1:40 pm: Library

The four other detainees sat alone in the library, the adrenaline was still buzzing after their narrow escape from Vernon. The new girl had given herself up to distract their despised vice principal so they could get away.

Brian sat behind Andrew and Claire, munching his carrots. He looked at the empty desk where Sheila used to be. How many conversations they had. He had to admit that he missed her. He felt terrible that he didn't stand up to Vernon when he was picking on her earlier. He wondered what would've happened if he said anything.

"Do you think Sheila is OK?" Brian asked worried.

"So what?" Andrew said uncaring. "She made her bed, she can lie in it."

"Shut up, Andy!" Claire snapped. "If it weren't for Sheila, we would've been in deep shit."

"Well, it's not MY fault she chose to side with Bender and go on his crazy field trip," he argued.

"You would've went anyway!"

Andrew shook his head in frustration when Claire told him this. He didn't have the guts to admit he was wrong.

"I should've said something," Brian said remorsefully.

"What're you talking about?" Andrew asked.

"When Mr. Vernon was picking on Sheila earlier. I should've stuck up for her."

"What would you have said?" Andrew pointed out. "You would've been in as much deep shit as Bender and Sheila."

"Doesn't make it right for him to pick on her like that," Brian argued. "She's stuck up for everyone so far."

"Oh wow! You're so chivalrous!" Andrew remarked sarcastically. "So...what? Are you gonna go riding out there on your white horse and rescue her? Because if you are, you better have the guts to slay a dragon like Vernon."

Brian stayed quiet after that. It was true. He was scared of Vernon. More scared of him than anyone else. Bender and Sheila weren't afraid of Vernon. They stood up to him since he was a bully. A lot of times he was unfair. But messing with Vernon was just like he said.

Mess with the bull, you get the horns.

*****
Room 201

Sheila was enveloped by darkness around her. She found herself dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, alone. She was curled up on the floor, crying; she was scared and alone in a strange place, trapped.

"I'm scared," she wept. Then cried out loudly like a frightened child, "I'm scared, Daddy! I'm scared!"

She continued to cry into her hands as she sat on the floor, terrified and alone as she was locked up in this dreadful place, which strangely looked like a mix of the Wicked Witch's castle and her classroom that Vernon left her in.

"Sheila...?"

She heard a comforting male voice behind her, echoing as if it were from far away.

"Sheila?"

Almost immediately, she recognized it. She turned around to find a giant crystal ball with an image of her father inside it. He was frantically looking for her, just as scared as she was.

"Sheila, where are you?" he called. "I'm trying to find you!"

Through her tears, she perked up and crawled on her knees to the crystal ball. She had to tell him where she was. He would rescue her. He would save her from the Wicked Witch.

"I'm here in Shermer, Daddy!" she cried in a shaky voice. "I'm locked up in detention. I'm trying to get to you, Daddy!"

Soon the image of her father disappeared like smoke in the crystal ball. The redhead's face fell with fear and panic when she saw this. No! This couldn't be happening! She couldn't lose him again!

"Oh Daddy! Don't go away!" she cried desperately.

The crystal ball seemed to swirl with dark colors of black and green. Her father was gone. She became more scared. The fear of losing her father again.

"I'm scared! Come back! Come back! Please!" she begged.

The image eventually became the green face of the Wicked Witch of the West, which looked like a mix of Vernon and her stepfather.

"Daddy! Daddy, come back!" the witch mocked. Then yelled cruelly, "I'll give you your Daddy, Donovan!"

The witch cackled loudly with a sadistic grin on its face, frightening the little girl...

Sheila snapped awake from her dream. She sniffled, realizing she was still here alone in the classroom that Vernon had left her. Her eyes were raw and red from crying, stained with her remaining tears. She must've cried herself to sleep and didn't notice. She was thirsty, exhausted and dizzy. She wondered how long she had been asleep as her body was stiff.

The minutes seemed to creep slowly as she sat alone in the empty classroom.

Sighing, she wiped the remaining snot and drool away. She reached into her backpack, looking at a picture of her father and her. How happy they looked. Their big smiles. Their funny expressions. She wished it could be that way again.

An ache came to her heart as she knew the man she once loved and adored had disappeared like smoke. No explanation. No goodbye. She wanted to cry again. She felt so alone.

She wondered if her father had forgotten her. Just like the time when she was ten. She sat on the porch, waiting for him to come home. She waited until sunset, but he didn't come home. She felt her Dad forgot about her. Just like Vernon leaving her in the classroom. Just like her mother and stepfather sending her away.

It seemed they wanted to forget about her.

While she had thought about what she had done, honestly she was glad she did what she had to do. She was in a new school in a strange place with five strangers she didn't even know, yet she felt they were her already her friends. Being removed from them made her fear they too forgot about her.

Sighing, she laid her head back down, closing her eyes, hoping the hours would just pass quickly so she could go home...

...when a noise from the ceiling startled her.

"What the f...?!" she exclaimed, looking up.

There, dangling from an open square in the ceiling tiles was the dark head of Bender.

"Hey, Teacher's Pet!" he called. "Mind if I drop in?"

"Jesus, Bender!" she yelled. "You scared the shit out of me!"

He laughed, climbing down from the ceiling vent and took a seat next to Sheila. He frowned when he saw the redhead's tear stained face. She had been crying.

"You OK?" he asked. "Did that shit stain do something to you? He sounded pretty rough from what I heard."

Sheila shook her head, knowing he was asking about Vernon.

"No. I think I really pissed him off," she said.

"Who cares?" he said. "He's an asshole."

"So what are you doing here?"

"I said I owed you one," he replied with a smirk. "So...here's your payback." Moving his dark hair out of his eyes, he spoke again. "By the way, I heard your conversation with Dick."

"I was just being honest," she said.

"And possibly committing academic suicide, Teacher's Pet."

"What can I say? I thought he might've been more understanding about your situation. Boy, was I wrong."

Bender stood up from his seat; the wallet chain clinked as he moved. "Listen, I'd love to stay and chat, but I think we should get this show on the road."

Sheila arched an eyebrow. "How are we going to get out?"

"How do YOU think, Teacher's Pet? You're smart enough to figure it out."

Sheila looked up, recalling Bender coming through the vents and frowned a bit.

"What...you mean through the vents?"

"No, the locked door," he said sarcastically. "Yes, genius. Through the vents. They lead straight back to the library. Now let's get the hell out of here."

Sheila nodded. She tucked the photo of her father and her in her pocket as she knew it was the only thing that mattered to her.

"I'll give you a boost," he said. "Stand on the desk."

Sheila climbed on top of the desk where the open ceiling tile was. Bender grabbed her legs and boosted her up into the vents. Sheila was ever glad to have climbed trees when she was younger; she wasn't as strong as she was then, but managed to pull herself up into the vents. Then Bender followed after, carefully replacing the ceiling tile as if she hadn't left at all.

*******
Vernon's Office

Vernon sat at his office. He heaved a sigh of relief. His anger had worn him out after having to deal with the defiant red haired miscreant and her Lord and Savior Mr. Wise Guy. Now that he had them tucked away where she couldn't cause any more trouble, he could finally relax and eat his lunch.

He stuffed half an orange in his mouth, sucking out the pulp and juice. Feeling thirsty, he reached for his red thermos to pour his coffee into a Styrofoam coffee cup. Upon tipping it over, the top came off, spilling the contents everywhere in a muddy, grainy mess all over the desk. It ruined his sandwich too. The man heaved an exasperated sigh, looking at the mess and tossing his orange in the wax paper.

"Oh shit," he sighed.

He gathered up his ruined lunch to throw it in the trash. Some coffee dripped from the paper onto his pants. He looked at the mess on his lap.

"This is a beautiful life," he said bitterly. "It really is."

He got up and headed to the faculty restroom, pulling his sport coat on.

"Coffee!" he muttered angrily. "Looks like they scrape it from the bottom of the Mississippi River. Everything's polluted...everything's polluted. The coffee's polluted. The kids are polluted..."

He stepped into the faculty restroom, using a paper towel to clean off the coffee grinds off his pants. Seeing as he was already in the restroom, he decided to use the toilet. He stepped into a stall and grabbed a paper toilet seat cover...

*******
Heating Ducts

Slowly but surely, the two of them inched forward through the vent with Bender leading the way. Sheila was a bit worried they would fall through, given the loud creaks that were made when they moved.

"You sure this will hold our weight?" she asked nervous.

"Relax. Just keep moving," Bender assured.

The silence between the two of them was deafening. The creaks ranged from light to slightly loud. Bender's wallet chain clinked as he continued to crawl. Given the high tension in the room, Bender decided to speak.

"A naked blonde walks into a bar," he began. "With a poodle under one arm and a two foot salami under another."

Sheila sniggered, realizing he was telling a dirty joke.

"She lays the poodle on the table. The bartender says, 'I suppose you won't be needing a drink.' The naked lady says..."

The redhead smirked, thinking of a really clever punchline.

"I got it!" she said. "The naked lady says, 'Nope. I've already got a cock, tail, and a fuzzy navel.'"

Bender laughed rambunctiously. "Good one, Teacher's Pet," he said. "But wrong."

The two of continued to move. Sheila heard a very loud creak under them, which worried her.

"The naked lady says..." Bender said, picking up from the joke...

The bottom of the vent gave out and the two of them tumbled down from the ceiling...

"OHHHH SHIIITTT!" Bender screamed.

CRASH!

The four detainees heard the loud crash and stared up dumbfounded at the giant hole in the ceiling.

*****

Faculty Restroom

The crash could be heard throughout the empty school. The noise scared the hell out of the vice principal who was on the toilet.

"JESUS CHRIST ALMIGHTY!" Vernon shouted.

He got up, quickly pulling up his pants and tucking his shirt back in, jogging to the library to find out what the hell that ruckus was.

****
The Library

Sheila and Bender sat up after falling through the ceiling, landing on the top floor of the library. And it was no soft landing for either of them. Every part of her body hurt. Christ! She got up, rubbing her head and dusting herself off. She ended up smacking Bender in the head. He groaned with pain.

"Jesus, you fuckin' Amazon!!!" he cringed. "What're you, pumping iron?"

"It was an accident!" she said. "I'm in pain too, dumb ass!"

The two of them descended the stairs, dusting themselves off. The other detainees stared agape at the two of them as they casually sauntered down the stairs.

"We forgot our pencils," Sheila said with a shrug.

"GODDAMMIT!" yelled the voice of a very surprised Vernon from outside the library doors.

Knowing that they weren't supposed to be in the library, Sheila and Bender dove under the desks: Sheila went under Brian's while Bender went under Claire's.

The geek stared wide eyed, afraid that he would give her away. She made a shhh gesture. He nodded silently, swallowing nervously. A blush creeping on his face as he knew a girl was probably staring at him. The library door opened with a bang and she heard Vernon's hurried footsteps.

"What in God's name is going on here?!" the vice principal yelled in surprise.

The detainees all shrugged, looking at one another, feigning confusion.

"What was that ruckus?!" Vernon said.

His eyes scanned the library, trying to locate the source of that ruckus that had scared the shit out of him.

"What ruckus?" Andrew asked innocently.

"I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus," Vernon answered.

Brian shrugged. "Could you describe the ruckus, sir?" he asked.

"Watch your tongue, young man!" the vice principal warned, pointing a finger. "Watch it!"

While Sheila was crouched nervously under Brian's table, she felt a tickle in her nose from the dust she inhaled after crashing down. She sneezed, trying to keep it as quiet as possible...only to smack her head on the underside of the table loudly. Brian banged the table in the tune of 'Shave and a Haircut' with Andrew responding the last notes.

"What is that?!" Vernon demanded.

Andrew made a zipping noise. Allison put down her feet, biting her nails as she stared at the vice principal, who was growing more and more confused.

"What is that? What, what is that?!" he inquired angrily, holding his hands out to emphasize his state of bewilderment. "What is that noise?"

"What noise?" Andrew said.

"Seriously, sir, there wasn't any noise," Claire assured.

Suddenly, Claire felt something very soft brush against her thighs, getting higher and higher. Her eyes widened with shock as she realized it was Bender's face between her legs. That fucking pervert!

Oh HELL NO! she thought.

She squeezed her legs on the criminal's face, crushing his nose. This earned a loud cry of pain. Claire made a loud sneeze, which prompted everyone else to join in a coughing fit. She stomped on his hands as well, making him yell as well.

"That noise?" she asked flustered. "Was that the noise you were talking about?"

The vice principal crossed his arms, glaring at the four detainees. He was suspicious that they were hiding something.

"No, it wasn't," he responded. "That was not the noise that I was talking about. Now I may not have caught you in the act yet," he stated. "But you can bet I will."

Allison let out a laugh, which sounded like a cough.

"You make book on that, missy," he said, pointing a finger angrily at her.

Sheila made a face, imitating Vernon, pointing a finger like him and mouthing his words. Brian bit his lip, trying to keep a straight face.

"And YOU!" he said, pointing at Brian, who turned white as a sheet. "I will not be made a fool of!"

The man turned around to head to the door. Hearing his fading footsteps and the door open, Sheila poked her head...just to get a quick glimpse of him leaving...with a paper toilet seat cover sticking out of his pants. Sheila's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open; she had to use every ounce of her willpower not to burst out laughing. She covered her mouth and nose.

Once the door slammed shut, everyone started laughing hysterically. Sheila was on the floor laughing, clutching her sides. She wished she had a camera to capture the moment.

Claire gave Bender a few stomps and kicks, which he tried to avoid. She scooted her chair back to let the pervert out, barraging him with savage slaps on the back. He shrugged, standing on his knees.

"It was an accident!" he said feigning innocence.

"You're an asshole!" she hissed.

"So sue me," he responded nonchalant.

Sheila got up from the floor, shaking out her long hair to get rid of the dust. Ugh! She definitely was going to need a shower after this. She could've sworn she found a dead bug in her hair.

"Sheila, that was really cool," Claire said.

"What was?" she asked, sniffling.

"How you sacrificed yourself for the rest of us."

"Seriously, I wouldn't have had the nerve to do that," Brian added.

"Yea," Andrew admitted. "But you're still pretty crazy."

"Crazy is just a higher level of consciousness," Allison added.

The comedian arched an eyebrow up on hearing this. "Um...you're welcome?" she said.

Bender headed over to Brian and stuck out his hand. "Yo, Ahab," he said. "Kybo mein doobage?"

"Huh?" Brian said confused.

"The package? In your underpants?"

Brian glanced over at the redhead, blushing as she was standing there.

"Dude, it's not like she hasn't seen anything before," Bender said chuckling.

Sheila rolled her eyes at Bender. She looked away, giving Brian some privacy so he could get the package out of his pants. There was a hiss of a zipper and the crinkle of plastic. Brian handed the baggie to Bender.

"Well, well..." Bender teased, seeing Sheila looking away. "Aren't you a little Blondie...Johnson."

Brian blushed madly, hiding his face. God! He was so embarrassed. He didn't have a lot of body hair—with a few exceptions. Sheila shut her eyes, making a face. She didn't need to know that.

"You...are a pervert," Sheila said.

Once Bender got his stash back, he headed to the back of the room

"Yo, wastoid!" Andrew said sternly. "You're not gonna blaze up in here!"

"Whoever wants in can join me in the back," Bender said gesturing to the couches.

Sheila and Claire looked at each other, then shrugged, joining Bender. Bender studied the two girls who had joined him, pleased.

Brian looked back, seeing the two girls. He glanced at Andrew and indicated 'maybe just a little bit'. Andrew gave him a look of disapproval and mouthed 'Absolutely not'.

Brian contemplated his decision, glancing back at the two girls...then got up. Realizing his pants were unzipped, he fixed them and joined them on the couch. He sat next to Sheila. Sheila had pulled her hair back into a ponytail using one of her jelly bracelets.

"Hey, dweeb!" Bender said cheerfully. "Glad to see you grew some balls."

Bender handed out some joints, lighting them up with a match. He took the first hit, exhaling a smooth stream of smoke. He blew it in Brian's face, making him cough. He chuckled at the reaction.

"Can you show me how to do that?" Claire asked.

"You never did this?" Bender asked.

She shook her head.

"Lemme guess," Bender said to Brian. "You haven't kissed Mary Jane either."

"N-no," Brian said nervous. "My cousin, Kendall did once..."

"And you, Teacher's Pet?" he asked as he rolled up a joint.

"Twice," Sheila answered.

"Lemme guess..." Bender said smirking. "Band camp."

Sheila laughed. "I've done it with my friends back home in Detroit too."

Andrew shook his head, turning around. Eventually gave in to the peer pressure.

"Shit," he said, knowing he was going to regret doing this.

Allison sat by herself alone as she watched in disbelief as Andrew get up to join the rest of the detainees in the back to smoke Mary Jane.