MY TEACHER'S PICTURE

Word count: 7961



MY TEACHER'S PICTURE



I can hear things in this place that I have never heard before in my life. I hear feet shuffling as they drag chains, the slamming of heavy metal gates, and grown men crying, wailing even. I can’t see any of it but I have seen plenty of jails in movies so I can imagine what it looks like. Forty minutes I have been waiting but the lawyer still isn’t here. My dad went outside to smoke a cigarette.

I wouldn’t be surprised if someone died in this room recently; the stench reminds me of when my dog had puppies under my bed and one of them was born dead but no one knew it was in there for three days until after the smell got so bad. I finally found the dead puppy in the far corner half covered by stuffing my dog had pulled out of my mattress. To make it worse, this room has no air conditioning; even a little air movement would be nice.

Planted on a wobbly folding chair with a pumpkin orange vinyl seat, I wait. I am alone, I am hungry, and I am tired. I don’t really know what they want me to say that I didn’t already tell the principal, but at this point I’ll say just about anything to get it over with so I can get out of here and go home.  I can’t believe they made me come down to the jail to be questioned. They said something about being “short-staffed at the station.” Well they’re short-staffed here too and my lawyer still isn’t here. I wish I could just go home and sleep.

*~*~*

The last thing I wanted to do this morning was go to school. If I had been given a choice between going to school and going to the dentist for a root canal, I would have chosen the root canal. I lay on my bed staring up at the airplane model hanging from the ceiling. It has been there since it won first place in a model-making contest when I was in 4th grade.

Gotta get up for school. It isn’t that the school is such a bad place—it is actually okay for a school—but damn Principal Sanders had to go poking around in my locker and he found the picture Matt gave me of Miss Bolden, bending over with that short skirt on.

I figured Principal Sanders had already told all the teachers and Miss Bolden was going to be so mad at me that she would flunk me and I would have to take 7th grade English over in 8th grade. I even stayed home from school for a couple of days last week faking a stomachache. I was so worried about anyone else finding out about the picture that I almost cried. I felt like such a loser. I had a picture of my half-naked teacher in my locker and the principal found it! I punched my pillow hard enough to make feathers fly out.

I threw the covers off and forced myself to sit up. Placing both feet on the floor I urged my body to stand.  “Ugh,” I groaned. This would be the first of many things I had to force myself to do today. “I just can’t go,” I laid back down on my pillow. Five more minutes.

“Danny, you up?” I smelled the bacon and toast from the kitchen and willed myself to ignore it. Without answering my mother, I rolled on my side and pulled the blankets up over my head, hoping I’d wake up and find it was all a bad dream.

“Danny, you’re going to be late, the bus will be here in 15 minutes. Don’t you want to eat something?” I took a deep breath and sat up again. “Danny!”

“I’m up!” I called down to her, “I’ll be right there.”

I pulled on a white t-shirt and jeans, ran a brush through my curly hair, and grabbed my backpack which seemed to weigh a hundred pounds as I adjusted the straps on my shoulders.  I glanced out the kitchen window and saw the bus a block away.  “No time for breakfast Mom, sorry.” I hugged my mom with one arm and ran out just as the driver pulled up in front of my house.

Staring out the window as the bus moved closer to my dreaded destination, I remembered Mrs. Brown’s voice over the intercom two weeks ago, “Good morning students, we hope you enjoyed your weekend. There are a couple of announcements this morning. First, in an effort in increase your safety at this school, we are notifying you that all lockers will be opened and the contents will be examined at unannounced intervals throughout the remainder of the school year. The first round of locker checks begins this week. You will not know in advance when your locker will be checked; however, a note will be left inside to let you know it was opened. If you have any questions, please see Principal Sanders or Assistant Principal Roberts.” There are so many lockers it will take them forever to get to all of them, I remember thinking. They probably aren’t even going to do it. They are just trying to scare us or something. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. I don’t have anything to hide.

The next day during my English class, Miss Bolden was wearing a long black jacket that went below her knees, which I thought was kind of strange, but she always dressed really nice, so I figured long black jackets must be in style or something. She gave us all a project to work on and told us we could take turns using the computer. Billy Stewart was first so I started on my project, and waited for my turn on the computer.

I happened to glance over a few minutes later and saw Miss Bolden had taken off the jacket and was bending over Billy, helping him with the computer. She had on a short black leather skirt and sheer black hose and anyone who looked could see that her skirt was too short and she wasn’t wearing any underwear. I wondered if I should warn her that they could see under her skirt so she could avoid bending over. I looked over at Matt just as he clicked a picture of her with his camera phone. The phone was set on silent so no one heard the click. Matt noticed me looking at him and grinned, giving me a thumbs up. I decided not to say anything to Miss Bolden. It was better she didn’t know. If I had only known then what a fool I really am…what fools we all are.

After school that day, I was home watching TV and eating a PB&J sandwich when the phone rang.  “Hello,” I said absently, my eyes glued to the alien about to invade the earth unless Super Frond saved the day.

“Dude, Danny, you gotta come over here and see this!” Matt sounded like he was going to pop.

“See what?” I was confused. I didn’t want to miss what the alien did next.

“The picture! Remember? I know you saw me take the picture of Miss Bolden in class today!”

“Oh yeah, I remember.”

“Well I loaded it onto my computer and it’s hot, man! You gotta come over.”

“Okay, sure, but first I’m going to finish my PB&J,” and watch the alien disintegrate.

“Hurry, man, you’re gonna love this.”

If it’s a picture of Miss Bolden I will love it. I smiled to myself.

Matt just lives a few blocks from me and in 15 minutes I was at his front door. He grabbed my arm and dragged me into his bedroom where his laptop was open with a dark screen. “I had to turn the screen off so my little brother wouldn’t see it,” Matt whispered.

“Why? What’s the big deal?” I whispered back, wondering why Matt was being so secretive.

“You’ll see.” Matt shut the door to his room and turned the screen on. On the screen was the most amazing picture of beautiful Miss Bolden that I had ever seen. Matt had taken the picture from behind and slightly off to her left side. “You can see everything, huh?”  Miss Bolden’s long shapely legs from her black heels to the tops of her thighs were covered in sheer black nylon and her skirt sat just on top of her ass. Nothing was covered, and I could see she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

“Wow,” was all I could say as I felt a twinge in my groin and had to sit down on the chair next to Matt’s bed. I felt light-headed and my heart was beating a little faster, maybe even skipping beats as I stared at Miss Bolden on Matt’s computer screen. 

The next day I taped my copy of the picture on the left side of my locker. That way it wouldn’t be too obvious and I could look at it every time I opened my locker. If I stood just right, the picture would be blocked from anyone else seeing it. The next 24 hours were heaven for me, looking at the picture during the day, dreaming about Miss Bolden at night. In my dream, Miss Bolden was my girlfriend and hugged and kissed me whenever I walked into the classroom, and all the kids would cheer.

“Time to get off, Danny!” The voice of the bus driver startled me and I realized I had been daydreaming. I filed off the bus with the others and went to look for Matt.

*

“Welcome back Danny, I hope you’re feeling better.” Mrs. Adams smiled at me as I walked into my first period Math class. I had to fight the urge not to run out of the room when I saw 18 pair of eyes boring into me. They all know, I convinced myself, I’m dead. I tried to force a smile for Mrs. Adams. I managed to nod at her but felt like I was going to vomit. My stomach hadn’t stopped tumbling since I got on the bus. Maybe I’m just hungry.

Mrs. Adams is retiring this year and she is a pretty good teacher. She always talks quietly and is really nice. I have never seen her lose her temper, even when the class is out of control. She just folds her arms in front of her and waits until we calm down. Sometimes she flips the lights off and on, but only when nothing else works. With her short gray hair and old fashioned glasses hanging around her neck, I am sure she must be someone’s kind old grandma.

The bell rang to start class and Mrs. Adams announced, “Students please open your math book to page 74. We will study our fractions for the test tomorrow.” At least now they won’t be staring at me. I opened my book but could not focus on the problems; the numbers were blurry and I struggled to comprehend them. Mrs. Adams’ voice sounded a million miles away and she might as well have been speaking in another language for as much as I heard.

“I’m going to flunk English and Math now,” I mumbled without realizing I said it out loud.

“Danny, do you have a question?” Mrs. Adams came over and stood next to my desk.

I stared up at Mrs. Adams as if seeing her for the first time, and felt my cheeks burn.  This is it, I gotta get out of here, my heart pounded in my chest, and my stomach turned over again.

“Oh no, Mrs. Adams, I got it.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” she asked me.

“Yeah, sure, I’m just … I … it’s nothing.”

Thirty more minutes and class was over. I quickly stuffed my book and pencil into my backpack. Rushing for the door I tried to go through at the exact same time as Tara Wheeler, bumped into her, and caused her book to fly out of her arms. She never uses a backpack, I realized, I wonder why she doesn’t use a backpack.

“Danny, what’s the hurry?” Tara smiled and brushed her long blond hair back over her shoulder as she squatted down to pick up her book.  I bent down at the same time and bumped her head with mine. Tara started to giggle. I blinked my eyes hard to stop the tears that threatened to fall.

“Uh, sorry Tara,” I picked up her book and handed it back to her and took off down the hall.

She called out after me, “Hope your day gets better Danny!”

Matt was waiting for me at the door to our 2nd period health class. “Hey man, where you been?” He asked as he slugged me in the arm.

“Oh hey, hi Matt. What’s up?”

“Nothin’ where you been?”

“Sick, Matt, I’ve been sick.” I hadn’t told Matt yet about Mr. Sanders finding the picture in my locker. He didn’t know anything about it.

“Sure you have Danny, where you been really?”

Matt and I have been friends since third grade when his family moved from England. I still remember the first time I saw Matt in my elementary school classroom. “Students, this is Matthew Daughtry,” Mrs. Marshall introduced him on his first day. “He is new here at Eastside so please help him feel comfortable in our classroom.” Matt stared down at his shoes which were so shiny I figured he was using them as a mirror, maybe to check his hair or something, although there wasn’t much to see. Matt’s dark hair was only about an inch long and stuck straight out on his head and from his ears like miniature wings. I wondered if everyone at Matt’s old school had hair like that. I met Matt at recess that day and asked him why they moved here from England. He told me his Dad just got out of the Army and his mom is from here so they decided to move back so she could be near her family. Matt and I have been best friends ever since.

I grabbed Matt’s arm and drug him down the hall away from the classroom. “Do you have any more copies of that picture, man?” I spoke in a low voice, hoping no one else could hear me.

“What picture? What are you talking about?” Matt raised one of his dark eyebrows.

“You know, the one you took of Miss Bolden when she was helping Billy at the computer.”

“Oh, that picture. I don’t have any more printed, but I have it saved on my phone. Why?”

“Well see, Principal Sanders found that picture in my locker last week when he did locker checks. He took it and I, well see, I just kinda wondered if I could have a…uh…never mind.”

“No way, man! Principal Sanders found the picture? What did he do? Does Miss Bolden know? Oh man!”

“Yeah it’s gonna be bad. I don’t know what he’s going do to me. I have to go talk to him today at lunch. But even before that I have to go to English and face Miss Bolden. I’m pretty sure she’s going to flunk me. Do you think she knows? Did she say anything in class last week?”

“Nope not a word, but even if she does know, we still got a close-up under-the-skirt shot of the hottest teacher in school.” Matt giggled. I slugged his arm and the tardy bell rang. Matt and I slipped into the health classroom and sat down. I glanced to my left and saw Tara smiling at me. She brushed her hair to the side and looked at me for at least 30 seconds. I’ve got to find out if she knows about the picture.

“Class, put away your books and take out a pencil and paper,” my health teacher Mrs. James instructed. “Number your paper one to ten. We’re having a pop quiz today. I hope you all paid attention in class last week.” The class groaned and I placed my unread textbook under my desk. I couldn’t pay attention in class, I wasn’t in class! I remembered my fake stomachache last Thursday and Friday and then my stomach hurt for real.

“Question number one,” Mrs. James started, “What is the correct name for the event that occurs in a young man when his hormones cause permanent physical changes such as facial hair and larger muscles?” My heart started to pound again. I shot Matt a look of, help! “Keep your eyes on your own paper, Danny.” Mrs. James actually thought I was cheating.

“Yes ma’am,” I answered.

“Question number two, who usually develops earlier, boys or girls?” She paused as everyone but me wrote the answer. “Question number three, what is the name of the hormone that causes the changes girls experience?” She paused after each question and I had no idea what to write. “Question number four what is the name of the hormone that causes the changes that boys experience?” Mrs. James asked nine questions about girls and boys and hormones and developing and I realized I didn't know about any of this technical stuff. Did I miss all this in just two days? I am gonna fail this class too! I took a deep breath and wrote my best guess to each question.

“Question number 10, what is the most difficult thing for you about growing up?” This question caught me by surprise. I gave it some thought and wrote, ‘talking to girls.’ I thought about my answer and decided to write something else. I scribbled across the words so Mrs. James wouldn’t be able to read them and wrote, ‘taking tests’ instead. There that’s better. I don’t want Mrs. James to know what I think about anyway.

Mrs. James collected the tests and thumbed through them. She looked up and asked with a grin, “That wasn’t too bad now was it?” Sighing, I glanced up at the clock, eleven minutes until break, and the grumbling of my stomach reminded me again that I didn’t eat breakfast this morning.

Mrs. James stood very close to the first row of desks, directly in front of where I was sitting and started talking. “Class, remember what we learned last week. I want you to think about what I taught you and pay attention to changes you experience over the next few months. You might have confusing emotions and feelings that feel awkward or strange. You might find yourself experiencing physical things that might be painful or even scary. You may even find yourself interested in some of the changes the opposite sex is going through.” I heard giggles from some of the girls behind me. She paused, took a deep breath, and continued. “These are all normal things for a person your age to experience. Anytime something happens to you that seems abnormal or bothers you, be sure to talk to an adult you can trust, such as a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or maybe even your doctor or school counselor. Remember each one of them have gone through the same things you are going through now. There is also a lot of information on the internet about growing and developing but a lot of it is not accurate so make sure you are looking at a website that is reputable. If you don’t know, ask someone before believing anything you read online. What questions do you have?”

George, one of the heavyweight football players, raised his hand and Mrs. James pointed at him. “Yes, George?” George stood up and asked, “Yeah, so are my muscles going to get even bigger then they already are?” George flexed his left bicep and smirked. A few groans and giggles and George’s grin got bigger as he poked his left bicep with his right index finger, causing his underarm to jiggle.

“As a matter of fact, George,” Mrs. James kept a straight face, “your biceps and your other muscles are just starting to develop and will continue to do so for the next couple of years, maybe longer depending on how much you work them.”

“Oh, I’ll work them all right,” George grinned and flexed both biceps at the same time, then turned from side to side, posing like the body builders I see on TV. Laughter erupted and I rolled my eyes and sighed. I glanced to my right and saw Tara grinning and looking down at her bright pink fingernails. Her eyes moved up and she caught me looking at her. I felt my face flush and I looked away. The clock on the wall above Tara’s head showed three minutes till I could get out of there.

I felt my stomach rumble again and started to put my books and papers in my backpack so I could leave as quickly as possible. The bell finally rang and I grabbed my backpack and headed for the cafeteria to find something to eat to hold me over until lunch, which was still an hour away. There are two vending machines just inside the double doors and I checked in my right jeans pocket for some change. Instead my fingers found a hole about the size of an egg and my pocket was empty. “Figures.” I checked my left pocket but I knew I would not find anything there. I always put my change in my right pocket. I set my backpack on a table and unzipped the front of it, praying for some change to magically appear. Nothing. I sighed and sat on the bench. As I looked up, I saw Tara coming towards me. Oh great, just what I don’t need right now.

“Hi Danny,” Tara waved and walked faster towards me.

“Hey Tara.”

“What are you doing Danny? Why are you just sitting here?”

“No reason.” I didn't want to tell Tara I lost my money so I just shrugged my shoulders.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Tara plopped her pink backpack on the table and sat down right next to me on the bench.

“Not really, I’m just sitting.” I checked to see who might see us and noticed Matt going out the door across the cafeteria. I didn't want anyone to think I liked Tara so I slid a few inches sideways so I was not sitting so close to her. I resisted the urge to follow Matt.

“Well I was just about to get a snack, do you want anything?” Tara asked me.

“Not really,” then my stomach reminded me then I was starving and I changed my mind. “Well yeah sure, but I left my money at home.” I lied.

“It’s okay. I have some money I earned babysitting last weekend. What do you want?” Tara jumped up and faced me. I stood in front of the vending machine and saw my favorite, a chocolate fudge Pop-Tart.

“Hmmm, I guess I’ll just have that Pop-Tart.” I felt a twinge of guilt as Tara put her dollar into the vending machine and handed me the Pop-Tart. She put in another dollar and bought one for herself too.

“These are my favorite,” she giggled, “but they are so bad for me. If I keep eating these I’ll be fat by next year,” Tara’s laugh sounded like a crystal bell but I shrugged, not sure how to respond. I doubt that Tara will ever be fat and I can’t help but notice how her hips curve just below her small waist. I’ll bet I could wrap my fingers all the way around her waist, it’s so small.

“Thanks, I’ll pay you back tomorrow,” was all I could think of to say.

“It’s okay, Danny, you don’t have to.” Tara smiled as she brushed her hair out of her eyes and put it behind her left ear. She took a breath as if she was going to say something else. I waited but she just said, “Okay, well, bye.” She left and joined her friends on the other side of the cafeteria.

Looking back in my direction, Tara and her friends giggled and I couldn't help wondering what she said to them that was so funny. She probably just told them I’m the kid that got caught with the picture of Miss Bolden in my locker. With that thought I realized I had English the next period and I was going to have to face Miss Bolden for the first time since Principal Sanders found the picture. My heart raced and I felt sweat pooling in my palms. Oh God, I can’t do it. I checked the time on my cell phone and saw that I had to be in class in 5 minutes. Looking around the cafeteria for Matt, my eyes met Tara’s again. She smiled at me and waved. I nodded at her and headed for the door.

I waited for Matt outside the classroom. With two minutes to spare Matt showed up with a big grin on his face. “Danny, you’ll never believe this!”

“Believe what?”

“Remember the picture of Miss Bolden you had in your locker?”

“Uh, yeah, how could I forget? I still have to talk to the principal about it.”

“Well, don’t tell anybody this but you know Steve, the guy who sits behind me in English?”

“Yeah, I know who Steve is.”

“Well he offered me ten bucks to make him a copy of it for him. He said he needs new wallpaper for his ceiling, whatever that means.”

“How the hell does Steve even know about the picture?” 

“I don’t know but he does and he wants to pay for a copy! Can you believe that? We could get rich off that one picture!” Matt’s excitement caught me off guard. I didn't even want to think about the picture. I just wanted to get through the rest of the day without getting kicked out of school.

“Don’t sell the effin' picture Matt, God! Just delete it off your phone. It never happened!”

“No way man! I’m keeping it. Are you kidding? She’s the hottest teacher in school and I have a picture of her ass on MY phone! She wasn’t wearing undies!” Matt grinned.

“Matt, shut up!” I swung at Matt’s arm but he blocked and grabbed my fist. He leaned over and whispered, “She was wearing a black thong!” Matt ducked as I swung. Matt rushed into the classroom and me right behind him.

I shot Matt a look that said, “Drop it!” Matt grinned and pointed at his phone, the one he used to take the picture of our hot teacher just six days ago.

Miss Bolden was not in the classroom and my heart was pounding. I wonder where she is, I kept my eyes on the door. She’s probably out there talking the principal into kicking me out of school. I wish I would have never asked Matt for a copy of the picture.  But I couldn’t resist. She is so hot.

The first time I saw Miss Bolden I was at the school with my mom registering for junior high. I saw this amazing-looking lady on the other side of the main office window. She looked about the same age as my sister’s friends in high school. Her long dark hair was tied back in a ponytail and hung half way down her back and she was tall, almost as tall as the old guy she was talking to. The man’s white hair and pale skin was in direct contrast with the beautiful woman’s dark hair and smooth olive skin. The man she was talking to never stopped smiling and I wondered if they might be husband and wife, but she seemed too young for him. Suddenly she threw her head back and laughed out loud and the man, still smiling at her, reached out and touched her on the arm. She turned away slightly and extended her hand to shake his.

On the first day of school I learned that the hot lady was Miss Bolden, my English teacher, and I felt like the luckiest guy in the world. After I met Principal Sanders for the first time, realized that was who Miss Bolden was talking to and she must have just been getting hired when I saw them.

I noticed by the time on the classroom clock that Miss Bolden was already 5 minutes late for class. She is never late and I was concerned. I glanced at the door just as Principal Sanders entered the classroom. The principal looked even paler than usual. He took a deep breath and began speaking. “Good morning class, Miss Bolden will not be here today.” He paused and looked down at his hands clasped in front of him. “She…um…she went home.” He looked up again. “Now please work on your class presentations. You will have the entire class time.”

I felt relief mixed with disappointment at the announcement. I usually couldn't wait to see her. Maybe today it’s best she isn’t here. Mr. Sanders seated himself behind Miss Bolden’s desk in Miss Bolden’s chair and started shifting some of the papers around on top of her desk. He picked up a book and moved it to the other side of the desk. I noticed Miss Bolden’s computer was not on her desk. She must have taken it home to do some work. Mr. Sanders looked around but avoided looking at us. No one moved or said a word.

“Please get into your groups and start working. I have to leave now but I’ll be back in 15 minutes.” Mr. Sanders remained seated another minute and watched us move into smaller groups. He patted the book he had moved, stood up, and left the classroom without another word.

Matt, Steve, George, Josh, and I arranged our desks so they were all facing each other. “Wow Mr. Sanders sure is acting weird,” Josh whispered.

“Yeah, what’s that about?” George answered.

“So, how about this presentation?” I tried to turn the subject away from Mr. Sanders because I thought I already knew exactly what was going on. Miss Bolden, so upset about me having the picture of her in my locker, refused to face me in class. And Mr. Sanders is mad too and doesn’t want to lose his temper in front of the class. He’s waiting until I see him during lunch then he’s really going to let me have it.

“Hey Danny,” Steve leaned over and whispered, “I heard about the picture in your locker.”

“Yeah, what about it?” I glared first at Steve, then at Matt.

“You’re so lucky man, I wish I had a picture of Miss Hot Pants in my locker so I could see her every time I open it. I get hard just thinking about it. I heard it shows her ass. Is that true?” Steve’s voice got progressively louder as he talked about Miss Bolden until he was no longer whispering. “If I had that picture, I’d spend all day at my locker and never go to class!”

The group of students sitting closest to Danny’s group heard Steve’s last comment and one of them asked, “What picture? What are you talking about Steve?”

I felt my skin get hot again and knew my face was bright red. “Nothing, there is no picture,” I answered for Steve.

“Oh, he must have forgotten,” Steve announced, “he had a picture of Miss Bolden in his locker and last week Principal Sanders found it.” I wished at that moment to vanish.

“Why did you have a picture of Miss Bolden, Danny? How did you get it?” Stephanie asked from across the room.

“Let’s just say she was in a ‘compromising position,’ ” Steve answered and slugged me on the shoulder.

I felt like I was going to throw up. My pulse was hammering against the inside of my skull and my stomach was practicing for Olympic gymnastics. I contemplated leaving just to get away from Steve and the other students in the class. I wanted to punch Steve but I knew that would get me in more trouble than I was already in.

Principal Sanders appeared in the doorway again, wringing his hands in front of himself, looking side to side, as if unsure whether to come in the classroom or leave again. He appeared less pale than earlier, but did not say a word.

“Hey Principal Sanders,” Steve called out, “where is Miss Bolden?”

Clearing his throat, Mr. Sanders began speaking, “Class, I may as well tell you now, you are going to find out soon anyway. I have some unfortunate news.” He paused and then took a deep breath. “Miss Bolden will no longer be teaching this class or any other class at this school.” He looked down at his feet, he arms folded tightly across his chest. “I am really, really sorry.”

“Wait, why are you sorry? You didn’t make her leave did you?” Steve asked, only half kidding.

“Well…um…no Steve, you’re right, I didn’t make her leave.”

I wanted to scream. I resisted every urge to run out of the classroom and keep running until I was in another state, maybe even another country, or at least until I found Miss Bolden. Suddenly more than anything I wanted to see her face so she could tell me everything was fine. As I sat listening to Mr. Sanders and trying to get a single clue why Miss Bolden was not going to be teaching, I put my forehead down on my desk and closed my eyes. It is then I realized, It is my fault. She quit teaching because of the picture.

“So who is going to be our teacher?” Tara raised her hand and asked.

Miss Bolden is not only the best looking teacher in school, she is also the nicest. Anytime I had a question Miss Bolden would stay in with me during lunch, break, or after school to explain the answer to me until I understood it. Most teachers act like they are in too much of a hurry to help, and even if they pretend to be interested, they are too busy shuffling through papers or looking something up on their computer to really be much help at all.

“Well, Tara, we don’t know who will be your teacher yet. There will be a substitute for a little while.”  A few students groaned, and the rest sat in their seats staring at Principal Sanders.

I held my breath waiting for Mr. Sanders to tell us the whole thing was a joke, that he was kidding, and that Miss Bolden would be back tomorrow. I even checked the calendar in my planner after class. April 22nd, not even April Fool’s Day.

The bell rang signaling the end of English class and the beginning of lunch. Principal Sanders stopped me before I left the classroom to remind me of the meeting. “Get your lunch and bring it to my office.”  I took my backpack and books to my locker, and thought again about the picture I loved, there in my locker just last week.  I headed towards the lunchroom and ran into Matt in the hall.

“Hey Danny, big meeting with Principal Sanders huh?”  Matt is smiling. He is always smiling, I realized. It must be nice to be so happy all the time.

“Yup, gotta get my lunch first though.” 

“That sucks that you have to eat in the principal’s office.” He followed me through the lunch line.

I held my tray out to receive the meatloaf and green beans offered by the lunch server. If I wasn’t so hungry I wouldn’t even eat this crap. My stomach reminded me that at this point to accept anything I got offered. I picked up my carton of milk and bag of chips and headed to the principal’s office.

“Well, I’ll catch you up later. Meet after school?”

“Yep, good luck man.”

*

“Come in, Daniel,” Principal Sanders pointed to a chair at a small round table in the center of the large office. I cringed as I placed my lunch tray on the table and pulled out the chair. No one ever calls me Daniel, except my mother, and only when she is mad. 

“How are you doing today?” Principal Sanders was making small talk and I wanted him to get to the point and get this over with. I felt nauseous as I poked at the meatloaf with my plastic fork.

“Fine, sir,” I answered without looking up.

“I’m glad to hear that, especially after you heard the news about Miss Bolden.”

“Yes, sir, that was bad news.”

“Well Daniel, you know why I asked you to come in today,” Mr. Sanders said more as a statement than a question.

“Yes sir.”

I considered saying, “the picture,” but decided to wait and see what the principal said to me first.

“Daniel, last week Mrs. Smith, your counselor, and I checked the contents of your locker, as we do with all student lockers. In your locker I noticed on the side wall a picture of a young lady with a very short skirt bending over a table or desk of some sort. It was hard to see it because it is a little dark inside the locker; however, I thought it was a picture you had cut from a magazine or something. Then as I looked closer, it became clear that the picture was taken in your English class and the young lady in the picture was your teacher, Miss Bolden. Is this true?”

“Yes sir,” I whispered, still poking my meatloaf but not eating it.

“Daniel, I have a couple of questions about this picture.”

“Okay,” I wished Mr. Sanders would stop calling me Daniel.

“How did you get the picture?”

“Someone in the class took it.”

“Who was this someone?”

“I can’t remember,” I lied. I was already in trouble; I didn’t want to get Matt in trouble too.

“I understand you don’t want to tell on your friends,” Mr. Sanders responded, as if he read my mind.

“No sir.”

“Did Miss Bolden know you took the picture?”

“No sir, I mean, I didn’t take the picture. I don’t have a cell phone.”  Of course Miss Bolden didn’t know Matt took the picture. She would have freaked out and probably taken his phone away.

“All right. The picture was taken with a cell phone then?” Mr. Sanders made some notes on a piece of lined paper.

“Yes, I guess so.”

“Do you remember what Miss Bolden was wearing the day this picture was taken, Daniel?”

“Yes sir, she had on a long black jacket when I first saw her. Then she must have gotten warm because she took the jacket off and had on the short black skirt and a white top.”

“Have you seen her dressed that way on any other occasion?”

“No sir, not that I remember.”

“Okay. Are there any other copies of the picture around school or elsewhere?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” I wondered when it would end. I was hungry and my meatloaf was cold.

“Daniel, I would like you to find out if there are any pictures in the possession of any of your friends, including the friend who took the picture. If you do find any, I would like you to bring them to me immediately.”

“Okay.”

“Daniel, I would appreciate your help in this investigation.”

“Investigation?” I nearly choked. “Am I going to be arrested?”

“No, Daniel,” Mr. Sanders smiled at me for the first time. “You are not going to be arrested. I realize how that must have sounded and I apologize. You may be disciplined for possession of the picture. But you will not be arrested.”

I realized I had been holding my breath. I felt lightheaded as I let all of the air out of my lungs. “Really?” was the only word I can manage.

“Normally when a student is found with inappropriate material in their locker, the parents are notified, and consequences discussed between the parents, the student, and myself. However, this situation is a little bit different.”

“Different how, sir?” I was having trouble breathing and my face was hot again.

“I can not tell you many details right now. But as you know, Miss Bolden is no longer working at this school. You will most likely hear more about this situation as it progresses.” Mr. Sanders emphasized the word ‘situation’ as if there were a deeper meaning. I had no idea what that meant. “As you know Daniel, we have a dress code here at Rock Canyon Junior High. It is not just for you students, but for the teachers as well. The way that Miss Bolden was dressed in your classroom the day that picture was taken was not in accordance with that dress code. We have done some checking and found this is not the only time something like this has happened. We will not take a risk with the safety of the students here so she has been dismissed.” He paused and I was glad to have a minute to try and figure out what he was saying. “Please be sure and bring me any pictures you find of Miss Bolden, Daniel.”

“Sure, yeah, okay.”

“Thank you. You are free to go.”

“Thank you, sir.” I lifted my tray off the table and turned to leave the room.

“Oh, and let’s not talk to anyone else about this just yet, okay?” Mr. Sanders added as an afterthought.

“Okay.”

“Thank you Danny,” Mr. Sanders smiled and closed the door behind me. Finally, he didn’t say Daniel.  I returned my tray to the dumping area and went outside to find Matt.

I was not sure what it all meant, but it seemed pretty serious. My mind was racing with everything Mr. Sanders had asked and told me. I was lost in thought when I practically crashed into Tara for the second time today. “Oh man, Tara, I’m sorry.” Tara eyes sparkled as she smiled at me. Wow she has a really pretty smile, I admitted to myself for the first time.

“It’s okay Danny, you seem to be a million miles away.”

“Yeah kinda, I’ll talk to you later okay?” Then, “Hey have you seen Matt anywhere?”

“I saw him over by the band room a few minutes ago.”

“Thanks, see ya later.”

“Bye, Danny.” As I headed toward the band hall, I felt Tara watching me as I walked away.

*

I found Matt just outside the band room. "Hey Matt!" Matt looked up and rushed over and asked me about my meeting with the principal. I pulled Matt outside on the lawn before I said anything.

“Dude, I think Miss Bolden did something really bad.”

“Really? Like what?” Matt’s eyes got huge and round like they do whenever he is excited about something.

“I don’t know for sure, but Mr. Sanders said if I have any more copies of the picture, he needs them for the ‘investigation’.”

“Investigation?” Matt yelled in a whisper.

“Shh! I don’t think anyone else knows this so don’t say anything, but I guess she got fired because of the way she was dressed or something…I don’t know for sure but that’s what it sounded like.

“Oh man, this is great!”

“No Matt, this isn’t great. It’s horrible. I like Miss Bolden.”

“I know, me too, but nothing ever happens at this school or even in this town. It’s cool to have something exciting to talk about once in awhile.”

“Yeah I guess so but now you have to give me the pictures you printed so I can give them to Mr. Sanders.” Matt raised one eyebrow in response.

“Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack. Mr. Sanders made me promise. I think that’s why I didn’t get in trouble, because he thinks I’m going to help him.” I felt a surge of excitement as I considered the chance of helping with the investigation and finding clues or solving a mystery like the cops on TV. “We gotta do this, man.”

“Okay fine,” Matt hesitated, “I’ll see what I can find.”

“Oh, and don’t tell anyone. I promised Mr. Sanders.”

The bell rang and I remembered that I still had half the day left of school. I rushed to my locker, grabbed my book, and slammed it shut. I practically tripped as I ran down the hall toward my Biology class. Mr. Sanders came around the corner just as I reached the room. “No running in the hall, son.” Mr. Sanders smiled at me.

“Yes, sir, sorry sir.”

*~*~*

I was sitting on the couch with my father, finishing my homework and watching the football game. Suddenly the game was interrupted by a gray haired reporter announcing, “We have received word that Miss Sarah Bolden, an English teacher at Rock Canyon Junior High school, has been arrested in connection with a child enticement and pornography ring right here in Barber County. She has been teaching seventh grade at Rock Canyon since August and has no prior charges in this state. No further information is available at this time. We will keep you updated as this story develops.” I felt the color drain from my face.

“Sarah Bolden? Why does that sound familiar?” My father paused, then asked, “Isn’t she one of your teachers, Danny?”

“Yes, she was one of my teachers.” I ran to my room and slammed the door.

*~*~*

Shortly after the news aired, Officer Jack Stromm called and asked me to come down to answer a few questions about Miss Bolden. He said they were short-staffed at the police station and asked me to have my parents take me to the jail to meet with him. Dad called our family’s lawyer and he said he would meet us here. That was over an hour ago. I am not as excited about helping as I was earlier today. It is all starting to sink in and I feel sick. I feel like I should have known, or suspected, or had some kind of clue. But I trusted her. I put a picture of her half-naked in my locker. I guess it’s a good thing that Principal Sanders did find the picture and started the investigation. But it is going to take me a long time to trust people again, especially women.

*~*~*

Epilogue:

Danny’s lawyer finally arrived and Danny was questioned for approximately one half hour. He told the officials everything he knew, which wasn’t much. He is currently seeing a counselor and has straight A’s in seventh grade. Because of everything else that had happened, Principal Sanders did not punish Danny for having the picture in his locker.

Miss Bolden’s home and computer were subsequently searched and hundreds of pictures of children—some clothed, many unclothed—were retrieved. After a lengthy trial, she was sentenced to life in prison for child enticement and child pornography.

Tara and Danny became close friends and regularly do homework together at Danny’s house. Danny never paid Tara back for the chocolate fudge Pop Tart.

Matt was also questioned by the police about Miss Bolden’s behavior in their English class. He didn’t know anything that Danny didn’t know. Matt decided not to sell a copy of the picture to Steve. Matt and Danny are still best friends.

Principal Sanders retired at the end of Danny’s seventh grade year.