position to get angry at you for the things you did, not that I would.”
“How come?”
“You almost sound like you WANT me to get angry at you,” Mr. James said with a laugh. “Well, let’s see. I’m almost never home, I almost never get to spend time with you and do normal father and son things. I don’t really have the right to judge you because I haven’t been there to supervise your growth as much as I should have. I haven’t had much of a hand in how you think, act and do things these days. I mean, I doubt I’d be winning any ‘best dad’ awards anytime soon.”
“Well, you would in my book!” William said.
“Thanks for saying that, sport. But the fact remains that I’m not there enough for you. I haven’t even done the birds and bees talk to you and I was hoping your school might do it for me. You already know about puberty and all those things, right?”
“Well, sort of, yeah…” said William, embarrassed.
“That’s great. Saves us all the awkward questions doesn’t it? Haha! But still…it’s those things that I should have done as a father to you. In fact, I really think I’m doing a really bad job at being a father.”
“No, you’re not!”
“Thank you ,William, that means a lot. But I still wasn’t there to raise you myself. Sure your mom is there too, but she’s as busy as me these days. You know, we were hoping you just learned a bit from all we taught you when you were younger and sort of… grow up along those lines eventually even if we weren’t there to help you most of the time. I can never be sorry enough for not spending enough time with you.”
William was silent though evidently listening, so Mr. James continued. “Since I’m not really there to be your dad most of the time, I don’t have the right to judge your actions because I wasn’t there to guide you in the first place. I’m not saying that I would’ve stopped you from being who you are, but as your dad, I should’ve at least been there for you to help you grow up. To me honestly, it doesn’t matter what you become as long as you become someone you can be proud of.
“In any case, I’m confident that I’ve taught you enough about right and wrong and I trust you to do and decide what’s right. That’s all I can ever do for you now, son, trust you.”
“Dad…”
“So…I don’t want to have to ask you now, but well I just want to say that if you ARE gay, just swear to me that you’ll be a good son…or well, daughter, whatever the case.”
“Dad, I’m still a boy!” William said, now slightly smiling.
“Right. So that means I don’t have to buy you dresses now? Great! Kidding aside, William, I wish Mr. Watson would see things my way and take this all calmly, but since he doesn’t, stay out of his business for a while. I wouldn’t want to fight with another parent over how to raise children. I must be the worst possible person for an argument like that in any case, though if it comes to that I won’t back down and let another man put my son down. Whatever happens, be a good boy to your mother, alright? I love you, William. Stay safe.”
And with a promise to talk more about the issue when he got home, Mr. James bade his son goodbye. William then noticed that his mother wasn’t in the kitchen again, instead finding her in the living room casually sitting down while supposedly fixing her bag (although she just looked like she was pretending). He just realized that his mother tactfully retreated so that he and his father would have some privacy in their talk. Mrs. James looked up when he entered the living room and gave him a smile. She walked with him outside the door as they both prepared to leave. Unexpectedly, Mrs. James hugged William from behind before they left the porch.
“You know, William, I tried giving you most of the things you wanted, like your games, because I thought it was a good way to make up for the time we couldn’t spend together. But I guess, it’s no excuse for what I’ve been lacking as a parent. I hoped you would understand but I still cannot justify not paying enough attention to you. I still don’t really know how to react to all this, ‘gay’ business…but I suppose all I could ever ask for is for you is to be a good son,” Mrs. James said in a business-like manner, though there was unmistakable empathy in her tone.
“Thanks, mom,” said William as he gave his mother a goodbye kiss and went on his way to school.
Though he was feeling immensely cheerful, his thoughts were troubled. He now knew what happened to John, and he understood why his best friend had been acting so differently. It seems John’s parents found out about their budding relationship…and took it very badly.
*****
William arrived at school without much incident. As he gathered his things from his locker and sat in the classroom, nothing of great importance happened to him and no significant conversations or people of interest interacted with him. All this annoyed the twelve year-old greatly, because his master plan to get John back seemed to unravel already from step one as evidenced by the conspicuous lack of John Watson on the chair next to him.
“Where the heck is John?!” William couldn’t help but mutter out loud after first period Science.
“Well, if it ain’t painfully obvious already dude, he’s absent,” chuckled Carl Rogers as he passed William on the way to his seat.
William grabbed Carl’s sleeve and tugged him nearer to his seat, causing Carl to nearly trip over. “Hey, what gives, dude?” Carl exclaimed.
“Do you know why John’s absent?” asked William.
“You actually expect me to know? What, am I his mom now or something?” Carl replied as he smirked and pried William’s hands off his sleeve. “Though if you must know, he’s out sick. Fever or something,”
“Hey, so you do know!”
“Maybe I just happened to overhear Nurse Joy talking to the teach’ about John’s mom calling while I went out to piss,” shrugged Carl. “For future reference, attempting to tear off a piece of someone’s shirt isn’t a good way to get info.”
“Hey. You knew, so it was totally justified,” William said with a mischievous grin.
“Bastard,” replied Carl, sporting a grin of his own.
Before both boys could continue their good-natured bickering, their English teacher and class advisor Ms Granger came in and asked them all to settle down. She was carrying with her several bundles of paper, which she began passing along to the class.
“Well class, you’ll be excited to know that the educational excursion trip is pushing through next week Friday. It’s the field trip, for those who didn’t get what I just said,” Ms Granger said as she rolled her eyes amid delayed cheers from the students.
“We’ll cover several locations, but apart from the Rowling publishing house, the destinations are the same ones outlined in last week’s bulletin. Now, pass along those forms; they’re the permission slips for your parents. Remember, no parental consent, no trip,” she said, rather tiredly. She began arranging her books on the table in a harried manner, with all the air of a woman having too many things to do.
“Ma’am, will we be going in Route 66?” asked one of the students.
“You mean ‘on’, Heffley, unless you want to be buried there,” Ms Granger answered nonchalantly as the class sniggered at the red-faced Heffley. “Which reminds me, we’ll be doing preposition exercises today. Seriously, you’re almost in the seventh grade; I would’ve thought you mastered these things already.”
“Ma’am, there’s an extra permit left.”
“Oh? I thought I had it all accounted for. Who’s not here today…let me see…where’s Watson?”
“He’s out sick today, Ma’am,” said Carl Rogers.
“I see. Who can volunteer to give this to Watson?”
“I will, Ms Granger,” William volunteered as he raised his hand.
“Very well, James. I will hold you responsible. And before we start this day’s lesson, I’d like you all to know that a classmate of yours received an award for having one of the best essays in an interschool writing competition.”
The class was staring around; it was clear this was news to them. Ms Granger sighed exasperatedly.
“I would’ve thought that you told them. Well? Stand up, Masters, and let your classmates appreciate the honor you’ve brought our school.”
Johnson Masters hesitantly stood up and looked straight at the blackboard, seemingly to avoid eye contact. An awkward smattering of applause followed, with Carl Rogers noticeably clapping harder than the rest.
“I’m sure the school paper will come out later today and tell you all about it. But really, I expected you to be more proud of your classmate. Anyway please take out your text books…”
*******
William had a quick lunch and afterwards found himself wandering the halls aimlessly. There was still a bit of time before the bell rang to signal THE END
This is a series originally posted on Nifty by a friend of mine. On his behalf (because for some reason, he couldn't get an account here), I'm posting it here. He reckons people who read here might like it too. The tags for this story aren't specific to any one chapter, but are general for the entire series. It's a work in progress, with currently 8 chapters and counting. Chapter 1 serves as a prologue. Chapter 2 is the actual start of the story, with Chapter 3-8 containing the real meat of the story.
I will be posting each chapter exactly as it is found on nifty sans my friend's author's notes. He highly appreciates feedback, criticism and encourages people to spot any typos or errors and if you wish to email him he's at:
horn1269@gmail.com
I hope you enjoy his story.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 7: Not That Kind of Doctor
William James was not unlike most boys his age. He woke up that Friday morning expecting a repeat of the usual weekday routine, all leading up to another ordinarily bland and boring school day. If there was anything to be excited about, it was the enactment of his well-prepared plan to get his best friend back.
William went about his morning preparations with unusual haste. He was already dressed for school and down the stairs for breakfast in the time it usually took him to force himself out of bed on any other day. He poured himself some cereal as he wondered where his mother was. She was usually up earlier than him and already going about the kitchen already dressed for work. He wondered about her conspicuous absence from the kitchen and mused if the sudden break in routine represented some ill omen.
It was only after he had finished his breakfast when his mother came in, dressed for work, although her hair was still unruly and she still had her slippers on. She was busily chatting away on the phone and seemed genuinely surprised that William was there at all.
“…and of course. Now hold for a second, dear, William’s up. “
“Hey, mom. Who’s that?”
“It’s your dad. Why are you up early? I rather thought you’d still be dragging yourself across your bedroom trying to wake up.”
“Well, uhm, I just had a good night’s sleep?” William replied sheepishly, suddenly remembering that he indeed had a great orgasm last night that helped him fall asleep.
“Just as well, I’ve been meaning to call you down. Your dad wants to talk to you,” said Mrs. James in her characteristically crisp manner. William couldn’t help noticing that she was eyeing him strangely as she handed him the phone.
“Hey, dad. “
“Hey there, sport!” said Mr. James jovially.
“Hey. It’s great to hear from you. But, uhm, why did you call just now? I mean, I’ll be going to school in half an hour and it’s gotta be like, what, midnight over there. I mean, not that I’m not glad you called or anything…”
“Yes, well, some things are urgent enough for bad timing, haha!” Mr. James said. What William liked about his father was that he had an easy-going personality despite any situation that would require him to act otherwise. He was the kind of person who would be gravely serious while talking to co-workers, and then at a moment’s notice switch to his informal ‘chill’ personality when talking with William. He was such a great father in William’s eyes that the only thing missing was for him to actually be at home more than twice a month. As part of an elite cadre of UN diplomats, Mr. James was expected to frequently travel abroad.
“Well, okay. So what’s up?”
“Look, sport, I want to be honest with you. It’s a lot harder for the both of us -well more for you anyway-if I beat around the bush so I’ll get right to the point, that okay with you?” Mr. James said without losing his warmth.
“Well, okay, dad, though I still don’t get what you mean…” William replied with apparent confusion.
“A couple of days ago, your mom got a strange call. She told me about it and I decided that I’d call you the next chance I get and talk to you about it. You see, William, that call was about you.”
“About me? What? Was it from school? Wait, don’t tell me I got an award for something?” William suggested to his father while grinning.
“Haha! I would like for nothing more, believe me. Why, if that were the case, I’d quit my job and fly back there as fast as I could just to pat your back!” Mr. James laughed heartily.
“Well, since you haven’t, I guess it’s not the case, huh?” William asked still grinning.
“Nope. And I found it really strange to say the least. You see, sport, Mr. Watson was the one who called your mom and he uh…to put it simply he warned us to keep you away from his son because he said you were a…‘homosexual influence’,” Mr. James said delicately.
“What...” came William’s flat and dumbfounded reply.
“Well, that’s the gist of what he said anyway. What he said was a bit longer. He was…very creative in his choice of words. Not to mention a bit loud and agitated. “
William didn’t reply. His heart was throbbing and his knees were starting to shake. It appeared that John’s parents found out about them. And now, his parents knew too.
“William, are you still there?”
“Y-yeah, dad…”
“From what I understand here, you’ve been…well, playing more…uh, mature games with his son. If I remember correctly he’s your best friend. His father is concerned that you two have been…becoming a lot closer than best friends though…am I right?”
William gulped audibly. He tried to reply but his fear reduced his words to incoherent mutters.
“William, I know that right now you must be scared, since your secret’s apparently out. But please, be open with me, son. I need to hear this from you. Is what Mr. Watson said true?”
“I-I…well…uhm…that’s…”
“William?”
“Y-yeah…it’s all true dad…” and before Mr. James could reply, William added a hasty “I’m sorry dad!”
“Sport, listen to me.” Mr. James said. “I’ll admit that I was surprised. But well, I’m not angry with you, really.”
“W-why not? John’s dad seemed really angry…and I thought you’d be too…” William said morosely.
“But I’m not his dad. I’m yours. We both think differently. And I really don’t think I’m in the position to get angry at you for the things you did, not that I would.”
“How come?”
“You almost sound like you WANT me to get angry at you,” Mr. James said with a laugh. “Well, let’s see. I’m almost never home, I almost never get to spend time with you and do normal father and son things. I don’t really have the right to judge you because I haven’t been there to supervise your growth as much as I should have. I haven’t had much of a hand in how you think, act and do things these days. I mean, I doubt I’d be winning any ‘best dad’ awards anytime soon.”
“Well, you would in my book!” William said.
“Thanks for saying that, sport. But the fact remains that I’m not there enough for you. I haven’t even done the birds and bees talk to you and I was hoping your school might do it for me. You already know about puberty and all those things, right?”
“Well, sort of, yeah…” said William, embarrassed.
“That’s great. Saves us all the awkward questions doesn’t it? Haha! But still…it’s those things that I should have done as a father to you. In fact, I really think I’m doing a really bad job at being a father.”
“No, you’re not!”
“Thank you ,William, that means a lot. But I still wasn’t there to raise you myself. Sure your mom is there too, but she’s as busy as me these days. You know, we were hoping you just learned a bit from all we taught you when you were younger and sort of… grow up along those lines eventually even if we weren’t there to help you most of the time. I can never be sorry enough for not spending enough time with you.”
William was silent though evidently listening, so Mr. James continued. “Since I’m not really there to be your dad most of the time, I don’t have the right to judge your actions because I wasn’t there to guide you in the first place. I’m not saying that I would’ve stopped you from being who you are, but as your dad, I should’ve at least been there for you to help you grow up. To me honestly, it doesn’t matter what you become as long as you become someone you can be proud of.
“In any case, I’m confident that I’ve taught you enough about right and wrong and I trust you to do and decide what’s right. That’s all I can ever do for you now, son, trust you.”
“Dad…”
“So…I don’t want to have to ask you now, but well I just want to say that if you ARE gay, just swear to me that you’ll be a good son…or well, daughter, whatever the case.”
“Dad, I’m still a boy!” William said, now slightly smiling.
“Right. So that means I don’t have to buy you dresses now? Great! Kidding aside, William, I wish Mr. Watson would see things my way and take this all calmly, but since he doesn’t, stay out of his business for a while. I wouldn’t want to fight with another parent over how to raise children. I must be the worst possible person for an argument like that in any case, though if it comes to that I won’t back down and let another man put my son down. Whatever happens, be a good boy to your mother, alright? I love you, William. Stay safe.”
And with a promise to talk more about the issue when he got home, Mr. James bade his son goodbye. William then noticed that his mother wasn’t in the kitchen again, instead finding her in the living room casually sitting down while supposedly fixing her bag (although she just looked like she was pretending). He just realized that his mother tactfully retreated so that he and his father would have some privacy in their talk. Mrs. James looked up when he entered the living room and gave him a smile. She walked with him outside the door as they both prepared to leave. Unexpectedly, Mrs. James hugged William from behind before they left the porch.
“You know, William, I tried giving you most of the things you wanted, like your games, because I thought it was a good way to make up for the time we couldn’t spend together. But I guess, it’s no excuse for what I’ve been lacking as a parent. I hoped you would understand but I still cannot justify not paying enough attention to you. I still don’t really know how to react to all this, ‘gay’ business…but I suppose all I could ever ask for is for you is to be a good son,” Mrs. James said in a business-like manner, though there was unmistakable empathy in her tone.
“Thanks, mom,” said William as he gave his mother a goodbye kiss and went on his way to school.
Though he was feeling immensely cheerful, his thoughts were troubled. He now knew what happened to John, and he understood why his best friend had been acting so differently. It seems John’s parents found out about their budding relationship…and took it very badly.
*****
William arrived at school without much incident. As he gathered his things from his locker and sat in the classroom, nothing of great importance happened to him and no significant conversations or people of interest interacted with him. All this annoyed the twelve year-old greatly, because his master plan to get John back seemed to unravel already from step one as evidenced by the conspicuous lack of John Watson on the chair next to him.
“Where the heck is John?!” William couldn’t help but mutter out loud after first period Science.
“Well, if it ain’t painfully obvious already dude, he’s absent,” chuckled Carl Rogers as he passed William on the way to his seat.
William grabbed Carl’s sleeve and tugged him nearer to his seat, causing Carl to nearly trip over. “Hey, what gives, dude?” Carl exclaimed.
“Do you know why John’s absent?” asked William.
“You actually expect me to know? What, am I his mom now or something?” Carl replied as he smirked and pried William’s hands off his sleeve. “Though if you must know, he’s out sick. Fever or something,”
“Hey, so you do know!”
“Maybe I just happened to overhear Nurse Joy talking to the teach’ about John’s mom calling while I went out to piss,” shrugged Carl. “For future reference, attempting to tear off a piece of someone’s shirt isn’t a good way to get info.”
“Hey. You knew, so it was totally justified,” William said with a mischievous grin.
“Bastard,” replied Carl, sporting a grin of his own.
Before both boys could continue their good-natured bickering, their English teacher and class advisor Ms Granger came in and asked them all to settle down. She was carrying with her several bundles of paper, which she began passing along to the class.
“Well class, you’ll be excited to know that the educational excursion trip is pushing through next week Friday. It’s the field trip, for those who didn’t get what I just said,” Ms Granger said as she rolled her eyes amid delayed cheers from the students.
“We’ll cover several locations, but apart from the Rowling publishing house, the destinations are the same ones outlined in last week’s bulletin. Now, pass along those forms; they’re the permission slips for your parents. Remember, no parental consent, no trip,” she said, rather tiredly. She began arranging her books on the table in a harried manner, with all the air of a woman having too many things to do.
“Ma’am, will we be going in Route 66?” asked one of the students.
“You mean ‘on’, Heffley, unless you want to be buried there,” Ms Granger answered nonchalantly as the class sniggered at the red-faced Heffley. “Which reminds me, we’ll be doing preposition exercises today. Seriously, you’re almost in the seventh grade; I would’ve thought you mastered these things already.”
“Ma’am, there’s an extra permit left.”
“Oh? I thought I had it all accounted for. Who’s not here today…let me see…where’s Watson?”
“He’s out sick today, Ma’am,” said Carl Rogers.
“I see. Who can volunteer to give this to Watson?”
“I will, Ms Granger,” William volunteered as he raised his hand.
“Very well, James. I will hold you responsible. And before we start this day’s lesson, I’d like you all to know that a classmate of yours received an award for having one of the best essays in an interschool writing competition.”
The class was staring around; it was clear this was news to them. Ms Granger sighed exasperatedly.
“I would’ve thought that you told them. Well? Stand up, Masters, and let your classmates appreciate the honor you’ve brought our school.”
Johnson Masters hesitantly stood up and looked straight at the blackboard, seemingly to avoid eye contact. An awkward smattering of applause followed, with Carl Rogers noticeably clapping harder than the rest.
“I’m sure the school paper will come out later today and tell you all about it. But really, I expected you to be more proud of your classmate. Anyway please take out your text books…”
*******
William had a quick lunch and afterwards found himself wandering the halls aimlessly. There was still a bit of time before the bell rang to signal THE END
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