Junk and Other Stories

Don't Forbid Me

John Lennon had a reputation at his high school, and he was immensely proud of it. Everyone knew him has the toughest kid in class that could make anyone and everyone laugh their socks off. It was a very comfortable position and he was happy with it. No one dared to mess with him, but all of his classmates adored him. 

One day, while the class was in the middle of silent reading, the teacher suddenly rose from her seat. She had noticed someone peering in through the classroom door window. She went over and opened the door. By now, the entire class had stopped what they were doing, suddenly intrigued by the person lurking outside the door.

A young girl strolled into the room, her long black hair bobbing as she walked. She quickly scanned the classroom, taking in all of the new faces. She didn't seem too interested in anyone, but she paused when she spotted John sitting in the middle row. The girl blinked her big hazel eyes at him with some interest.

"Class," said Teacher, "we have a new student with us today. What did you say your name was again, dear?"

"Esbeidy," came the shy reply.

"What a lovely name!" Teacher gushed. "We hope you'll be very happy here in our class. Now, where would you like to sit?"

The only spare seat in the entire classroom was directly beside John. Esbeidy nervously made her way towards the empty desk, placed her books on the desktop and sat herself down. Teacher nodded at her before going back to scribbling on the chalkboard. Esbeidy opened her textbook and began silently reading. John decided to watch her instead of focusing on her own work.

Esbeidy looked up and saw him. "Can I help you?" she murmured.

"What's your name?"

"Esbeidy."

"That's an unusual name."

"Mm..."

There was a pause.

"You're a very pretty little girl," said John.

Esbeidy blushed bright red, but pretended she hadn't heard him and carried on reading. John leaned closer and peered at what she was reading. Esbeidy quickly covered the page with her arm, terrified that John would think her a sad little swot for analyzing Shakespearean poetry.

"Romeo and Juliet?" John whispered, with raised eyebrows. "Boring!"  

"Shut up!" Esbeidy hissed. "You're going to get me in trouble!"

"No, I won't shut up," said John. "I won't shut up until you acknowledge my compliment. All I said was you're a very pretty little girl, and you didn't even say thank you!"

"Maybe I didn't want to be complimented!"

"There's gratitude! Can't even take a compliment!"

"Look, just leave me alone!" Esbeidy snapped, forgetting to lower her voice.

"Shh, Esbeidy!" said Teacher. "You're not supposed to natter in class. You're only meant to talk when you're answering a question, then you must put up your hand."

"Sorry, Miss," Esbeidy said softly. "I didn't mean to shout."

"That's all right, dear. Just don't do it again," said Teacher. She spoke again, addressing the entire class, "Listen up, everybody, for your next project, you'll be pairing up in groups of two."

Several students shot knowing glances at each other, eyebrows raised and smiling. Esbeidy was new so she didn't have anyone to smile at. She sat awkwardly in her seat, pretending that she wasn't too bothered by it. Teacher instructed everyone to partner up then take a little booklet for the pairs to work on together. The selected pairings started making their way towards the front of the room.