Greg Burkus sat on the floor staring mindlessly at the TV, which was giving an important update.
The couldn't focus on the update, he knew he was supposed to, but all he could think about was the coming school day.
Greg was enrolled in St. Bartholomew's Bridge school. It was a feeder community college for the prestigious St. John's college, a private University where the real movers and shakers sent their kids.
However, St. Bartholomew's was run almost exactly like a Highschool. Class all day, starting at 8am. It was run by an absolute tyrant, Ms. Vivian Sato. She was the Dean of the school, and a lead Professor at St. John's School of Business.
She was the bane of Greg's existence. He was pretty certain she didn't like him because Greg was poor. Him and his mother lived in the only trailer park in town. His mom got him a needs based scholarship to St. Bartholomew's. If he could maintain a 3.0 GPA, in two years he could move onto St. John's.
It was a big deal for him, and his family. He would be the first one to graduate college.
Zzzt, the TV buzzed, sounding the end of the announcements. Greg snapped back to reality.
"Boy, the world has changed hadn't it?" His mom said with a smile. Her happiness only increased the pit in his stomach. She was so proud of him, but he hated going to school.
"It sure has," Greg replied, but his world hadn't improved at all. At 120 pounds and 5 foot 7 inches tall, Greg had been the butt of all the jokes his whole life. Picked on and bullied. But his problems were far above the problems she was talking about.
His Mom was talking about the new World Leader, known only as Leader. He mysteriously rose to power two years ago and forced peace among all the warring nations. The world had blossomed under his rule. Trade was up, corruption was down, there was peace on earth.
As part of his new rules, everyone on Earth, was required to sit in front of the TV to listen to his important announcements every morning. Greg never really paid attention to them.
"Looks like the bus is here, better go on or you'll be late," His mom said, handing Greg his backpack and a brown bag for lunch. Greg put on a smile, and skittered out the door.
Greg gave a nod to the bus driver, Earl. Earl lived across the way, but worked as a bus driver. Greg looked at all the familiar passengers on the bus, all elementary and middle school kids. He was the only student at St. Bartholomew's to ride the bus. Everyone else had their own cars.
Greg took his usual seat at the front and stared out the window, trying not to think about his inevitable morning encounter with Ms. Sato.
The bus took off as Greg zoned out.
Greg had tried everything to avoid Ms. Sato in the morning, nothing worked. She always seemed to pick him out. The best bet was to just hope she was busy or in a good mood.
Before long the bus came to the St. Bartholomew's campus, the doors opening. Greg stood up and headed for the door.
Earl, the bus driver held a piece of paper up for Greg to take.
"What's this?" Greg asked before getting off.
"A Late Slip. Traffic was bad today." The color drained from Greg's face. He was LATE? Greg snatched the slip and bolted towards the front door of the school. The grounds and the campus were empty. Greg looked at his watch, 8:05, FUCK!
Greg flung the front doors open, no sign of Ms. Sato, he began running towards his first class. Maybe he'd gotten lucky.
He rounded the hallway to his first class. No sign of Ms. Sato. He stopped just short of the classroom door, took a deep breath to calm himself, and then walked in.
Advanced Math, the lecture was already underway but no one looked up. He took his seat and took out a deep sigh of relief. He made it.
Greg took out his notepad and began to take notes on the lecture. That's when Mr. Holmes, the teacher, turned around.
"Is that Mr. Burkus? Ms. Sato would like to see you in her office." Greg's heart sank. The kids around him let out a snicker.
"But, the bus was late, I have a slip," get replied meekly. Mr Holmes shook his head as if to say 'who cares' and then pointed toward the door. With a heavy sigh Greg stood up and headed for the Dean's Office.
As Greg was leaving the class Brad Tiller, a tall, handsome, football type, pointed at him and mouthed "Loser."
Greg walked, shoulders slumped, towards Ms. Sato's office, which was at the front entrance of the school. He rounded the hallway to see Ms. Sato waiting for him.
Ms. Sato was a stern woman. Her father was a Japanese businessman who married an American sweetheart. She had jet-black hair, cut in a shoulder length bob. She was wearing a very professional looking suit, although it was tailored to show her curvy figure. She turned her head, her black eyes meeting Greg's gaze.
"Mr. Burkus, you're late," She said in her usual, harsh, critical ton.
Greg held up the slip of paper Earl had given him as he approached. "The bus was late." Greg said in reply.
Ms. Sato scowled at Greg in silence as he approach. Not responding at all to Greg's excuse.
Behind Ms. Sato Greg could see Susan Smith opening the front doors. Susan was one of Greg's only two friend sin the school. But she was busy so they didn't hang out much.
"Sorry I'm late Ms. Sato, I slept in," Susan said with a smile.
Ms. Sato turned and smiled back at Susan.
"Oh no worries. We all make mistakes." Ms. Sato replied to Susan.
Ms. Sato turned back to Greg, her face returning to its scowl. She pointed to her office.
Greg met eyes with Susan, she mouthed 'Sorry', he then slumped into Ms. Sato's office. Ms. Sato followed, closing the door behind her and sitting behind her desk.
Her office looked like a typical Dean's office. A large, mahogany desk. Plush, leather chairs. Shelves full of books.
Ms. Sato sat down behind her desk. Greg began to sit down across from her when she said,
"I don't think so Mr. Burkus, please stand," Greg gulped at the chastisement and remained standing.
Ms. Sato then held out her hand, "Let me see the slip." Greg handed her the slip. Before looking the corners of her mouth curled into a smile and she ripped it up. "An unexcused absence means detention then." She said with a smirk.
Greg fumed, but knew better than the try and defend himself. Greg looked at the ground, avoiding Ms. Sato's penetrating gaze. She was smiling at him, gloating in her victory over him.
Ms. Sato let out a quick victory laugh, and with an arrogant smile she said, "I'll see you in detention, now get out."
Without a second warning Greg turned and left her office.
Greg slinked back to class, ignoring Brad Tiller's jeers as he walked back in.
Greg closed his eyes and mustered his resolve. Detention wasn't unusual for him. Ms. Sato made up all kinds of excuses to get him in trouble, but she never expelled him. Just another year and a half and he'll be free and onto a better life. He took a deep breath, imagined himself shaking off all the hate, opened his eyes and began to pay attention to the lecture.
It wasn't long before Greg found himself at lunch, his sack lunch consisting of a cold hot dog and left over macaroni and cheese.
"I heard the Leader used Hypnosis to take over the world, and that the morning broad cast is hypnotizing us!" Tim said. Tim was Greg's other only friend, besides Susan. He was a bookish, nerdy type, like Greg and was heavily into conspiracy theories.
"Bah, that's crazy," Susan said, dismissing Tim's claim.
Tim, Susan, and Greg were sitting at the edge of the cafeteria, the social outcasts. Each of them had been marked as 'weird'. Tim was socially awkward, and generally would ramble on about chemtrails, and government over reach.
Greg was dirt poor, and didn't know his father. He was also scrawny and short at 120 pounds and only 5 foot 7 inches tall. He was a particularly easy target for the more athletic boys at St. Bartholomew's.
Susan was a popular kid in Highschool. However, her parents split up and she ended up Pregnant and had to take a year off. All of which left her with a social stigma at St. Bartholomew's.
All three of them had found company together as social outcasts.
"But what's more crazy is that Greg got detention again," Susan said angrily.
Greg waived his hand trying to dismiss the subject.
"Again? She's really got it out for you," Tim said taking a bite of his sandwich. With his mouth half full Tim continued, "Isn't there anything we can do?"
"Bah, I just wanna do my time and move on. I'd rather not stir the hornets nest."
"You sound like your in Prison," Susan replied.
"You know," Tim speaking now, still with his mouth full, "You should write a letter to the leader, ask him if he can hypnotize her into being nicer to you."
Greg let out a laugh at the thought. Susan didn't laugh, instead she was visibly biting the inside of her cheek.
"Real funny Tim," Susan said defensively. Susan was a fervent defender and follower of the Leader, while Tim was the opposite.
"Aah, what, it's worth a shot. I'm not saying the Leader's a bad guy, just that he's probably got the world under hypnosis. If that's true, he could help out my friend Greg."