A Sweets Life-Chapter 5

Hang on to your hats, there’s going to be a rough ride ahead!

The day started out fine. Homeroom and the first few classes went by without a problem. At least, until 5th hour History class. The teacher, Mr. Weber, was a small, unattractive man with a reputation for being a disciplinarian. Few of the students liked him, but they at least generally respected his position as a teacher. He was taking the roll, and he called Andrew Mason’s name, emphasizing the “Andrew”. Looking directly at Candy, and in a voice that dripped sarcasm, he called Andrew’s name again. When there was no response, he asked directly, as if looking for a confrontation.

“Andrew, you will answer when your name is called.”

No response.

“Andrew Mason, you will respond when you are called in my classroom”

Still nothing.

He walked over and was surprised when Robin stood between him and Candy.

“Move out of my way, Miss Ames.” He was clearly becoming distraught, but the girls both remained calm.

“No, I don’t believe so. Let’s go, Candy.”

“No one is leaving this classroom until that bell rings. Sit down, Miss Ames.” His face was quickly reddening as several students rose to leave.

Candy grabbed her things, and started to leave. Mr. Weber made the mistake of reaching for Candy’s arm. Robin quickly swatted it away.

“Don’t touch her,” she warned with a glare. Mr. Weber pulled back his arm and would have slapped Robin, except for the actions of Mike Bingham, who blocked his swing. Mike was huge, almost 6’5”, and built like the linebacker he was.

“That’s one.” Mike said, in a menacing voice. Mr. Weber angrily stepped back.

“There will be severe consequences for this,” he told Mike and the rest of the class as they walked out of the room.

“Yeah, and I think you’re going to be very surprised what they are.” Robin said.

Mr. Weber called security to report that his students had revolted and left his class.

“Good God, James! What did you do this time?” The voice responded in an exasperated tone. There was a sigh. “Go to the office, James. I’m sure they’ll be looking for you in a few minutes.”

The students walked to the office, where Robin and Candy went in, followed closely by Mike. The secretary looked up to see the two pretty girls, with the towering form of the football player behind them.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

“We need to speak with Mrs. Jackson, please. It’s quite urgent.”

“Let them in, Angie. Security has already called. When James Weber arrives, please send him in, as well.”

The students waiting in the hall moved to the wall, so that they did not disrupt travel, and they waited quietly.

The three students in the office waited patiently until Mr. Weber could arrive, and then allowed him to make his statement.

“. . . so I called his name as I went down the roll, and he refused to answer. I called his name again, and again, he refused to answer. Then I-“

“Wait, he? What name did you call?”

“Andrew Mason, of course.”

“And why would you use that name? Your class list clearly states the name is Candace Mason.”

“But his name is Andrew Mason! I refuse to participate in this ridiculous-“

“So you decided that, despite instructions and against school policy that you were clearly briefed on ahead of time, and despite a non-discriminatory policy THAT YOU SIGNED, you decided that you had the right to publicly out this student, is that what you are telling me?” Mrs. Jackson was a small woman, but she clearly was not a weak one, and she was quite obviously very angry. “You decided to expose this school and this school system to legal action that could cost us dearly? Is that what I understand, Mr. Weber?”

James Weber was at first defiant, but as Mrs. Jackson had been angrily speaking, he knew that he had walked voluntarily into a very deep hole. By the time she had finished, he was cowering in his chair.

“Uhm, I believe you have a firm grasp of the situation,” he admitted. “I appear to have cut my own throat, here.”

“Oh, no, I think I want that privilege for myself!” She was livid. “You will need to contact your Union rep, and it would probably be wise to start drafting a very public apology. If I have my way, you won’t be allowed to teach anyone or anything for a very long time, James.”

“Candace, I want to offer my very sincere apologies." Mrs. Jackson said, concerned. "Thanks to one of my teacher’s stupidity,” she stared pointedly at James as she said this, “I know that you have been exposed to possible harm, and I know of no way in which I can possibly rectify this situation. If you were to be hurt because of this man’s actions . . .”

“She won’t be,” Mike said. He looked at Candy and Robin. “Yes, a bunch of us have figured out that that Candy was Andrew.”

“What?” Robin asked, surprised.

“Let’s see, who did you three ALWAYS hang out with last year? Who was at the park most of the summer? It wasn’t a great task for us to realize that Candy used to be Andy. Really, Candy Mason, Andy Mason? If you were going to hide it, you did a lousy job.” Mike smiled. “It’s okay. When you did everything you could to protect Andrew last Christmas, a lot of us started thinking about what we had done. Andrew helped me with my homework a few times, and I knew he was a good person.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of real assholes out there that won’t like this. I can’t always be there to protect you, and you could really get hurt because of this. Whoever does it is going to be facing a shitstorm, though, pardon my language. Me and my friends will do our best, Candy, we promise.”

Robin stood and gave Mike a kiss on the cheek. “You’re a pretty good guy, Mike.”

He blushed, but said nothing.

Candy was having a hard time handling her feelings. She was trying to remain calm, though. Should she be reassured or concerned? The secret was out, but to have someone like Mike on her side . . .

It was so confusing. She really needed to talk to Karen. What was Mom going to say? Candy knew she wouldn’t like this at all. Not one bit.

End Chapter 5. More to come, as soon as I can!