Ms N.O.R.T.

Chapter Two: She's Here!

Chapter 2
She's Here!
By D. J. Harrington
The day got worse quicker than I expected.  She had finally arrived.  Ms. N.O.R.T. was at our door.  I bet she thought she was just gonna walk into our classroom.  She thought she was going to sit at Mrs. Seal's desk and teach our class? I don't think so.

But how was I going to stop this from happening?  I needed a brilliant and rotten plan.  I needed it now!  Maybe I couldn't stop Ms. Nort from walking in our door.  But, maybe just maybe, I could force her to walk out sooner than she planned.

At first, all we saw was a shadow on the cloudy glass in the door.  It was kind of a short shadow.  Mrs. Seal's shadow had filled the whole glass.  She had been that tall.  We always knew when it was her on the other side of the door.

But this shadow was barely taller than a kid's.  As I tried to figure out that part of the puzzle, the door knob began to slowly turn.  Ms. Nort had finally arrived.  But if I had my way, she'd be gone even quicker.

I narrowed my eyes to study the enemy.  She was about as tall as me, small or petite, I think they call it.  Just another reason to hate her.  She had long, straight, black hair.  Not all corkscrew crazy hair like mine.  Ms. Nort had bright, brown eyes and a small smile on her face.  She was Japanese or Chinese or something.  My mom is black and my dad was white, so it's not like I'm prejudiced or anything.  She was just so different in every possible way from Mrs. Seal.

As I was looking her over, she was checking us out.  Ms. Nort walked over and stood in front of the teacher's desk, Mrs. Seal’s, and spoke to the class.

" I am Ms. Nortamura and you are my first class."

"We'll be your first and last." I murmured softly.  But I guess not softly enough because those dark brown eyes zeroed right in on me. 

"You spoke, Miss....?  What is your name, please?" asked Ms. Nort.

Our eyes locked, brown and hazel.  I stammered, "I'm...um...ah...." 

"Come now, don't be shy." she encouraged me. She looked at me expectantly and so did the entire class.

What would I do? Would I have the nerve to do anything on the very first day, the very first hour?  You betcha!

I put my chin in the air and tilted my neck and said, "My name is Tanisha and I hate your guts!"

The entire class gasped one big gulp of air and a strange, choking noise came from the doorway.  Mr. Simon was standing there, staring at me.

I looked from his shocked face to Ms. Nort's hurt expression.  I realized I was in for it big time. 

Why hadn't I noticed Mr. Simon standing there?  Why had I opened my big, sassy mouth?  What was going to happen to me now?

I had plenty of time to think about all those things as I sat in Mr. Simon's office.  Mrs. Gregory kept glancing up from her computer to me.  She'd do this little sigh and shake her head.

Ms. Nort and Mr. Simon had been talking for at least thirty hours.  Well, it seemed that long.  Hearing voices, I looked up at the door.

Uh, oh, here it comes, I thought. I knew that deep voice belonged to Mr. Simon.  He was talking low and fast.  I thought I heard him saying my name and the dread word, "parents".  Double uh, oh.

I couldn't hear Ms. Nort's words.  But it seemed like she was defending me.  Was that her standing up for me?  It couldn't be, could it?

Mr. Simon opened his door and looked at me with his eyebrows pulled down.  He spoke seemingly without moving his lips.  "Young lady today is your lucky day or week or something.  Ms. Nortamura has convinced me to give you another chance.  You may return to your class as soon as you apologize to her."

So she had been the one on my side.  I wondered what she thought that was going to buy her, my support, my loyalty.  She didn't know me at all. 

I turned away from Mr. Simon to face Ms. Nort.  She looked at me and I knew she was waiting for my apology.  Her little, puny self, just standing there, waiting.  Her tiny hands were folded in front of her.

I opened my mouth hoping the right words would just spill out.  I knew I had to say I was sorry for what I had said.  Everyone expected me to say the words.  My brain knew that but my mouth just hadn't caught on yet.

I swallowed hard and tried again to speak.  But that's when I saw it!  At first, I didn't believe what my eyes were looking at.  There it was, hanging around Ms. Nort's neck.  It was the monarch butterfly pen.  That was Mrs. Seal's pen!

That's when my brain, eyes, and mouth exploded. "THAT'S MRS. SEAL'S PEN, NOT YOURS.  YOU'LL NEVER BE MY TEACHER!"
Author Notes          Tanisha and Ms. Nort meet for the first time. It goes very badly.