Time Passages (Queen or Freddie Mercury Fanfic)

2. An Excess of Personality

I blink again, right after hitting the send button on my phone, nod and say, "Oh!  Yes, ma'am!" 

I arch my brow like all the superheroes do in the cartoons, hop out from behind my desk in the back of the room, and march with my head high, stomping my feet with every step, all the way to the front.  I pick up one of her markers -a red one, which is the next best thing after purple- and I look back over my shoulder, and waggle my eyebrows, the way Mom does when she's feeling silly.  Everyone laughs, especially my friend Lauren.

"Danny," Ms. Rydinger warns me.  I'm about to get in trouble- but I know how to fix that.  I did this before with Ms. Yamaguchi, and it worked great.  I saw it in one of Mom's old black and white movies.  Don't know which one, though. 

As soon as I finish the problem (which I get right), I walk up to Ms. Rydinger's desk and hold out my hand to her.  She doesn't know what I'm doing, so puts out her hand as well, I guess to shake it.  But I don't.  Instead, I bend over her hand, and kiss it. 

"Wha- Danny- I-" she splutters, while all the other kids either say "Ooo..." or "Dude, that is so gross!"  But I just march the same way back to my desk. 

"What'd you do that for, bro?" one of my classmates, Jamal, asks me.

I shrug.  "'Cause it works."

And in the next ten minutes of class, she doesn't say anything else about it. Lauren looks back at me, her freckly face all screwed up like she wants to laugh.  I stick my tongue out at her, which actually does get her to start giggling again.  I'm okay, for now.

But then, math class is over, and it's time for us to go home.  I start packing my things into my bag and put on my coat.  But just before I can walk out, Ms. Rydinger says, "Danny, may I see you a moment, please?"

I swallow, and walk up to her desk.  She still isn't happy with me, but at least now she's not angrily squinting like she needs to borrow my big hipster glasses.  Ms. Rydinger doesn't like me very much, but that's okay; I don't like her, either. She's a mean, fat old lady with two ferrets, who picks on me all the time. And I can tell she's going to pick on me now.

She opens her mouth.  Okay, here we go.  "Danny, what happened today?"

I frown.  "What happened?"

"Would you mind explaining what made you do that?"

"Ms. Rydinger, all I did was kiss your hand-"

"Do you believe that was the right thing to do?"

I bite my lip and remember what happened the last time I talked back to Ms. Rydinger.  I didn't go to the principal's office or anything, but she gave my mom a phone call- and after that we had a long, long talk about what I am not to do or say to Ms. Rydinger.

"No, ma'am," I whisper.

"You're not a bad student, Danny," Ms. Rydinger backs off.  "You make excellent grades, you're one of the better students I've had.  And the problem itself, I believe it's really not your fault.  It's just- I've gone over your health records, and according to that, it seems like you've never been to a child psychiatrist, is that true?"

"Uh... Maybe?"  Child psychiatrist?  I know what a psychiatrist is, Mom says it's what she does, "but with pills."  I don't like pills. 

"You really are a good boy, Danny, all things considered," she says (Then why are you even talking to me right now, Ms. Rydinger?).  "Your only problem- it seems to me, and I'm not a professional, but I've seen this before, and it can be treated- seems to be-" and she says a phrase that I really can't understand.  I can't tell if she said "an excessive personality" or "an excess of personality."  Either way, I'm confused.