Sex & Drugs & Dungeons & Dragons

D4. Forbidden Lore

The boys didn't see each other again until math class on Tuesday morning.

"What happened to your hair?" Cobi asked the instant he saw Griffin.

"He's trying to look like Morrissey," Derek explained.

"How come?" wondered the clueless Cobi.

"He's got a date with Hope."

"That true?" Cobi asked Griffin directly.

"Yeah. Saturday night," Griffin confirmed.

"Good morning class, please turn to page three-hundred fifty-seven of your workbook." Their teacher, Ms. Clydesdale, had begun the day's lesson. Graying hair in a bun, she wore a straight flower-print dress that hinted at a former life as a hippy. "Go ahead and complete exercises five through seven and then we'll discuss them."

Tony immediately began to work on the problems, but Griffin seemed to be ignoring his teacher. Instead of doing math problems, he doodled. In fact, his entire workbook was covered with doodles. But they were odd doodles, not typical teenage cartoons or dick pics. They were maps, stylized, like they had come out of some medieval atlas. They had icons of sea serpents and dragons which depicted dangerous waters or lands.

Derek noticed. "Is that a new D&D map?" he whispered.

Griffin nodded, sill concentrating on the doodling.

"It looks awesome," Derek encouraged him.

But Ms. Clydesdale had also noticed. "Mr. Turner, perhaps you would like to discuss your work with the entire class."

Griffin looked up, a deer in headlights. "No, that's okay—" he stammered.

"Stand up and show us your work."

Griffin reluctantly held up his book, displaying the map doodle. All the kids around him started to laugh.

Ms. Clydesdale squinted at the image. "What is that?"

"It's a map," Griffin admitted, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Doesn't look like a map I've ever seen before."

"It's a loser Dungeons & Dragons map," Kenny told her in a mocking tone. "Better watch out or one of these dorks might curse you with a spell." Everyone in the class busted up laughing. Everyone, that is, except for Derek, Cobi, Tony and Griffin, all of whom were about to die with embarrassment.

"All right, all right class, that's enough. Mr. Turner, I'd like to speak with you after class." Griffin sat down and hid his face behind his hand, ready to give up on his map and finally pay attention.

When the bell rang Griffin took his time putting his books in his backpack and then stood around, uncomfortable, until the last of his classmates shuffled out into the hall.

Ms. Clydesdale finished erasing the board and then turned to confront Griffin. She looked him over and frowned. "You know I should be sending you to the principal's office."

"I'm really sorry." Griffin was trying to make amends and get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. "I won't doodle again, I promise."

"It's not just he doodling," Ms. Clydesdale confided, "it's the Dungeons & Dragons."

"What do you mean?"

"We had a faculty meeting about it this morning. About 'the dangers of Dungeons & Dragons'. It's a city-wide directive. Mr. Jensen is pulling all the Dungeons & Dragons books from the library and we've been instructed to ban the game from school."

Griffin blinked in astonishment, momentarily at a loss for words. "Seriously?" was all he could eventually mutter.

Ms. Clydesdale nodded grimly. "Look, I don't know what this 'Dungeons & Dragons' is all about but be careful. Parents are in a panic over that game. Don't give someone an excuse to make an example of you."

"Thanks for the warning."

Ms. Clydesdale smiled sympathetically. "No problem. When I was your age my school banned The Catcher in the Rye."