Teaching Mr. Bristle: Part Six

     "I'm home," Malara said wearily as she walked through her front door. She then immediately said in a dark tone, "Mr. Bristle was fired today."

     "I heard," Jared called from the living room in a sad voice. "But Malara, could you step into the living room for a moment?"

     "Okay, I'll be there in a second," she called back, walking up the steps to her room. She tossed her backpack onto her bed, then proceeded back downstairs. I wonder what this could be about, she thought to herself.

     Upon walking into the living room, a puzzled look spread across her face. Jared was sitting in one chair, legs crossed. Sitting in the chair right next to him, there was a blue Yurble, wearing a prestigious brown suit.

     "Malara, this is Dr. Reese, an old friend of mine. He's the director of Neopia Central University, a college about a half an hour away from here," Jared explained.

     Malara kept the puzzled look on her face, and took a seat on the couch. "Okay... What's going on?"

     "Dr. Reese and I have discovered something about your school principal, after looking through the university's files," Jared stated.

     "Mr. Shay?" Malara asked, more confused than ever.

     "Yes, him," Dr. Reese spoke for the first time. "In his resume, it clearly states that he attended Neopian Central University, and earned a degree required for being a principal of a school." The Yurble took a deep breath. "But, he actually never did attend any classes at the college, or at any other college in all of Neopia, as far as we know."

     "So...he lied about going to college. I don't understand what this is all adding up to," Malara said.

     "Malara," Jared said in a somewhat stern voice, "Mr. Shay lied about his credentials so that he would fit the criteria for the job of principal at your school."

     "He created false diplomas, recommendations, and everything else very realistically," Dr. Reese added.

     Malara gasped. "So Mr. Shay doesn't even deserve to be the principal!"

     "And we have proof," Jared said, pointing to a long sheet of paper on the coffee table. "That there is a list of every single student to ever graduate from Neopia Central University. He's not on there, we checked about a thousand times."

     Malara's eyes flickered with hope. "Does this mean that we can get him fired?"

     "Definitely," Dr. Reese answered, with a smile. "And it just might mean that Mr. Bristle won't get fired after all."

     ***

     "Guys!" Malara exclaimed, running towards Brick, Cody, and Garfy. "Come with me to Mr. Bristle's room, he may not get fired after all!" It was the next day, about twenty minutes before school started.

     "What? What's going on?" Cody asked.

     "I'll explain later, come on!"

     The three of them tagged along behind Malara, panting. She burst through the school door, and went directly to Mr. Bristle's room. As she rushed into the classroom, she saw Dr. Reese and Jared were already there, holding paperwork. A moment later, Malara's friends had entered the room too, and the entire company was there.

     "Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Mr. Bristle asked in a confused tone.

     "I second that," Garfy said.

     Mr. Reese grabbed the list of graduating students of Neopia Central University, and said to the teacher, "Mr. Shay, the principal of this school, is a phoney."

     "Huh?"

     "He created counterfeit - but extremely believable -- degrees and recommendations from Neopia Central University, the college I direct. But he, in fact, has never even been to college," the Yurble explained.

     Mr. Bristle's jaw dropped open. "He doesn't even have the credentials to become a teacher!"

     Cody, Garfy, and Brick all smiled together. "So we can get him fired, right?" Cody asked, grinning.

     "Yep," Jared replied. "He won't ever be seen in a school again by next week."

     "So when is he going to get busted?" Brick asked with a yawn.

     "Now," Malara said sternly, glancing around the room. "I want us to fire him now."

     Just as the Elephante finished speaking, the homeroom bell rang. "I think we're going to have to wait until later," Mr. Bristle said quietly.

     Jared and Dr. Reese exited the classroom quickly; the other students entering the room gave them odd looks.

     The other students don't know about Mr. Shay yet. They'll find out soon enough, Malara thought happily. Cody and Garfy could read her mind, as they were thinking the same thing.

     A sad atmosphere reigned over the other students, and to their surprise, Mr. Bristle did not say a word of what had happened the day before to them. They simply carried on the class as usual, working on their script worksheets, keeping the talking level to a minimum.

     "You look happier than I thought you'd be," the red Pteri commented to Malara.

     A smile tugged at her lips. "You'll find out why soon enough."

     ***

     Soon enough, lunch time had arrived, and naturally every single student in the school knew about Mr. Shay's false credentials. Malara had tried her best to keep it a secret, but in the end the positive energy coming from her and her three friends caused an extreme suspicion among their peers.

     "When is Mr. Shay going to get fired?" a student asked. All of the pets in Mr. Bristle's class were surrounding Malara's lunch table in an excited huddle.

     "When is who going to get fired?" a menacing voice suddenly interrupted.

     "Mr. Shay! Sir! We were just discussing about how the coach of the local sports team is going to get sacked," Garfy said lamely.

     "I don't think that's who you guys were talking about, I'm positive I heard a Mr. Shay in there somewhere," the Bori growled. "Would anyone care to explain?"

     "Gladly," Dr. Reese said, stepping into the cafeteria with Jared. A dead silence was achieved in a few moments.

     "Who are you two? What's going on here?" Mr. Shay asked in outrage.

     "Who am I?" Dr. Reese mocked. "Why, I thought you'd at least know that. I am the director of the university you went to, right?"

     The Bori's face turned pale in a matter of seconds.

     Jared continued what would have been Dr. Reese's speech, "Mr. Shay, you have lied about your education, your degree, your everything." In front of the entire cafeteria, he pulled out the list of Neopia Central University's graduating students. "You're not on the list," Jared said smugly.

     "This is a mistake! A fluke!" Mr. Shay cried as all of the teachers arrived curiously into the cafeteria, including Mr. Bristle.

     "It's definitely not a mistake," Malara said, rising up from her silent table of students. "You fired Mr. Bristle for no good reason, and now you've been caught. What goes around, comes around, Mr. Shay."

     Moments later, it had become extremely clear to everyone what Mr. Shay really was: a fake. He was escorted out of the cafeteria, and not surprisingly nearly all of the students followed along. Right before the Bori exited the building, Mr. Bristle flashed him a triumphant grin.

     "Not such a big and tough guy now, are you?" the teacher asked.

     The Bori's eyebrow twitched, but for once he had no arrogant remark to make. What Mr. Bristle said was true.

     After seeing the last of Mr. Shay walk away from the school's property, along with some security guards restraining him, Malara, Cody, and all of the others rushed towards Mr. Bristle and crowded around him, jumping up and down in excitement.

     "We did it!" Cody yelled, then added as a side note, "well, Malara's owner and Dr. Reese did it, but at least we did something to help...right?"

     Mr. Bristle winked, but still he was speechless. Too many happy thoughts were swimming through his mind at once for him to understand how happy he was. "You guys are awesome," he said simply. "The best students I've ever had, ever."

     All of the students were dismissed early from school that day, due to all of the commotion. A letter was sent home to the owners of all of the pets, roughly explaining the events of that day and how they would be hiring a new principal shortly. In the meantime, the vice principal would have to be up to the task.

     As for Mr. Bristle, well, he was pardoned and rehired almost immediately.

     ***

     A week had gone by faster than the previous one had, and before they knew it, Malara, Cody, Garfy, and Brick were once again at the basketball court near the school, without a care in the world. Brick was resting on a nearby bench, while the others took turns shooting hoops.

     "I'm kind of glad we gave Mr. Bristle a second chance," Garfy finally admitted, passing the ball to Malara.

     "Me too," Cody agreed. "We actually do stuff in class now, and we have fun."

     "See? I told you guys to give Mr. Bristle a chance! He's a really awesome person, once you get to know him," Malara said, aiming the basketball toward the hoop, but hitting a tree to the left of it instead.

     "Yeah, I guess he's okay," Brick said, opening one eye.

     "I'm only okay, Brick?" Mr. Bristle, who had been sneaking up on them, suddenly asked. "Maybe you could try teaching our class tomorrow," he suggested with a grin.

     "No," Brick said immediately, with a laugh. "I'm way too tired."

     Cody rolled his eyes. "What else is new?"

     "Well, we're getting our new principal tomorrow," Mr. Bristle said, answering Cody's rhetorical question.

     "What's he like?" Malara asked curiously.

     "It's a she," the Gelert responded, "I got to meet her yesterday at a staff meeting. All I'll say is that she's definitely going to make this school more, er, academically efficient in every way that she can."

     Garfy blinked, and asked, "Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"

     Mr. Bristle laughed. "Only time will tell."

The End

Author's note: I would like to thank Schefflera, for helping me edit this series, and to everyone else who read it!