Punish Me

“Franklin Iero! March down to the principal’s office right this second!” Mr. Travis, my English teacher scolded in front of the whole classroom.

“But I didn’t do anything!” I whined obnoxiously. He glared back at me with stern, dark eyes.

“Don’t act like I didn’t just see you throw those spitballs at Jeremy.” I tried my best to not laugh. “I want you to stop with these childish shenanigans and get out of my classroom.” Everybody’s eyes were now on me.

I shrugged. “Fine I’ll go.” I sighed as I got up from my seat and began to head out of the classroom door. This was nothing new to me. Almost every day I would have to go down to Mr. Flower’s office because I would always get myself in trouble. All the teachers basically hated me. Honestly, I couldn’t really care less if they liked me or not though.

As I entered the stuffy principles office, I was immediately faced with a disappointed looking Mr. Flowers. “And what did you do this time, Iero?”

I grumbled. “I don’t fuckin know! Mr. Travis hates me.”

He sighed. “Watch your language Frank, you’re at school.” He ordered. “Anyways, you need to stop with these lame excuses for getting in trouble.”

“But it’s true! He hates my guts and that’s why he always makes me come here to see you.” I complained. He raised an eyebrow.

“Is that so? Then why do I get complaints from all your other teachers?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know…”

“Frank, listen to me. Because of your behavior you are failing more than half of your classes.” He replied in a stern tone.

“So?”

“So, you won’t be able to graduate senior year if you don’t clean up that act of yours.”

I groaned. “Are you kidding me? But I have to graduate!”

He nodded. “I know, that’s why I wanted to give you an offer.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “What kind of offer?” I asked suspiciously.

“Well Frank are you taking any curricular activities right now?”

I shook my head. “No…not at the moment.”

“Ok well I want you to start taking one to help bring up your grades so you can pass.”

I sighed. “Which one do I have to take then?” He then began to look over the list of classes that were open.

“Well it seems to me that most of them are full, but the art classroom is lacking students.” He offered.

“But I hate art!” I exclaimed, crossing my arms.”

“Well it’s the only one available and you want to pass right?”

I nodded hesitantly. “Right…”

“Plus the art teacher, Mr. Way is one of our finest members of the staff and he’ll be sure to put you in your place.”

I tugged at my lip ring as I finally just gave in to his offer. “Fine, I’ll do it. When do I start?” I asked curiously.

“Today for your last class of the day.”

I then grabbed the paper with the classroom number on it and headed out without saying goodbye.

As I was just about to head back down to Mr. Travis’ room, the bell for the beginning of lunch rang. Many student then began to flood out of their classrooms as I tried my best to not get trampled. As I tried to make my way through the crowd of kids, I immediately saw my best friend Bob walking around the corner. “Bob!” I shouted trying to get his attention. He began to look around for a little bit until he finally laid his eyes on me. I then began to run towards him.

“Hey Iero. I was looking for you.”

I chuckled. “Yeah sorry I was in Mr. Flower’s office again.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Again! Damn, what did you do this time?”

I shrugged. “Nothing new really.”

“So you were throwing spitballs again?”

I nodded. “Yep, pretty much.”

He laughed. “Alright well let’s head over to the lunchroom so we can meet up with Ray and Mikey.” I agreed as we strolled down to the cafeteria and found the table at which the two boys were sitting at.

“Hey guys.” The boy with the wild afro greeted.

“Hey Ray.” I replied taking a seat next to Bob.

“I saw you walking down to the Principles office earlier. What happened?”

I sighed. “Just got in trouble by Mr. Travis again.” I explained for the second time today.

“Oh I see. Did you get a detention?”

I shook my head. “No, but I have to take a curricular class now so I can pass the school year.”

He furrowed his eyebrows as he took a large bite of his sandwich. “What class do you have to take?” They all began to look at me curiously.

“Art class.” I mumbled softly. They all then began to uproar with laughter.

“Really Iero? That’s the class you chose.” Bob teased.

“Yeah but it was the only one available.” I explained.

“Well that sucks for you dude cause I’ve heard Mr. Way, the art teacher, is hella strict.” Ray spoke with a full mouth.

“I doubt he’s that bad. Plus all the teachers fear me.” I reminded Ray.

“Yeah but Mr. Way is different. I’ve heard he made one of his students cry before.”

I scoffed. “So what? Have you met me Ray? I don’t break down easy.”

He nodded. “Sure Iero, but there are also several rumors that go around about him. “Bob leaned in as he was now interested in the conversation we were having.

“Like what kind of rumors?” Mikey asked, cleaning off his glasses with his shirt.”

“Well some people say that he has molested a student before…” My eyes immediately widened.

“Where the hell did you hear that from?” Bob asked, his eyes as wide as mine.

“From John and Nate.” He replied with a smug look on his face.

“The twins? They are always full of shit. I bet you they made that rumor up.” I mumbled.

“Yeah there is no way those stupid ass rumors are true.” Mikey spoke defensively. Why the hell was he acting so protective all of a sudden? I shrugged it off.

“Isn’t he also gay?” Bob asked, butting into the conversation.

“How would I know?” Ray replied. “I only state the rumors that I hear.”

Bob shrugged. “Well besides that he sounds like a total creep to me.” We all nodded in agreement except for Mikey who continued to eat his small lunch.

As we continued to chat and eat, we were interrupted by the bell, signaling for the end of lunch. “Shit don’t you have art class now?” Ray asked, looking over at me.

I sighed deeply. “Yeah, unfortunately…”

“Well have fun!” Bob mocked as he went his separate ways.

As it was now just Ray and I, we both walked towards the M building where the art classroom was located. As we finally reached the classroom we stopped in front of the front door. “Well good luck with the new teacher.” He mumbled, giving me a weak smile.

“I’ll be fine.” I reassured him. “I’ll see ya later fro.”

He nodded. “Alright, see ya later.”

I then finally got the guts to enter the classroom as I came to face the man my friends were fearing. He was not at all as I had expected. Mr. Way had bright red hair that could stop traffic and would frame around his stern, pale face. All the students in the class turned around to face me. “Who are you?” Mr. Way asked in an annoyed tone.

“Uh I’m Frank. Mr. Flowers told me to come here.” I gulped nervously.

“Oh right, you’re the new kid. I’ve heard a lot about you.” He said keeping his eyes in contact with mine. “Well anyways chose a seat cause you are disrupting my teaching.”

I then quickly found an empty seat in the back as he began to do rocall.

“Jane?” He called out. A muffled “here” came from the front of the classroom.

“Ross?” A tall, skinny boy standing near the side counter spoke up. “Here, Mr. Way.” The red haired man then gave him a piercing stare. “Ross sit down at your assigned seat before I kick you out of my godamn classroom.”

My eyes widened at his language. Did he really talk to that kid like that?

“You know what, Ross, never mind just get out, I’m sick of your presence.” Mr. Way ordered in a harsh voice. Damn, what the hell was his problem? The poor boy then quickly exited the classroom as he continued on with rocall.

“Franklin?” I raised my hand. “Um Mr. Way it’s Frank.” I corrected him. He then looked up from his clipboard with a stare that caused shivers to go down my spine.

“I’m sorry what did you just say?” Mr. Way spoke, putting a hand on his hip.

I gulped. “Frank, my name is Frank…”

“Well Frank-“He began, emphasizing my name. “You better treat me with more respect than that or else you will join Ross outside, you hear me?” I nodded frantically. Gosh, this man was fucking strict.

Once he was finally done with rocall he began a new lesson. The new project was to draw yourself from your prospective. As the papers were handed out to use for the project, I began to draw. The drawing that I had started was not exactly “good” but it was the best I could do. Once I had finally finished, I turned it into Mr. Way at his cluttered desk. He looked down at my artwork and back at me. I could have sworn that he had smirked at me but I wasn’t sure. Without saying a word to the man, I quickly took my seat.

The class eventually went by fast and finally ended. All the students quickly rushed out of the classroom to meet up with their friends as I was still packing up. I then quickly got up from my seat as I was about to leave through the door. As I stood up, I immediately felt a hand slap my ass. I then frantically turned around to see my teacher Mr. Way. I was speechless. “Good job on the drawing Frank, keep up the good work.” He said, giving me a wink and walking back over to his desk. I then panicked and quickly raced out the door before he could stop me. I was then approached by Bob and Ray as they walked towards me.

“Hey dude, how was class?” Ray asked curiously. “

“I-It was alright.” I muttered softly.

Bob gave me a funny look. “Dude, why the hell is your face so red?” He asked chuckling.

“Uh I-“Ray immediately cut me off.

“He’s blushing!” He teased. “Aw does the little Frankie have a crush on their new teacher?” They began to laugh hysterically.

“Shut up! I do not. Now let’s walk home now alright?”

They continued to chuckle. “Alright whatever you say.”

Notes

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