On Growing Up (Continued).
The kids were everything but behaving. They steeplechased each other, vaulted over seats and laughed and fooled around in general.
"Class?" Mrs. Evans rapped her desk sharply with her drinking glass. "Class!"
The kids froze
"Just what the HELL is this? Were you raised in a barn - all of you? I want you to go to your assigned seats now, sit down, and BEHAVE yourselves like ladies and gentlemen. No more noises, no more roughhousing - or you'll all stay after school for a week. Sit down and fold your hands. We have something to discuss."
With cautious, wary glances over their shoulders, the kids shuffled to their assigned desks. They looked shaken and a little shocked - even the "tough" characters who were both bigger and older than the majority of the class. I think it was the first time they had ever heard a teacher swear - any of them.
I followed instructions, faced front, and folded my hands. I risked a glance at Merry. She was sitting at her desk, propping up her head. The circles around her eyes looked a little more pronounced and her eyes were half-closed. Oh, God...was she sick again?
"Now - " Mrs. Evans seemed ashamed of her outburst. She smoothed a stray strand behind one ear as she came down in front of the class. "You all are aware that this part of the school year is more important than the first part. Especially since you are being double-promoted to fifth - "
That was as far as she got. There was a tremendous vibration that shook the building, with the fire alarm going off immediately after.
"FIRE!" someone shouted.
Decorum was forgotten.The kids scrambled up as Mrs. Evans yelled at us all, "Everybody OUT!"
We raced for the staircase, thundering down it. On the landing, another teacher was standing, waving her arms and saying needlessly, "Out...out...come on..."
We mostly ignored her. We followed the older, bigger kids to a safe perch on the sidewalk.
(To be continued.)
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