The Misadventures of Coy

Chapter 1: "I will not..."

     The only noise and entertainment in the whole room was the everlasting tick of the clock, and the one thing keeping him away from the soft comforts of home. The lethargic drag of the second hand seemed to grow slower the closer it got to finally releasing him from the torment of writing lines. His hand groaning in pain from gripping a pencil for hours, writing the same line over and over again until that seconds hand finally reached twelve.

     'I will not antagonize the substitute teacher. I will not cause a disturbance in class. I will not cause havoc in the classroom. I will not...' was written line after line on paper, a few sheets crumpled into ball on the floor, and around the a snoring teacher were they had been tossed, a page for each line. He had been in this room since early that morning, on a Saturday of all things, and it was almost 3:00 in the afternoon now. So when that slothful seconds hand finally reached 12, this prison could hold him no more.

     Now, the day before, Coy Jackson just couldn't help himself. In all actuality, the teacher should've seen this coming, combining a class of 'troubled kids' with greek mythology, a script, and some prop weapons borrowed from the drama club along with a substitute teacher, who in no doubt had a hangover that morning, was bound to be a poor combination at the least. A reenactment was bound to happen, specifically the battle of Troy, but rather than a 10-year war, it was an all out battle between sides in a classroom with paper, weapons, and plenty of books. The result in the end was a trashed classroom and a terrorized sub. But of all the kids in class, Coy was the only one to be punished, because he was the one who "started it all". It was true, but still, that didn't mean he had to get Saturday detention of all things, it was too troublesome and time consuming.

     Coy absently stared at the clock, waiting, rather impatiently for his sentence to finally be completed. He had actually stopped writing once the teacher had fallen asleep, and whenever he stirred, Coy would immediately go back to writing lines to avoid suspicion. The seconds hand struck 9. He doodled absently on the desk, adding to the mess of pencil graffiti that had been placed there prior, some of it even it had even carved into the desk itself, presumably with something sharp.   

     While he was distracted, the seconds hand had somehow managed to tiptoe upon 12. Coy practically jumped when the room buzzed, a bell signifying the time. The teacher jumped up, started awake. He glared at Coy spitfully and before he could grumble the word "leave" Coy was out the door.