Young Writers Society

Ms. Opposite was just your average school teacher; although, many people acquainted with her would say she was anything but average... and only one of her students agreed. Margot had hoped that within her small middle school she wouldn't get Ms. Opposite for math. Unfortunately for her, this was not the case.

The new math teacher, Mrs. Pepper, was hired a year or two before. Pepper quickly became overwhelmed by the obnoxious seventh graders; however, this was not the reason for her decision to quit. Mrs. Pepper's math class was located across the hall from that of Ms. Opposite's. One day, Pepper got out her stack of ungraded papers, her favorite purple pen, and her sticker sheet. She had everything she could possibly need to score her students' work during her planning period. A conspicuous paper airplane flew quietly through the open door and broke Pepper's concentration. The intention of the plane may have been to land perfectly upon Mrs. Pepper's desk, but instead poked the poor teacher's eye... pretty badly. Pepper then was forced to go to an urgent care and ended up resigning; This wasn't the first instance of one of Ms. Opposite's accidents. Ms. Opposite had no intention of harm and just wanted to greet Mrs. Pepper with a note that said "Goodbye!"

Dreading the next hour, Margot walked into her math classroom. She held her binder tightly to her chest and glanced quickly at Ms. Opposite behind the teacher's desk... er in front. All of Margot's classes, including this one, were organized alphabetically. The only difference was that Margot, being an E, got seated in the back due to Ms. Opposite's nature; the whole alphabet was reversed! Margot's classmates filed in before the bell sounded and with a sigh she sat down in her chair. Then, the most ridiculously loud noise filled the room. It was as obnoxious as it was funny to the other students. Everyone's heads turned to Margot, sinking towards the ground.

"Did you guys hear that? Oh my God, was that Margot?" The boys and girls alike snickered. Margot blushed and wasn't quite sure what to do.

"That wasn't me! I'm telling you!" Margot wanted to leave the classroom or better yet disappear. Ms. Opposite stood from her desk in response to the ruckus caused in the previous moments.

"Margot! What's going on back there?" Ms. Opposite held her hands to her hips. Margot didn't say anything. How could someone in their right mind tell the teacher of what the others accused her of transpiring? To Margot's confusion Ms. Opposite started to laugh rather hysterically.

"Sorry, Margot." She wheezed. "I believe I misplaced my favorite whoopee cushion over the lunch break." Oh how Ms. Opposite thought the situation was hilarious! Margot, however, couldn't share even the slightest of amusement. "Could you bring it here? So sorry for the disruption, class. Everyone, please stand at your seats!"

Margot with a twinge of disgust stood and picked up the cushion by the edge. She, still humiliated, moved to the front of the room and laid the toy along the palm of her teacher's hand. As Margot began to take her leave, Ms. Opposite whispered to the girl excitedly.

"Bonus points on today's assignment if you can find my shock pen! I need it for my prank on Mr. Boyce later." Ms. Opposite grinned. Margot turned as she rolled her eyes to not let the woman see. They both returned to their desks for the moment and remained standing. "Alright, everyone! Your assignment and homework are written on the board. You're now free to work!" She said perfectly timed with the school bell. Margot would've been happy to start working... if the board said anything at all. Margot eventually did find the shock pen, but only by accident and the most shocking way possible. At least she got those extra points to boost her grade and Ms. Opposite was able to continue her usual pranks.

When explaining to others of her frustration, Margot frequently described Ms. Opposite's behavior as: right is wrong and wrong is right. She even wrote down the sentence in her math notebook as a reminder. Only the students and staff knew of Ms. Opposite's chaos, so no one else in the world had the help of this reminder.

That day, Ms. Opposite was driving home. A normal occurrence in everyday life. She reached the stoplight near her street as it changed from green to yellow to a vivid red. The few cars to her left stopped, but she did not. Ms. Opposite sped through the light without hesitation. A sudden siren increased in volume as it neared, so she pulled over, concerned. The officer parked and sauntered over to the car's window. He knocked twice and Ms. Opposite, smiling sheepishly, rolled down the glass.

"Hello, Miss."

"Is there a problem, Officer?"

"It seems to me you ran through a red light near a school zone," the officer relayed, "and above the speed limit might I add."

"Red light?" Ms. Opposite was confuzzled at the accusation. Red only signified the ability to not stop and the speed limit was only a guideline... or so how it went within her own mind.

"Yes, Miss."

"I'm truly sorry, Officer, but I don't see what I did wrong?" Ms. Opposite inquired apologetically. It was the Officer's turn to have confusion.

"Again. You drove through a red-" The officer stopped after a thought surfaced. "May I see your license, Miss?"

"Yes, of course." Ms. Opposite said quieter. She rummaged through her purse and retrieved the small card.

"Caroline Opposite." He mumbled to himself, reading the license information. "Let me check the system and then I'll have you on your way." The officer returned to his own car. Ms. Opposite felt a flutter in her stomach and a shake in her hands. She hadn't any idea why this police officer stopped her in the first place.

After a bit of shuffling around papers and looking through the database, the man once again arrived at Ms. Opposite's window.

"It says here that your brother was stopped recently for the same offense."

"Jonathan?"

"Yes, I have a couple questions for you." He cleared his throat and continued. "What does red mean?"

"Go... is this really necessary?"

"Yes, now what does green mean?"

"Stop." She watched as the officer checked some boxes on an unfamiliar form.

"Hmmm... well, it's just as I thought. It seems that it runs in the family."

"What?" Ms. Opposite's eyes went wide with fear. "What is it?"

"You think in the opposite direction from everyone else. No wonder you're having trouble on the road. Here." He handed her the slip of paper that he had been scribbling on. It said to take another driver's education class and to work on her opposite ways.

And hopefully she did, but let's face it. People rarely change.