Diane Broyles steps up to the showcase with her first entry, a fiendish power struggle inspired by, ‘A Square Jaw is a Sign of Will Power.’ Let battle commence!

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A Matter of Principal

Okay, so I admit I’m not the most well-behaved boy. I love fun but I don’t do anything that would hurt anyone—at least I never plan to. And I rarely get caught. Except once or twice. And maybe a few other times. And then today. That’s why I’m sitting here outside Principal Oz’s office.

I’m a little bummed ‘cause I never met this guy before. You see, this is my first month in junior high. Back in grade school, I got to know Principal Percival real well. I could get him to laugh. Sometimes he’d shake his head and let me go ‘cause whatever I did was kind of funny. Like for our sixth-grade graduation when I put a bowl of black marbles outside the auditorium door where we graduates were supposed to go in. The sign over it read,

Add to Mr. Percival’s donation to Toys for Tots

Pass him a marble as you graduate

Each of us pressed a marble into his hand as he gave us a handshake and a diploma. By the time he was calling out the names that start with M, he had so many marbles in his pocket, his jacket dragged to his knees.

I still owe Mr. Percival 27½ hours of detention from last year. I hope he didn’t tell Mr. Oz about the hours . . . or the black marbles. Not a good way to start a school year.

So why does my new principal want to see me? It could be the three guinea pigs I let loose with the numbers one, two and four painted on their backs. The teachers are still looking for number three.

Or it could be the paper cups I filled with confetti and glued to the ceiling fan in my science class. Or maybe the yellow tape I put across all the school entrances last Friday morning with signs that read,

Crime Scene

Do Not Enter

It was a nice day off. I went to the beach. I’ll just plead innocent and look up at him with my big brown eyes. That’s worked for me before. I sure hope he’s a nice man. My dad says you can judge a man by his handshake and his jaw. A strong handshake says he’s a man of integrity. A square jaw is a sign of will power. It tells you he’s someone who doesn’t back down. I don’t know what kind of handshake Mr. Percival had, but his jaw was skinny and disappeared into his neck.

Now I’m getting scared. Sit up straight.

Take a deep breath.

Oh, no. His secretary just called my name.

Smile. Don’t call him Ozzie, like we do behind his back.

I’m opening the door.

No way! He has a jaw like Jay Leno’s! And he’s not smiling.

“Yes, Mr. Oz.” “Of course, Mr. Oz.” “No thank you, Mr. Oz. I’ll remain standing.”

His eyebrows grow together. I wish he’d get to the point.

“You left your locker unlocked,” he says.

Aw, man! Did I leave my sister’s pot in my jacket pocket? I’ll say I found it in our neighbor’s yard and plan to take it to the police on my way home.

He calls me by name. “Elwood Huck.” Then he says, “Sister to Susan. She was quite the troublemaker.”

I’m toast. Sins of the sister. This is the guy who expelled her three times.

He says, “Did she tell you I give my students only one chance to screw up?”

“Yes, sir,” I lie. Apparently he doesn’t have a sister.

“Tell Susan, ‘Congratulations on her wedding.’”

“Huh?” Susan’s not married.

He pulls my half-sack of confetti from his drawer and hands it to me. “You left this behind.”

I shrink back.

“And we found number three guinea pig in a paper cup on Miss Booth’s desk.”

Now he’s puttin’ me on. There’s no number three and the cups are still glued to the fan.

“This is your only warning,” he says. “Don’t screw up again.”

I figure the meeting’s over, so I head toward the door.

As I’m leaving, I see a piece of yellow caution tape draped over the doorknob.

“Elwood,” he says.

I turn back.

His evil eyes meet mine. He takes a small round, black object from his pocket and flicks it toward me across his desk.  “Care for a game of marbles?”

******

Stay tuned because we have other fine entries to follow, all this month.

Plus, a new contest started up on July 15^th – details here:

www.awordwithyoupress.com/2010/07/15/a-dish-called-wanda-our-new-contet/

And don’t forget our mystery Brit prize contest, running until July 31^st – someone must win… something!

www.awordwithyoupress.com/2010/07/04/we-hold-this-contest-to-be-self-evident/