Chapter Text
Todd walked to the front of Wayside School. He took a minute to stare at this monstrous building he had called “school” for going on six years. It was his first day of his last year of Wayside, and for once in his life, he was determined to make a change.
Now, Todd had seen some of his classmates over the summer, and he had noticed some changes. For instance, Maurecia had started giggling and shyly smiling every time he biked past her house, which she hadn’t done as often before. He’d seen many of his classmates over the summer, and they looked to be a bit taller than they were in the past. Overall, his classmates seemed a lot more mature lately, and this reminded Todd that if he was going to survive his fifth grade year, he was gonna have to change in some way.
No more would he talk out of turn. No more would he misbehave in any way shape or form. No more would Mrs. Jewls have to send him home at noon on the kindergarten bus! Yes sir, Todd was going to make a change this year and he was going to do it right.
The sixteen-minute bell whoop-whooped and Todd hurried up to get to class. Todd was going very fast, but he still noticed everything around him and took in every word his classmates said on the way up to the thirtieth story.
“I really thought about cutting my hair shorter this summer,” said Leslie.
“Oh? Because of Paul?” asked Jenny.
“Nah, I just thought I had to change it since I just turned ten in June, and I might be a little too mature, ya know? Thought about it for a while, but then I realized I didn’t have to change just yet. Maybe later on, but for now I’m keeping the pigtails,” replied Leslie.
“Good idea,” Jenny replied. “Your pigtails are so iconic.”
Todd continued whirling his way up the stairs. He didn’t care what Leslie did with her hair, but he did admire her willingness to be herself even in the onslaught of change. He checked his watch, and it read 8:54. Wayside School started at 9:00, and he was only on the thirteenth story.
“You know, I play video games too much,” Eric Fry said to his fellow Eric’s.
“Same, Eric,” agreed Eric Ovens.
“You know, Erics,” piped in Eric Bacon. “So do I, but that’s alright. There are much worse things we could be doing too much of, ya dig?”
“Yes indeed,” replied Eric Ovens. “Wanna come over and play The Bad Guys vs. The Super Spies?”
“I’m game!” said both Eric’s at exactly the same time.
Todd smiled. He too played video games more than he’d like to admit, but he liked it too much to quit. He scurried up the stairs and found himself on the twenty-fifth story by 8:57.
“Hey, Allison,” said Rondi. “Did you see Jason yet?”
“I did! He’s so handsome. I think he’s been working out!” After hearing Allison’s voice alone, Todd could tell she had feelings for him.
“Well…are you gonna ask him out?” asked Rondi.
“I’m not quite sure if I’m ready yet,” Allison sighed. “It’s definitely too soon.”
“Fair enough,” Rondi responded. “We are only ten, after all.”
While Todd had felt those lovey-dovey feelings as well towards some of the girls in his class, never once had he actually thought about going on a real-life, bonafide date, and he could totally understand how Allison wasn’t completely keen on the idea. He then dashed all the way to the thirtieth story and made it with one minute to spare.
Unfortunately, the door was already locked.
Todd was outraged. He proceeded to pound and bang on the door, while screaming, “SOMEBODY, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR NOW!!!”
After a few seconds, Mrs. Jewls angrily opened the door.
“Todd,” she said. “Looks like your fifth grade year is not off to a good start.”
Todd gulped. He knew he had done something wrong as per usual, and he wasn’t willing to abandon his mission to change.
“First of all, you were being very noisy as you opened the door,” Mrs. Jewls began, as she wrote Todd’s name on the whiteboard under the word DISCIPLINE, while Todd watched in fear.
“Second off, you began worriedly banging on the door in the manner of an untamed animal, which I know you are NOT, Todd,” Mrs. Jewls continued, putting a check next to Todd’s name.
Todd began to tense up, clearly not liking being reprimanded by Mrs. Jewls. (He did like being referred to as a handsome young man, though.)
“And finally, Todd, in Wayside School, we say ‘goozack,’ not ‘door,” Mrs. Jewls finished, as she circled Todd’s name. “You should know that. Go on, board the kindergarten bus.”
Todd sighed, and set off for the kindergarten bus. In a matter of minutes, his plan was sabotaged and his hopes for being a well-behaved boy went down the drain.
At this point, one would expect Todd to have felt defeat and pain: however, he felt nothing of the sort. He may have gone home on the kindergarten bus today, but going forward, he was going to be a new man. Today, Todd learned that change is gradual, and hopefully one day soon, he would be able to regularly see three o’clock in with the rest of his class.