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Q95: I'm in detention and the teacher has just suggested a new game...

r/nosleep | by: u/papamishka89

Detention... again.

Same story, different day. I was in detention about once a week for tardiness. I wonder if they'd still be so eager to dole out punishment if they knew it was because my dad had left last year for cigarettes and then had never came back. Or the fact that my mother was an alcoholic, leaving me to fend for myself and find my own way to and from school on most days.

But I guess everyone had a sad story to tell. These days, misfortune was a regularity, and any blips of happiness were few and far in-between.

I sat quietly as the other high school students filtered in. A couple of jocks in letterman jackets took seats in the back close to two popular girls that had never looked my way before. They cackled wildly as the flirting and jokes began. They probably didn't even notice that I existed, breathing the same oxygen in the room as them. I was more like a coat rack in the corner than a person.

I pulled up my hood and tugged at the drawstrings, retreating into my shell, and just hoped for the next two hours to go by as quickly as possible.

After another minute the bell rang. A mass exodus of kids passed by the windows on their way to the buses out front. A couple of them stopped to point and laugh at us. Brad, one of the jocks, gave them the finger causing them to scurry off to the parking lot.

After a few more minutes of the kids in the back talking about the game on Friday, Mr. Matheson finally strolled in. He stomped to the front desk and slammed a stack of folders on its surface with a loud smack, effectively silencing the chatter.

He looked at each of us, his eyes were wild and bloodshot. He looked rather disheveled, not like his normal put together self. Mr. Matheson was the 11th grade history teacher. He was ex-military and typically very no-nonsense and straight to business. He definitely didn't appear to be his normal self today.

"Alright kiddos, today is going to be a little different. We're going to have a little fun in detention this time, is that alright with everyone?" His grin was borderline wicked, I didn't like where this was going.

"Sure, Mr. Matheson, I love fun." Brad joked, causing the others to giggle.

"Shut your mouth Peterson. You smartass. You know I've seen you in detention more than any other kid in this school. If it were up to me you'd have been out of here a long time ago. But you just keep scoring those touchdowns don't you?" The teacher beamed a dry erase marker right at Brad, which he caught just before it struck his face.

"See. Those hands keep the town happy. But let's see if you can continue to be lucky huh?"

Mr. Matheson pulled a revolver from his waistband and slapped it on the desk. The entire room gasped and then fell silent. My heart thundered in my chest and my legs tingled with the urge to run.

"You see guys, the feds found my safehouse. The collection of guns and an entire hill of Columbian bam-bam. It's hard to make it in this economy with a teacher's salary, so I reverted to some business practices I saw in my time with the military."

He locked the door and paced the front of the room like a shark circling its prey.

"I bet they'll be here any minute to pick me up." Mr. Matheson loosened his tie and tossed it on the floor.

"It's life for me boys. I got some priors I'm not proud of, hid them from the school board of course. No chance of parole, no siree, not me."

He cackled manically then, causing us all to jump.

"So, we're going to go out with a bang. Let's have a little fun. This is something I picked up back in Nam. You ever heard of Russian Roulette?"

He eyed each of us hungrily, none of us dared to utter a sound.