Public Affection
"AHEM!" coughed Mr. Simmons loudly.
The three kissing couples in the back of the bus jerked apart and saw the angriest
looking Mr. Simmons they had ever seen.
"What in the name of my second cousin Myrtle is going on here?" snapped Mr.
Simmons very angrily but quietly enough so as not to wake the other sleeping students
on the bus.
"Its not what it looks like," stated a very frightened Sid.
"Yeah, really, its not what it looks like," chimed in Gerald.
Arnold couldn't say anything because he didn't want to lie and he was extremely
scared of the way Mr. Simmons was looking at them. The girls were also extremely
frightened and were hugging their guys.
"I bet this caboodling is what made the whole class have to wait on you!" Mr.
Simmons fumed.
"We were lost!" wailed Gerald
"I had to carry Nadine, and... and it took longer!!" cried Sid.
"Well, we did get lost, and Helga did get bitten by a snake, but yeah, we did do
some 'caboodling' as you would call it." stated Arnold, truthfully.
"Yeah, us too," whispered an embarrassed Phoebe.
"And us," said Nadine.
"Well, since this was a school function, and there is a rule clearly stating
against public affection, I have no choice but to punish you six when we get back to
school. You will all stay after school and then we will talk about your
punishment." said Mr. Simmons, a little calmer.
"Yes Mr. Simmons," said the students. Mr. Simmons walked back up the aisle of the bus.
"What do you think he'll do to us?" said Sid, still a little frightened.
Phoebe sat up straight.
"I don't care," she looked at Gerald. "As long as I'm with you."
"Same here! Only with Sid!" exclaimed Nadine quietly as to not wake
anyone up.
"And I don't either as long as I'm with Helga!"
"But wouldn't Mr. Simmons consider this in our punishments?"
"I believe Gerald may be right," said Phoebe, crestfallen.
"What if the punishment is just keeping us apart! But I guess that wont
be too bad now that I think about it."
"Yes it would, Sid!" replied Nadine. "It would be terrible!"
"But we were apart in school before the trip."
"Exactly. BEFORE. Now that we love each other so much, I couldn't bear
to be away from you!"
"I did it for six years. It was torturous having Arnold so near, yet so
far." Arnold gave Helga the flirty eyes in response.
"I'll never be far away again. No matter what Mr. Simmons does."
Mr. Simmons knew that they would talk about their possible punishments
and tell what they feared most would happen. That's why he eavesdropped from
a nearby seat. He heard it all and knew exactly what he would do.
The next day--
"Okay class. Time for recess. Phoebe, Gerald, Arnold, Helga, Sid, and
Nadine please come see me." Everyone poured out of the classroom. The six
hesitantly walked up to his desk.
"Yes Mr. Simmons?" Arnold asked quietly. He and Phoebe were to be the
spokespeople.
"I was very disappointed in you all on the bus last night. It was
incredibly un-special of you all. And I stayed up very late thinking of the
perfect punishment. I am going to watch you constantly and make sure you
don't do anything that you didn't do before Adventure Woods when all of
'this' started. Not only that, but I'm calling all of your parents and tell
them what's going on and ask them to forbid you to do this at home!"
"Mr. Simmons, you can't do that!!" Gerald burst out.
"Yes I can and I will. Now go to recess." They walked out to recess,
all of them despaired and heartbroken. Mr. Simmons started calling the
parents.
"Hello? Johanssen residence. Mr. Johanssen speaking."
"Yes this is Mr. Simmons, Gerald's teacher."
"Gerald? Only Jamie-O's teachers call us. He's the only one who gets in
trouble. What did Gerald do?"
"Well, as you know, Gerald's class took a field trip to Adventure woods
yesterday, and well, I'm not sure how to say this, but--"
"Well, get on with it, man! What did he do!!"
"He and another student were.... how do you say, making out? They were
doing it quite a bit and they were the one of the main reasons the class was
so late getting back. I wanted to request that you forbid Gerald from seeing
this girl. Her name is Phoebe just so you know."
"He was what!!! But he's only nine!!! Rest assured I will stop Gerald
from seeing this Phoebe no matter what!!"
"Thank you and I wish you a pleasant and special day."
"Hello? This is Mrs. Hyerdahl"
"Hello, this is Mr. Simmons, Phoebe's teacher. I have some shocking
news."
"<gasp> What??"
"Yesterday, as you know, Phoebe's class took a fieldtrip to Adventure
woods. There, in the woods, she and another student were canoodling." Mr.
Simmons meant making out of course but she thought he meant sex, which is
VERY, VERY shocking at that age.