Principal Mocks Disabled Teacher, Not Knowing He Is Being Filmed – Story of the Day

A high school senior records a shocking exchange between his principal and his class teacher. His decision to use this video for his own purposes starts a chain reaction that leads to big changes.

Ron stood in the shadowed nook across from his English Lit class. The school hallway was filled with the usual crowd of students hurrying home or to extra-curricular activities, but Ron had an important task to achieve.

Finally, the last student left the class and ran down the hallway. Ron used a crowd of students heading in the other direction as cover to slip back into his English Lit class undetected.

"Time to turn my D's into A's," he muttered as he hurried to his desk.

Ron crouched and removed the cheat sheets he'd tucked into his jacket pocket. This was his golden ticket to passing tomorrow's test on the stories they'd covered that semester from The Canterbury Tales, a thoroughly impenetrable text Ron had quickly grown to hate.

He hadn't wanted to take English Lit, but his parents insisted. They were determined that he go to college, despite the hard work he'd put into being a YouTuber. Now he was stuck in a desperate place, taping cheat sheets beneath his desk to pass this stupid class.

"That should do it." Ron pocketed his tape and got to his knees. He kept low as he walked toward the classroom door. He was almost there when he heard footsteps outside, and the classroom door swung open.

Ron quickly dived beneath the closest desk and curled up as tightly as possible in the space. The chair in front of him blocked most of his view, but it would also hide him from his unwelcome company.

"You've pushed too far this time, Lucy! You're missing an arm, not a brain, so why do you behave so foolishly?"

Ron's jaw dropped in shock as he recognized that man's voice. That was his principal, and he was mocking Miss Clayton, his class teacher, for having a prosthetic arm!

Ron couldn't believe this! He pulled his phone from his pocket, lifted it until the camera caught the pair at the front of the class, and started filming.

"I've told you a million times to stay away from me at school," Principal James continued. "If you can't keep your hand to yourself when we're on school property, then our meetings will end."

"I understand," Miss Clayton replied, "but I couldn't resist. The pants you're wearing today are so...Why would you wear something like that unless you wanted to tease me?"

Ron almost dropped his phone. He'd thought it was bad before, but what he'd just overheard was shocking on an entirely different level! Miss Clayton and Principal James were a couple?

Principal James sighed.

"We can't afford to take risks, Lucy," he said in a gentler tone. "We have to think about our jobs and our reputations. My divorce hasn't gone through yet and it would cause a scandal if anyone found out about us. The drama would completely undermine both of our authority."

"You're right," Miss Clayton said sadly. "I just wish things could be different."

"I know, Lucy, but we have to play it safe." Principal James cleared his throat. "Taking unnecessary risks will only get us caught."

Ron listened as Miss Clayton and Principal James walked away. He ended the video and waited an extra few minutes before he dared to climb out into the open.

This was earth-shattering. His principal was having an affair with one of his teachers! And, Ron looked down at the phone in his hand; he had proof. Almost every word of their conversation was recorded on his phone.

Ron sat at his desk and watched the video. Not only was the audio crystal clear but Principal James and Miss Clayton's faces were captured in HD. Oh, this was too perfect!

"Okay, class, time's up!" Lucy knocked against her desk with her knuckles. "Place your test sheets on my desk on your way out of class."

The class chattered and mumbled as they moved toward the door. Soon, there was a large stack of pages on the corner of her desk. The last student to leave, Ron, paused in front of her desk. When she looked up at him, he smiled and placed a blank test sheet before her.

"What's the meaning of this, Ron?" Lucy gestured to the blank test. "Why is your page empty?"

"Well, Miss Clayton, I thought it would be great if you filled out my test so I could get the best mark in class," Ron replied.

"I'm sure many of the other students in the class feel that way, Ron, but it's not going to happen." Lucy lifted the page between her fingers. "The only mark I can give you for this is an F."

Ron grinned and removed his phone from his pocket. "I think I know how to convince you that you can do better than that."

"See, I know all about your affair with Principal James," Ron continued. "And unless you want everyone to see the video I took of the two of you discussing your little romance, you'll give me the best grade."

Lucy stared at Ron in horror. This couldn't be happening! She hadn't always been as careful about hiding her feelings as Richard would've liked, but there was no way they'd been this careless!

"I don't believe you," Lucy said.

"That's a dangerous game to play, Miss Clayton."

Ron unlocked his phone and showed her a video thumbnail. She clearly saw herself and Richard in the image. This was taken yesterday!

"Now, fill out this test sheet," Ron tapped his finger against the blank page, "and remember, the final test is coming up in a week. I've got to get the best score for that too." Ron grinned at her. "You'll take care of it for me, otherwise I'll show everyone that video."

Lucy watched Ron swagger from her classroom. This was a disaster!

Lucy spent the rest of the school day tipping back and forth on a teeter-totter of emotion. She couldn't concentrate during any of her classes. Her mind kept replaying Ron's threats. It was unbelievable that Ron had the audacity to blackmail her into getting good grades!

On the other hand, Lucy saw that this gave her an opportunity to do the right thing. She'd wanted to bring her relationship with Richard out into the open for a while now, and going public would be the perfect way to take the wind out of that little slimebag's sails.

Lucy wasn't the only person involved here, however. She sent Richard a text message inviting him to dinner. As soon as she got an affirmative response, she started making his favorite meal: Jambalaya.

While the food was simmering, Lucy picked out an outfit for dinner. She needed to find the perfect dress—something sexy but serious. She also rehearsed the best way to break the news about Ron's blackmail to Richard.

Lucy lit scented candles and was glad to see Richard was in a good mood when he arrived. He swept her into his arms and twirled her about before planting a kiss on her cheek. They sat down to dinner. After a few minutes of trying to broach the subject carefully, Lucy took a deep breath and cut to the chase.

"Ron from the twelfth grade filmed our argument at school yesterday and now he's blackmailing me," she said.

"I think this is the perfect moment to announce that we're a couple," Lucy continued as Richard stared at her, stone-faced, across the table. "It doesn't matter that much if your divorce isn't finalized yet because it will go through very soon."

"No, it won't." Richard shook his head.

"What do you mean? I thought you said it could be any day now."

Richard leaned back in his seat and rolled his eyes to stare at the ceiling.

"I guess there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to spit it out: The divorce will never be finalized because there's never going to be a divorce, Lucy."

"I don't understand." Lucy shook her head.

"I have no intention of leaving my wife," Richard said.

Tears stung Lucy's eyes. "Richard, you can't mean that."

"I'm sorry it has to come out this way, Lucy, but there was never anything more to our relationship than lust. You're a sweet girl but far too naive and clingy." Richard straightened up and looked her in the eye. "I only told you what you wanted to hear so you'd let me into your bed."

"Oh, don't be so emotional about it," Richard added when Lucy started crying. "I need you to pay attention to what I'm about to tell you."

Lucy stifled her sobs to look at him. Her heart lightened as she was sure he would now tell her everything he'd said was just a cruel joke, that he was really as deeply in love with her as he'd led her to believe.

"You're going to give this boy the highest grade, just like he asked. Give him whatever he wants to ensure he keeps silent, otherwise I'll fire you," Richard said.

"What!?" Lucy shook her head. This had to be some kind of nightmare!

"Do I need to spell it out for you, Lucy?"

Richard stood, walked around the table, and put his fingers beneath Lucy's chin. He tipped her head back to meet his gaze.

"Give this boy the highest grade possible or I'll fire you. Nobody can ever know about our affair. Do you understand?"

Lucy jerked away from him and nodded.

"Say it out loud, Lucy." Richard narrowed his eyes.

"I understand," Lucy replied meekly.

"Good. Now, I'm guessing you won't be willing to give me dessert..." Richard paused, and his gaze roamed down toward Lucy's chest. "So there really isn't any reason for me to stay."

Lucy spent the rest of that evening, and all of Saturday curled up in bed, weeping into her pillow. She'd thought that she and Richard had something special. How could it all have been a lie? How had he faked the love she saw when she looked into his eyes?

Because he was a slimy, lying, cheating jerkface, obviously! And she...she had been stupid enough to fall for every lie he told her. Oh, God! She was such an idiot!

She wished she’d brained Richard with the cast-iron serving dish for the jambalaya before he walked out on her. If only things could be different.

But instead, it got worse because Lucy started feeling sick that evening. At first, Lucy thought she needed to eat something, but the sight of food made her nauseous when she opened her fridge. She ran to the bathroom.

Afterward, Lucy washed her face and searched her medicine cabinet for anti-nausea medication. She noticed something then and realized her 'illness' might be something much more severe.

Lucy counted dates over and over as she drove to the drugstore. She hoped she'd missed something, or at least something other than her monthly menses, but the dates didn't lie.

She bought two pregnancy tests, just to be certain, and returned home. Those few minutes she spent waiting for the results to show felt like the longest time of her life. When she saw the results, she burst into tears.

"It can’t be real." Lucy cried as she hurled the first pregnancy test at the trash can.

"I can't be pregnant! Especially not when that colossal jerk, Richard, is the father!"

There would be a scandal when the other teachers learned about this, and the school board definitely wouldn't be pleased. Her reputation would be in tatters by the end of this. She'd have to move to a different town and try to start over...as a single mother with no support system.

Lucy wiped her tears and sent Richard a short message to tell him she was pregnant. A part of her hoped this might be the motivation he needed to leave his obviously unhappy marriage, but his reply squashed those dreams like a bug.

"What did I ever see in this slimebag!" Lucy snarled at her phone.

That Monday, Lucy took boxes to school and started packing her things. She didn't want to be pushed around anymore and saw only one way to regain her power. If she left now, then nobody would be able to manipulate her anymore.

Lucy had already taken one box out to her car and had finished filling up the next one when she had an unwelcome visitor. A quick knock on the door was all the warning she got before he entered her office.

"Are you going somewhere?"

Ron strolled toward her and circled around the front of her desk.

"Yes, actually. I'm going to quit."

"You can't do that," Ron exclaimed.

"Oh yes, I can!" Lucy scowled at him as she clutched the full box against her side with one arm and maneuvered her prosthesis to hook through the handles on her handbag. "I've decided that I'm not going to be bullied by you or anyone else, Ron. My part in your game ends now."

Lucy turned to leave, but she'd been so focused on Ron that she failed to notice her handbag wasn't secure. One handle slipped off her prosthetic fingertips when she moved, and the contents tumbled out to the floor.

"Darn it!" Lucy snapped. She set the box back on the desk to pick up her things, but Ron beat her to it.

He crouched down to gather her fallen possessions like the gentleman he definitely wasn't. Lucy was going to call him on it, but then she noticed something very important lying on the floor alongside her lipstick and notebook.

"Give me that!" Lucy lunged to grab the item, but she was too slow.

"Is this also part of the reason you're leaving?" Ron looked at her as he held up the positive pregnancy test she'd brought to school to show Richard. "You said someone else was bullying you...it's Principal James, isn't it?"

"Freaking hormones!" Lucy snapped as she burst into tears. She angrily dumped her box on the table to wipe her cheeks. "You're dreaming if you think I'll tell you anything, Ron. You just want more blackmail information, and I already told you I won't play your game anymore."

"You don't need to, Miss Clayton, I can read between the lines." Ron gathered the rest of her possessions from the floor and set them on her desk. "It's clear that you just found out you're pregnant and it seems safe to assume Principal James didn't take the news well."

"He told me to get rid of it!" Lucy sobbed, sinking into her chair.

"But I won't be threatened anymore, not by him and not by you. Once I walk out those doors, neither one of you will have power over me."

"That's one option, but it seems you're giving up and running away from the problem, Miss Clayton." Ron shrugged. "You know what they say: 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' And if you're leaving anyway, you might as well go out with a bang."

Ron set a thumb drive down on Lucy's desk.

"What...is this what I think it is?" Lucy lifted the thumb drive between her fingers.

Ron gave her a mock salute and headed for the door. "I've got to run, Miss Clayton. Seems I need to study for that final English Lit test after all."

Lucy watched him leave then turned her attention back to the thumb drive. If she was right and this contained the video Ron used to blackmail her...that meant he'd given up his ammunition, which he could still have used against Richard, to help her.

Maybe he wasn't such a slimebag after all. Lucy tucked the device into her handbag. Her first instinct was to destroy the thumb drive and then leave as she planned, but Ron had made a good point.

"Go out with a bang, huh?" Lucy leaned back in her chair and went through her options again. She'd already lined up a new job in a different school district, but it didn't start until the end of the current school year. She had time to kill until then.

Lucy smiled as she realized the perfect way to expose Richard as a cheating, manipulative creep.

"He'll never hurt anyone the way he hurt me ever again," Lucy said.

A fierce wind battered at the windows as teachers, students, and family filed into the auditorium. A banner spanning the length of the stage read 'Congratulations Class of 2022.'

Lucy sat among the other teachers, her fingers anxiously turning the thumb drive she held. It had been a couple of weeks since Ron gave it to her. She'd had plenty of time to plan her next move, but now she was overcome with nerves.

'It's not too late to change your mind,' Lucy thought to herself. 'There's no shame in just walking away...'

But she'd seen how Richard looked at Elisa, the tenth-grade Physics teacher, lately. He was clearly ready to move on to his next conquest, and Lucy felt obliged to protect Elisa from him.

Richard stood then and approached the podium in the center of the stage. He grinned out at the audience and spread his arms as he welcomed them.

"This is a special day," Richard said. "A day of triumph for every student who graduates here today."

Lucy smiled. It was her day of triumph too, but they would find out all about her little surprise soon enough.

Heads nodded in the audience and whispers grew to a muted chatter as Richard's speech drew out. Lucy couldn't believe she'd never noticed what an egotistical blow-hard he was. After what felt like hours, he finally finished up.

"...In conclusion, graduates, as you embark on this next chapter of your lives, remember that the world will inevitably present us with obstacles and setbacks in the future. However, it is in these moments that we must lean on our moral and family values to weather the storm," he said.

Lucy snorted. Like Richard knew anything about morals and family values.

"Congratulations, Class of 2022." Richard clapped his hands. "I have every confidence that you will go forth and make a positive difference in the world."

Lucy inhaled deeply and set the thumb drive down in her prosthetic hand to smooth the wrinkles in her skirt. It was her turn to speak now since she was the graduating class's register teacher. This was the moment she'd been waiting for.

Lucy approached the podium and looked out over the audience. Richard's speech might've bored many of them, but hers was going to be their wake-up call.

Lucy started with a brief mention of the highs and lows of the school year while a slide show played on the overhead projector. She then said a few kind words about each student, including Ron. She congratulated the class as a whole, then came to the critical point.

She took a few deep breaths to steady her nervously fluttering heart and glanced down at the laptop hooked up to the overhead projector.

"Lastly, I want to address all of you on a more serious note. To the girls of this class, never get involved with a scumbag who will play with your heart, knock you up, and then leave you."

The audience shuffled in their seats and turned to chatter with their neighbors as they registered Lucy's words, but she wasn't done yet.

"And to the boys, I hope you will always take responsibility for your actions and not run away like cowards."

Lucy pressed play on the video and walked away. She heard her and Richard's voices ring out over the loudspeakers as she ducked past the curtains to the backstage area.

"Down with Principal James!"

Lucy froze when she heard Ron's cry. When it was followed by a chorus of 'boos' and angry shouts, she turned around. All the worries she'd had about damaging her reputation in exposing Richard evaporated.

One of the other teachers appeared through the stage curtains then. Mrs. Turnbull, the Biology teacher, met Lucy’s gaze and smiled.

“Don’t leave,” she said, beckoning Lucy back to the stage. “You did the right thing, Lucy, and we want you to stay and celebrate Graduation.”

What can we learn from this story?

• Never be afraid to stand up for yourself. It can be scary to speak your truth and expose the wrongdoing of others, especially when it means going up against people in positions of power, but it's important to speak out and show others that they can do the same.
• Everyone gets what they deserve. If you spend your life doing good for others and treating all living creatures with respect, then it's assured that you will receive the same goodwill from others. However, if you are mean-hearted and horrible, then this will also come back to you.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a poor woman who takes care of her former teacher when she encounters the woman in a bad state.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.