Basic Elementary School
A young boy was drinking soup in a corner of the school's canteen.
His eyes were unfocused while his right hand continued to scoop soup up to his mouth.
While dazed, his left hand was fiddling with an iron fork. One moment it's gone, another second it appeared elsewhere on the table.
"Chink!"
"Plop!"
"Chink!"
"..."
"Plop!"
The atmosphere was weird to say the least.
Children that were talking with each other quietened down when they walked past his table.
Once they were far away enough, they began their conversations again.
This went on till the school bell rang, signalling to everyone that their break had ended.
"Alright kids, head back to class!" A female teacher clapped her hands and announced. She then went to every table to get the kids to move.
But when she got to that particular young boy's table, she hesitated for a moment.
A breath later, the teacher regained her confidence and whispered, "Ivan, it's time to head back to class."
The young boy called Ivan heard this and slowly turned towards the teacher. His eyes remained unfocus as he gave the teacher a curt nod.
As if autopilot was turned on, the young boy stopped drinking soup and stood up from his seat. He then placed his tray into a nearby bin and stopped moving.
The female teacher saw this and couldn't help but let out a sigh. 'This boy is on autopilot mode again. Oh dear…'
But before she could walk over to wake Ivan up from his stupor, the teacher noticed that a group of kids were walking towards the motionless young boy.
The group of kids were led by a chubby child twice Ivan's size.
Without looking in front of him, the chubby kid bumped into Ivan's back and fell backwards.
"Huh?!" His friends cried out in surprise.
Some of them had seen Ivan standing in the way but chose to remain silent. They were waiting for their group leader to bump into the boy and cause to fall forward.
But much to their surprise, it was their group leader that was bounced back instead!
"What the? Teacher, that kid just pushed me!" The chubby kid quickly regained his senses and cried out.
Although it was his fault that he wasn't looking in front of him while he talked to his friends, the chubby kid wanted to pin his fall on Ivan instead.
Blaming others was always easier compared to owning up one's own mistakes.
The chubby kid knew this, his friends knew this, and even the female teacher watching all of this go down knew this.
As for the one being blamed, Ivan continued to stand in front of the tray bin in silence.
The female teacher soon walked over. With a cursory glance, she pushed her glasses and revealed a small smile.
She then wore a concerned look and turned towards the chubby kid to help him get up.
"Oh dear, are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"
"Huh? Oh, my bum hurts."
"Oh, your bum hurts…Do we need to visit the infirmary?"
"N…No need, I'm okay."
"That's good, that's good. Then how did you fall?"
The chubby kid remained silent for a moment before he pointed his fingers at Ivan in an accusatory manner. "He pushed me so I fell down."
"Ooooh, I see. Lying is not good, you know? A good child wouldn't lie, right? You are a good child, right?" The teacher gave the chubby kid a meaningful look.
This was when the chubby kid's friends butted into the conversation and doubled down. "Teacher, our friend Jason would never lie. That boy really pushed him."
"Really?"
"Really, we saw it too."
"Oooh, so now all of you are lying." The teacher heard this and shook her head in disappointment.
"Just now, I already saw how you guys were busy talking with each other. How can the young boy push your friend by just standing there? Do you think I'm blind is it? Bumping into someone and not saying sorry is already wrong. Now you want to accuse him for pushing your friend to fall? You must really think I'm really blind lah."
When the group of kids heard the teacher's painful yet truthful words, they dropped their heads and started to silently shed tears.
If the lie isn't believable, add some tears. Sympathy is the next best route to go!
"Wow, now you're crying lah. Okay okay, let's say you guys are speaking the truth, what sort of punishment do you want me to give the boy?" The teacher noticed that some of the boys had tears in their eyes and became flabbergasted.
'Wah, children these days really know how to act lah. Okay lah, I'll just play along. Hopefully I can get Ivan to wake up too.'
Unaware of the hidden ploy, the chubby kid wiped a tear and sniffled, "Let me push him back. It's not fair that I got hurt, so I want to push him to fall too."
'These kids' creativity is out of this world. This must be a new way to bully their peers…'
"Fine, I'll allow it." The teacher placed her head in her palm and let out another sigh. "Ivan, come over here."
Upon hearing his name being called, the dazed Ivan turned around and moved towards the teacher like a robot.
He then raised his head and waited in silence.
"Ivan, these kids said that you were the one who made him fall…As punishment, the chubby kid will make you fall. Sounds fair?"
Ivan gave no response, to which the chubby kid took it as a yes.
The chubby kid proceeded to get into a stance.
'Got bullying stance too. I hope they learn their lesson.' The teacher sighed in her heart.
The chubby kid raised both of his arms and took a deep breath. With a shout, he placed his palms on Ivan's chest and pushed with all his might.
On the other hand, the dazed Ivan felt the pushing force but remained standing in place.
No matter how the chubby kid pushed him, it was not enough to make him tremble, much less actually push him to lose his balance and fall.
"Why…won't…you…fall?!" The chubby kid shouted in dismay. After one final push, he collapsed onto the ground from the tiredness.
"Anyone else? Your leader has failed to take revenge on this boy here. Anyone else want to try their luck?"