Scheduling Conflict

Chapter 1
Scheduling Conflict

Monday

The bell rang signaling the start of first period, and the hallways slowly took on a deserted look with the exception of one boy. Bill unfortunately did not yet have a schedule, and so as school started he found himself walking down to the front office rather than to class. He was 18, and his senior year of high school was already off to a fantastic start. He went to pick up his schedule the week before classes started to find out there had been a slight error in the system and his hadn’t been printed yet. Since then he had gone back everyday until school started and still they had yet to assign him a schedule. Now the school year had officially started and he had no idea which classes he was supposed to be going too. However, even if they had been to lazy to fix the problem earlier they had to now, they couldn’t just expect him to wait around in the office for the entire school day.

When he entered the office naturally the various teachers at work in it for to busy to notice his arrival. He stood in front of the desk for about five minutes before one of the teachers finally noticed and came over to him.

“Oh, shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

“Yes, yes I should.” Bill replied. “But it’s kind of hard without a schedule. I’ve been coming back to this office for a week, and I still don’t have one.”

“Alright can I get your name?” The teacher inquired.

“Bill Anderson.” Bill replied. “I would have thought you’d know by now, seeing as you’re the same teacher I talked to every single time I came here.”

“There’s no need to get testy just a moment let me look up your file.” The teacher walked to the back of the office and returned a few minutes later. “Ah yes, your schedule is right here off to class with you.”

Bill eagerly grabbed his schedule glad that this mess seemed to finally be over. His glee soon turned to confusion as he frowned and read his classes. Pre-Algebra, English 1, Health, Geography. They were all freshman classes. “Excuse me ma’am.” He began. “I’m supposed to be in my senior year. The schedule is wrong.”

“It is?” The teacher blinked confused. “Oh, we’ll get that fixed soon. Just go on to your first class and follow that schedule today and we’ll have you on a normal schedule tomorrow.”

“Great.” Muttered Bill as he crumpled the schedule and slipped it into his pocket. This day was going to be wonderful. He’d probably be made fun of for the rest of the year for being in the freshman class. He let out a sigh and headed to his first class pre-algebra.

After apologizing to the teacher and taking his seat Bill tried to ignore the fact he felt like everyone in the class was staring at him. Time begin to pass as he sat there and the teacher began his lecture. He already knew the material, so he didn’t feel the need to actually listen. Every now and then to the parts he did listen to there were things that he could not remember when the teacher covered them. He figured he had probably been so used to doing complex calculus work that he had forgotten a few of the basics and left it at that.

Eventually the bell rang signaling the end of class. Bill packed up his book and stood up to leave and was completely shocked. He was the shortest kid in this freshman class, despite being a senior. Bill knew he wasn’t exactly what one would call, but for an entire class to be bigger, he was starting to wander what the heck they were feeding the kids these days. Maybe something in the school lunch, he had always brought his lunch to school. Though now he wondered if he ate enough. While considering the thought he began to notice a few things. His pants were a bit loose on him, and his shirt was kind of big. Maybe he should try the school lunch.

When the bell rang at fourth period Bill let out a sigh of relief. School was out for the day and hopefully this nightmare was over. It was one thing being stuck in the freshman class. It was another being stuck in a freshman class in which everyone was bigger than you and could probably beat you up. He quickly walked to the exit of the school and got on the bus heading by his neighborhood. Just as the bus took off, he remembered he had driven to school, and silently cursed himself for his stupidity. He’d just have to take the bus to school tomorrow, and drive home then.

Tuesday

Bill arrived to school late Tuesday morning thanks to the fact the bus was late. He hadn’t had to take the bus since his sophomore year, and one day on it had managed rekindle all his old hate for public transportation. He was not happy when he finally got off the bus and stormed into the office.

“Excuse me.” He began knowing it would be some time before the teachers actually noticed him if he waited. Before she could even ask he began “It’s me Bill Anderson, you know been in here several days now but you still can’t remember my name? There was a problem with my schedule and I didn’t get it till yesterday, but then you gave me the wrong schedule because I was in all freshman classes and I’m a senior, and you told me you would have it fixed today. Please tell me you fixed it."

The teacher looked at Bill strangely before speaking. "A senior? You’re a bit short for a senior, you’re even shorter than most of the freshman."

"Yes, yes, I know I know the freshman are all giant freaks just please give me my right schedule so I can get to class and put this entire nightmare behind me."

"Alright then." The teacher went back to the filing room and returned a few moments later. "Oh dear, this isn’t good at all. I found the reason for the errors in your schedule. You don’t go to this school. You’ve been rezoned for another one, there was a letter sent out but I guess you didn’t get it."

"Wait, so the cause of this entire problem is simply that I’m at the wrong school?" Bill sighed. "Fine, where’s the right school?"

"Don’t worry this sort of thing happens quite often. We’ll arrange for a bus to take you to your proper school."

"Alright, alright." Bill sighed. "I’ll go get on the bus." He was just glad it was over with as he walked back towards the school entrance. He saw the busy waiting, and got on it, and once more it occurred to him that he had left his car on the campus. "It’s okay." He thought out loud. "I’ll get it tomorrow."

About 20 minutes later the bus pulled up to his new school. He left the bus and found his way to the knew office, which much to his delight they were waiting for him, and handed him his schedule without any problems. He was actually smiling as he opened the door to his first class and stepped in, but he stopped. For inside, was a room full of sixth graders.

"I think..... There was another mistake." He stepped out of the classroom and ran back to the office. "This is a middle school!?" He exclaimed as soon as he got through the door.

"Well yeah." Replied one of the teachers in the office. "But I don’t think you need to get that excited about it."

"That’s not the point!" Bill fumed. "I’m supposed to be a high school senior, there was a scheduling problem, they sent me to freshman classes, they promised to fix it, now I’m in middle school. How does someone screw up the paperwork that badly?"

"Oh.... I guess, I understand why you could be upset about that... We’ll have the schedule fixed by tomorrow, just follow it for today and everything will be fine."

"You’re sure? It’ll be okay this time?"

"Of course."

Not knowing what else to do Bill went back to the sixth grader class. He apologized to the teacher for being late then sat at a desk in the back of the room. He felt like the other students were watching him again but at this point he didn’t really care.

The thing that really bugged him is the lessons were easy but he wasn’t able to remember them, just like in the freshman class. It was rather annoying. The bell rang at the end of class and he got up feeling rather frustrated and things only got worst when his pants and boxers fell right off of him. He quickly bent down to pick them back up, but his shirt only went down to his thighs and as a result he mooned the entire class. Feeling rather embarrassed he didn’t even care at this point they all seemed to be bigger than him and rushed into the restroom to hide. After calming down for a bit, and tightening his belt he finally had the confidence to go on to his next class. Unfortunately no one forgot what had happened in first period, and he almost fainted from relief when school finally got out.

Wednesday

Bill arrived at school Wednesday already a bit nervous. For some reason his usual outfits all seemed to big for him, so he had gone through his attic for something more likely to fit. He had found some of his old clothes which fit, but he hadn’t saved any old underwear or school, and now today showed up without either. He was actually a bit surprised they let him on the campus barefoot, but apparently for all the school rules against it, none of the teachers felt they got paid enough to actually enforce the rule. He went straight to the office expecting another hassle and the teacher gave him a strange look as soon as he walked in.

“What are you doing here?” She asked. “Didn’t you get the phone call? I looked it up in the system and you had been sent to the wrong school so we called to tell you that you were supposed to go back to the original one.”

“You... Didn’t... Call....” Bill was on the verge of exploding. Should he get upset about not calling or just be thankful for the fact they’re sending him back to his original school. He finally decided not to raise a fuss and just went to the bus they had indicated to ride to his old school.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at a school that looked nothing like his old one. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he went to the office, and instead of handing him a schedule they escorted him to his class. The classroom was an elementary school classroom, of third graders! He tried to object, but they just told him they’d look into it and get back to him tomorrow, so having nothing else left to do he sat down in the classroom, and listed to an age old lesson he already had heard before but somehow forgot.

Since it was elementary school there was only one teacher that taught all the subjects, and Bill felt himself becoming more bored and tired as time went on. His old clothes which had been slightly tight on him this morning seemed to loosen, and with that uncomfortable pressure gone, his head soon hit the desk and he was asleep.

“Mr. Anderson. Welcome back.”

“Huh?” Bill blinked his eyes open as he saw the teacher staring at him angrily.

“Had a nice nap?” The teacher asked dangerously.

“I! I! I apologize it’s just that!” He began to stammer. For some reason he felt so small and helpless talking to the teacher. It was like she was a giant towering over him.

“How do you hope to get a passing grade if you sleep in class!?”

“I’m sorry!” He cried out. “It won’t happen again I just!”

“Fine, it shouldn’t. Now go home, the rest of the class has already left.”

At this Bill looked around the room. It seemed larger, probably because of how empty it was. It was well after three and school was out.

“Gahhhhh the bus!” Without even waiting to hear what the teacher was saying Bill jumped out of his seat, and scrambled for the bus. He arrived just in time and took a seat near the front. As he took a seat he noticed a slightly problem though. His pants and underwear had once more fallen off, and were probably back in the classroom. “Shoot.” He had meant another word but that was the only one he could remember. As the bus drove off he was just happy his shirt was long enough that as long as he didn’t move around to much he wasn’t exposed.

Thursday

Bill arrived at school the next day wearing only an oversized t-shirt. He just couldn’t find any clothes that fit for some reason, so instead used one of his shorts he was wearing in high school. It went down to his knees now so no one knew he wasn’t wearing anything beneath it. Once more he was without shoes, but the teachers once more could care less.

He was heading to class, when he was stopped by a teacher who told him he was heading to the wrong class. They had fixed his schedule again. Against his better judgment he went with them to his new class. He didn’t even react this time when they opened the door to the kindergarten class. He opened his mouth to object but then stopped and thought better of it. Every time he asked them to fix it things just got worse. He was just going to accept it and relax here, and let them figure out that

The class was going over their A.B.C.s when he arrived. “A. B. C. D.” He mumbles to himself. “Wait... What comes after D?” He sat up alarmed, how could he forget something that basic. As the rest of the class recited E he relaxed. Of course E, he was just letting himself get to worked up.

After the lesson it was time to play. For some reason the other kids weren’t that much bigger than him, in fact it seemed as he enjoyed himself he was actually a bit small. While playing a game of duck duck goose when he was on the run, he tripped and fell out of his own shirt. He was normally very modest about being naked but at this point he didn’t care and just enjoyed himself. The teacher eventually forced him to dress, but when he went home at the end of the day, he felt like it had been the best school day in a long time.

Friday

Little Billy arrived at school on time on Friday. He was wearing only a shirt that went down to his ankles. For some reason he had no clothing that fit, but it didn’t bother him. He remembered he used to be in high school, but those memories were faint and no one else seemed to remember. He had no idea what had happened, but he wasn’t sorry that it had. After all, he was having a lot of fun. It was scary at first, but he had accepted what had happened, and now even enjoyed it. Besides, even though he couldn’t remember his old lessons, he still seemed to get all the material down easily, he got to play with other kids his age, and life just seemed to make sense again. So what if he was supposed to be a high school senior, kindergarten was much more fun.

 

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