rhetoric

                In most of our lives, we all get the unforgettable memory of going through middle school. It was always filled with drama; who liked who, the old angry English teacher, recess, fights, and of course, cooties. All of that besides, I remember my first day of class, wondering about Mrs. Edelsworth. She preferred us to call her Mrs. E., but most of us called her Mrs. Evil behind her back. This information had been sprinkled down to us from the fifth graders the year before us. I remember trembling on my way to class, and the thoughts that ran through my head that first day.

                As I sat down in my seat towards the middle of the room, and Mrs. E. wrote her name on the board, I noticed her ugly cat sweater that looked like it came from the 1800’s. She had to be at least 80 years old. Probably one of those old ladies that that took in strays, and hated everything but them. My ears rang as the chalk moved across the board, but the noise didn’t seem to bother her like it did the rest of the class. Was she deaf? As our class sat in silence, Timmy from down the street strolled in late. Her head snapped around so fast I swore she got whiplash, and scolded him for his poor punctuality, then continued to rip him a new one for his messy hair and hygiene. Timmy must’ve slept in past his alarm. Apparently she wasn’t so deaf. She had the ears of a bat, and the eyes of a hawk. I felt bad for Timmy, getting embarrassed in front of the whole class. Mrs. E. must not have had kids, because she didn’t seem to like them. She then continued on the importance of punctuality and good hygiene, and I spaced off for a bit, analyzing the room. There were posters of book covers on the walls, all books I’ve never heard of. All were what looked like old books. She must have liked old books, but I guess that makes sense because she’s old.  Good Lord, I hope we don’t have to read those. There was a picture of a group of people on her desk. It was a family of four, a mom, a dad, and a brother and sister together in the park. I wasn’t sure whether it was her family, or someone she had murdered.

                I kept gazing around the room, distracted by my thoughts when SMACK! I looked down to see the red mark left on my hand from a ruler. “Ouch!” I shouted, peering up into black, beady eyes behind the biggest, thickest pair of bifocals I had ever seen. My heart stopped beating, and I swear at that moment, my soul was being sucked out of me by the evil Mrs. E.