Twilight Tales: From Sunlit Smiles to Moonlit Mischief-

Standing Up to Mean Miss Li at GuanmingElementary

The hallways of Guanming Elementary in little Nantou were always total chaos in the mornings. Lockers banged, big kids shouted greetings to their friends, and sneakers squeaked on the floors as we all rushed not to be last to class. It reeked of chalk dust and stinky tofu in the cafeteria still from yesterday.

I dragged my tired feet through the noise, struggling to keep my eyes open after staying up all night copying English vocabulary over and over. Getting that stupid 98 on the quiz meant I had to do all that torture homework - way worse than regular old math homework.

"Number 22457! You little brats get over here and mop these floors right now!" shrieked Mrs. Chen, her face all scrunched up like she caught a whiff of a rotten egg fart.

I felt bad for the second graders like my brother who had to put up with her screaming all day in their part of the building, decorated with fake motivational posters and a clock that's never on time.

In Taiwan, teachers get to totally lose it on you if you miss even one question. My cousin in California says a 98 is an A+ over there. Here, it's basically a failing disaster.

I shuffled into Miss Scary Li's class, not looking forward to her usual morning freak-outs. The flickering lights didn't even do a good job illuminating the creepy skeleton model in the corner. I flopped into my usual seat and braced myself.

"Line up and shut your rotten mouths!" Miss Li shouted, her voice echoing harshly off the bare white walls.

We scrambled into a perfect line in two seconds flat. You did not want to face the wrath of an angry Miss Li. Our classroom was always so neat and orderly, but also full of dread over what she would do next.

Next to me, poor Xiao Ma - or as the mean bullies call her, Ugly Mary - flinched at a loud noise outside and turned her head for half a second. Miss Li's beady eyes caught the tiny movement instantly.

"Xiao Ma! Eyes front this instant before I have to make you sorry!" She leaned right into Mary's face, spraying spittle through her clenched teeth.

Tears welled up in Mary's eyes behind her thick lenses. Her pigtail braids drooped with her shoulders as she shrank down smaller.

That's when I shocked everyone, including myself. "Don't yell at her like that, you old hag!" I shouted, stepping forward out of line.

Miss Li's entire face turned bright nuclear cherry red, like the time my baby cousin had that horrible diaper blow-out. She bared her dentures and made a beeline for the supply closet where we all knew she kept her dreaded bamboo disciplinary stick for smacking kids.

But before she could grab it, Tyson stepped in holding his cousin's hand-me-down iPhone 4 from like a million years ago. He aimed it squarely at Miss Li like a fearless movie director. We all wanted to hold our breath.

Tyson's hands shook slightly as he shouted, "Unless you want this whole nasty scene recorded and shown to the principal, I....I wouldn't lay a finger on anyone today, Miss Li"

Miss Li froze, her eyes going wide. She glanced around at all of us watching her every move. For a moment, it looked like she might actually call Tyson's bluff and go for the bamboo stick anyway.

But then Tyson looked into my peepers, and I gave him the tiniest of nods. Straightening up, he aimed the iPhone more steadily at the feared old hag. Woah!

That's when Miss Scary Li finally looked...scared. Her bony hand retreated from the closet door and she avoided making eye contact with any of us.

"We'll just...move along to today's lessons then," she mumbled quietly through clenched teeth before shuffling away in defeat.

I couldn't believe it - none of us got punished! In that moment, we had the power.

During lunch, the three of us gathered excitedly in a corner of the cafeteria, rehashing the morning's unbelievable events with hushed tones and furtive glances around to make sure no teachers were close enough to overhear.

"You were both so brave! I can't believe we faced down that old hag and she backed down," Mary gushed, gazing at me and Tyson with admiration.

Before I knew it, she planted a big wet kiss right on my cheek! I must have turned as red as a ripe lychee fruit. Tyson laughed louder than one of Miss Li's hollars.

Once he caught his breath, Tyson straightened up and looked at us funny. "So now we gotta decide...what're we gonna get her to let us do in exchange for keeping our mouths shut about that disciplinary stick?"

"Ooh, I know!" I exclaimed, leaning in so the other kids couldn't overhear our plan. "How about unlimited cell phone game time during lunch, all week? That'll show her not to mess with us again!"

"Genius! She'll go crazy having to allow that," Tyson agreed, fist-bumping me as we shook on the deal.

As soon as the bell rang for afternoon classes, we cornered Miss Li alone in the teacher's lounge, catching her unaware as she ate her sad little rice ball lunch. Kid power!

"Miss Li," I stated firmly, crossing my arms as Tyson aimed the iPhone camera at her wrinkled face. "We're not gonna tell Principal Wang about you hitting kids with that stick."

She looked up at us warily but stayed silent, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"But!" Tyson jumped in. "You gotta make it worth our while and let us play mobile games on our phones all lunch period every day this week. No exceptions!"

Miss Li's eyes flashed with anger for just a moment before settling into resigned defeat. She eyed the iPhone clutched in Tyson's hand, realizing we finally had control over her tightly-ruled classroom kingdom.

"Very well, you miserable brats," she grumbled after a tense pause. "A deal is a deal, this week."

We walked away victorious, exchanging giddy looks and high-fives at having orchestrated the first successful rebellion any student could remember against Mean Miss Li's tyranny.

For once, Chinese lessons about Ancient dynasties and math equations didn't seem quite so boring compared to the excitement we felt at finally seizing a little freedom and justice for ourselves.

I couldn't wait to video chat my cousin that night and regale him with the whole story of how his lame hand-me-down iPhone 4 allowed us to overthrow one of Taiwan's cruelest elementary school teachers, if only for one glorious week.