Friday Detention at Holy Submission School

Melissa was in a bit of a panic as she rifled through her book bag. The mid-semester assignment was due today and she had spent the past 2 weeks working on her project which was a 40 page typed report on biblical refutations of the idea of evolution. She knew it was in her book bag as she had placed it there this morning before she left for School. However, as she shoved her books aside and removed them one by one from her bag, she could not locate her project. This was crazy! She knew it was there at 8:00 AM today. Now at 9:30 AM it had somehow magically disappeared. Retracing her steps from putting it in her book bag at home to sitting in her assigned seat in the combined grade science classroom at Our Lady of Holy Submission School, she had a sneaking suspicion that her younger brother Matt had something to do with the missing report. She glanced over at his seat in the front row hoping to catch some indication of a practical joke on his face. After a full 30 second stare at him he gave no hint that he had done anything mischievous with her report. Of course he did not make eye contact with her. He just went about chatting with his friends about the weather and the local sports teams.

Unable to establish any evidence against her brother, she continued with her replaying of events that morning trying to figure out who might have been able to access her book bag before this class. As she was performing her mental audit of the morning’s events, Mr Meyers called out her name. “Melissa, you’re assignment was the refutation of the heathen theory of evolution.” Melissa froze at the mention of her name and report topic. It was as if a white-hot spotlight had just been turned on at her. Mr. Meyers continued, “Can you provide the class with a summary of your research findings?”

Now real panic had set in, she started to sweat profusely as her face suddenly and heavily blushed. “Uhhm, Mr. Meyers, I think I may have left my report at home. May I be excused to go home and get it?” Mr. Meyers’ brow fell and a deep furrow appeared between his eyebrows; “Melissa, did I not remind the class yesterday and every day prior this week that senior projects were due today?” “Yes, you did sir” she responded meekly. “Without any evidence to the contrary, I can only assume that you did not take the time to complete your assignment” he said, sternly. Melissa protested, “But sir, I have comp…” He cut her off and asked: “Melissa, I don’t want to hear excuses, how do you think your future employer would respond to you missing deadlines on critical assignments and then proffering excuses instead of actual work?” Melissa looked down at her hands and meekly offered: “Not very well, sir.” “That is correct, not very well, indeed” Mr Meyers said.

“It pains me to send you there Melissa, as you have been a good student for most of the year in this class, but I’m afraid that you will have to go to detention today for 1 hour after classes have ended. That will be from 3:00 PM until 4:00 PM.” Melissa was shocked at his pronouncement, “But sir, today is Friday…” Mr Meyers gazed at her for several seconds before responding, “I know what day of the week it is Melissa, but that won’t change the fact that you have missed your assigned work. Remember that idle hands do the devil’s deeds. My hope is that a Friday detention will help you keep the devil at bay in your own life.”

Friday detention was where the worst students in the school went, this was a crowd that Melissa steadfastly avoided. The motto: “You can judge a person by the friends they keep” was always foremost in her mind when it came to social interactions. And Melissa was acutely aware of, perhaps a bit too much in fear of, the judgements of others. She was not yet confident enough to not give a whit about what others thought of her. She based her self-esteem on how she imagined others thought of her. So, being in detention with the ruffians and low-lifes of Our Lady of Holy Submission School was about as degrading socially as things could get. Or so she imagined.

At 3:00 PM, as all her schoolmates departed for home, preparing for parties and the fun of a Friday afternoon and evening, she was heading to Brother Frank’s office. Brother Frank was the school disciplinarian at Our Lady of Holy Submission School. He was an ice-cold character who when met in a hall way would not respond in the slightest way to friendly greetings by students. Any “Hello Brother Frank” would be met with silence and an icy stare. Rumors around the school had mentioned that he would actually administer corporal punishment to the students in detention. None of these were substantiated and most students dismissed them as rumors. However, with the impending doom of detention looming, Melissa let these thoughts run rampant over her mind.

As she opened the door to Brother Frank’s office, she was met with the wide-eyed gazes of 5 freshmen boys and 3 sophomore boys. No other girls, no other upper-class students. Just these scrappy looking underclass boys, although she did seem to recognize 2 of the freshmen boys from the school bus ride she took in the morning and then back from school in the afternoon. But they were just inconsequential losers, freshmen, pimply-faced with poorly fitting uniforms, who oogled every girl on the bus. She knew better than to even meet their gazes. As a senior and also one of the most stunning girls in school, she rarely gave any male student the pleasure of direct eye contact. Preferring instead to look above or away from them, she would only engage those she felt were of equal or better social status than herself. As a preeminent senior, there were very few students who fell into this category, so most of the current student-body considered her an aloof, although hot, babe. Now she was embarrassed to even be in the same room, the same predicament, as these younger, dorky, students. The same ones she regularly dismissed out of hand upon passing them in the school halls. Seeing the low-lifes she was in detention with, she immediately felt a sense of superiority. Yes, this would not be so bad, she at least would have some perceived authority over the losers in this group.

She sat on a chair at the far end of the 8 students in Brother Frank’s office. Within a minute of Melissa taking her chair, Brother Frank walked in to the office. Wearing black body-length religious vestments over his thin frame and a pair of glasses, he looked detached and slightly amused due to the self-confident smirk on his face. Taking account of the 9 students in the office, he greeted the regulars: David, Brian, and Kevin – the sophomores. “We just can’t seem to convince you boys that there are better things to do on a Friday afternoon, can we?” He then scanned the freshmen in his office and welcomed them with his usual sarcasm: “I assume you boys were curious about what happens in detention at Our Lady of Holy Submission School, well you will soon find out and if I see you here again it will only get worse.”

Then his eyes met Melissa’s, “What do we have here, a senior in detention?” Looking down at the roster Brother Frank saw Melissa’s name on the list and saw Mr. Meyers as the offended party. After reading the notes intently, he cast a sideways glance at Melissa and then to the rest of the students, “Well Melissa, it has been a while since we have had a young lady in Friday detention, much less a senior. I should remind you that as a part of your admission to this esteemed institution we require your parents to sign a waiver and acceptance form for our disciplinary methods. And I have yours right here along with each of the other students in detention today.” He gestured to a stack of papers that lay on the corner of his desk. “Any lack of cooperation on the part of any student during disciplinary measures will result in the immediate expulsion of said student. Am I making myself clear?” All the students, including Melissa, gave an apprehensive nod of understanding. “Very good, then we shall commence with the required punishments. For our veterans, this will all be familiar, but for the benefit of our newcomers I will elucidate on the proceedings.