Ruby stopped in the middle of the hallway, turned around, and proceeded to head back to Mr. Irving's classroom - he was about to close the door before Ruby came up saying, "Mr. Irving?" The door opened again, and Mr. Irving poked his head out the door frame. "Oh, hey Ruby - you forget something?" Ruby shook her head. "No, nothing like that," she said, "it's just... mind if I have that talk with you now?" Irving was a little surprised, but he quickly smiled and said, "Well, yes, of course - come on in." He moved back into the classroom behind him and Ruby followed after. Once, the door had closed, Irving went over to his desk and sat down in his chair as Ruby stood in front of the desk, visibly nervous. Mr. Irving noticed how tense Ruby was and said, "Hey, you don't have to force yourself, y'know - if now's not a good time, there's always tomorrow." Ruby shook her head. "No, it's not that, Mr. I," she assured, "it's just... I'm not sure how else to really say this, so I'll just come out and say it." Ruby was starting to feel gassier and gassier the closer she got to saying what she wanted to say - there was some pressure building up in her stomach, and it made it's way to her butt. She clenched her cheeks a little to make sure no gas got out. "I'm... really, really gassy," Ruby stated. After she said that, she felt the pressure in her stomach go down, rather than up, like it normally would. Then, her stomach growled, which caused her to blush in response. Mr. Irving couldn't help but laugh a little bit before saying, "That's all? Well, that's no big deal, Ruby - after all, everybody farts." Ruby intervened, "There's more, uh, Mr. I. It's uhm... it's worse than you think it is." Irving raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh come on, Ruby - I get it, you're a young woman, maybe this is a little more embarrassing for you than it would be otherwise. I think you may be overthinking it." Just as Irving finished his remark, the classroom echoed with a short, sharp fart.
BBRRAAAPPT!
Ruby's face turned beet-red. Oh my God, she thought, I just farted in front of my own teacher - this was a mistake! Now, the pressure was starting to build up again, this time in her butt more than her gut. It was clear there was more that she was holding back, but she kept clenching just to make sure no more gas leaks came through. Mr. Irving rasied his eyebrows and said, "Hey, Ruby." Ruby looked over at Mr. Irving, and he said, "Y'know, if ya gotta let it out, you can do that. It's fine." Ruby wasn't sure how to take that response - she couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was just being nice just to be nice. "Just let it all out, it can't be that bad," Mr. Irving added. Ruby's eyes widened. Oh no, she thought, he said it - oh, I should have KNOWN he'd say that!
Those words were like Ruby's Kryptonite - for whatever reason, every time she would hear someone say those exact words, it was as if her body would have a physical reaction. It was as if saying those words were a magic spell that made Ruby's flatulence skyrocket, resulting in her biggest, strongest farts.
Just like that, Ruby's stomach growled once more, though much louder this time, and the pressure was starting to become so great, that Ruby's stomach started to bloat. As her stomach poked out her shirt, Ruby said to Mr Irving, "I'm really sorry!" before she bent over and placed her hands on his desk. After that, all of Ruby's pent up gas came rushing out.
BBBrrrrrr-BBBBRRRAAAAA! BR-BR-brrrrrrrrrAAAAAAPPPPPP! BRAP! BRP! BRAP! BRAAAP! BRrrraaaaAAAAAAP!
There was enough force behind Ruby's fart to push the desks and chair behind her further away from her, cluttering together. After she had gotten all that gas out at once, a small toot followed suit, as if to put a cherry on top.
Braaa...
Ruby's looked straight down at the ground, trying to hide how red her face was. This was a mistake, Ruby thought, I totally blew it! He probably thinks I'm a weirdo or a freak now. A few seconds passed before she felt Mr. Irving's hand on her right shoulder. "Hey, Ruby?" he asked. "You good?" Ruby raised her head to look up at Mr. Irving. To Ruby's surprise, he looked exactly the same - there wasn't a hint of either disgust or shock on his face at all, as if what he saw was nothing out of the ordinary for him. She replied saying, "Uh... Y-Yeah. Yeah, I uhm... got it all out, heh." She knew her face was still practically glowing red at this point, but she did feel relieved at the same time. Mr. Irving smiled and said, "That's good! Lemme guess, you've been holding that in all period, huh?" Ruby's eyes widened. "Uh... no, not really. I mean, I felt some pressure, but... it really only just sorta all came out now."
"Does it always come out full force like that?" Mr. Irving asked. Ruby replied, "No, not at all the time! Just some of the time - it happens whenever I get real nervous, that's all." This is weird, Ruby thought. It's like he's seen this before or something... no, that can't be true. How many times can someone say 'hey, I just had a new student join my class, she blasted chairs and desks away with her butt?' "I see," Mr. Irving said. "Well, I didn't mean to make ya nervous - was it something I did?" Ruby replied frantically, "No, no no no, not at all! I was just... *sigh* it's a family thing. My mom and my little sister both have this same thing - it's probably been in our family for however long. It's also probably where we get our name." Mr. Irving said knowingly, "And, you're worried that it'll help making new friends hard, huh?"
"Yeah... how did you know?" Ruby asked. Mr. Irving smiled and said, "Well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm kinda old - call it sage wisdom if you must." Ruby giggled a little at what he had said. "Alright, in all seriousness," he continued, "I think most people feel that way, especially around your age - they may not want to admit it, but most people are self-conscious about something, whatever it is. It can anything, weight, height, hair, interests... farts. You name it, everybody's got something." He paused a moment before he stood up from his chair and continued saying, "Here, since you shared what makes you self-conscious, I'll show ya what makes me self-conscious." He put both his hands out in front of him and asked Ruby, "notice anything weird about these?" Ruby looked at them for a second before she realized it - Mr. Irving's right hand only had four fingers, with the pinkie finger missing. "Whoa," she said, "what happened to your hand?" Mr. Irving sighed sarcastically, saying, "Well, i don't mean to brag, but I lost it in the middle of a fight with some thug trying to steal from this pretty lady that was walking across the street from me." Ruby raised and eyebrow at him, knowing that wasn't really what happened. Mr. Irving paused and said, "I was born without it - for whatever reason, I just so happened to be born without a pinkie on my right hand - it's like how some people are born with a sixth toe or something." Ruby couldn't help but be confused. "Wait," she said, "If this makes you feel that way, why are you showing it to me?" Irving put his hands down and said, "Well, remember what I said in class? About how ya can't control what name you're given when you're born? It's the same thing with stuff like this - everybody's born with something, Ruby. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you're not allowed to be embarrassed by it, just try not to let it get ahold of ya - try and own it, as best ya can, so that way, it won't be so bad. For me, what I do is try and joke about my pinkie - make up stories about how I lost it in some fight or accident - that way I can at least have some fun with it. For you, maybe you need to find something that'll help calm your nerves - you said you get gassy when you're nervous, right?" Ruby nodded her head. "Then, try and do something to take your mind off it - start with something simple, like counting to ten, or taking deep breaths, and if those don't work, come up with something that will."
At this point, Ruby's face was no longer red, and she took what Mr. Irving said and kept it in the back of her mind. She nodded her head again and said to Mr. Irving, "Thanks, Mr. I. I... I really appreciate it." Mr. Irving smiled, and said, "No problem Ms. F." He put up his left hand as a fist, and Ruby pulled up her right fist in response, and the two shared a fist bump. At that moment, the bell rang, and Mr. Irving said, "Alright, get outta here, you don't wanna be too late for class, it's the first day." Ruby asked, "What about the chairs and the desks?" Mr. Irving put his hand up and said, "Nah, I got it - I need the exercise anyway" with a wink. Ruby smiled and made her way to the door - before she left, she looked back and said, "See ya tomorrow!"
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Now it was time for Ruby to head to 2nd Period - her next class was:
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