Schoolhouse of Cards

Mr. Clark heard the final bell ring one floor above him and checked his watch. Three seconds later the room’s walls and ceiling vibrated as hundreds of feet stampeded through the corridors, shaking loose bits of grime that had accumulated over the last seventy-one years. He silently watched the little hand make its way around the face as the noise grew dimmer, lapsing into compete silence at one minute twenty-two seconds. 

Thirty-nine seconds after that, eighth graders Heather and Joshua arrived for the club meeting. No pleasantries were exchanged as they took the two seats on either side of Mr. Clark. Thirteen seconds after that, seventh graders Erica and Brad arrived and took their seats next to Heather and Joshua. They waited another thirteen seconds for the sixth graders to arrive, but they didn’t appear. The kids began to fidget as time ticked by, not one of them daring to look over at Mr. Clark. Finally two pairs of feet could be heard pounding down the hallway, growing louder and louder until Katie and Greg burst through the door.

“You’re late,” Mr. Clark said sharply. 

“We’re really sorry, Mr. Clark,” Greg gasped. “We were on our way when…”

“I hope you’re not about to give me an excuse, Greg, given that you know how I feel about them,” Mr. Clark said. Greg withered under his stern gaze. 

“It’s not his fault!” Katie blurted out. She cringed when Mr. Clark turned his gaze on her, but pressed on. “Please don’t be mad at Greg, sir. It’s my fault we’re late, not his.”

“I’m not angry, Katie. I’m disappointed,” Mr. Clark replied. “I have no choice but to give you both a verbal warning.” Katie and Greg’s eyes widened as little gasps erupted around the table. “You two have a lot of potential. That’s why you were chosen for this club. But as you know, membership in this organization is entirely dependent on living up to that potential every day. Understood?” Katie and Greg nodded. “Good. Now let’s all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.”

After the pledge was recited and the everybody had settled back into their seats, Mr. Clark called the meeting to order. “I trust you all made time to review the minutes from the last meeting,” he said. “If there are no questions, I will approve and enter them into the permanent record.” He waited a beat. “Motion carried. On to the weekly reports. Joshua?”  

Joshua cleared his throat. “Mrs. Harrison has chosen A Christmas Carol for the fall play. Kevin North is auditioning for Ebenezer Scrooge as expected, but he’s facing stiff competition from Joe Harmon.” 

“That won’t do,” Mr. Clark said. “Joe Harmon isn’t the one destined for Juilliard. How do you plan to neutralize him?” 

“Have him fight Rick Sherman,” Joshua said. “They’ve hated each other ever since Rick dumped apple juice on Joe’s head for stealing his crayons in kindergarten. I’ve told Joe that Rick is saying bad stuff about him, and I said the same thing to Rick. They’re both pretty pissed. I guarantee Joe will get himself suspended right before auditions.”  

“Excellent,” Mr. Clark said. He turned to Heather. “Have you convinced Claire Long to stay on the soccer team?”

“Yes,” Heather said proudly. “She was going to quit because she wanted to spend more time with her boyfriend. I planted the idea that he was cheating on her, and then got Stephanie Brown to send him some flirty texts. They broke up yesterday.” 

“Good work,” Mr. Clark said. “Anything new to report?” They shook their heads. “All right, let’s hear from the seventh graders.”

Brad spoke first. “I found out that Jeff Richards has been skipping study group to vape with Jack Morris and Chris Wood in the park. And sometimes throw rocks at squirrels.” 

“I expected better of Jeff,” Mr. Clark frowned. “Have you handled it?” 

“Yessir. I notified everybody’s parents using the school’s email.”

Mr. Clark raised an eyebrow. “Everybody? Your concern was Jeff Richards and only Jeff Richards.” 

Brad’s cheeks reddened. “I…I’m sorry, I just thought we were supposed to…”

“You’re supposed to be keeping your peers on the proper Life Trajectories,” Mr. Clark said. “Jeff Richards was wavering from his. Jack and Chris, on the other hand, are right on track for their future enrollment in vocational school. From now on, leave those two alone unless I say otherwise.” 

Brad slid down in his seat as Mr. Clark turned his attention to Erica. “Now, Erica, where are we with Hannah Lipton? Is she still interested in joining the Thorn-Langley social circle?” 

Erica hesitated. “Yes. And Courtney and Ava are willing to let her join, except she wants to bring along her BFF Allison Bennett. Is that okay?”

“Allison Bennett,” Mr. Clark muttered, pulling up her file on his tablet. He frowned slightly as he scanned it. “I’m afraid her parents are not in the right tax bracket. At best she’ll end up marrying a middle manager, not a senator or CEO like the other girls. Hannah will need a new BFF in her new circle. Make it happen.” Erica nodded and made a note in her own tablet. 

“Now let’s hear from the sixth graders,” Mr. Clark said. “Your assignment last week was ‘eyes and ears.’ Any new developments we should know about?”

“Lisa Anderson and Mark Conner are boyfriend and girlfriend!” Greg exclaimed. When nobody reacted he added, “we gotta do something! He’s a total jerk!” 

“We’ve been over this, Greg,” Mr. Clark sighed. “The middle school division doesn’t concern itself with dating except in the rare instances it threatens a student’s Life Trajectory, as in the case of Claire Long. Unless you have any reason to believe this is the case, let it go.” There was a brief silence while Greg thought hard. Finally he shook his head and sat back in his chair, pouting. 

Katie raised her hand. “You have something to add, Katie?” Mr. Clark asked.

“I think maybe Greg is right,” Katie said. “I mean, Lisa’s into art and poetry and Mark likes video games and robots, and Lisa is way more popular than him. They’re a really bad match.”

Mr. Clark allowed himself a small smile. “Like I said, not our concern. The high school division is mostly responsible for dating issues. Give it a week or two and they’ll break up all on their own. Trust me.” Then his face grew serious. “Now, on to new business.”

The tv screen mounted above his chair lit up, revealing a white title card with 2020 STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTION emblazoned across it in bold red letters. “As you all know, the election is next Friday. The School Board has selected the winners.” The candidates’ class pictures popped up on the tv. “Let’s brainstorm ways to…is there a problem, Joshua?”

Startled, Joshua’s first instinct was to lie. He knew it was a bad idea, but he didn’t want to say what was really on his mind either. He looked around the table as if an escape would present itself, but all he saw were the anxious looks of his peers.

“Joshua, club bylaws clearly state that all concerns regarding the club should be taken up with the faculty advisor,” Mr. Clark said. “Now, what’s troubling you?” 

Joshua took a deep breath. “I know we do important work, but messing with elections feels like crossing the line. My dad’s a veteran. He did two tours in Afghanistan. He’s always told me that democracy is the cornerstone of America and that we should never take it for granted. I don’t want to let him down.”

“Your father is a very wise man. And I think I speak for everyone when I say we are all deeply grateful for the sacrifices your family has made,” Mr. Clark replied. “Rest assured we are not subverting the democratic process, but rather protecting it.” 

“Wouldn’t that mean butting out and letting the kids decide?” Joshua asked, feeling emboldened now that it was all out in the open. 

“It’s not quite that simple,” Mr. Clark sighed. “I’m sure you remember from Mr. Parker’s American history class that the Founding Fathers were wealthy white male landowners. They had the education and resources to create this great nation, which is why they determined that only wealthy white male landowners should be allowed to vote. They knew they couldn’t allow our young, vulnerable country’s future to be determined by uneducated farmers who didn’t understand the workings of a democratic government.” 

“But things have changed!” Heather cried out to the surprise of everyone, including herself. 

“You’re right, Heather, things have changed,” Mr. Clark said, unfazed by her outburst. “America has become the greatest country in the world, where everyone has the opportunity to become wealthy and educated regardless of race, gender, and ethnicity. But despite all our progress, the same unfortunate truth has remained unchanged since 1789.”

Mr. Clark sneezed into his elbow, then cleaned his hands with sanitizer and adjusted his eyeglasses. “Only a select few are truly qualified to keep this country moving in the right direction. To make sure we, as a nation, stick to the principles that made us the shining beacon of hope to the rest of the world. And you are one of those few. Do you understand?” 

Joshua scanned all the anxious faces of his peers again. Except for Heather, whom he knew was silently pleading for him to drop it. He turned back to Mr. Clark and the two locked eyes. “I’m sorry, Mr. Clark. That used to make sense, but it doesn’t anymore,” he said quietly. 

“I’m sorry too, son,” Mr. Clark sighed.  

****

Heather sat on the bench in front of the school’s main entrance, looking like just another kid waiting for a parent to pick her up. No one would ever guess she'd spent the last five minutes in the girls' bathroom splashing cold water on her face and willing her hands to stop shaking. Though Heather did feel calmer, her insides were still squirming with anger. She struggled to get it under control before Tony Watson arrived. There was too much at stake for him to suspect anything was wrong.

She knew the protocol for stripping someone of their membership but she’d never seen it done before, and she certainly wasn’t prepared for the emotional fallout. Joshua turned in his tablet and passwords. Mr. Clark notified The School Board, which sent a burn notice to every school in the district, including the one where Joshua was to be transferred. Joshua was never to see or speak to any club members again, and they were never to see or speak to him again. It would be as if he never existed. 

Heather fought back the lump forming in her throat. She and Joshua had been recruited together in the sixth grade. For the past few weeks she could tell something was bothering him, but he didn’t walk to talk about it and she didn’t press the issue. Now she wished she had. She could have reminded him what a rare opportunity they had to make a real difference in the world. She could have shared her own doubts about the club so he knew he wasn’t alone. She could have convinced him that if he stuck it out with her through high school and college, eventually they’d have the power to change the system from within. But there was no point dwelling on regrets. Joshua was history and she had to move on.  

Each member of the club had an alternate in the event they had to step down, hand picked and vetted by The School Board. For security purposes alternates were kept in the dark until such time they were called upon to join the club. Tony Watson was Joshua’s alternate, a gifted musician who volunteered for every charity drive the school sponsored. Heather spotted him coming out of the school, laughing with his friends, blissfully unaware that his life was about to change forever. He broke away from the pack and walked over to where Heather was sitting to wait for his mom, as he did every Monday after practice.

“Hi Tony,” Heather said. “How was band practice?”

“Good,” Tony replied. “How was chess club?”

“No so good,” Heather sighed. “We lost a member and need to find a replacement. Interested?”

“Me?” Tony blinked. “I don’t think so. I’m not really into chess.” 

“I think you’d like the way we play,” Heather replied, flashing a sly grin. “Can you keep a secret?”