PARADOX

xodarap

"Excellent, Rebecca!" Mrs Greenapple shouted, throwing a chocolate bar at a tall girl with golden braids and kissing her on the forehead. She'd just answered all thirty questions on the board correctly. "Everyone clap for Rebecca-and don't be selfish!"

A resounding storm of applause flooded the classroom. Everyone was smacking their hands together-if they clapped hard enough, maybe they'd get a few treats for being good boys and girls.

"Hey! Sullivan! if you don't clap for Rebecca right now young man, I will give you zero for your test and you will be sent to the principal's office. Do you understand, you stupid dog? Oh my goodness I hate you so much! Why can't you be as good as all the angelic girls in this class?" the teacher's furious voice boomed like an explosion magnetic eruption.

"I'm so sorry, Ma'am! I-I'll never ever do it again!" Sullivan was shivering his timbers like a wet naked cat out in a glacial blizzard.

"Yeah, you better be sorry, Sullivan!" one of the girls said. It was Sally. "You boys make me wanna vomit!"

"Exactly, my girl! Here's a treat for being good!" Mrs Greenapple said, flinging another juicy bar of cacao heaven.

"What the? Shut up, Sally! You're so ugly I have to take painkillers for my eyes whenever I see you!" Sullivan shouted, intoxicated by venomous rage.

That was a mistake.

Mrs Greenapple (a Goliath of a woman who was built like an ox) sprung up from her seat and grabbed Sullivan by the throat, squeezing his esophagus. Her forearms were beefy and covered by thick vein cords.

"Listen here, mongrel! if you don't have anything nice to say, you shut up! I never want to hear such rancid speech in my class ever again-do you understand, you mutt? Apologise to poor Sally right now!"

Sullivan's face was painted a pale and painful purple. It looked like it was about to explode! She loosened her grip and he dropped to the floor with a heavy thud. Much like a rock.

"Listen up girls," the teacher ordered over Sullivan's bitter wheezing, "Never let any man insult you! And if he does, beat him up! We are women: strong and ruthless; true survivors! We will not be oppressed by abuse, verbal or otherwise!"

A thunderous roar of concurrence filled the room.

"Mrs Greenapple's right! We're fearless!" Anabelle cried as all the other girls screamed a mighty warcry full of pride.

The gents were panicked out of their minds! Sullivan's body was frozen on the floor like an action figure. What if they were next?

"All right everyone, let's continue with the lesson. This is pi, we use it a lot when-"

"Ma'am! Sullivan's-"

"HOW DARE YOU DISRUPT MY CLASS, DOMINIC?"

Mrs Greenapple was shaking violently-she was absolutely livid! Rightly so. Their next test was in ten weeks and that gorilla Dominic was disturbing her class-and for what? An unconscious kid?

"What's going on here? I heard screaming-what the? hey! Are you okay? " A tall man with a bushy beard popped into the class with a worry stirring in his eyes as he quickly ran to the barely breathing boy. It was Mr Jennings.

"It was Christian! He choked Sullivan while Mrs Greenapple was out and then he threatened to kill us all! that's why we were screaming!" Sally cried with several seeping streams of tears leaking out of her violet eyes.

"No, I didn't-"

"Yes, you did! Don't lie, Christian, we all saw you!" Lu-sandra shouted, fueling the fire.

Mr Jennings glared at Christian, disgust and rage burning in his eyes. "This is pure evil! What have you done? His neck-look at it! It looks like a grizzly bear was wringing a towel! And you have the nerve to say you didn't? How evil-"

"He didn't do anything, Mr Jennings!" Keanu yelled, "It was Mrs Greenapple! She got furious because he insulted Sally and then she choked him to death-"

"And now you want to blame someone else? Why would the girls lie about something like this? And how about you other boys? Why didn't you guys stop him? What kind of men will you be if you can't stop someone from doing wrong? And what kind of men don't tell the truth?"

Mr Jennings turned back to the motionless boy...but the sun had already set for him.

At a green thirteen years old, Sullivan Mullivan had died due to suffocation. And at an even greener twelve years old: Christian Kim was charged with second-degree murder. Which was then elevated to first degree because he was also reported by Mrs Greenapple to be a noise maker in class.