| |
I stared up at the bubble, willing it to get where it was supposed to go. How it worked was a complete mystery to me. It looked just like a clear plastic bubble, about 3 feet in diameter. I wondered where it would go. But perhaps before I think about that, I should tell you all about what happened….
I choked as I inhaled a cloud of dust. I was banging chalkboard erasers. Again. Once again, I had idiotically told my teacher that she was wrong. And what was really messed up was that I had been right! Greek mythology was my favorite subject, and I knew better than anyone else everything that could be known about Greek mythology. Well, maybe not anyone. After all, I had yet to get my degree in Greek mythology. The key word being yet. I was in 6th grade, and yet I was the only one in my school who could name every major Greek god and goddess and their abilities. I don’t mean to sound like I have a swelled head. But unfortunately, it’s true.
I loved Greek mythology, or at least as much as anyone who’s parents could barely name one god or goddess did. But today during class, our discussion had gone like this.
“Well, class, today we’re going to talk about the hero Prometheus. Many people do not know this, but Prometheus was actually a titan.” Ms. Aderblock tried to sound excited about class, but it was 7th period on a Friday, and no one was really paying attention. We were all eager to get home.
Well, at least you got that right, you mangy old dog. Ms. Aderblock might teach Greek mythology, but she hardly got anything right. I had signed up for this class because I thought it sounded fun. Well, I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“Isabella, do you know the answer? After all, you think you know everything there is to know about Greek mythology.” Ms. Aderblock’s ugly face loomed in my vision, covered with wrinkles and warts. I frantically searched my mind for the answer, going over the last few minutes’ discussion in my head. I finally had to ask the dreaded question.
“Could you please repeat the question?” I muttered, not wanting the whole class to know that I hadn’t been paying attention.
“Could you speak up please, Isabella? I can’t quite hear you when you are that quiet.” Ms. Aderblock looked innocent enough, but I still saw the malignant gleam in her eye. She had caught me not paying attention. She could punish me for not being “good.” For some reason, Ms. Aderblock had hated me from the second I walked in her classroom door. Maybe it was because almost immediately I had pointed to her poster with the main Greek gods and said “You left out Eros.” Probably not the smartest thing to say the first time you are talking to a teacher. You would think I would know better by now, after all the schools I’ve gone to. My parents move a lot, so I’m always switching schools. I’m lucky if I get to stay at one for half a year. I long ago gave up attempting to make friends, because we always lose touch.
“I SAID, COULD YOU PLEASE REPEAT THE QUESTION?” I shouted the words as loudly as I could. The whole class snickered. I saw Diana Dee (what an awful name! Her parents must have been sick when they named her!) laughing full out. Her parents were high school dropouts, and there were rumors they were drug dealers. Rumors I agreed with completely. Diana did everything she could to get on teachers nerves, and yet Ms. Aderblock loved her. Probably because she was always being mean to me. But back to the present.
My face turned bright read as Ms. Aderblock’s face looked pleased. “Just as I thought.” She sniffed, “You have not been paying attention these last few minutes, have you, Isabella?”
Her words were phrased like a question, but spoken like a comment. Ms. Aderblock always knew when I was daydreaming. Or rather, when I was thinking.
Eventually I grumbled, “No, Ms. Aderblock. But-“
“No ifs, ands, or buts! And most definitely no excuses!” She shrilled. Her voice always got higher when she was mad, happy, or about to deliver serious punishment. I knew from experience. “You have detention after school for a week! Starting today!”
“But, Ms. Aderblock,” I whined, “Next week is winter break. We don’t have school.”
“Well, then you will just have to show up anyway!”
“But I’ll be out of town!”
“I expect you to be there, no matter what! And if you are not, I will drop your end-of-semester grade to a 0! Now, as I asked a minute ago, how did Zeus punish Prometheus for giving fire to the humans?”
“He chained him to a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver every day, and every night his liver grew back, so he didn’t die.” I dutifully answered, as if reading the entry on him from the encyclopedia.
“No!” Came Ms. Aderblock’s reply, “That is incorrect. Zeus sent a raven to eat his liver.” That’s when I spoke out. Bcause I knew I was right.”
“No, he sent an eagle!”
“Raven!”
“Eagle!”
“That is enough Isabella! You will not argue with me! Keep talking and I’ll make sure that you have detention all day every day during winter break, instead of just when school normally ends!”
“But-” Even when I was in trouble, I couldn’t shut up! The rational, still thinking part of my brain was yelling at me to shut up. The other part of my brain, the part that was leading my angry assault, yelled at the rational part to shut up. Brain wars were not fun.
“I said it before, and I will say it again. No ifs, ands, or buts! Are you sure you are gifted, Isabella? Because sometimes, it seems like things go in one ear and out the next. Actually, it’s more like they don’t even penetrate your thick head!”
I gasped indignantly. “I’m reporting you!” I spat out through teeth clenched with fury. I opened and closed my fists, fighting back the urge to show Ms. Aderblock the power that I could put behind a punch. After all, I didn’t make my way to 5th degree black belts in 4 different types of martial arts without doing a lot of fighting. And some of it wasn’t part of the training course. I got into a lot of fights. One of the only good perks about my parents moving us around a lot was that no schools ever had time to expel me. Otherwise I had a feeling there would be a lot more marks on my permanent record other than straight A’s and some fights where they weren’t sure who started it and whether or not I had been punching to defend myself or to teach a lesson.
“Oh, really?” She replied, smirking, “and just what do you intend to tell the administrators? After all, I meet all the requirements, and most of my students love me.” She trilled the last bit. “Don’t you, kids?”
There was a chorus of “We love you Ms. Aderblock.” It made me want to gag, especially when I saw every student in the class had said it. Well, almost every student. One girl, sitting near the back, had said nothing. I looked to see who it was. Her name was Rebeka, I think. About what I said before, how I’m like the only person in my school who knows anything about Greek mythology, I wasn’t telling the truth. Or at least, not exactly. Rebeka knew as much as me about Greek mythology. Actually, I’m pretty sure she knew more, which is not an easy feat. I’d read every Greek mythology book I could get my hands on, and yet somehow she could easily answer questions I struggle with. I resolved to talk to her after class about why she didn’t like Ms. Aderblock. Who knows, maybe we would find something in common that we liked other than Greek mythology? Even if I never saw her again after the next time we moved, it would probably still be worth it to have one friend.
“See?” Ms. Aderblock, said, smiling an incredibly evil smile. “All the kids love me. I bet they would do anything for me.”
“And I be you would black mail them into doing it.” I muttered.
“What was that, Isabella?” The reply came back with a dangerous undertone to it.
“Oh, nothing, Ms. Aderblock.” I said as in such a sweet voice that it made me feel sick. Could that actually have been me?
“Oh, really?” Ms. Aderblock’s voice was sweeter than mine had been. Was that even possible? As far as I knew, it wasn’t. “I want to know exactly what you said, Isabella, before I have the principal come to our classroom. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Ms. Aderblock.” I grumbled. Oh my gods, could this teacher just stop making threats? It was like she had to make them to feel good. It seemed like every time there was a principal or someone in the classroom, and she couldn’t make threats for fear of them hearing her and reporting her, she felt bad and went home early. Then we had a sub. Sub being short for substitute (DUH!). In fact, I reveled the days we had a sub. They were nice and they didn’t yell at me or make threats or give me detention. So basically, I loved them.
With a sigh, I dutifully reported what I’d said. With a few changes. “I said that I thought that Diana had said something, and I was wondering what it was. After all, you do have that rule about not talking in class. I think it is a brilliant rule, by the way.”
“Ms. Isabella! How insolent! Apologize to Diana this instant!” Ms. Aderblock’s face changed from anger to rage and hate at my insolence.
Well, guess what, Ms. Aderblock? I thought, I don’t care what you think and there is no possible way that I am going to apologize to Diana, that brat. In fact, I bet you were just like her when you were our age. Dumb, stupid, and always got your way! Of course, I didn’t actually say that. Instead I said “Yes, Ms. Aderblock. I apologize for being rude and insolent, Diana. Do you except my apology?”
“No, I do not except your apology.” She said, sounding like a pampered princess whining for a toy or some other thing like that.
I looked to Ms. Aderblock for guidance. Wait, did I actually just do that? Actually expect Ms. Aderblock to help me? Oh, gods, I must really be out of it. What was I thinking?
But back to detention, because I really don’t have time to talk about that now. Now, what was I going to tell my mom about why we couldn’t go on vacation? I didn’t have much time to ponder that thought very long, before Ms. Aderblock walked over and asked, “What are you still doing here, Isabella? I said you could go long ago. It’s almost 8!”
“You did? Oh, my gods, did you say it’s almost 8?”
“Yes, I did.”
“My mother is expecting me home for dinner! She’s going to freak out!”
“Then…run! Because it’s getting dark. Just go, and forget detention next week,”
“Thanks, Ms. Aderblock.” I called over my shoulder as I grabbed my book bag and jacket and ran as fast as I could out the door. As I passed the track coach, Mr. Varner, and our p. e. coach, Mr. Locke, in the hall, I heard Mr. Locke tell Mr. Varner, “Isabella should really be on the track team.”
As I went outside, I saw a shooting star. I wished something exotic would happen to me. The next thing I knew, a huge bubble floated down next to me. A voice called out, “This is a time travel bubble from the future. We would like you to include something from your time so we know what it was like. In half an hour, press the red button on the bubble. The bubble will close and send back to us. Thank you, that is all.”
I rushed home as quickly as I could, carrying the bubble. All the way home, I debated what to put in it. I only had about 5 minutes by the time I got home, so I snuck in the back door to avoid a lecture from my mom immediately. As I ran upstairs, I decided to put my journal in the bubble, to tell them a little about an average girl’s life. I quickly jotted an entry in my journal about what happened today, and then a note to the people in the journal. I sealed the bubble, then ran outside and hit the red button. It blasted up into the air, and then it was gone.
Author's Note:
This was a story I wrote for school several months ago. I wanted to continue it, but I had no time. We had about a week to write it. I probably will go back and work on the ending. You know, change it up. Personally, when I change it, it will probably become not only a lot longer, but will take place over a multitude of months, not one day.
|
