Survivors

Chapter Four: The Substitutes

So my first week at school wasn't as bad as I thought it would turn out. I am soooooo lucky that these seats in class are permanent. True, homework is like the arch-enemy of everyone who's actually had to deal with mounds of it but I have to admit it wasn't that bad this week. What I'm waiting for is what normally comes around January and February. Most of the stuff was just review from last year which, luckily, I have old copies from the 7th grade to copy off of.

One thing I absolutely hate is when a teacher has jury duty. Then they have to hire a substitute which, at my school, means your in for one of the roughest days in your life. Boy, did I think Mrs. Vanderpoorten and Mrs. Biel were bad, they weren't half as bad put together as one sub I had nearing the end of the 7th grade whom most called Mr. Bermejo. Some of us freedom fighters called him Baldy, Chrome Dome, and (my personal favorite) Mister Asshole. I thought teachers weren't supposed to cuss at us, especially in a Catholic school. A few of us last year (by the name of C.T.T.) tried to get him fired and Alex even caught him on video from his iPod once yelling at us and cussing us out. God I am so thankful to be rid of that shit head.

However, in like the third week of school, Mary Star Elementary School's Junior High was tortured with the arrival of Ms. Hebestreit. Boy, did I have nicknames for her, and they weren't very nice. Often, I called her Hemoglobin, Mrs. Bermejo, and Bitch (personal favorite). If you could just picture Bermejo, he would be about 5'7, bald, rectangular black glasses, tannish, thin frame for being pudgy, and ears that stick out. Now picture that only just a tad shorter, slightly tanner, more wrinkles, and with a salt-and-pepper curly wig. There is Ms. Hebestreit for you.

Ugh! The one thing I feared above most things actually came true for (luckily) one day: every Junior High teacher (including Ms. Wadleigh who instructs P.E.) was gone for Jury Duty or sick leave. It's just not fair when something like that happens! I'm kinda afraid of what would happen if my school desperately needed a substitute for P.E. but luckily I didn't have that subject this particular day. I had Ms. Hebestreit in Mrs. Steese's class, Ms. Page in Mr. Valadez's, and (this the worst of the worst) Mr. Bermejo in Mrs. Rios's class! Who the hell let Bermejo back here?!?! After cussing us out multiple times and telling us we were all going to hell?! He really needs a restraining order.

When I first walked into class, I found Bermejo writing on the board our apparent instructions. "Good morning, 8th Grade," he spoke with a loud, clear voice that belonged only to him but somehow, though he didn't show it, everyone knew he spoke with an edge of revenge. "After morning announcements, you will start your work immediately and you will not argue. Many of you may remember all the bathroom breaks you took last year to get out of class," he paused, relishing our disbelief and horror. "I won't allow it this year. Today, if you desperately need to leave the class, your name will be called over the P.A. or I will see marks staining your pants. I am serious. Do we understand one another?" the last part he shouted at us and his cruel grin disappeared. As he said ths, he nearly slapped Analise (who last year, had constantly sneaked out of his class) in the face. Instead, he hit her desk with such force, a crack appeared where he hit it. Shit. He must have worked out because I don't ever remember him being strong enough to break a desk with one blow. he gave us a lot of work concerning Shakespeare, which we had very little knowledge about and with no prep either. You can bet that we had a lot of homework that night. And some people had dark spots on their pants; how embarrassing and shameful.

In the next period (we had double periods), it was just our luck that we had Ms. Page for Math and Science classes. Whoopee. "Good morning class," she greeted us with her annoying, high-pitched, nasaly voice that I (and a few others including Tyler) just couldn't stand. "Today, we will be learning about polynomials." I chose that moment to whisper something to Tyler and she gave us a nasaly, "Table Six! Quiet down!" Geez! Give us a break woman! I was already in a shitty mood from Mr. Asshole's class but Page's "quiet-downs"? NO WAY! Just to test her, directly in the middle of her lesson, I whispered something unimportant to Tyler again. "Table Six! Who keeps interrupting my lesson?"

"Maybe it was the bitch in the blue dress at the front of the class," I said when she finally turned around after no answers. The class had nothing to wear except uniforms. Ms. Page was the only person wearing a blue dress.

"Table Six! Who said that?" she repeated, even angrier than before. A note appeared on my desk; it was from Tyler; it read:

Nice! I hate that bitch. Keep it up I can't stand another "Table Six!" again. She really needs to shut her fucking mouth sometimes.

Yeah. Tyler was like the king of sassy which was probably why I decided to turn. I can't believe he gave me a compliment about being sassy; that itself was fracking cool. I decided to continue my entertainment. When Ms. Page turned around again, I shouted out, "Who the fuck gives a damn about polynomials anyway? This is a load of shit!"

That was the last straw for her for as soon as I said that, she came over to our table and started to slap us all in the face until someone gave the culprit away. Jackie couldn't take it after the first stinging slap and she blurted out my name. That day, after I recieved a detention I never planned on attending, I vowed to never help her out of a situation again. Such a snitch. Damn her.

After lunch and Ms. Page's horrid "knowledge" (if you could even call it that) of Science, we were forced into Ms. Hebestreit's class where she called out role (as if that was important). When she reached my name, she called out, "Sierra Terrence!"

In retort, I called out, "That's not my name."

"Then what is?"

"My name is Sierra Terrence, not Sierra Terrence. Say it right next time."

"Well perhaps, Sierra, that you be less rude next time and that I did say it correctly."

"No, you didn't say it right. My name's pronounced Terrence. Exactly how it's spelt," I ended smugly and she then gave me such a look that could be unparalled. She won this battle, but she won't win this sass war. I can do this the whole day. Ali looked at me and she seemed really surprised, but in a congratulatory way. Hebestreit gave us a lot of homework too. None of these teachers seemed to like the Eighth Grade today. I swear to God, it wasn't completely my fault. It was just one of the worst days of my life.