Bracelet of Beauty

Chapter 5: Verification

Ms. Belle left the class while they are answering the exercises of the book. She went to the faculty room to talk to one of her fellow teachers. Ms. Belle is kind but she is also cautious. She wanted to verify first the information she heard from Elizabeth Feliz before executing further actions.

Upon reaching the faculty room, she saw the teachers with vacant classes inside. She recalled that Ms. Nicole handles the class of Elizabeth also. Ms. Belle walked towards Ms. Nicole.

"Excuse me, Ms. Nicole. Are you busy? Could you spare me some of your time?" Ms. Belle politely asked.

"Oh, hello, Ms. Belle! I am not busy. Of course, I could take to you now. What is this about?" Ms. Nicole was curious.

"Great! Is it fine if we talk outside? I do not want to disturb the other teachers in the faculty room." Ms. Belle wanted to talk in private because this matter is confidential.

"Sure! Let us go outside." Ms. Nicole stood up and they both walked outside the faculty room.

"I wanted to ask you about Denise Cruz. She is your student also, am I correct?" Ms. Belle said.

"Yes. I even remembered we had a recitation this morning. If I am not mistaken, she is the first student that I called randomly. What about her, Ms. Belle?" Ms. Nicole noticed this topic is serious so she carefully listened to Ms. Belle.

"I just want to know what is your impression of this student. Is she kind or rude?" Ms. Belle asked.

"Well, personally, I think she has an attitude problem. Her pretty face may deceive you into thinking she is kind and innocent but in reality, I think she is a bully." Ms. Nicole replied.

Ms. Belle was shocked by what she heard and absorbed the information.

"How come you think she is a bully? Did a student tell you that Denise bullied them?" Ms. Belle further asked.

"Oh, no. I have not heard of any complaints from students about being bullied by Denise. I actually saw the incident." Ms. Nicole explained.

This left Ms. Belle speechless. A direct observation of bullying is more convincing.

"What happened? May I know the incident?" Ms. Belle said.

Ms. Nicole looked around first to see if anyone is listening to their conversation. When it is confirmed that no one is around, Ms. Nicole shared the story.

"It was early morning last month. I saw Denise and her friends cornering a student. I cannot see the face of the victim because she was surrounded by three girls. Denise seems to be the leader of the group. I heard a portion of their conversation that if the girl does not let Denise and the two girls copy her assignment, they will tear her notebook apart." Ms. Nicole said.

"What a horrible incident. A beautiful face but a terrible personality. What happened next?" Ms. Belle was interested in the next events.

"Denise tried to open the girl's bag and she searched the notebook with the answers for the assignment. When she got the notebook, the victim tried to pull it back but Denise held it firmly. The notebook almost got ripped then the girl just gave in. She told Denise that they could copy the answers just take care of her notebook and do not tear the pages because her notes are important." Ms. Nicole continued.

"Oh, my goodness. Did you confront them? I mean you were there during the incident and you could have caught them in the act and reported to the principal." Ms. Belle replied.

"Yes, I did confront them. I cannot bear it just by hearing their conversation. I said to myself that I have to do something. However, when I called their attention, they all ran including the victim. I was not able to talk to the victim. Moreover, I do not have evidence or any proof to show to the principal. It is hard to believe an explanation without solid evidence." Ms. Nicole explained her side.

"I understand your situation. I just realized that Denise Cruz is really a bully and her friends are accomplices in this wrongdoing. They must be punished because they need to learn their lesson. If they get away with this and if they are not reprimanded while they are still young, they will grow up intentionally stepping on other people. What more can they do when they grow up oppressing the weak? Just thinking about it makes me cringe." Ms. Belle shared her thoughts.

"In the tone of your voice, it seems that you know something about Denise Cruz's bullying. Were you also there on the same incident as mine last month or have you witnessed another scenario of bullying?" Ms. Nicole noticed Ms. Belle's anger.

"Well, Ms. Nicole, this information is confidential like your experience last month. However, this time, I am able to talk to the victim and convinced her to confess to me what really happened. At first, she was hesitant. I understand it because it is not easy to conquer one's fear. Denise might even threaten her if ever she confessed to the incident." Ms. Belle said.

"Really? This is getting interesting. Please tell me more." Ms. Nicole is the one interested now.

"Okay, here it goes. My student, Elizabeth Feliz, went to class wearing her P.E. uniform and we all know that you should only wear P.E. uniform during P.E. It was easy to notice because everyone else was wearing their regular uniform. I do not want to embarrass the student so I wanted to hear her reasons first. Unexpectedly, when I was talking to her, she glanced at her classmate, Denise Cruz. It seems that if she told the truth, her classmate will get back at her afterward. I realized that I needed to talk to Elizabeth in private. She even cried because she was scared and sad simultaneously. I tried to comfort her and calm her. To make the long story short, Denise intentionally spilled iced coffee on Elizabeth during recess at the girl's restroom, and Denise's friends, Stacy and Patricia were accomplices to this event." Ms. Belle added.

"Undeniably terrible! This Denise is a beast in disguise. What are you planning to do now." Ms. Nicole asked.

"Well, I talked to you to verify if what I know is reliable and if the story of Elizabeth is credible. Now, I am convinced that Denise and her friends are really bullies and must be punished for their actions. I will report them to the principal." Ms. Belle was eager to bring justice to the victims of Denise's bullying.