The Scandalous Expulsion of Jason Palmer

The Scandalous Expulsion of Jason Palmer

Disciplinary Meeting for Jason Palmer with Principle Rebecca Reynolds. 

Reynolds: Good morning, Jason. 

Jason: Why am I here?! 

Reynolds: There's no need to be rude. 

Jason: Why don't you talk to Jenna? This is all her fault! 

Reynolds: Jenna is in the hospital ... 

Jason: Serves her right. 

Reynolds: That's a terrible thing to say! 

Jason: Whatever.

Reynolds: All of this because of the embarrassment paper? 

Jason: Yes... 

Reynolds: Well, before I make any decisions, why don't you tell me your side of the story? 

Jason: Am I going to be expelled? 

Reynolds: I can't answer that yet. 

10/19, 4th Period, Upper School English Class: Day of the "Embarrassment Paper Assignment." 

Mr. Picker was going on and on about writing from the heart. He said, "All of the best authors pull stories from their own experiences, their own hardships." He did that annoying thing that teachers do when they pause and look around the room. Then he kept going, "For homework, I want everyone to write a one-page paper about an embarrassing moment from their life. And don't worry, I will be the only one to read it." 

"That should be easy for Benny," I whispered, earning a few laughs. 

Scrawnyold Picker glared at me. He creeps me out, the way his face is always covered in sweat. Nasty. 

I wrote my paper, handed it in, and then forgot about it. But, a week later, when I got to class, there was a pink balloon animal on my desk. A dog. 

My insides froze, but my face was on fire. "Who did this?!" I asked the entire class. Twenty pairs of eyes looked away from me. "Who was it!” I erupted. 

I'm not proud of what I did next, but my anger had taken control of me. I stomped over to Benny's desk and grabbed the twerp by the collar of his shirt. "You think this is funny?" I asked, not masking the menace in my voice. 

“W-what?" Benny replied, but his smirk gave him away. I was going to pummel him into oblivion, regardless of the consequences. I felt humiliated, and he was going to pay! That's when I noticed the other smirks. Each of my peers was restraining a secret grin. They all knew! They all knew about the balloons!

Disciplinary Meeting for Jason Palmer with Principle Rebecca Reynolds. 

Reynolds: Why did you suspect Benny?

Jason: He has it out to get me.

Reynolds: Pardon me, but from the multitude of reports I've received from your teachers and peers, it seems like you have it out for him. 

Jason: That's all a misunderstanding. I just joke around with him, that's all. 

Reynolds: Do you think he found it funny when you poured syrup in his locker? Or when you coated his desk in hot sauce so that when he touched his face it burned? 

Jason: ...

Reynolds: Ironically, Benny is one of the only students who has not leveled a complaint against you. 

Jason: Whatever. 

Reynolds: Tell me what happened with Jenna. 

Excerpts From a Group Text Chain with Jenna Cooper and Three Others (Referred to as Students 1, 2, and 3) on 10/25. 

Jenna: "When I was seven a cloon with a squeaky red nose came to my birthday party and made me an animal bailoon. It was a dog. I enjoyed rubbing the dog on my head to make my hair stick up that was a lot of fun. What's embarrassing is that when the dog popped I begged my parents for another one and they gave me a ballloon and said if you can make it yourself you can have one I spent the next year trying to make a balloon like the cloon but I couldn't and that made me embarssed."

Student 1 : OMG! He did not write that! 

Jenna: He did! I'm looking right at it!

Student 2: Has he heard of a run-on sentence? lol 

Student 1: Those poor bailoons! 

Student 3: Forwarding this to EVERYONE! 

Jenna: Woah! Don't say it was from me! 

Student 3: I won't ... 

Disciplinary Meeting for Jason Palmer with Principle Rebbeca Reynolds. 

Jason: She told the whole freaking school! And I'm the one in trouble? How's that fair? 

Reynolds: Nobody is condoning her actions. And, if you had reported her right away, she would be in that chair, instead of you. 

Jason: So what? I'm expelled? 

Reynolds: Not yet. Why don't you tell me what happened after you found out it was Jenna? 

10/27, Upper School Lunch Period. 

School turned into a nightmare. Every time I walked into a room, it went quiet. I knew it was because they were all talking about me. They're laughing, mocking, jabbing my feelings with tiny needles. It hurts. I can't help but think they were waiting for a chance to do this to me.

In the cafeteria, I sat by myself, alone with my turkey and cheese sandwich. "Hey, Mr.Cloon!" A linebacker on the football team shouted at me. All his friends roared with laughter. I didn't even get it.

Jenna was eating a few tables down, cackling with her group of bratty friends. She was eating a special salad, packed by her mom. In elementary school, Mrs. Cooper came in and gave a big talk on peanut oil allergies, and how everyone needed to be mindful of her precious little princess because the tiniest drop of oil could be devastating to her. Although when she was exposed in middle school, all she had to show for it were a few little red bumps.

I planned to confront her after lunch when she was away from her judgmental friends. I wanted to know why she would do this to me. Maybe she didn't know it was my paper and just thought it was funny. I badly wanted that to be true. 

While I was waiting, someone tapped me on the shoulder, "Um, anyone sitting there?" Benny said. He was carrying a huge brown tray with a single slice of pepperoni pizza. 

Normally, I would have told him to kick rocks, but my circumstances had changed. I was no better than Benny now. "Whatever," I responded with a shrug. 

Instead of sitting across from me, he took the seat directly next to me. He was so close to me that I could see the mounds of dandruff piled on his shoulders. Nasty. 

"I'm sorry about what happened," Benny said. 

"Whatever," I replied, trying to focus on Jenna. 

"Nobody wants to be targeted," Benny said. 

"What are you talking about? I wasn't targeted! She just found my paper funny, that's all." 

"Oh, sorry. I thought you knew—" 

"Knew what?!" I demanded

He sighed, then said, "Mr.Picker runs an after-school writing workshop, it meets once a week. You probably remember him telling us about it the first week of school—" 

"Get to the point," I growled. 

"Right. So Picker handed us back our short stories we'd written a few weeks ago, and then he excused himself to the restroom. When he left, I saw Jenna search through his desk for your paper."  

"You're lying!" 

"Why would I lie?" Benny responded. And I couldn't think of an answer. 

Sometime during our conversation, Jenna had left her table. But, I no longer wanted to confront her. She hadn't just told a joke at my expense, she had targeted me! Nobody did that and got away with it! 

Disciplinary meeting for Jason Palmer with Principle Rebecca Reynolds. 

Reynolds: Is that why you put peanut oil in her salad the next day? 

Jason: Yes. 

Reynolds: You're lucky she wasn't killed, you know. I understand that she wronged you, but to put that much oil in her food... I'm very disappointed in you. 

Jason: ...

Reynolds: What was that? 

Jason: I said I didn't put that much in it! Just a drop! 

Reynolds: That's not what the hospital says. It looked like you emptied half a bottle into her salad! 

Jason: Whatever. Just expel me already.  

An email from Anna Cooper (Jenna's mom) to the school board. 

To the board, 

As of my sending this email, Jason Palmer has not been expelled. This is entirely unacceptable! He POISONED my sweet Jenna! Not to mention, he has been a nuisance throughout her entire academic career! From what Jenna has told me, I find it reprehensible that he has been allowed to stay at the school for this long! 

If this situation is not remedied shortly, you will be hearing from my counsel. 

Regards, 

Anna Cooper 

Principle Rebecca Reynolds, interview with Benny Strong, regarding Jason Palmer. 

Reynolds: Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. 

Benny: Is Jason going to be expelled? 

Reynolds: We haven't come to an official decision yet. But, it's looking that way. 

Benny: Ah. I see. 

Reynolds: To be honest, I'm surprised by your reaction. I thought that news would make you happy.  

Benny: I don't think it's a happy thing, someone getting kicked out.

Reynolds: That's a very mature thing to say. Most students your age would be happy to see their bully sent packing. 

Benny: He's not really a bully. 

Reynolds: He's not? 

Benny: No, he just wants people to like him, but he doesn't know how. He thinks the other kids find it funny when he pranks me or throws paper at Mr. Picker when his back is turned, but nobody does. That stuff hasn't been funny for a while, and I think he's the only one who hasn't noticed.

Reynolds: That does sound sad. But, don't you think he went too far with Jenna? 

Benny: Yeah ... I guess he did. 

Reynolds: You don't sound certain? 

Benny: She's in the hospital. 

Reynolds: But? 

After-school writing program, one week after Jason Palmer's expulsion.  

Benny slowly gathered his belongings, while he waited for the other students to leave. His palms were slippery with sweat, and his stomach was churning like he'd eaten rotten sushi. For the hundredth time, he wondered why he couldn't let it go. Why did it bother him that Jason was being treated unfairly? After all, he'd treated Benny with nothing but contempt. Still, he couldn't let it go. 

“You'd best be going if you want to catch the bus," Mr. Picker told Benny. 

The squirrelly-looking teacher was sitting behind his desk. Despite his dark-red collared shirt, oval sweat stains were visible under his armpits. His smile was equal parts yellow and crooked.Strands of his prematurely thinning brown hair were sticking out of his head like weeds in a garden. Picker was off-putting to most students, but so was Benny. Perhaps, that's why Benny had always felt an unspoken bond with him.

"I, um, I will," Benny replied nervously. He walked toward Picker, his legs felt like wobbly toothpicks. "I was just wondering what you thought of Jason?" Benny asked. 

Picker's eyebrows twitched in surprise, before he answered, "I, um, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to discuss that with you." 

"I see," Benny replied flatly. "I'll be on my way then." Benny started toward the door, knowing how easy it would be to walk away. Instead, he found the courage to say, "I heard his parents are sending him to a boarding school, far away." 

Picker sighed, "Yes, well, that's probably for the best. But, like I said, we really shouldn't be discussing —"

"I saw the note." The words slipped out of Benny's mouth. 

"Note?" Picker replied unconvincingly. "I'm not sure what you, um, mean." 

"The note on Jenna's short story," Benny said. Now that he'd started, he wanted to get everything out as quickly as possible. "You wrote that she should look at Jason's paper after you leave the room." 

"I, um, why would I do such a thing?" Picker replied as huge beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. 

"I think you did it because you'd had enough of him. And, on some level, you knew what would happen."

Picker rose from his desk, then spat, "That is a wild allegation to make against a teacher! Especially with no proof! I'm tired of your class thinking they can treat me like a student! No, I will not be talked to like this! I'm afraid, I'm going to have to speak to Principle Reynolds about this first thing tomorrow." Picker's chair screeched as he shoved it forward. "Now, if there's nothing else, I will be on my way!" 

Picker stormed past Benny, leaving him alone in the classroom. Benny sighed, placing the item he had been holding on Picker's desk. Picker thought Benny had no proof, but he was wrong. On the day that Jenna had her allergic reaction, Benny had stopped by Picker's room on a hunch. To his dismay, he found Picker slipping a vial filled with peanut oil into the bottom drawer of his desk. 

Somehow, Picker had known what Jason would do. And, he knew that it wouldn't be enough to get him expelled, so he had taken matters into his own hands. Benny wondered if, in a twisted way, Picker was standing up to the bullies from his childhood. Perhaps, Picker had earned a victory for all the kids like Benny who couldn't do it themselves. Yet, as a result, Jenna was in the hospital, Jason was going to boarding school, and Benny was facing the hardest decision of his young life. 

Would he tell Principle Reynolds what he knew or forget it entirely? 

A few hours later, Benny was startled by a janitor who told him the school was closing. As he hurried out of the building, he finally made a decision.