Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 9

“Hm. It appears so,” Ms.Nasty drawled, “Can you take over this?”
“Sure can.” Mr.Nilla laughed dryly, even though there was nothing to laugh about. Zach averted his eyes in annoyance as Ms.Nasty pulled herself up from the squeaky leather chair and left the room.
“You know... Zach. If you were my son, I would not tolerate this kind of behavior.”
“I’m glad I’m not your son.”
Mr.Nilla chuckled beefily, “You should be. If you were, I would throw out all your clothes and burn them.”
“I bet you do that with books, too.”
“Watch how you address me, Zach. I expect you to respect me.”
“You don’t do anything that deserves respect.”
Mr.Nilla’s eyes bulged and he stood up, slapping his hands on the table.
“Your clothes are seriously jeopardizing the quality of education at this school.” He said loudly.
“Then the quality of education is very low.”
“What was that?”
Zach cringed at his loud voice. Here was the office wilderbeast, roaring his problems out for all to hear.
“You heard me.” Zach countered, “This is bullshit and you should be focusing on real problems. Where were you when the Senior Swim team rigged the freshmen teams’ competition? I think you and Ms.Nasty care more about fashion than I do.”
“If you don’t like the rules, then don’t go to this school. WE do not need you, but YOU need us.”
“I don’t have a choice, I just go here to learn. But I’d rather be home-schooled than get pushed around by appropriately-dressed bullies. I’m comfortable in these clothes and I didn’t do anything wrong, what IS the issue? Do you get paid to look busy?”
Mr.Nilla lost it.
The papers fell from the table and Zach gasped as he pulled himself to his feet. Angrily, Mr.Nilla cornered him against the desk and threatened,
“Put on that shirt or I will contact your parents!”
“I don’t care! Contact them, tell them you pulled me out of class, too!”
Mr.Nilla pulled away, “Oh, I will contact them. And don’t forget to show up for your THREE weeks worth of detentions!”
“You said one day of detention.”
“I never said that.”
Zach pointed to the cameras that adorned the walls, only to realized that… they weren’t blinking. What the hell?“The cameras in the office don’t work.” Nilla pointed out with a smarmy satisfaction, “I expect you to show up for every day of detention.” He flicked his pen and handed him another piss yellow note.

Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 8

“Zach Tyler.” Ms.Nasty said, easing into her desk but keeping her gaze locked on Zach, “Do you have a t-shirt with you? Perhaps, under all those pullovers you are wearing?”
“No.”
She took a deep, irritated breath, “Your clothing makes me uncomfortable. Dark, baggy clothes are only appropriate for gangsters.”
“I’m not a gangster.”
“But you look like one and it distracts other students, and encourages teasing.”
“If I was a gangster, they wouldn’t be teasing me.” Zach paused, “If at all they act like gangsters, and you should call them into your offi---”
“I’m not going to argue with you about this, Zach. I will do I what tell you, because your clothes give the school a bad reputation. I expect to see you tomorrow in jeans and a t-shirt, which is appropriate wear for a student.”
“But I dress this way because I’m comfortable, and if I’m not comfortable I won’t work well! Isn’t working well the point of school?”
“I am not going to---”
“And to work well, shouldn’t people should accept each others’ differences instead of forcing everyone to fit one ideal?”
“I’m not going to discuss fashion with you.”
“This isn’t about fashion!” Zach fumed.
Ms.Nasty stood up, walking to the ‘lost and found’ closet in the corner of her room. She pulled out a ‘school pride’ t-shirt, and showed it to Zach, “You are going to wear this. Right now.”
“No.”
“Then I’m giving you a detention. Your choice.”
“I don’t force you to change your clothes even though I don’t like them. I might look like a gangster, but you’re acting like one. People have bullied me to get their way before. I won’t let you bully me, too.”
“Change or sit in detention. Your choice.”
“That’s bullshit!”
“I am---”
The muted ring of a telephone stopped her mid-sentence. Her mouth formed a neat “o,” and for a moment a pensive silence reigned over the room.“I believe,” Mr.Nilla, who had been sitting quietly, supervising the meeting, spoke up, “that’s from your office, Nasty.”

Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 7

Gentry left the office with a pensive look on his ghost white face. The ground seemed to shake, so he sat down and buried his head in his hands. He could feel Zach’s eyes on him, but wasn’t in the mood to answer the questions they held for him.
“I might not see you again.” He murmured, “It was nice knowing you.”
Zach’s eyes narrowed; he looked away for a moment then back at the redhead.
“What?”
“Goodbye.”
“Wait, why---”
“Zach Tyler.”
Ms.Nasty stood in the doorway, motioning at him with a stern face and one finger.
Zach sighed listlessly and pulled himself to his feet and into her office. As always, she didn’t close the door all the way. When Mr.Nilla entered, he threw it wide open.
Gentry sighed and slouched in his chair, resting his freckled arms on his lean stomach. Casting an irritable glare at the clock, he observed class would end in five minutes and it was pointless to go back now. His restless gaze then shifted to the documents around him, which he swore he would burn the moment Nilla finalized his transfer. Or, at the very least, he would throw them from the school rooftop and let the wind organize them. And, if he still had the chance, he would also delete every digital file he could get his hands on. Although he wasn’t brave enough to call Nilla and the office bureaucracy just what they were, this would more than get the point across.
Buzz.
There it was, the sound of plastic buzzing against wood.
Gentry raised one eyebrow and his eyes lit as he sharpened his ears to detect where the sound was coming from.
Buzz.There it was again. A small pink cellphone was buzzing on the table beside him. It was new and shiny, with the name K Y L I E spelled out in pink rhinestones. Gentry picked it up, glanced around to see if anyone was watching him, then flipped it open.

Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 6

The air in Mr.Nilla’s office smelled like sour mint, and tasted of dust. The white walls were lined with brass-gold plaques, illuminated by cold, fluorescent light which bounced off the laminated pinewood table and the shiny edges of a plastic plant next to it. Mr.Nilla loudly sat down in his leather armchair and glanced at his computer screen.
“Is it true,” he spoke up in his gravelly murmur, “that your address is still 5675 Custer Drive?”
“Yes.”
“That is interesting, Gentry, because I called your parents about some of your recent absences and apparently, you don’t live there anymore. You have also not been attending classes regularly.”
Gentry kept his eyes fixed on the spot behind Nilla’s head as the older man leaned in close to him.
“Gentry, um, can you explain this to me. Why don’t you live there anymore?”
“Ask my parents.”
“I will do so at my convenience. Where do you live now?”
No reply.
“Well, if it is not within the district, then I will have to transfer you to another school. Tell me Gentry, do you take Bus 62 to go to your new ‘home’?”
Gentry’s eyes widened in unwelcome surprise, then again narrowed again when he spoke up, “I’m in my last year here. Doesn’t senior privilege apply?”
Mr.Nilla gave a grin then hid it again as he shuffled his papers. He slowly eased out of his chair and pulled a document from a folder, holding it up in the air like a lawyer before sliding it across the desk to Gentry hands, “Do you recognize this?”
“Yeah. I signed that when I joined the swim team.” He continued to focus on that white spot of wall, “What does this have to do with senior privilege?”
“Well, Gentry, it’s just that. A privilege. It can be taken away at anytime. Heck, I can write a letter and have it taken away.” Mr. Nilla started to chuckle, but it fell flat in the room’s stale air. He stopped awkwardly and reclined in his armchair, “As an athlete, Gentry, you are expected to represent our school by adhering to the code of athletic conduct. We expect athletes to be role models. And I will say it again, it is your job as an athlete to represent the school.”
“Just like it’s your job to be an asshole. I only represent what the school promotes, and this school promotes bullshit.” Gentry thought to himself, but didn’t say it. He mutely decided that Mr.Nilla was the kind of person who lectured others about their mistakes to distract from his own, and that it didn’t do any good to point that out.
“…Besides, Gentry, you should know what you are signing. That’s an important skill for college. You need to READ documents… internalize them and pay attention when you’re told things. You signed this document freshman year…” Mr.Nilla stated, “and you are in direct violation of the sexual harassment clause.”
“I never had to sexually harass anyone to get what I wanted.”
“Your inappropriate activities with a fellow student in a bathroom stall sexually harassed the janitor. These actions are the same as me exposing myself to young females in the girls’ bathroom.”
Gentry gave him a good hard look. Something crackled up inside him, a whip that drove the bull.
“My exposure, Mr.Nilla, was accidental because the bathroom stall broke open. The janitor is 56 years old, teenagers having sex is nothing new to him or anyone here except perhaps to you. Yet this isn’t the same thing as you exposing yourself to little girls, because people would pay to see my ‘sexual harassment’ and no one in their right mind would pay to see yours. In fact, no one in their right mind would pay to see you with or without your pants on.”
It was out before he could contain himself again, leaving Nilla with a stupefied look on his aged, rubber-like face. Gentry himself couldn’t believe what he’d said, and his heart throbbed wildly in his chest while a cold sweat dampened his flushed skin. Mr.Nilla gawked at him with wide, offended eyes before taking a deep breath and chuckling dryly.
“Watch your mouth, Gentry. This isn’t the only charge I have against you. You’ve broken a lot of rules this year. In fact, I suspect you are sabotaging office documents.” The man’s chair creaked as he pulled out another form.
Gentry regained his composure and stated in a soft yet steady drawl, “This accusation comes as a shock to me since I have full faith in your observational abilities.”
He was careful not to confirm or deny the statement.
Mr.Nilla held the form an inch from Gentry’s face, “Do you see the signature line?”
“Yes, that’s where our principals’ signature goes.”
“This form was to raise my salary.” Mr.Nilla sneered, “Can you read what the signature says?”
“From what I can see, it says Mr.Harold.”
“It says Mr.HarrHarr on it, and now it’s marked void.” growled Mr.Nilla, “What do you think I am, blind?”
Gentry took the form into his hands, “It says here that it’s void because you wanted to get paid for work you did not do.”
Mr.Nilla snatched the form back, “I am not going to put up with you, Gentry. Last time you got into trouble you were lucky enough to have your father defend you. But this time, I’m going to teach you a lesson. I’ve asked one of the office personnel to follow you home so I know which school to transfer you to. So, the next move is yours.”
“What about Nationals? I’m the best swimmer on the team. If you transfer me, this school will lose.”
Mr.Nilla scoffed, “You have only yourself to blame. Actions have consequences.”

Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 5

The first and second dress code showdowns resulted in a stern warning never to wear ‘ill-fitting pants’ again. The reply was always a firmly grounded “you should never pull me out of class to talk about fashion again.” Exactly two days later, Zach returned to the stuffy office once yet again, with particularly baggy pants and a tell-tale yellow note clasped in his hand. It was Ms.Nasty’s annoying habit to call him out of class by sending him little yellow notes. Piss yellow.
The moment he saw Gentry’s scowling face he knew things weren’t about to get better. The redhead sat alone in one of the shiny blue plastic office chairs, slouching with his legs apart and arms crossed. His dark eyes glanced up once, before a strand of red hair fell into his face. His large red hands gripped his hard, freckled arms with wordless tenseness. They exchanged heated glares, and then irritably turned away from one another, Gentry to the west and Zach to the east.
“What are you here for?” murmured the redhead, studying the carpet for any peculiar fibers.
“These pants.” Came the reply, observing a spider skitter across the ceiling, “Where were you at swim practice yesterday?”
Gentry stole a look at the aforementioned pants, and shrugged nonchalantly, “You fight stupid fights.”
“You don’t fight at all, and you’re here too.”
“Gentry.” Mr.Nilla’s gravely cough broke in, “Please come see me in my office. Zach, get comfortable.”
"Oh, I will." Zach stretched out his legs and cupped his hands on his stomach, "Don't I look comfortable?"
“There are cameras in the office,” Mr.Nilla went on, “So do not wander off.”
“I wasn’t planning to.” Zach shot back.

Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 5

The first and second dress code showdowns resulted in a stern warning never to wear ‘ill-fitting pants’ again. The reply was always a firmly grounded “you should never pull me out of class to talk about fashion again.” Exactly two days later, Zach returned to the stuffy office once yet again, with particularly baggy pants and a tell-tale yellow note clasped in his hand. It was Ms.Nasty’s annoying habit to call him out of class by sending him little yellow notes. Piss yellow.
The moment he saw Gentry’s scowling face he knew things weren’t about to get better. The redhead sat alone in one of the shiny blue plastic office chairs, slouching with his legs apart and arms crossed. His dark eyes glanced up once, before a strand of red hair fell into his face. His large red hands gripped his hard, freckled arms with wordless tenseness. They exchanged heated glares, and then irritably turned away from one another, Gentry to the west and Zach to the east.
“What are you here for?” murmured the redhead, studying the carpet for any peculiar fibers.
“These pants.” Came the reply, observing a spider skitter across the ceiling, “Where were you at swim practice yesterday?”
Gentry stole a look at the aforementioned pants, and shrugged nonchalantly, “You fight stupid fights.”
“You don’t fight at all, and you’re here too.”
“Gentry.” Mr.Nilla’s gravely cough broke in, “Please come see me in my office. Zach, get comfortable.”
“There are cameras in the office,” Mr.Nilla went on, “So do not wander off.”
“I wasn’t planning to.” Zach shot back.

Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 4

Zach left the office with a yellow note, which he crumpled as soon as he entered the GSA meeting room. He wordlessly sat down, a shaky pride in his slightly smirking lips and gleaming eyes. He looked like the cat who had eaten the canary, and was quietly choking on it.
“Hey Zach.” Mikey spoke up, “We were just talking about you. Did you go all the way with Gentry?”
Zach glanced at him, resting his head on the long sleeves of his heavy black pullover.
“Ask him.” He murmured testily, closing his eyes only to open them a moment later when he felt the other boy’s hot breath on his neck.
“I’m asking you.”
“Then you’re a coward.”
“Don’t give me your attitude, I’m just asking.” Mikey sat back with a strained expression on his face.
He was an attractive boy, and Zach idly noticed he cut his hair. It looked good, smooth and brown. Kind of like Gentry’s, now that he thought about it. But he wasn’t about to tell him that.
“Good job on the win, by the way. Gentry looked really pissed. It’s cool that you made it onto the Senior Swim team and still come to meetings here.”
“…Yeah…thanks.”
Just then, Casey sashayed in and eased into his chair, plopping down his lunch tray and peeling the plastic wrap off his macaroni and cheese.
“Hey Mikey, hey Zach, hey Felix. Sorry I’m late.” He lisped, “I was helping out with the Literature Costume party. Are you going, Zach?”
“No. I’m boycotting the school.”
“It’s worth it.” Said Mikey, “You basically go and pretend to have fun. Then your teachers will think you’re passionate about their subject and raise your grade.”
“… It raises your grade? Oh, right, then sacrificing my beliefs is worth it.”
“Honk Honk! It’s the pretentious bus!” Casey yowled, “Don’t take yourself so seriously. It’s only a party.”
Felix softly added, “It’s free. And going there raises your grade.”
Zach rolled his eyes, “When is it?”
“After school, room 608.” Said Casey, “And you have to dress appropriately.”
“What’s the point of having a costume party if you have a dress code?”
“Because it’s a school party?” Mikey drawled impatiently, grinning at Zach.
“Well that’s why school parties fail. Not only do you have to stay AT school AFTER school, WITH teachers, but the school dictates everything you can do. That’s not a party, that’s a class without homework. You can’t have a party if you control too many things.”
Mikey blinked, “Okay…?”
Casey rolled his eyes, “Fight for your right to party? Please, if I wanted to party, I wouldn’t be going to school.”
“Aren’t costumes a form of expression, too? Isn’t that the point of dressing up, to BREAK the rules? Isn’t it like art? You can’t just control art and freedom of spee---”
“In school you can, mkay?” snapped Casey, “And by the way. I heard they’re planning a new dress code. They’re finally getting rid of baggy clothes.”
Zach eyed him listlessly and Mikey laughed.
“Well, Zach,” Mikey beamed, “you’ll finally have to start dressing like everyone else.”
“I won’t.”
“You will.” Casey grinned, “It’ll be nice to see you in clothes that don’t make you look like a gay drug dealer.”
“Yeah,” Mikey spoke up, “Zach, why do you always wear those baggy clothes? I saw you at swim practice several times, and you don’t have anything to hide, haha.”
“I like baggy clothes, wearing them feels good.” Zach said defensively, “I’m not changing them just because people don’t like them.”
“Yeah, but you look like a gangster.”
“This whole school is cliquish and full of gangs. I never ganged up on anyone.”
“Yeah, but it’s a professional environment.” Stressed Casey, “School prepares you for work.”
“It’s a learning environment.” Said Zach, “People always tell us to be ourselves and accept different people. Shouldn’t we exchange ideas instead of forcing everyone to be the same? Not everyone has to like what you wear, but why do we need a dress code which forces us to conform to one standard?”
“Your clothes STILL make you look like a gangster.” Mikey pointed out.
“But I’m not a gangster. Other people here act like gangsters, no matter what they wear. Whatever happened to not judging a book by its cover?”
“Whatever,” Casey shrugged, taking a bite of his macaroni and cheese, “don’t freak out. I’m over this and I’d rather enjoy my lunch.”

Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 3

No sooner had it rung out then Zach flinched, a sickening anger taking root at his gut.
“ZACH TYLER!”
Zach cringed at the shrill, nasal sound of Ms.Nasty’s voice. Little dog had to bark for a piece of meat. And there she stood, Mr.Nilla grinning by her side. Zach wondered if they had been waiting for him all this time, lurking amidst the crowd.
“Zach Tyler.” Ms.Nasty curled her finger and frowned, “Come here NOW.”
Zach sighed as he dragged himself to the couple.
“Your pants are far too baggy. You look like a gangster.”
“Is that it?”
“Yes.”
Zach sniggered. Nasty was wearing dark sunglasses that contrasted oddly with her clown-red lips, and a long ill-fitting pink jean skirt. Mr.Nilla wore a yellow vacation shirt and creased brown pants. It looked like a colorblind clown had given them fashion tips. He wondered if they had waited in this spot on purpose, just waiting for him to emerge.
“If I’m a gangster, you act like one. You wait out here, lingering in wait for your prey then hurl fashion tips at them. And they can’t contradict you, because you’re in a higher position than they are.”
Ms.Nasty frowned, then pretended to laugh, looking to Mr.Nilla for affirmation that Zach was crazy. Mr.Nilla coughed and spoke up.
“Come with us to the office, Zach.”
“I have class.”
“You aren’t dressed for class.”
“I don’t know about you,” Zach said slyly, “but I learn with my brain, not with my pants.”
“You WILL come with us or I WILL give you DETENTION.”

Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 2

“I don’t want any of you to procrastinate on this next essay and reading,” drawled Mr.Handson, as his aged hands passed back papers.
Zach looked discontentedly at the ‘D-’ on his essay, a few comments lazily scribbled in the margins.
“I didn’t have time to read through all of your papers, so I graded you on just the first page.”
Mr.Handson enjoyed having the reputation of a tough teacher. And he had to be tough--- After all, he could teach both math and literature despite knowing neither. In fact, Handson was an academic anti-talent, an aged paper-pusher and a glorified printer of online worksheets. He knew neither math nor literature, but gave enough homework to his students to ensure that, by the end of the year, they would. He had been on pension for a while now, just about to kick the retirement bucket. The school board quietly wanted to fire him, but knew they could not.
Kylie raised her hand, “Are you collecting our notes on the third chapter of Wuthering Heights?”
“… No, you can keep those.” Mr. Handson leaned onto his desk.
Zach ground his teeth… those had stolen a good hour of his time.
“I’m having a Literature Party…” he drawled, “The Litertature Department is putting one together. It’s after school, but I know you’ll have fun---”
The bell rang, and the class noisily shuffled out in rebellion. They could not yell at him, but they could slam doors. Zach inched out after hurling his books into his dilapidated backpack, pushing his glasses back up over the bridge of his nose and pulling up his baggy pants. Some days he needed to feel like a gangster to face teachers who were no better than crooks.
He was no sooner out the door than he heard a loud, piercing cry.
“ZACH TYLER!”

Because You Suck: Chapter 7: Part 1

The cellphone rang late at night, and Zach’s eyes popped open as he hurriedly pulled himself off his stack papers and reached back to answer it. He sighed in frustration as his hand fumbled towards the phone, his body too lazy and tired to get up, bend over, and pick up the tiny phone.
At that very moment, the light wooden chair fell over and his feet kicked up the flimsy excuse for a table, shooting that stack of books and paper high into the air and then flat onto the ground. His ring tone of Don’t Worry, Be Happy buzzed on, almost mocking him as he threw a book off his head and exasperatedly picked up the phone.
“Hello?” he grumbled.
He heard a sudden inhalation of air, then silence.
Zach’s eyes darted to the alarm clock, whose glaring red digits alerted that it was exactly 5:55 A.M. In less than one hour, he would have to shower and go to school. Fuck.
“…Hello? Who is this?”
The other end of the line was still quiet, followed a moment later by a soft click. Zach threw the phone into his backpack, cursed and groggily started to pack up his papers for another fun-filled day of learning.
A good leer in the bathroom mirror was all he needed to determine that the day ahead of him was going to be hell. On days like this, where even your tissues had issues with you and ground against your sniffling nose like sandpaper, Zach had a strategy.
If the world is cold, wear a jacket. Not just one, but two. And four shirts underneath that. Wear baggy pants, the kind that sag so people will have a harder time kicking your ass. And then there were the glasses. Bold, thick-rimmed glasses that magnified his eyes into a scary, distorted leer.It didn’t matter what the season was. This was his armor, and school was his battleground. CHARGE!

Because You Suck: Chapter 6: Part 5

Gentry was always the one who bullshitted everyone. But what it built on bullshit doesn't just stink--- it sinks. Where do you turn when you isolate all your true friends?

The subway station was coldest right around five AM.
Gentry had spent the night on the cement bench, and waited six hours for a friend who didn’t arrive. And now there was no friend, no hope, and no place to sleep for the night.
Six hours. Six hours just to spend the night sleeping on the bench next to the homeless.
Disgusting. But he was not a bum; he was accepted to Princeton.
“Hey, you hungry?”
Gentry glared at the homeless man who was holding out a piece of bread and shot back, “No.”
He shivered and carefully took the phone off the hook, dialing Casey’s number.
Casey’s voice answered the phone with a bright, “Hello?”
“Hi, Casey.” It was a last resort, but even Casey was better than a subway bench.
“Hey hun, How are you?”
“Bad.” Gentry cringed as he watched the homeless man dig through the trash and eat the day-old fries he found there, “Things aren’t going great with my parents.”
Casey sighed sympathetically, “All I can say is I was in a bad place once, and it’s sad that you’re in one now.”
“Right. Listen. Can I stay at your place for the night?”
“Aw, sorry hun. Can’t do anything for you. My mom hates visitors. She hates cleaning after them.”
“Oh.” his eyes darkened with grim understanding, “I have to go. I might not be able to call for a while.”
“Wait!”
Gentry heaved a sigh. He knew Casey wasn’t going to ask any more questions.
“I got into Harvard!”
“That’s nice, Casey.”
“Oh my GOD, I know. I was so nervous!”
“Really. Good for you. It’s good to know the essay I wrote for you got you in.”
“Yeah. Where are you going to college?”
“I’m not telling anyone because it’s elitist to brag about where you’re going to college.”
“… oh. That bad, huh? Well, gotta go. Hope things work out. I’ll pray for you.”
The phone clicked on the other end and Gentry slammed down the receiver.