This choice: Ashley notices her empty Contraband drawer the next day and blames her students. • Go Back... Ashley's room had been set up in a very traditional manner. On the front wall, thirty five desks faced the decrepit blackboard with Friday's lessons still visible despite a quick run-over with the equally ancient eraser. The desks were big and old, the seats wide and provedly uncomfortable., They were the old kind of desks, where the surface was hinged and allowed the storage of candy and soda and other personal affections. There were several low bookcases lined against the back wall, filled appropriately with all sorts of printed resources regarding the economy and government, a lone copy of "Wall Street" being the sole form of digital entertainment available in the classroom.
Between the desks and the blackboard sat Ashley's own desk, one much wider and more professional than the others. It too, was old; thick on either side with drawers that got progressively deeper as one went down. Inside these were many things, namely office supplies and a few memos that Ashley hadn't bothered with before tossing them inside. But whether it be the small lock that held the drawers shut tight or the fear that Ashley Knight instilled in her students, the desk was largely considered to be untouchable. Considering that if one wished to open it and peruse its contents, one would have to snatch the key from their teacher while she wasn't paying attention, it might as well have been.
Which is why it came as a shock when the contents of her Contraband drawer had gone missing.
It had started out like any other Monday morning, Ashley taking a comfortable fourty-five minutes before actually entering her classroom. It had been an easier haul now that her body was used to the hardships that walking on crutches had consisted of, the strain on her arms converted into sturdy biceps which were not present before. Her class expectantly grew silent as she entered the room, the clicking of her second legs becoming something of a harbinger for the now-skittish girls as they collectively greeted their teacher with a feeble "Good morning Miss Knight."
As they all took their seats and Ashley took hers, a small form left on her desk crowned with a golden butterscotch caught her eye. It was a memorandum of approval from Miss Polluck regarding the sequel of Wall Street to be shown in class, requiring her signature for the delivery to be carried out. Settling her seat rather easily, Ashley greeted the class and instructed them to pull out their notebooks, as they would be picking up where they left off on Friday, while she eased hand down the side of her desk to reach for the drawer with her pens in it.
She had accidentally traveled too far down and touched the fourth drawer instead of the third, the fourth being where she kept her confiscated edibles. At first, it was nothing. She pulled out the third drawer, chose a pen, and closed it. But as the metal railings of the old desk rattled, something about them sounded different. Normally there wasn't much of an echo, as the space in the drawer below was uisually occupied. However instead of the slight grating sound that Ashley had come to expect, a thundering rumble accompanied by a high screech came from the desk's frame as she closed the third drawer.
"The Hell?" Ashley asked herself aloud, pulling at the third drawer again but finding nothing wrong.
But, as she touched the fourth drawer ever so slightly, she knew that something was wrong. It was hollow. Her slight brush against the metal had felt different, barely noticeable to anyone other than someone so set into her routine as Ashley Knight. Sure enough, as she pulled against the handle of the fourth drawer on the right it was significantly lighter, the contrabanded contents having been removed from a desk! Her desk, no less!
She took a deep breath, placing her outstretched hands far in front of her as she pursed her lips. "Who did it?" she asked in a low voice, upsetting the rustling of papers from her students as they looked up from their work. No one dared ask what, or any question out of term for that matter, so the class soon grew silent as Ashley awaited the fatefully stupid response of--
"What?" came a tiny voice from the crowd
"My Contraband Drawer is empty." she said flatly, failing to notice her hastened breathing, "Someone got into my desk, and I want to know who."
There were slight mumbles in the crowd as the girls discussed the over reaction of their teacher. The svelte teacher's breaths grew faster as she awaited an answer from the crowd, feeling her heart race as anger overtook her. Her pretty brow creased, Ashley struggled to get to an authoritative position, leaning forward on her desk while balancing on her one good leg.
"Perhaps you girls don't understand," Ashley began as she bit back ferocity, "about privacy. I don't want to lecture you, I want to know who went into my drawer and stole everything that you girls all know you're not supposed to have anyway. I don't have a class seventh period, and you girls were here well before I was. Now tell me: who took my shit?"
The lack of response, combined with looks of innocence and confusion, only spurred Ashley towards homicide. Her head throbbed, veins threatening to burst from her neck, as she unleashed on her students. She called them names, from insulting their weights to insulting their decadent lifestyles, Ashley explained to them full and well that, while stupid little teenage girls like themselves didn't respect privacy, grown women did. That she was to be respected, above all others, and feared under that.As she worked her way into a standing position, she further protested the theivery by prodding "Well its not like I'll have to wait for long, We'll just see who gains the most weight this week when she pops out of her goddamn uniform from eating all that crap!" She circled around the classroom on her crutches, cursing and spitting, before she had finally had enough. Ashley doubled back around, tense from the toes up, and headed for her desk.
This was her folly, as the Knight was compromised. While reaching for the memorandum, in hopes of showing it to her girls as a way of admonishing how they treated her despite the graces they were given, there was another note tucked underneath it, one that was handwritten. It was from Ms. Polluck.
"Ashley,
I had the custodial staff clean out your desk, it was attracting ants. In the future, please don't store sugary disposables in your desk, please?"
Ashley's temperment quickly rushed back to her norm, realizing just how angry she had been. As she popped the butterscotch into her mouth without thinking, she found herself at a loss for words.
"A-Alright then, I guess you girls have learned your lesson." Ashley wavered as she sat back down in her chair, "No point in beating a dead horse... now, um, where did we leave off?"
"Verbal Abu-- I mean, Corporal Punishment?"
"Y-Yes... Punishment..." | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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