Charles: How Everyone Else Sees It [ONE SHOTS]

Becky Says A Bad Word

After the nice girl who always walked me to school dropped me off, I ran into the school. My classroom was in a back corner of the building, and I didn't want the teacher to be suspicious if I was late. I didn't want to get in trouble like that boy, Laurie. I ran to class, barely making it to my seat before the bell rang.

"Good morning, class!" Ms. Honey clapped her hands together, silencing the chatter. "Guess what we're doing today?" No one raised their hand or called out a guess. I shrunk in my seat, trying to hide. "Okay, then, I'll tell you! We are coloring our favorite animals using our favorite colors! Isn't this exciting?" A few of my classmates cheered, but I was sad. I wished we had Story Time first thing in the morning, I loved to read the stories we had back there. It usually took me a while, but I always managed.

A glance to my right told me Laurie was planning something. Something was off about him. He wasn't acting up as much anymore, but I didn't think he learned his lesson. Laurie was still mean when Ms. Honey wasn't looking at us. He always stuck his tongue out at me, and scared me to tears. I thought he didn't like me. I thought he didn't like Ms. Honey either.

Laurie was giggling quietly, which scared me. He sat right next to me, so I would probably get in trouble for whatever he did. It wouldn't be my fault! Instead of doing anything to me, he turned to Jessica. She was sitting next to him too, but on the other side. He whispered into her ear, and I was able to make what he said. I gasped.

He told her to say a bad word! Jessica was shaking her head frantically, and I silently agreed with her response. He whispered to her again, but I was unable to hear him. Jessica turned to me, and she looked incredibly uncomfortable. She wrote something on a index card, leaned over to me, and handed it to me. When I read it to myself, I almost cried; it said the bad word.

"C'mon!" She whispered forcefully. "Say it, Becky! I'll be your friend if you say it once!"

"No!" I responded, terrified. "Why don't you say it?" Jessica looked scared, and Laurie was watching us. His face was filled with glee. I risked a glance and Ms. Honey, to find her rummaging through the closet for crayons. Jessica's voice drew me back to the conversation.

"I don't want to get in trouble!" She looked close to tears.

"Neither do I!" Feeling like a horrible person, I continued. "I'll be your best friend if you say it twice!" I didn't mean to say twice. I just wanted her to say it once. Actually, I didn't want her to say it at all. I opened my mouth to backtrack and apologize, I didn't want her to get in trouble, but she took a deep breath and nodded. Before I could tell her not to say it, Ms. Honey turned around.

"Laurie?" Ms. Honey called. "Can you come pass out these crayons?" She was holding one of those 24-packs of crayons, and Laurie nodded. He stood up with an innocent look on his face, walking over and grabbing the box. After he'd passed out around seven crayons, I saw Jessica slowly standing up.

"Excuse, me? Ms. Honey?" She asked tentatively. "Can I say something? Laurie said a word and I want to know what it means?" The whole class was looking at her. I felt tears pricking my eyes.

Ms. Honey smiled indulgently, and she looked mildly condescending. "Of course, sweetie. Go right ahead." Jessica opened her mouth, and I panicked.

I jumped up and yelled the word. Twice. I yelled the word twice. Ms. Honey gasped, she looked horrified. I tried to play it off. "Th-That's the word. I-I don't know what it means either."

"Laurie taught you this word?" She demanded. Laurie was glaring at Jessica and I from behind her, clutching the crayons tightly. I clenched my fists so hard that my knuckles were turning white. We both shook our heads, and I ground my teeth together to hold back a remark that would make my situation worse. Ms. Honey told the class to continue coloring (those of them that had crayons, at least) and dragged me to the bathroom. There, she proceeded to shove soap down my throat until I was sobbing and my new dress was covered in white suds.

"I hope you learned your lesson! Never say that again!" Ms. Honey stormed back to the classroom, not even explaining what the word meant or why it was bad. After I cleaned up my dress and stopped crying, I followed her.

My parents would not be hearing about this.