A young high school teacher was getting out of his car when a student approached and said, "Sorry, sir I was dared to do this."
The nervous freshman handed him a greeting card-sized envelope.
The teacher looked at the envelope, shook his head sadly, and said, "Thanks, Jeff. Don't worry about it. I know you're being pressured on this. I assure you, it's fine."
"Thanks!" Jeff said and ran off.
Jeff Michaels was one of the best students in the freshman class. By the time his four years were over, he could be valedictorian. He was a good kid who was trying too hard to be liked by the popular kids. He would find his way eventually.
The teacher opened the envelope and frowned at the expected content. It was a homemade card, on actual card stock. He thought to himself, 'At least the quality is getting better.'
The front of the card had the typical image of the guidance counselor from the South Park cartoon on it. His enormous head, skinny body, high water pants, and mismatched clothes were all present.
The teacher opened the card and read the typical quote he'd heard over and over again since he was a kid.
"Drugs are bad, m'kay."
***
It wasn't bad until he hit high school. He was a smart, socially awkward, geeky kid. He struggled to make friends initially but found out quickly that there is a clique for everyone in high school.
The so-called geek kids had their group who, rightfully so, were fine with who they were and with each other. The group of six fed off of each other and became close friends who were still close as they approached their high school's 10-year reunion.
He remembered well the first day in homeroom when his name was called for attendance, "Kyle Mackey."
He raised his hand and then heard, "Drugs are bad, m'kay." The class erupted in laughter and to Kyle's dismay, his teacher was laughing along.
He'd hear it so often over the next four years that he grew to hate it. He kept the hate bottled up inside, and never pushed back. Those that picked on him saw that it bothered him, and continued it all through school.
He was thankful he didn't have to deal with it in college and he had mostly gotten over it. That is until the first time one of his students said it to him.
When his students started saying the teasing phrases, "m'kay" or "drugs are bad, m'kay," he became depressed. He eventually got over it and numbed himself to it outwardly with the help of his ex-girlfriend, who was a therapist, but it still bothered him.
Occasionally, he was hyper-sensitive about it and that bothered him even more. When he would beat himself up in his mind over it, he'd call himself a pussy and tell himself he needed to man-up and get over it.
What he bore were the scars of teenage bullying. His was never any sort of physical abuse, but for whatever reason, he hated for people to pick on his name.
To a casual observer, it would seem as if it were not a big deal. Who gets mad about having the same last name as a silly cartoon character? For Kyle, it was a deeply seeded anxiety.
He was saddened when his students did it, but he didn't get angry with them. When his adult friends would do it, however, even if in good-natured teasing, he would get angry to the point of shouting at them.
Those episodes were few and far between, yet occasionally they surfaced under the right circumstances.
***
He put the card back in the envelope and wondered if it would ever stop. He almost regretted becoming a teacher because of his name. That fact was sad because he loved teaching and he loved working with kids. It was his goal since he was a young boy wanting to follow in his parents' footsteps. Both were teachers who loved their work.
Kyle walked through the halls to his class, smiling and nodding to the students who addressed him. He taught mostly science courses and most of his students were honors level.
If one would ask him, he'd say that he was liked by his students. He tried to be the "cool" teacher that the kids would list among their favorites. It was important to him to not become the type of teacher he despisedβa crotchety old man. After all, no one picked on people they liked, in his opinion.
He was young at twenty-eight, and although he didn't realize it, quite good looking. Some of his students even had a crush on him. He had recently broken up with his girlfriend of five years, Siobhan.
Siobhan broke his heart by turning down his marriage proposal. She was fine dating him as a placeholder for a wealthier man, but she wouldn't marry him. He knew she had bigger hopes than he could ever fill. He didn't realize though that she could dump him so coldly after such a long relationship. He let himself believe that she loved him.
***
Julie Tyson walked into the office at Jefferson High School ready to start her first day. She was a mid-year replacement for a teacher who was fired in a pay-for-grades scandal.
Julie had been a substitute teacher for several years, waiting for a full-time opening somewhere. Unfortunately for her, the opening was on the other side of the state from where she lived.
She was greeted by Principal Danning and led to her classroom. She looked around and smiled, glad to have finally reached her dream of becoming a high school Mathematics teacher.
Jefferson High was one of the top schools in the state. She hoped with the higher quality of students, she wouldn't have to deal with the problems that she had in her previous district.
Her previous district was one of the lowest-performing in the state. It was one of the reasons she never took one of the permanent jobs there. She wanted to work in one of the best schools and to be part of a great program. She didn't want to fight every day for her students to focus on classwork and do the work needed to get a decent education.
She had a pleasant demeanor and she wasn't strong enough to push back and control the riff-raff when they pushed at her in class, and they pushed all of the time.
Her degree from one of the top colleges in the country and a sterling recommendation from her previous district helped her get into the prestigious Jefferson High.
"Miss Tyson," the no-nonsense older principal said, "Welcome to Jefferson and good luck. Oh! By the way, across the hall is Mr. Mackey's Science room, and next door is Mrs. Grayson's music room. The walls are soundproof so you won't have any issues hearing the noise from there."
"Thank you, Principal Danning."
"Call me Vicki, when we're away from the students please." She smiled and walked out of the room.
Julie looked around and thought that it was a strange wing of the building. There were only three classrooms on their level and below them was the library. It was separated from the Math and Science wing by a winding hallway around the corner of the gym, almost as an afterthought, but was necessary due to the overflow of students. She would later find out that they were originally meant to be club rooms, not classrooms.
***
As she prepared for her day, she heard a knock on the open door. "Hey there, new girl!" Mrs. Grayson said as she walked in.
"Hi, I'm Julie Tyson," she said walking over.
"Jenny Grayson. Nice to meet you. What do you think so far?"
Julie laughed and said, "I haven't been here long enough to have an opinion. I just got here a few minutes ago."
"Duh! How dumb of me, of course. Hey, it's almost 7:15, follow me."
Julie was confused but followed the slightly scatter-brained Music teacher.
"Stand here and watch. This is the best part of my morning," Jenny said with a smirk.
They were standing in the doorway of the music room that had a glass partition. It partially blocked the view from the hallway, but they could see to the end.
"What are we watching?" Julie asked.
"Him," Jenny said, nodding down the hall.