The Experiment Part 4

“This way, Mr. Myers.” The teacher jerked me forward through the crowd. “I will never understand why you instill such fear into your fellow students. I am not scared of you, you reprehensible cheat. Walk!” he ordered mercilessly. “You’re fine!”

My confusion began boiling over into fear. My vision became tunneled, and it was growing narrower by the minute as I limped through the hallway, which was now starting to clear. I somehow noticed a poster on the wall amid all this. It was a photo of a student with the caption: The Future Starts Now. Catchy phrase, I thought distantly. Narrower still. It was becoming difficult to hold my head up straight and maintain balance. But the face in the poster was fearful and confused. I know that face from somewhere, I thought sickly.

“Stop stalling,” the teacher boomed. I limped on but still looked at the poster. The student in the photo had moved! It was as if he were trapped in the poster, as if confined in a space behind a window. Some ghostlike memory spoke to me and told me I knew him, he needs my help.

            We ended up at an office. The principal’s office. The large man sat me down in front of his desk and went outside to speak to the teacher. It felt good to sit for a moment, but I could not gather my thoughts into any sort of coherent mass. The teacher outside was saying that he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. I heard the word “expulsion.” The principal came back into the office and sat down, grinning sinisterly. He leaned forward and brought his hands together, but just as he opened his mouth, the door opened. A stately older woman strode in.

            The principal looked up at her, dumbfounded. “Who are you?”

            The woman closed the door gently behind herself. “My name is Nancy Schwartz. I am with the school board of directors, Principal Hutchins. I have come to remind you that you are required by law and contract to offer an equal opportunity of education. You have no reason to expel this student.”

            Principal Hutchins stared at her in disbelief. She did not look at me, but leveled her sharp gaze at him and stood patiently with her arms crossed. I recognized her, but alas, did not know from where. I felt we had been intimate before. She glanced at me so briefly that I wondered afterwards if she really had. There had been a gleam in her eye. I swear she had smiled for a fraction of a second. To Be Continued...