The Secret Puppy & Other Short Stories

It's Okay To Try To Get Them In Trouble

I didn't think it would get this bad. I thought that they would finally leave me alone. Boy was wrong. My phone was gone! Missing! It wasn't on the chair where I had left it, and I had no idea where it was!

January of eighth grade it was the night of the band concert. I was a percussionist, and I had worn a dress as required. I arrived for warm-ups and the pre-concert check was completed by the percussionists to make sure all of the equipment was there. We were warming up in the choir room before lining up on the main hallway. Because my dress had no pockets I left my phone on my chair with my coat.

We walked into the gym and sat down to watch the two of the four sixth grade bands (the other two bands and the seventh grade band had an earlier concert) perform before us. During this time, multiple people got up to use the bathroom. When it was our turn we got up and got set up for our first song. We then did the onstage warm-up. We were to play three songs. The first song was Shackleford Banks. I played snare drum and we did really well. (In fact that song still gets stuck in my head a lot.) Our second song was Bonsai Tree, for which I played vibraphone. We also did really well on that song. The final song was our showstopper. It was called The Great Locomotive Chase. For this song I played auxiliary percussion. This meant that I played many fun things, which we affectionately nicknamed toys. This included the anvil (we didn't have one so I used the brake drum (literally a car drum brake)), the cabasa (metal beads around a dented metal plate), the triangle, and the train whistle. I also used a cello bow on the edge of the suspended cymbal. We nailed it.

When we finished performing, I helped with the cleanup. This included bringing percussion equipment back to the band room, stacking chairs, putting stands on carts, and more. I was one of the last people to leave, there being only one other student left when we finished. I put my sticks and music folder away and headed to the choir room to get my stuff.

When I arrived there my phone was not on my chair where I had left it. I checked under the chair, on the floor and the surrounding chairs, and in my coat pockets. I still couldn't find it! The choir teacher and my friend Libby helped me search as well. Finally Libby realized that she could call my phone. She did and we listened for buzzing, as it was on vibrate.

We heard it and eventually located it. IT WAS IN THE GARBAGE CAN!!! Of course I immediately knew who it was. This was because he had been picking on me for years, but it had never escalated to this level before. I had previously brushed it off, even though clearly I shouldn't have. After the choir teacher cleaned it off with a wipe I tracked down the band teacher and administrator who had been there for the concert. I told them what happened and they said that they would check the security cameras. I went home trying to think up ways to gain evidence against the person who did it.

The next day was Friday and we had the day off. I was back at school, as I had ski club, taking advantage of the daylight and slightly warmer weather. The band teacher was there and saw me.

He greeted me. "[Name Redacted]! Good to know you're not completely dead!"

To which I replied with a reference to The Princess Bride; "No, only mostly dead, but mostly dead is also slightly alive."

He laughed and said, "Good movie."

Then, switching to a more serious note, he said that they couldn't prove who did it.

I was never able to prove it, but I know who it was. Later on, I was able to file bullying paperwork against him, citing many other incidents. And, while I may not be able to prove that he did this, I will never forgive or forget.