The Toilet Arc - Where It All Began
Chapter One
The Toilet Arc – Where It All Began
It was April 1st when the most important, fateful, and epic encounter happened. And, of course, it had to happen nowhere else than in the school toilets.
“OH MY GOD! WHY IS THIS TAKING SO LONG?!” yelled an all-too-familiar, intimidating ninth grader, banging against a toilet stall’s door.
Fred, who had been in this stall for quite some time now, was officially screwed. All the other toilets were either occupied or filthy enough that even reckless, nasty school kids wouldn’t dare to use them. But the biggest problem is yet to come. Fred was using his self-proclaimed sacred stall.
Now what? Apart from that, the time he took was suspicious. In fact, every kid who allegedly dropped a log in school had been bullied to such an awful extent that most students were too afraid to even go there in the first place. Well, or they would try to take the chance during class, but even this option was quite difficult to accomplish and not secure: The bullies knew this technique perfectly. The hatred against the school toilets didn’t stem from the mold infestation or the half-ply toilet paper, no- it was solely about the toilet control. And none of this is getting better, considering the antisocial student, who’s banging on Fred’s door, is the reason for all this.
And although Fred, a typical nerd, was not his number one target, he was still terrified of provoking his wrath in any way.
“WHO THE HELL IS ON THIS- no, ON MY TOILET?!” the infamous student asked calmly.
« Oh no. What do I do. This is awful. I-I can never leave again. » Those were Fred’s thoughts in this intense moment. Not even the usually fun drawings on the stall’s walls could calm him down. No, the opposite was the case, « W-What’s written there? ‘Jason’s property’? ». With every comment, his heart dropped one inch deeper into his gut. While Fred tried to keep a low profile to convince everyone this stall was actually empty, his thoughts endlessly repeated themselves. But who could blame him? After all, this student was not just any student. He was the most notorious bully in school. He was the most feared ninth-grader in all schools.
He was Jason Jerome - his nickname: ‘T.A.S.H’, an acronym for ‘The Almighty School Hazard’. No one knew if Jason had given himself the nickname or if someone else had, but that didn’t matter anyways. He was at the very top of the class hierarchy, no question. Though in spite of his many atrocities, the absolute worst he was known for was the surveillance of the school’s toilets, especially his stall, with his proponents. Though this one time, to the other students’ surprise, Jason didn’t want to cause any trouble; he legitimately needed to use the toilet himself. In fact, it was urgent, and of course, Jason would not accept using any other stall except for his personal throne, which Fred had temporarily borrowed.
“GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE”
Fred cringed, « Oh GOD. He’s even more aggressive than usual…» he thought, contorting his face until it looked like as if he was on the edge of crying. « W-Why is h-he here?! »
To this point, the loud noises attracted not only the attention of more students but also a new teacher who couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.
“HEY! What’s going on in there? You can already be heard in the next town! Ya’ll gonna be in real trouble with the principal!” the teacher delivered, trying to push through the crowded door.
The name of this unsuspecting teacher was Ms. Rosé. She was new to this territory, but she had still already been warned about Jason.
In the process of her squeezing in, a tiny glimmer of hope formed in Fred’s mind, « I-Is this my savior? » However, after Ms. Rosé entered the boys’ toilet, she immediately froze upon glimpsing the infamous face of the tales. The scene got quiet in a single blow, Ms. Rosé now seemingly being the focus of attention. The stories Mr. Cinnamon, her emotional support colleague, had told her were outrageous and etched in her mind. Stories that shouldn’t be unveiled. Stories that shouldn’t see the light of day, ever.
Jason turned his head from his royal seat’s door to Ms. Rosé, exaggeratedly and dramatically slow.
“Oh dear! Uhm, I’m so sorry! Please, feel free to continue whatever you’re doing, I will allow it!” she said, her eyes wide open and ready to leave. Understandable, though a literal punch in Fred’s face, « What..? No! Isn’t she supposed to protect me?». His glimmer of hope went up in flames, burned to the ground, and Ms. Rosé stepped on it.
Jason, for the moment, chose to ignore Fred as he decided to creep up to her. Everybody went silent. And despite this crushing betrayal, the distance made was almost a relief for Fred, though it simultaneously nearly started Ms. Rosé’s early pension. “Who even are you to talk to me like that?” he questioned her as he slowly moved toward her. « What! I thought I redeemed myself! Why is he so pissed now?! » she could only think, not being able to speak up for herself. He walked up to her ear, menacingly, and whispered with a grin, “You’re lucky you’re new here, because otherwise I’d make sure you would never be seen here again. You know, just like with Mr. Hendrickson, if Cinnamon cared to tell you, Ms. Foes.” And proceeded to moonwalk back to Fred to violate him. Fred could only stare at the door with unimaginably huge eyes. « What the fuck!? Is he serious!? What’s he going to do with ME then! » he shivered. A real pity for Fred, but Ms. Rosé decided to take the chance to run out, past the students, down the corridor. To top it off, other students from outside were curious why their teacher was running away from the toilets, as if she had seen a ghost, and went to take a peek.
“Now to you. Whoever you are, I DEMAND that you come out of MY stall, RIGHT NOW!” Jason raised his voice to assert dominance. However, Fred was too scared to talk back, shivering and clenching his hands, not knowing what to do next. It was like no time would pass. Until he suddenly did something unimaginable, world-weary-like.
“I swear to god, I will MAKE you come out and-“ Jason got interrupted by nothing other than toilet flushing. He shortly twitched and blinked rapidly, just like everyone else. No student ever dared to speak up, let alone flush the toilet, ever in Jason’s presence. « I did it. » Fred was the first person ever to flush the toilet in the middle of a confrontation. « Why did I do that. » Yes, to be the first person courageous enough to interrupt his speech. « This is my end. »
... At least, that’s how the crowd perceived it.
Still torn if he should speak a verdict, Jason was nonetheless downright astonished by Fred’s confidence. This was new. It was unbelievable; Jason even forgot his need to use the toilet. Completely speechless, Jason could only think: « What? I-Is this a new student? Someone’s NOT afraid of me? Should I be offended? WHO the hell is in this- », he quickly shook his head, « -MY stall? How dare he! », whereas Fred was everlastingly ready for his funeral. The loud silence after the toilet finished its job was oppressing for everyone. Everyone was eagerly focused on the stall’s door. « Who is THIS!? » they thought. « Who could take a dump in here, with US, and could still play it cool without freaking out? » they thought. They were more than hyped about seeing the hero, or the new enemy, who seemingly broke the ice - the person who showed resistance against “The Almighty School Hazard”. Everyone already stopped chatting or pissing to witness this turning point in history in exact detail.
« N-No…W-Why is it so quiet all of a sudden..? What’s happening?» Fred thought, trying to gaslight himself. Though unfortunately, he’s not naïve. He knew exactly what was going on. Deep in his heart, he knew he had no choice but to leave his safe place and face those terrifying high-schoolers. You might be wondering why. Why would anybody leave their safe space at this point? Well, this happened during the big break. There was simply no way of escape. Just like wild animals, they would wait. It was not uncommon for them to patrol even during the classes to give people what they deserved. Reluctantly accepting his fate, Fred gathered all of his, albeit small, courage to slowly get up from the toilet, adjusting everything perfectly again, picking his backpack up, and eventually preparing to unlock the door. From outside, it appeared cool, seemingly having no problem encountering Jason Jerome, thus taking their time to get ready, ergo letting Jason wait.
« Should… I really continue..?» Though after a little pause of self-reflection, he persuades himself to just get it over with and face the consequences for his actions. After all, there was still a small chance he could get out with minimum harm and exchange schools. Slowly, Fred reached for the handle with a clank, his heart skipping every second beat. “Oh my god, he’s coming out..!” some irrelevant students whispered. Jason preliminarily stepped one step away whilst adapting his “resting bitch face” to appear threatening. No one dared to blink, and their mouths were open. Someone could have shoved a tortilla chip vertically in there, and they wouldn’t even notice the pointy tip on their palatal. And amidst the quiet comments, Fred continued his unnecessarily dragged-out action, increasing the excitement for the others and decreasing his own life expectancy.
Fred turned the door knob. Slowly.
“OH, HERE HE COMES,” they all shouted as they saw the red light turning green. Yes, some would even applaud and whistle. « Fuck it, there’s no escape. I have to. » Fred squinted his eyes and compelled himself to open the door as quickly as possible, exposing the truth everyone waited for.
…
The room filled with silence. Jason’s “resting bitch face” came loose out of shock. He even automatically stepped back a few meters to provide some distance.
The disappointment written on everyone’s faces couldn’t have been clearer. But to Fred’s surprise, everyone remained silence. It was so quiet that he could have been alone after all. « What. Happened? » Right before his heart could get a break, he slowly opened his eyes again. His worldview expanded, and he saw them. A horde of T.A.S.H. Henchmen and dead ahead in front of him: Jason, in absolute disbelief. When Fred dared to briefly look around to see how many students were really present, his heart nearly stopped - a second time. Way too many ninth-graders for anyone’s comfort zone. Yes, it had been noisy, but Fred still hoped it was “just” Jason and a few of his friends, which would have been bad enough. Now it seemed like somebody had called the entire school in here. Fred imagined how he would become the number one target for their bullying and what they would do to him. If it had been only the number two thingy, the trespassing and the violating of Jason’s property, they could have still negotiated, but now that Fred, as a “nerd” and “loser”, insulted Jason’s honor, there was just no way he could talk himself out of it anymore.
As the silence remained unbearable, Lucas, one of Fred’s sassy classmates and the “T.A.S.H vice lackey”, had the guts to say his first words: “UGH, it’s just this four-eyed Fred!” while dramatically stomping out. Others would follow him out of madness, though still disrespecting Fred. “Typical Fred, always good for disappointments!”, or: “Why must Fred ruin everything?! I thought it was someone cool!”. … Like a rapid stream, the people left the bathroom. And to his surprise, no one pushed or spat on him. Fred was confused, but happy that they were leaving faster than he could look. In fact, a few disrespectful comments later, everyone vanished. Fred was still halfway in the stall, but he couldn’t see or hear anyone anymore. He couldn’t really comprehend this overstimulation, but he accepted it. It… was finally over. « Oh my god, » Fred put his hand on his chest where his ruptured, shrunken heart was supposed to be, « I…I think I’m ready for eldercare… » He took a deep breath, « Okay…T-The coast is clear, » and made his way to the sink with trembling legs, fretfully looking around. No one there. He stood in front of the sink. Of course, hygiene is important in moments like these, though Fred’s main goal was to wash away his fear-sweat so that the beasts couldn’t track him down later. « Hmm, maybe hand sanitizer is better, ۛ» he thought, turning his head to the left. There it was. The hand sanitizer. Affixed right next to the door, Fred wanted to go through this whole time: the door to freedom - also known as the school corridor. As he hit the trail, a familiar figure came out of the corridor’s shadows out of nowhere, ending up standing on the door’s threshold. Fred developed cardiac arrhythmias as he saw him leaning against the doorframe. “HEY!” the oh-so-known voice shouted. « WHAT » Fred internally panicked. He, Jason, was still here after all. Fred couldn’t find any words. It felt like his heart began pumping acid through his body. Though before Fred had any time to decide what to do, Jason took over the burden and slowly approached him, closing the door behind him. « This is it. I’m done. Mom, Dad, Jimmy, I always loved you, » he admitted to himself, supposedly accepting his fate, « Please, Jesus, if you exist, please don’t let my Mom know about my C- in biology… », he prayed. Trying to out-moonwalk Jason was not possible at all, too, since someone had the amazing idea to place a wall behind Fred. Like a bird in a cage, he was trapped. Jason caught up fairly easily, though he abruptly stopped just before Fred and looked at him. “You DARED to interrupt my speech!? You DARED to take my spotlight!? And most importantly, you DARED to use my THRONE!?” Jason yelled, raising his mighty pointy finger. He knew exactly that he could do anything he wanted, just like in any bad dark romance novel. After all, no one would venture to enter the bathroom while hearing the infamous maniac during one of his rampages.
The fear in Fred’s face became clearer and clearer, imagining and exaggerating every possible scenario that could occur now. Jason tried to whisper, “I could FREAK OUT by just imagining what my lackeys think about me now…” « Please, just a quick punch with your right, » Fred hoped, « Or maybe sell one of my kidneys as compensation… » Jason grabbed Fred’s shoulder and stepped even closer. Fred shut his eyes and turned his head away.
“ALL OF THIS- was actually kinda cool…” «…h-huh..? » Fred slowly opened his eyes and looked in Jason’s direction. Even Jason’s raspy, angry voice changed during his confession. He loosened his grip and stepped back a little bit. “I didn’t know you had THIS much confidence, four eyes!!” Jason slightly nudged him, “I always thought you were a boring, introverted shithead, but you’re actually the opposite!” he admitted while a teensy smile formed on his face.
“…h-huh?” huhed Fred in confusion, not knowing how to react. “Don’t ‘huh’ me, you know what I’m talking about! Why were you hiding your true self the whole time?!“
“W-What? What do you mean?”
“Listen, not everybody dares to interrupt ME, to be exact, nobody EVER did that!”, explained Jason. « D-Does that mean I’m double screwed? » “AND no one EVER dared to go into my sacred stall!”
« Oh no… » “I don’t know what to say! This was really unexpected, you really disrespected me there!” “Bu-But isn’t that bad- “ “I couldn’t believe it; I bet my lackeys couldn’t believe it! YOU supposed nerd was behind that door the whole time!” Fred thought this was about to turn into a weird direction. “But is-isn’t it bad that I d- disrespected you?”
“WHAT? What are saying? You didn’t MEAN to?” “W-What! No…I mean- “ “I thought YOU were the nerdiest nerd in our class, no, in our school! I could’ve never imagined something like that from you, not even in my nightmares!” « … » “It was so weird to see YOU coming out of that shithole! Ha! I-I don’t even know how to react!” “Uhm…” “You know what? We’re friends now!” Fred’s eyes and nostrils widened. « …h-huh? » … « H-HUH, w-what the fuck is THIS?! » Even Fred’s stress migraines came back, which he supposedly got rid of, fiddlesticks.
«S-So he won’t massacre me…BUT… »
The new unlocked anxiety that Jason would absolutely nuke Fred out if his life once he found out that this was just an exceptional state, Fred’s survival instinct, and not his actual brave personality, had just developed.
“U-Uhh, I-I don’t think you quite u-understand- “ “We’ll paint the school red!” “But- “ “By the way, why did you go on MY toilet in the first pla-“
“OH MY GOD”, Fred suddenly gasped whilst glancing over to the local clock, “I-I have to go to English class NOW!” “Uh-What? We still have 20 minutes left”, Jason interrupted with his popular resting-bitch-face, “Well, okay, guess your nerd friends are already waiting for you, huh?” “O-Of course! We’re always working ahead for better grades!” Fred states with a little too much euphoria, as if he were super proud of his weird behavior, though he quickly turned his head bashfully away to stop creating more attack surface than necessary.
« God, what a weirdo, doesn’t he have anything better to do? » Jason thought as he grasped Fred’s otherworldly statement, but it didn’t necessarily surprise him. Jason sighed, “Okay…I guess I’m coming with you then. That would make the first time this school year that I’m not late, HAH” Fred’s eyes widened in despair, « Oh, great... » “Uhm…Wait, d-didn’t you also need to use the toilet- “ “MY toilet, you mean?” “R-Right?” “It’s not worth it anymore, I’ll go during class” Fred gritted his teeth, « Fantastic… » and slowly side-stepped himself away from Jason with an awkward, hopeless grin, trying to make his way out of this toilet disaster.
