Chapter 3
The room went quiet for a few seconds. Lucia, looking a bit let down, flung 3 bucks at Yvonne.
Lucia muttered, "Whatever, I lost. She didn't even cry this time."
While they thought it was all just a joke, for one innocent girl, it was a nightmare.
They could just wait. The real drama hadn't even started yet.
Yvonne snatched the pie right out of my hand.
Just then, Edward and a few others appeared outside the window, shouting at Yvonne to stop.
Edward called out, "Hey, what are you doing? We saw you taking the girl's food."
Yeah, before coming to school, I'd called Edward so he could see for himself how Shannon was bullied at school.
Now the evidence was right there.
I wanted to see how they tried to talk their way out of this.
A voice rang out, "What are you doing?"
A woman in her forties, clutching a stack of books, stood at the front of the classroom. She was Shannon's math teacher, Evelyn Woods.
After steadying myself, I smiled, "Mrs. Woods, they're not behaving themselves."
But instead of listening, her eyes bulged as she jabbed her finger right at my nose.
"Don't think I didn't see what you did. The office cameras caught everything," she snapped.
I froze for a second.
"So you saw it all, huh? But when they were bullying me, you didn't lift a finger," I shot back.
She looked a bit embarrassed for a moment, but then snapped right back to being self-righteous.
"You dare question me? How ill-manned. Did your parents ever teach you any respect?" she snapped.
She added, "Don't blame me for looking down on you, but let me tell you. Your parents only pull in a few thousand a month. They don't even make 30 thousand a year.
"Lucia's mom makes more in a single year than your mom could in fifty. Do you really think you're on the same level? Don't kid yourself."
Ironically, Evelyn had once been named the Most Beautiful Teacher.
But the fact that she was covering for the bullies was undeniable.
She was anything but innocent.
I let out a cold laugh. "You only make a few thousand a month as a teacher. So, does that mean you're low-class, too?"
She was fuming, her jaw clenched tight. "You never learn, do you? All of you, get to my office, now."
Edward quickly stepped in. "Let's not argue at school. You're disturbing the other kids. Let's take this to the station."
At the station, they lounged around in their chairs, looking like they couldn't care less.
Edward rapped his knuckles loudly on the table. "Do you even realize how wrong this is? If you get a bad record, you'll lose out on all the school awards and honors."
Lucia's cheapest purse probably cost more than most people make in a month. Like she'd ever care about something like this.
I quickly chimed in, "Mrs. Woods would rather hand the scholarship money to her favorite rich girls for another feast than give it to someone who actually needs it."
What a great teacher.
Evelyn shot back, "Shannon, let's get one thing straight. Your folks are just workers who moved here for a job.
"These girls are locals. This is their home. Do you really think you're the same as them? No way."
She continued, "Being top of the class doesn't mean anything. After you graduate, you'll still end up working for their families."
The other girls, feeling even more smug, started humming tunes and joking about what they'd have for dinner.
Evelyn couldn't care less. "Maybe you should reflect on yourself and think about what you did wrong," she said.
Oh? Too bad I was born without the ability for self-reflection.
Upon seeing I wouldn't budge, Evelyn's tone got all meaningful. "Shannon, you made a scene today. You have to apologize to them, or I can't cover for you."
Now I was the bad guy.
She really was impossible to reason with.
"You've caused me so much trouble. From now on, you'll stand in my class," Evelyn barked.
Before I could say anything, some bystanders finally spoke up.
"Shannon didn't do anything wrong. You shouldn't treat her like that," someone spoke up.
"As a teacher, you should try to understand your students, help them work things out, and teach them more than just books. You should show them how to be decent people, too," someone else chimed in.
The whole mess even got the principal, Wade Harcourt, involved.
Wade waddled in, his belly sticking out, shooting me a look full of impatience.
But when he turned to Edward and the other police, he was suddenly all polite, nodding and grinning.
"Officer, ever since I became principal, this school has been nothing but harmonious and friendly. We can't let one rotten egg ruin the whole pot. We can't let the troublemakers run wild," Wade declared.
"Mrs. Woods, so who's to blame for all this?" he asked.
Evelyn had totally teamed up with those girls, acting like I was just stirring up drama on my own.
But Edward and the guys weren't dumb. No way I could've gone up against all of them alone.
They already had it all figured out.
Evelyn just wouldn't drop it.
"Look, all I'm saying is, don't think she can do whatever she wants at school just because she's top of the class," she insisted.
"Alright, we'll look into it," Edward said, shooting Evelyn a look of disgust.
For now, the mess was swept under the rug, and Wade waddled off, looking all smug and satisfied.
Lucia jabbed her finger at me, muttering threats under her breath.
"Just wait," she hissed.
But I wasn't backing down that easily.
I'd make sure Shannon got the justice she deserved. I'd speak up, no matter what.
Three days later, I camped out right by the school gate.
Evelyn rolled in on her motorcycle, humming away, looking like she didn't have a care in the world.
Parents and students nodded and smiled, acting all respectful as she passed.
Evelyn put on a friendly face for them, but the second they walked off, she was rolling her eyes.
"Ugh, what a pain. Just talking to them puts me in a bad mood," she grumbled.
As Evelyn turned onto a side street, I followed and accidentally bumped into her motorcycle.
She instantly lost her balance, and her motorcycle spun out of control, crashing to the ground.