Standing Out
Chapter 10: In Ashes

It had been a week since Jeanne and I snuck out of the house. She was still grounded for it, but I wasn’t. Regardless, we both still had school to attend to. I groaned as I walked out to my bus stop. Another day with Mr. Ashworth was in place. There was no avoiding it.

Out of the corner, I saw the bus inch toward us. It was going to be another long day. As I boarded the bus, I heard Jessabelle call, “There she is!” I just ignored it. She was the only one who still teased me. I took a seat by Cindy and Sara and they greeted me warmly, even Sara.

“Hey Mya, how are you?” Sara sounded jovial.

“I’m doing all right. I got caught sneaking out of the house this morning, though. Jeanne stuck up for me and made my parents believe it was all her fault, but it wasn’t. I chose to come with her.”

Sara grinned mischievously. “I sneak out of the house all of the time, but I never get caught.” Annoyed that her friend was so disobedient, Cindy reached over me to give Sara a light punch on the arm.

“Hey, let’s play truth or dare.” Sara suggested.

I groaned. I didn’t like the truth option, but the dares were usually revolting as well.

“Truth or dare, Mya,”

“Truth,” I sighed. I didn’t want to have to lick the bottom of someone’s shoe or eat a pencil.

“Who annoys you the most?”

“You,” I laughed.

“Are you serious?” Sara looked a bit upset.

“No,” I grinned. “The answer to that is probably Jessabelle.”

“Isn’t it always her? She is such a jerk.” Sara’s mood exponentially lightened.

I didn’t reply to her about Jessabelle, though. Maybe my conceited counselor, Mrs. Petunia, was right about one thing. If Jessabelle acted out so much, it was probably because she had something going on in her life that made each day difficult. Maybe she felt like she had to upset her peers just to make herself feel better about what was hurting her. Lost in thought, I remained silent for the rest of the ride to school.

As the creaky doors of the bus opened and I stepped out with Cindy and Sara, I flinched as the brittle wind whipped my face. Although March had come, the weather didn’t seem to be getting any better.

I could hear Cindy sigh next to me. “How much longer is the school year? I just can’t stand Mr. Ashworth!”

Sara nodded solemnly. “I know. He makes each day closer to summer break feel like we’re moving further away.”

We walked into the brick building together, side by side, eyes focused ahead. We knew that another day of misery was awaiting us, so we proceeded slowly towards our fourth grade classroom.

But something was different today. Mr. Ashworth wasn’t leaning on the door just to glower at us as we walked in; someone else was there, greeting us pleasantly.

“Hello, students. My name is Mrs. Veneto and I will be teaching you for the rest of the school year due to certain circumstances.”

“What happened to Ashworth?” Billy piped up.

“He will not be returning.”

“Yeah, so what happened to him?”

Mrs. Veneto lowered her voice. “I told you, he will not be returning.”

“Well that doesn’t explain –” The new teacher swiftly cut Billy off.

“I don’t know what your teacher’s rules were, but in order to have a fun time this year, everyone here is going to need to cooperate.”

I wasn’t sure if I would like this new teacher, but at least Mr. Ashworth was gone.

As we walked in, Charlie blurted, “Regardless of what happens now, at least we know that Ashworth is gone. He made a pretty dramatic exit, I must say, going up in ashes like that.” His friends high-fived him, but I didn’t replace it amusing at all. It wasn’t even that creative. There is certainly nothing funny about someone losing their job, is there? I didn’t like the guy, but it seemed kind of rude to celebrate his absence in such a manner.

By the end of the day, I didn’t like Ashworth’s replacement, either. Her kind greeting was superficial; she was horrible. She thought that the best approach to handling our fourth grade class was to bring in a disciplinary system like that of the higher grades. I lost count of the amount of detentions she gave me. One of them, I do remember clearly, though. Her rampage, fueled with anger for my negligence, led to everyone’s detainment in her classroom.

It was history class and she was blabbering on about George Washington taking over the Continental Army or something, but I was only half listening. I think she noticed because she started firing questions at me out of the blue.

“When was the Battle of Bunker Hill? How did it change America’s outlook on the war against Britain? What was the name of this war?”

I sighed. I wasn’t paying attention so I couldn’t answer any of them.

“Um, I don’t know. I know that it was the Revolutionary War, though.” I hoped that that would be sufficient, but it apparently wasn’t.

“If you can’t answer these questions, then what were you doing for an hour? Why don’t you tell the class?”

“Uh, sorry guys, I got distracted.” I rubbed my neck with embarrassment.

Cindy tapped me on the shoulder, whispering, “She’s worse than Ashworth.”

“I know,” I replied. “I actually want him back.”

“What are you saying?” Mrs. Veneto roared. “Pay attention! Maybe with another detention, you’ll learn to listen to me!”

Cindy looked shocked.

“Yes, you too, missy,”

“Excuse me, ma’am, but I think that there’s a logical approach to this. Maybe we –” Our new teacher clearly didn’t want to be reasoned with.

She was a short, stocky black-haired woman, and appeared to be of Italian descent. “I’m done with putting up with your rude behavior. You seem to think that you can do whatever you want, but it’s not going to happen in my classroom. You’ll soon learn who’s in charge after you all serve out your punishments. No one is going home tonight. You’re all staying here, so don’t even think about leaving.”

Charlie, losing every ounce of humor he contained, grew serious. “You’re just like Ashworth.” He informed her. “By doing this, you are essentially forfeiting your job.”

“I don’t need you to tell me how to run my classroom. Heads down, all of you.”

Everyone groaned, miserable that she was keeping us at the school.

Sara muttered to me, “My parents are going to be sick with worry. If we’re lucky, they might look for us.”

However, no one needed to wait that long. Principal Johnson knocked on Mrs. Veneto’s door, and hesitantly, she let him in.

He glared intensely at her. “What,” He began slowly. “Are they doing here?” He looked pointedly at us.

Billy spoke up. “She’s keeping us here all night to enforce disciplinary measures.”

“That is my decision.” He paused. “I am afraid we may have to reassess the teacher selection for this class. For now, Mr. Ashworth will have to return.” No one groaned for once. No one could be worse than Mrs. Veneto, not even Mr. Ashworth. “Now, all of you, I’ll call your parents and arrange rides for you to get home. If I can’t do this successfully, I will have a bus take you.”

Most of us were able to leave, but Cindy, Jessabelle, and I couldn’t. Our parents were still at work and none of our siblings were old enough to drive a car.

Principal Johnson sighed when he saw us, looking at him expectantly. “I’ve arranged for bus 38 to take you home tonight. It’s waiting outside and will not leave until I give permission. I am sorry for what has transpired today. We’ll work hard to replace a replacement for Mr. Ashworth.”

“No,” I couldn’t believe I was saying this. “He was just so passionate about the PSSAs that he made a mistake. Help show him his error and let him stay! Please!”

The Mulberry Intermediate Center principal stared at me in surprise. “I’ll think about it.”

Jessabelle glared at me. “What are you saying? You don’t speak for all of us!”

“Stop whining, Jessabelle.” Cindy couldn’t suppress a laugh.

“At least I don’t pull out my hair and flap around like a chicken.”

Cindy’s eyes lit with an intense flame. “At least she doesn’t act like a spoiled brat all of the time! She has a heart and you clearly don’t.”

Jessabelle was unfazed. “I’m not the creep here. I fit in at school. I belong. Those are things that Mya will never be able to say about herself. You know that perfectly well, Cindy.”

Cindy’s eyes widened. She was too stunned to reply.

“I don’t know what gives you comfort by insulting me all of the time, but if it really helps you, keep it up. It doesn’t bother me anymore.” I finally found my voice. The words that I had been practicing and desired to say to Jessabelle for so long had finally left my parted lips. Before then, I couldn’t stand up to her.

Jessabelle searched my gaze, shocked that I had said something. She thought that I was like a sponge. I would just keep sucking up her insults until I exploded and would be too defeated to ever stand up to her. But she was wrong. I was stronger than she ever thought I was. In credit to Cindy, her affirmation of my self-worth empowered me to assert myself. Jessabelle would have to learn that her words meant nothing to me. To continue being a bully, she would have to replace a new victim to feed off of. Unfortunately for her, no one was afraid of her anymore. At this point, her rudeness to others seemed like a desperate gesture for attention.

It was Principal Johnson that broke the silence. “I’m not going to have the bus driver wait around all day for you. She has to get back to her family.” Embarrassed, we grabbed our backpacks and scuttled out the door, moving towards the bus. As we moved closer to the row of buses, we could just make out the bold etchings of the number 38 on the one farthest to the right. The bus driver honked at us, amused. Racing over, we boarded her bus.

“Alright, I know that the situation is not ideal, but let’s make the best of it, okay?” We nodded as she continued. “My name is Sherri and I’m going to take you home tonight.”

Spitefully, Jessabelle moved to sit in the back of the bus. Grateful that she was gone, Cindy and I sat in the front together.

“Thanks for standing up to Jessie.”

“Uh, yeah, no problem, I was happy to do it.” Cindy sounded distracted.

“Are you okay?”

“No,” Her voice shook. “When I froze up earlier, I really made things hard for you. You had to finish all of the talking for me. I’m so sorry, Mya.”

Out of curiosity, I questioned her. “Why did you stop talking?”

“You wouldn’t talk to me if I told you.”

“That’s not true!” I protested.

Cindy sighed. “Jessabelle said that you will never be able to fit in or belong at school. Then she finished with, “you know that perfectly well, Cindy.’”

Suddenly, I understood why Cindy didn’t say anything after that to Jessabelle. She agreed. She thought that I didn’t belong, even if she adamantly considered me as her friend.

“I don’t know what to say, Cindy. I didn’t know that you thought of me like that.”

Alarmed, Cindy hastily replied. “I’m sorry, Mya, I really am. You have to forgive me. You’re my best friend.”

I knew that Sara would be angry if she heard Cindy say that. “Everyone looks at me the same; they only see my hideous outside. No one would bother to realize that there is someone special, someone unseen in my inside.”

“That’s not true at all! You know that I think you’re beautiful!”

“After today, I don’t know what to think.” I added bitterly, “I thought that Mr. Ashworth was “in ashes” after Charlie’s remark today. But I realized that that isn’t true, especially after his return is to be so imminent. My spirit is the only thing that died today, leaving behind ashes that no one cares to see.”

“What do you mean, Mya? That doesn’t make sense.” Cindy sounded perplexed. I didn’t care. I guess she was right about one thing; I was angry that she regarded me so lowly. It was hard to believe that my best friend was just like everyone else.