Being assigned to detention was not Paul's favorite thing to do, but he would do it without much complaining. He stared out at the handful of students that had been sent there. Much less than usual, he thought compared to the times before he had covered detention. Bored faces stared back at him or out into space with an ambivalence he thought was funny. Being a teacher always made you appreciate the youth, they had not been beaten and broken by life yet. Being bored was a pleasure he now missed.
Paul began the rundown of the roster of people that were expected to be here. Most of the names were familiar, meaning they were regulars. Heather's name was on the list, which surprised him because she had been better acting in his class and because she wasn't here.
"Fuck!" He thought loudly and fought to not say it. "Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!"
"Has anyone seen Heather?" Paul asked the room without the shouting he wanted him to do.
"Yeah," said one schlubby boy in the back. "She was talking to a teacher down the hall when I was on my way here."
Paul walked of the detention room door and peeked out into the hallway. Detention was held in a room in the basement of the school. Back in his day, the room was jokingly call being sent to the dungeon. There were no large windows to the classroom, only four narrow, barred slits along one wall that looked out into the parking lot. Even the teachers called it the dungeon to be honest, and none of them liked the room.
Heather was walking at a casual, carefree pace down the hall towards Paul. He stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. Using his authority was not something he liked doing but felt he needed to do.
"You're late," He told the teenage girl as she looked at him apathetically. "I won't discipline you this time, but next time I will double your detention."
"Sure," Heather remarked and smacked her lips. "Then, I will just tell the school about all the naughty stuff you and my mother get up to behind closed doors."
"Excuse me," Paul said as his brain began swimming in an attempt to grasp what she said.
"You heard me," Heather told him. "Wave that masculine male teacher privilege in my face again, and I will be more than happy to tell everyone about you and my mother. I wonder how the PTA will feel about you fucking my mother on the internet."
To say Paul was pissed would be an understatement. He was beet red and sixty seconds from hitting a student. That was something Paul had never even thought about until this second. Moving his neck from left to right, he popped all the bones in his neck, followed by cracking his knuckles. Leaning in face to face with this pompous, arrogant snot, he stopped about two inches from her nose. His words were chosen very carefully.
"Are you trying to blackmail or threaten me?" He asked politely with a grin best resembling a deranged clown than a teacher.
Heather hesitated and visibly gulped. "Something like that," she said with less confidence than beforehand.
"You should know something before you threaten me," he stated matter of factly. "I am more than happy to crash and burn. Understand I will take you with me too. I can have your mother produce as many copies of me fucking her as I want. How soon do you think I can get that video distributed around the building. Hell, I bet by the end of the day it could be on the local news. Would you like everyone to know about what your mother and I do behind closed doors? I bet we could hit National news by Friday. How does that sound?"
"You're crazy!" Heather said with a look of terror written all over her face.
"Actually, that might be a good idea in general. I bet if your mom and I team up and get this to national news, we could score a deal with one of those porn distributors. They might throw us a few million."
"Oh my god," she replied, almost in tears. "I won't say anything. Please don't."
"Ok," Paul said, trying not to laugh. "I won't make us rich yet. You try something like that again, and I promise I will."
Ultimately defeated, Heather slumped over and followed Paul into detention like a puppy with a tail between its legs. He closed the door and took his seat back at the desk in the front of the room. As usual, all these kids looked depressed and defeated. That what punishment should look like, Paul thought.
Knowing it would drive the kids crazy, Paul pulled out his phone. He hit his text message app and then selected Felicity's name. This was going to be a fun text message, he thought.
Paul- So guess who is in detention today?
Felicity- Heather got detention for talking back to Mrs. Thorne today.
Paul- I am aware, but you'll never guess what she said to me before detention.
Felicity-????? Don't leave me hanging.
Paul- She attempted to blackmail me. She said she would tell the school about us hooking up and apparently about me joining you on camera.
Felicity- Holy shit! WTF?!?!?! How did she know about that stuff?
Paul- No idea, but I quashed the whole concept very quickly. Not my first rodeo. I basically claimed mutual self-destruction. I told her I could easily deny it or talk my way out, and she would be left with everyone knowing what her mom does on camera.
Felicity- Damn! Remind me to never play poker with you. I don't know if you are bluffing or not.
Paul- No bluffing. Remind me to tell you about the girl a few years ago that tried to blackmail me.
Felicity- We still on for this weekend? My friend is excited about joining us.
Paul- Wouldn't miss it.
Felicity- Good, now I just need to figure out what I am going to do with Heather.
Paul- My suggestion is to crush the problem now before she thinks she can get away with more.
Felicity- Good idea. Talk soon.
After that detention went rather quietly, the students sat there for their duration. Still, Paul let all of them go early except for Heather. He made her sit there for another twenty minutes. Just long enough that she would miss her bus and have to ask her mother or someone for a ride home. Otherwise, she had about a forty-minute walk home. Heather started to protest, but the look on his face definitely made her think twice. Paul didn't usually do stuff like this, but he felt Heather had this coming in spades.
When Paul finally let Heather go, he went back to his own classroom to get his things and wrap up for the day. He was usually long gone by now, but a little extra time never hurt anyone. Not like he had any significant plans after school today, it was just another Monday.
To his surprise, Bonnie was sitting at his desk, typing away at her laptop. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn't hear him until he slammed the door to catch her by surprise. The younger teacher in training let out a cute little Yelp then scowled at him for making her jump.
"What are you doing here?" Paul asked as he began wiping down his notes from the whiteboard.
"Wrapping up a paper for my professor and waiting for you," Bonnie said as she spun in her desk chair to face him.
Paul paused mid-wipe to look down at her. He had no idea what she wanted from him. As a student-teacher, she knocked it out of the park. The kids liked her, most of the teachers did, and he barely had to show her much. Bonnie was a natural in his book.
"What's up, my Padawan?" He asked with a smirk.
"Padawhat?" She said, confused.
"Really? Never seen Star Wars?" He asked, surprised.
"No," Bonnie said with a shrug.
"Forget it," Paul said, changing the subject quickly. "What's up?"
"I wanted to see if you minded if I dropped working with Mrs. Thorne and worked with you the duration of my time here?"
"I don't care," Paul told her honestly. He meant it too. She actually made his job easier compared to other student teachers he had worked with before now. "Just make sure you talk to Thorne first. She can be a real ball-buster even on the best of days. I don't need her yelling at me for stealing you away."
"Her idea actually," Bonnie answered with a nod. "I don't think she likes me."
"Makes sense," Paul said as he resumed clearing the board. "She didn't like me either when I started here. Still doesn't, to be honest. Her goal is to make all students fear her, and if you don't get that method, then she doesn't have time with you."
"Thanks," Bonnie said as she closed her laptop. "I knew you would understand. I can see why everyone around here thinks so highly of you."
"Meh," Paul replied, uncomfortably with her praise. "Let me know if the Principal gives you any push back. I will be more than happy to talk to her."
Bonnie was packing up her things and getting ready to leave as well when she spoke again.
"By the way," she said to Paul with a knowing smirk. "I ran into your friend Felicity the other night. She and I had a long chat about you. I heard a few things that surprised me."
