A FELLOW OTHELLO!

A FELLOW OTHELLO!

“I cannot believe that they are dating,” Jenny said as she was crossing the quad.

“It’s disgusting isn’t it,” Gale said, her face crinkled up.  “It makes me sick.”

“I know,” Jenny said and then opened her mouth and stuck her finger into her mouth imitating someone puking. 

Both girls were shaking their head as they walked past the couple sitting at the park bench.  It was lunch at Roosevelt Middle School, and it was a sunny beautiful day.  The grass that the girls walked on was a rich green, the trees scattered around the grassy area providing shade with their leaves completely grown.  It was the height of the spring and a time when love was in the air. 

“What really burns me is that I thought Barbara was arranging a double date with her boyfriend and Tommy and me,” Jenny said.   “Next weekend we were supposed to see that new movie that was coming out, the romance story.”

“Yeah, well looks like that’s a big FAT FAIL,” Gale said.  “Those two look like -,” Gale paused as she was looking over her shoulder at the couple.  “Yep, there it is,”  Gale said with a squeal.  “They’re swapping some spit.”

Jenny looked over her shoulder and couldn’t help but be shocked and disappointed at what she saw. 

“I can’t believe it.” Jenny said.  “I would have thought that he would have better taste than that, that foreigner.”

“I know,” said Gale.  “I’m pretty sure that slut is the one who I think has been chasing Jimmy.” Gale’s voice was filled with anger and hatred.  “We were supposed to spend all night on the phone last night but when I called him he didn’t answer.”

“No way,” Jenny said.  “I don’t think that’s enough to think that he’s cheating with that hootsie tootsie Rachel.” Jenny paused.  “OMG, they’re kissing again.”

Gale looked over at the couple.

“Tommy could do so much better,” Gale said.  “So after I called Jimmy’s house I talked to his little brother who told me that Jimmy was on the phone with some girl whose name began with an R.”

“No way,” Jenny said her face shocked.

“And so I tried calling Rachel to check, and when I did it said her cell phone was busy,” Gale said.  “I can’t believe Rachel is trying to steal Jimmy.  I’m going to make sure she regrets that.”

“Cell phones don’t get busy,” Jenny said, trying to calm her friend down.

“Yes they do,” Gale paused.  “But only if they’re on a three way call.”

“You mean that hootsie tootsie was on the phone with Jimmy and somebody else,” Jenny asked.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Gale said.  “She probably had someone listening to the phone call as she seduced my boyfriend.”

“B**ch,” Jenny said in a dark voice. “We have got to do something about her.”

“Don’t get yourself all worked up Jenny,” Gale said as she patted Jenny on the back.  “I have a plan that will get us both what we want.  Her mind had been working all night and day on finding some way to get revenge.

***

The couple sitting at the bench were average looking in most respects.  Tommy, with his blond hair contrasted nicely with the young girl he was kissing.  Rachel’s jet black hair and Mediterranean skin color accented the young man’s fair features.  Her poke a dot dress reached down to just above her knees as she sat.  His khaki shorts with loose fitting polo shirt along with her comfortable outfit made the couple not only seem comfortable with each other, but comfortable in their own skin.  They were cute together.

As they pulled away from each other from their first kiss they both had a smile.  Both looked away shyly.  The boy’s braces could just be made out from the rest of his face.  For the most part they were difficult to see because of the model used by the orthodontists, see through. 

“I think you are awesome,” Rachel said. 

“Thanks,” Tommy said back.  “I think you’re pretty awesome too.  And I do mean Pretty.”  He smiled that way someone does who has braces and has forgotten that they’re wearing them. 

Rachel reached up and stroked the side of his cheek, not caring to notice the braces. 

“That was very nice of you last night,” Rachel said.  “Jimmy and I really needed the help with the math.”

“Thanks, but you were the one who had three way calling.” Tommy said.  “And I think you were the one who had the area formula memorized not me.”

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch.  At Roosevelt only the eight graders were aloud out on the quad after they ate their lunch.  It was one of the only perks they had as the eldest students on campus.  The group of eight graders on the small field on the side of the cafeteria headed into the building; Tommy and Rachel were holding hands.

***

“As you all know in two days we will be going to the Observatory and if you haven’t handed in your paperwork you will not be able to come,”  Mr. Braker said.  “Which means that you will have to stay here and do some other work that I warn you will be very unpleasant.”

The science room had the science islands with the drawers for storing supplies and high stools allowing the students to see the top of the black toped islands.  There was a faucet in the center of each island.  Along the walls were cabinets with glass fronts, allowing students to see the instruments and other items stored there.

Mr. Braker was a small man who had big thick glasses.  He had the look of a man who was continually angry at the world, no matter who you were he hated you.   He was handing out a set of worksheets and talked as he walked around the room, scanning and looking at students and what they were doing. 

“This sheet will prepare you for the field trip,” he looked down at Jimmy who was sitting towards the back.  “So, I expect everyone to hand this in, even you Jimmy.”

“Yes sir,” Jimmy said automatically.  Jimmy had already run afoul of Mr. Braker and didn’t want to upset the old man again.  He was already in trouble for something that was written on his chair that Mr. Braker blamed on him.

“Just because your friend’s father is a member of the Town Council doesn’t mean that you are exempt from facing consequences,” Mr. Braker, who had run for Town Council had lost to Tommy’s dad the year before in a very tight race for town council.  Knowing that Jimmy was friend with Tommy had made Jimmy a target in this science class like Tommy was in another one of the science classes that Mr. Braker taught. Still, it didn’t mean that Jimmy wouldn’t try and trip up the science teacher.

Throughout the class Gale, who was sitting in the front row was passing notes to Jenny, the girl who was sitting behind her.  Notes with, “I’m bored” double underlined, or “Did you see the eyebrows on this guy,” or “Braker – it’s more like NERD”.   As middle schoolers go, the conversation was almost tame.  No foul language and of course, meaningless to anyone over the age of fourteen.   Gale was also passing similar style notes to Cassie who was sitting next to her.

Unbeknown by the girls passing notes, they were getting some helpful assistance from Jimmy as the whole time Mr. Braker was walking around the room he was so focused on Jimmy and everything he did wrong that Mr. Baker never noticed the note passing from the student who he thought was his best.

When the class broke up into pairs, Mr. Braker put Cassie and Gale together as partners.  Mr. Braker considered the two students to be his best students in this class and knew that they would be finished before everyone else.  During the experiments they talked about different things, but eventually the conversation turned towards the student council.

“I overheard that you’re the person who’s going to get to replace the kid that was class vice president but had to move,” Gale said to Cassie.

“Yeah, Mr. Fuddles told me that Rachel, as the class president and him decided that I was going to replace Delbert as the class vice president,”  Cassie said as she handed over the beaker of water to get heated.

“Congratulations,” Gale said.  “Do you think that Rachel will actually let you do anything?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t she,” Cassie asked, her face tilted in that unsure way.

“It’s really not my place to say,” Gale said, trying to act innocent and getting away with it because Cassie was more interested in Gale’s statement. 

“No, I want to know,” Cassie said.  “You can’t say that and not explain.”

“As long as you remember that you asked,” Gale said, her voice and posture filled with contrition.  “Otherwise I would never have said anything.”

“GO ahead already,” Cassie said, turning the heat up on the beaker.

“Well, I overheard Rachel and Mr. Fuddles talking about how they wanted you because they figured you wouldn’t fight them as much as your competition would.”  Gale had heard no such thing; she hadn’t even been in the same wing of the school, but it would make Cassie think that she was helping her out, and it could create so much potential entertainment to see Cassie squirm. 

She only knew about Cassie’s appointment because she heard a couple of teachers talking about it in the hallway on the way to class.  It struck her immediately that it would be a great way to get some attention if she just changed the story around a bit.

“Really,” Cassie said, in that voice that was both haughty and concerned.  “So who did they mean by my ‘competition’.”

“You don’t know,” Gale asked.  Gale looked both ways as if she was checking for anyone to overhear.  Cassie, unsure what was going on did the same in that halfhearted way.  Moving close to Cassie so that there was no air between them, she took her thumb and pointed to the table behind them.  “It was Jenny, she so wanted the job.  All she’s been talking about since she heard Dillie was leaving was that she wanted the job.”  This wasn’t a lie, Jenny had wanted the vice-president job last year when she had lost the election.  This was the best way to tell a lie.  Tell a partial truth so that whoever you’re talking to believes the whole lie.

Cassie turned her head and looked at the lab table behind her; it was a cold calculated look.

***

Jenny and Gale walked close whispering to each other, keeping their voices low enough so that only they could hear.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Jenny said.  “You are some type of genius, but aren’t you worried about Fuddles?” Gale hadn’t told Jenny about the conversation with Gale, keeping it simple, as a backup plan or just some good fun after everything was done.

Mr. Fuddles was the vice principal, an elderly man who been with the school since it was built nearly thirty years before.  If paper was made by Gucci, then his hair would be the equivalent.  It was a startlingly bright white that was so decorative that you thought he spent most of his day combing his hair.   

“That old idiot,” Gale said.  “My dad describes him as the guy whose about as sharp as a dull pencil.  This plan is fool proof, guaranteed to work.”

“Good, cause the day of the trip to the observatory is coming up and that would be the best place to make our plan work.”

“I agree, but let’s see if we can create a bit of stir tomorrow at lunch,” Gale explained.

“Cool,” Jenny said.  “I can’t wait.”

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