Changing Places with Yourself

Chapter 3

Did I mention I'm not a morning person?  So the curtains open streaming sunlight right into my eye means only one thing.  I'm switching to the room across the hall today.  Looking at my clock I see the time and my stomach growls reminding me of how little I ate yesterday.  After going to the bathroom I had downstairs to see what’s to eat in the kitchen.

Man, it was a mess.  I’ll clean it up later, but right now I'm hungry.  After I ate, I went to work cleaning the mess in the kitchen/dining room.  While working I began to plan on how to deal with those who bullied her last year in school.  I know that she was kept back like I was doing two years in the sixth grade.  Unlike me, who was bored in school, she really did struggle, but she went to private schools and thrive as I did.  So really, like me, she only needed three credits to graduate, which means I don't have to go for the full year.  Woohoo.  One semester is all that's needed, but I would still need to handle the bullies first.  Regardless of the 0% tolerance rate for bullying in her school, nothing was done to stop them from messing with her even when they got violent and hit her or knocked her down to stick around to kick her.  Since junior year just let out less than 2 weeks ago I have the whole summer to get everything in place so that no one in that school will ever be bullied again. So I made an appointment with my lawyer to figure out how to confront the school board and get my grandparents' business back into family hands.  I was very happy with both meetings.  Dad’s parents had left everything to him with explicit instructions that nothing but a single dollar goes to their good-for-nothing daughter, the aunt who tried to kill me.  It seems that she had already spent more than one person should in a lifetime and they had cut her off on her 18th birthday, saying that she needed to learn the value of money by earning it herself.  Her trust fund was given completely to charity to help battered women, which ironic since she started abusing me as those women had been.  With her going to jail and Kara’s promise that auntie wasn’t a threat to me anymore I was able to start working on getting back what had been my mom’s parents’ legacy.  The Gillows Company, a business that contains 12 different textile factories, a corporate office in town managing all of them along with the countless high-end retail stores under the family name.  The people who had bought it from Grandpa were literally running it into the ground, they had filed for bankruptcy and were planning on shutting down the factories and stores.  That would mean over 300 people just in our area alone would be jobless, and that was not acceptable.  My lawyer and I drew up a contract for me to buy the company back for what it was worth now $85.9 million, not the $250 million they had paid.  Of course, the new owners didn’t like that I was lowballing them, but they didn’t have a choice they didn’t have the resources to keep going past the end of August.  After we pointed out it was their fault that the company was in such bad shape because they tried to expand into a new market for “regular” consumers, not just the high-end ones to fast after taking control, which why it failed.  If they had just learned how to run the company first then expanded in a year or so they might have succeeded, but they were too impatient to see high profits on their investment too quickly.  By mid-July, the company was once again in the hands of my family.  When I went to make the announcement to the corporate office it was like coming home.  There were so many people who had watched this Becky grow up and her memories flooded me of times spent learning every department sometimes beside her Grandpa and some beside her mom.  Everyone was very happy that the company was back in the hands it belonged to, and I got back the executives who had been running it for my family for over 30 years.  By late August everyone was back in their proper place and we were actually turning a profit again in the retail stores.  I had instructed one of the junior execs to look into the second set of retail stores to see why they hadn’t been so successful and it turns out that the prices were just too ridiculous for a working-class family.  Plus the stores weren’t set up to be family-friendly, so I told him to get a team together to determine the feasibility of revamping those stores into actual competition for other clothing stores selling at those prices.  His team will report back to the CEO, Mr. Javcir, a man who ran the company side by side with my Grandpa. 

Finally, early September comes the first day of my senior year and looking at some of the faces, I couldn't help but laugh internally. Everyone looks so young even the teachers and my locker was located dead center in the middle of the row set aside for the senior class.  No one in the school but the superintendent knew about the cameras directed at my locker.  It uploaded the feed to a server only I and my lawyers had access to.  Our school is different since our schedules were sent out in advance to allow students to make changes as needed and we had to take our own locks to secure our lockers.  I made sure my first, third and fifth.  Were set for me to get the three credits I needed and the rest for fun like cooking, sewing, crafts, and English. Hey, I like to write, remember.

I got to my locker early having driven myself to school instead of taking a bus.  So, I was able to get my lock on my books put away before the mean b***h patrol AKA cheerleaders with football player boyfriends arrived.  I knew I would see them at lunch.  Oh, did I forget to mention there was a security camera pointed at my parking space to since seniors got assigned spots, just to see if anyone would mess in my car.  My first three classes went by slowly as expected a few tried to heckle me a bit, but I ignore them.  None of them knew which locker I was assigned to yet.  Before lunch I went to drop off my books and as expected several cheerleaders were making out at their lockers.

“Please move.  You're blocking my locker.” I stated clearly.

“No.  We don’t want the ugliest, fattest b***h near our lockers.  So, go find another area or else.” Gina, head cheer slut said.

“Oh dear, Gina, just for the record I have as much right as a senior to a locker here as any of you, even if this is your second year in the 12th grade. So either move or I'll tell Troy, here, what you did with Donovan at his party last Friday night.”  I reply.

“How dare you threaten me, you b***h.  Didn't you learn anything last year when I had the boys break one of your fingers right in front of Principal Antcid?  No one here will help you so go away or I’ll have them break your arm or something worse, this time.” She fumed as she tried to push Troy away so he couldn’t hear our conversation.

“You really are as stupid as you are slutty. 1) I have video proof of you giving Donovan a BJ.  2) Principal Antcid won't protect you and your squad this year.  3) Thank you for admitting on camera what you and the football players you were servicing with s*x did to me last year.  Makes a job of getting all of you expelled and arrested so much easier.” I gloat.

“What camera?” she demanded.

“That one right there pointed directly at my locker and the mic is right there above in the clock above my locker.  Also, they haven’t had the assembly yet making the announcement about the ‘bully patrol’.  I'm part of a new beta group of students wearing hidden body cameras to show the bullying that goes on in this school.  The feed goes directly to the school board and the lawyers to review.  This way parents can see what their children have done to be expelled also the police get a copy when an assault or confession of I passed assault happens.  Since I was 17 when you had them break my finger it will be considered child abuse as you were 18.  So you’ll be tried as an adult, I hope you like prison food.”  I reveal with a smirk as she moves and I get my locker open.

“You’re lying.  There’s no program like that and even if there was no one’s going to stop me or my squad because we’re champion cheerleaders.” was her lame comeback.

“Were champions!  Past tense.  Since you became head of the squad your ‘team’ hasn’t won a single competition, in fact, your routines are so pathetic they won’t even give you participation ribbons anymore.  You have single-handedly made these girls the laughingstock of the school.  But then again since all you care about is which boy you want to sleep with next it's not surprising the squad is failing so horribly.”  I inform her as a group of people begins to form around us, including some other cheerleaders.

Unfortunately for Gina, her squad wasn't going to back her up this time, instead they were agreeing with the rest of the students who were standing around us.  One of the football players made a move toward me like he was going to hit me, and his cheerleader girlfriend stopped him.  “Donovan, we are done.  How dare you cheat on me with this skank?” Gwen yelled pointing at Gina.

“Baby.  Gwen.  She pretended that she was you.  She got me drunk and then she started to give me a BJ.” Donovan tries to defend himself.

“Don't give me that crap Donovan, I have never given you a BJ, because you refuse to reciprocate by going down on me.  So you knew it wasn't me sucking your pathetic p***s dick.”  Gwen countered.  Other football players laughed at her description of him because they knew it was true, he wasn’t packing very much down there.

“Fine, so what.  She gives good head and since you refused I let her take care of me.  I have needs, you know.”  Donovan snapped as he glared at her and his team members.

Troy's fist came out of nowhere breaking Donovan’s nose.  “You’re an ass, Donovan.  Gina, you need to stay the hell away from me, you slut!”  Troy barked at them both.  He then shocked everyone by turning to me.   “Becky, none of the football players will mess with you this year.  As Captain, I give you my guarantee.  There's something different about you this year.” he conveyed to me.  “Guys, leave her alone.”  He addressed the team directly before walking off as they followed him to the lunchroom.

“Gina, this squad is going to vote on kicking your lazy ass to the curb as Captain this afternoon.”  Gwen declared before flipping her hair and leading the rest of the squad away.

Before a livid Gina could make a move toward me, two cops came into the area and put handcuffs on her wrist.  They told her why she was under arrest and read her Miranda Rights.  Several students, who were standing around us watching everything, begin clapping as she was led away, even some of the teachers were heard saying things like “finally” and “it’s about time”.  “It seems more than the students she was bullying we're happy to see her go.”  I reflected gleefully to myself before getting my things from my locker for my next class after lunch.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, although everyone was buzzing about Gina’s confession and arrest.  Donovan glared daggers at me during my self-improvement class, which was 6th-period.  So much so that one of the other football players in class hit him upside the head telling him to back off.  I was called to the Principal’s office 20 minutes before the end of class because Mr. Antcid wanted to speak with me.  “Speak with me,” I almost laughed at that on my way to the main office.  Once I entered his lair he told me to shut the door.  As soon as I sat down he began roaring at me, “Who the hell do you think you are, b***h?”

“Excuse me?  What are you yelling about?” I query innocently.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot you're extremely dumb along with being an ugly fat b***h.  I’m talking about what you pulled with Gina.  She was going to lead our girls to the championship this year and now somehow you got her arrested.” He growled.

“First off, she got herself arrested because she set up the assault on me last year, which you witnessed and she admitted it today.  Secondly, she’s been Head Cheerleader for 2 years now and like I told her since she took over the squad hasn’t even gotten anywhere near regionals because she sucks, mostly d***s, but as a cheerleader, she’s a failure.  There’s more to being a good cheerleader than being able to spread your legs that far apart.”  I retort.

“You're just jealous because no one wants you to spread their legs.  Now, you're going to drop the charges against her or...” He begins to threaten me.

“Or what?  Don’t forget, she will be telling the police about how you actually were in the room when they attacked me last year and did nothing to stop them.  You have no power here.”  I interrupt as I checked the text on my phone smiling at what I read there.

“No power?  No power?  This is my school I can expel your ass or do worse if I want.  You think she was cruel.  I will make your life a living hell.”  He sneered.

Before I can respond the door opened as Superintendent Specks walked in, looking down at his tablet with an earbud inserted in one ear.

“Sir, what are you doing here?  No one told me you would be coming by today.” Mr. Antcid began questioning, only to be shushed as Mr. Specks put a finger up in the air so he could finish watching the video.  Then Mr. Specks turned and asked me if I was okay.  After I nod, he turns his attention back to Principal Antcid.

“Antcid, you're fired.”  He simply declared.

“What?  Why?  You can’t fire me that takes an act from the whole school board.”  Antcid looked confused.

“Simple, Miss David here is wearing a body cam on, which played live for the board. We just watched you not only curse and yell at a student, but you threatened her as well.  We can’t have someone like you overseeing the impressionable young people of today.  Also, we were given a video that proves you were getting serviced sexually by Gina Sprintz in this very office today before 2nd-period.   s*x with a student, even though she’s over the age of consent, is illegal.  So, we are waiting for the cops right now to arrest you for that.”  As he finished 2 police officers walked in to place Antcid in cuffs and leading him out in the hall in front of the students since the final bell had just rung.

Suddenly the school PA system clicked on and Superintendent Specks’ voice came over it.  “Attention students!  There will be a school assembly after 2nd-period tomorrow in the gym to explain what is going on.  As I’m sure you’ve all noticed the police have had to visit the school twice today to arrest certain individuals and this will all be addressed tomorrow during the assembly.”  PA off.