The Mysterious Girl in Black 3
"Melissa, how many times do I need to tell you to wear your uniform!" The teacher, Mrs. Ryan, demanded. "Go back home and put on your uniform. Now!" Melissa sat there stubbornly.
"You can't make me go home. Go ahead, try." Melissa was in a bad mood. What an idiot that Takashi was. He was all over the newspapers, hadn't he assumed that he wouldn't at least meet someone who would go ga-ga over him? Melissa looked up and stared boldly in to Mrs. Ryan's dark blue eyes.
"You better wear it tomorrow, Melissa. I've already told your parents.." Mrs. Ryan replied, walking down the aisle.
"Sure, you can count on that." said Melissa sarcastically.
"Watch your tongue there, young lady."
"Whatever."
"Hey, look who's here!" It was the same voice who had noticed Takashi first. A tall girl walked into the class room. Her brown hair fell a past her waist. With one hand on her hip, she strutted over to Melissa.
"Go and drive someone else crazy, Amelia." Melissa leaned back in her chair. "I don't want to hear you gushing over some idiot."
Amelia's face flushed red for a moment, but the color died out quickly. "I can't believe you managed to get Takashi here. Takashi McDean. Of all the people, it had to be him huh? You're such an attention-seeker." Amelia slid into the seat next to Melissa.
"I didn't get him here. He followed me. You're just jealous."
"Am not! I bet you had to give him some weird potion, you witch!" Amelia spat. "After all, no one in this country is more insane than you."
"I beg to differ. I think I'm far, far more sane than you are. Admit it, Amelia. At least I don't start screaming if some water spills on me. At least I don't go running around like a serial killer is chasing me when a fly is in the room."
"Ha ha." Amelia said softly. "You think you're all that just because Takashi McDean knows who you are. But you aren't anything to anyone. Your parents probably don't even know you exist." The words hit Melissa harder than anything mean Amelia had ever said, and she said many mean things to Melissa before.
Melissa swallowed. "Yes, but at least they love me. I bet your parents can't wait until you get out of their house."
"Mrs. Ryan! Did you hear what Melissa just said? She said mean things about my parents!" Amelia blurted. Mrs. Ryan looked up from some papers she was grading.
"I see. Melissa, see me after class." Mrs. Ryan said coldly before continuing her work. Amelia turned to Melissa, a smug grin on her face. Melissa glared at her.
"Just because your parents are rich and powerful doesn't mean that you'll end up rich and powerful too." Melissa said.
"That will be three points, Melissa. Class has already started." Mrs. Ryan said. "And ten for what you said to Miss Amelia." Amelia smiled innocently and all Melissa wanted to do was slap the fake smile off of her ugly face. Amelia tugged at the hem of her skirt, a sign that told her friends to meet her during lunch behind the school. Melissa knew this because she had followed Amelia that one day that she had made the sign.
Mrs. Ryan droned on and on. Her lecture was so boring that some girls had dozed off. Some were twiddling with their hair; To were doodling on their notebook. Amelia and her friends passed notes. Melissa rested her head on the desk, exhausted from the previous day's lack of sleep. A sharp, strict voice jerked her up from her position. "That will be five points, Melissa." Amelia was sitting causally, but Melissa knew that she had tattled.
Never had Melissa gotten so many points in one day. Either today was just a horrible day or Amelia was really, really jealous.
"Pay attention, Melissa. Do you want detention?" Mrs. Ryan snapped, glaring at her.
"I don't care. Give me everything you want. You can even expel me from this so-called school. I'm not even learning a thing!" Melissa couldn't stand it. Every day she had to tolerate Amelia's taunts and Mrs. Ryan's injustice. "I'm sick of this! I'm sick of you, Amelia! And I am going to wear anything I want, Mrs. Ryan! And points? Who cares about points!?" Melissa took a deep breath. She was standing, shaking in fury.
"Very well then, Melissa. If this is the attitude you wish to show to me, then a week of detention it is. Giving you a suspension or expelling you is what you want. So, an extra twenty points for the way you spoke to me. And actually, how about a month of detention? I think it will get you to your place." Mrs. Ryan stood calmly behind her desk. "Now, sit down."
Melissa stood, gritting her teeth. She couldn't believe this. She was used to having at least five points by the end of the day, but never had she gotten a detention, much less a month of detention.
"Two points. Sit down. Do not make me say it again!" Mrs. Ryan turned her back and started scribbling away on the board. Melissa sighed and sat down grudgingly. Class went by quickly and Melissa didn't get any more points.
The bell ranged and the students filed out. Amelia and her crowd of friends had created a circle around her desk. They whispered and giggled.
"You better get going to your other class, Miss Amelia, your friends too." Mrs. Ryan said gently. It was favoritism! Never had Mrs. Ryan called her Miss Melissa, or talk to her gently. Mrs. Ryan had never given a single point to Amelia or her giggling friends. Anger filled Melissa as she watched Amelia and her friends leave the classroom. Amelia stuck her tongue out, grinning, before closing the door behind her.
"Melissa, tell me. Why do you find it amusing to bully other students? To pick on them and to tease and taunt them?" Mrs. Ryan asked. Melissa couldn't believe her ears. Her? Bullying other people? Sure, she was rude and mean to people but only to people who talked to her. She wouldn't just pop up in front of someone and start beating them up. She didn't cut into other people's conversations, say something rude and then laugh at them. No, that sounded like Amelia.
"Me? Bully students? Mrs. Ryan, I don't bully anybody. The person who's doing all the bullying is your favorite student." Melissa tried her best not to say anything mean or rude. It was hard. She wanted to scream at Mrs. Ryan. She wanted to break every thing that she could possibly break in the room. She wanted to grab Mrs. Ryan and yell at her until she understood what she was saying.
But she couldn't and she wouldn't.
"Don't try and play innocent here! Lots of people have been coming up saying that before class starts you always bully others. Amelia came up here and once said that you called her as ugly as a troll. I'm a teacher though, so of course I had to be fair. So I needed proof that you did do this. Amelia gave me some hints and tips and ideas of how to catch you red-handed. And look what happened! You were bullying Amelia right before class. Had it not been for Amelia, other students may still have been bullied by you.."
"WHAT? You must be the most s-"
"Do you have respect or not!" Mrs. Ryan roared. "You do not interrupt someone when they are speaking, and nor do you call anyone anything. I do not want to hear whatever you were going to say. I'm sure it is something very horrible and mean."
"Mrs. Ryan-"
"Silence! I will speak to your parents tonight and the principal too. I'm afraid you must be sent to a special school. It's a school that will teach you how to behave." Melissa waited, her temper was reaching its peak.
"Mrs. Ryan," Melissa began. "I'd just like to say, that I don't bully people. That those people who come up to you and say that I've been bullying them are Amelia's friends. Amelia is just trying to get me in trouble. She's the one who's been bullying people. She picks on me and torments me everyday. She-"
"I do not want to hear your false accusations. You are dismissed. Until you get sent to another school, you will have detention for a month. Understood?" Mrs. Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Melissa replied. She had no energy to fight anymore.
"And you will wear your uniform. Oh right, I forgot. Five points for not wearing your uniform. If you aren't wearing it tomorrow, then you will get fifteen points – or perhaps another month of detention. That's see, how many points do you have now? Forty-five points. Tsk, tsk. And all just from today. Alright, dismissed."
Melissa didn't bother to ask Mrs. Ryan for a hall pass or a note for Mr. Roberts. She left the classroom, closing the door behind her. Melissa wanted to go to the place. She wanted to have time to think and breath. But she had to go to Mr. Roberts's class. She'd just get in more trouble if she went there. Sighing, Melissa trudged to Mr. Roberts's class.
"Alright, class dismissed!" Mrs. Colemen, my history teacher, said, clapping her hands. "Go and eat lunch, ladies." Everyone walked out. Melissa scooped up her books and shoved her way to the front.
"How was your little talk with Mrs. Ryan, Melissa? I bet you got fifty points from her. I have to say, she is the smartest person I've ever met. Fairest teacher in this whole school." Amelia bounded over to Melissa. Ignoring her,, Melissa pushed her to the side. Melissa put her books away and took her lunch.
"What's that you're eating? I bet it's just moldy bread." Amelia said, seeing the paper bag.
"Don't judge a book by its cover." Melissa mumbled before swishing past Amelia. Melissa settled herself down on the grass, leaning on the trunk of an oak tree.
"So? What's in it?" Amelia asked, towering above Melissa.
"Go away." Melissa opened the bag and pulled out a simple ham and cheese sandwich.
"Just a ham and cheese sandwich? My mom had a maid make my lunch. Look," Amelia thrusted her lunch box in Melissa's face. There was a bottle of what looked like apple juice. A gleaming red apple and a fat sandwich. It was filled with lettuce, tomatoes, ham, cheese, and lots more. The bread looked crisp and crunchy.
"Do you think I care?" Melissa swiped the lunch box out of her face, making the apple topple to the ground.
"Hey! Look at what you did to my apple! Now I can't eat it! Mrs. Ryan!" Amelia shouted. Fortunately, Mrs. Ryan wasn't doing lunch duty. Mrs. Colemen came over.
"Yes, Amelia?" Mrs. Colemen asked. "What is it?"
"Melissa threw my apple onto the ground! I think you should give her twenty points." Amelia replied. "I can't eat it now."
"Don't be silly, Amelia. Just go inside and wash that apple of yours." Mrs. Colemen was a nicer teacher – to Melissa, of course – and far better than Mrs. Ryan. She'd seen and heard everything that had gone between the two girls.
"Silly? I'm not being silly!" Amelia's voice was shrill. "Why don't you wash my apple? I'm not touching it! It's touched the dirty ground!"
"Then don't pick it up and don't eat it." Mrs. Colemen said. "And I believe you aren't supposed to talk to a teacher like that. That shall be five points."
"Five points?" Amelia backed up, almost running into Melissa. "But-"
"Do you want more? Get going now. Unless you're going to sit with Melissa." Mrs. Colemen said. Amelia frowned, but stomped away, leaving the apple on the ground.
"Thanks, Mrs. Colemen." Melissa said.
"Thanks for what?" Mrs. Colemen asked.
"For getting rid of Amelia. She was... bullying me." Melissa replied. "And bugging me too. She's been annoying me since the first day I started going to this school."
"Has she now? Well, I better tell the principal. Bullying is against the rules in this school." Mrs. Colemen swept down and picked up the apple. "It's a shame she doesn't want this apple. Would you like it, Melissa? I can go and wash it for you."
Melissa smiled. She had always liked Mrs. Colemen best. "That'd be great, Mrs. Colemen. Thanks."
Mrs. Colemen smiled back. "You know, Melissa, you should smile more. And keep that hood down. You're a very pretty girl." Then Mrs. Colemen left, heading towards the school.
