(Trying a longer story like others on the board. Hope it works.)
PART I:
Mrs. Anderson opened up her top desk drawer, pulled out a roll of medical tape, and slammed it down on top of her desk. "Sherri, come up here."
I got up from my desk and slowly walked towards hers. In the month since I started fourth grade, I'd made this walk twice already. I knew well what was coming up.
As I walked up, Mrs. Anderson took the first piece of tape she ripped off of the roll and stuck it over my mouth, rubbing it down with her hands. The snickering that had started on my walk up only got louder. One by one Mrs. Anderson covered my face in strip after strip of that white tape. Some of the strips went over my cheeks. Some went under my chin. By the time she was done, my lower face was cocooned. All I could do was wiggle my jaw a little from side to side. I couldn't move my lips. I sure couldn't talk.
I knew she was almost done when she picked up the black marker from her desk and took the cap off. In a loud voice she said each syllable as she wrote it across the tape over my mouth: "Whis ... per ... er." It was the same word I'd gotten over my gag before. When the tape came off later in the day I could see the big capital letters she wrote. I could only imagine how it must have looked when it was still on my mouth.
One of the boys had gotten "Backtalker" earlier that week. He was the only other student who'd been gagged by Mrs. Anderson so far that year.
I started to walk back to my desk, like I had done before, bowing my head so I didn't have to see the other students giggle at me, but Mrs. Anderson put her hand on my shoulder as I turned away. "No," she said, "this time you're getting a special seat." She stood up and moved her chair beside her desk, then pointed to it. My hands shook as I walked in front of the chair and sat down, facing the whole class.
It was embarrassing enough to make that walk back from Mrs. Anderson's desk to mine. Once I was back in my chair only a few students turned to look at me. Now I had to sit with all those faces in front of me, even more conscious of the massive gag Mrs. Anderson had stuck on my face. Every time Mrs. Anderson turned to write on the board, students would point at me and silently giggle.
At first I didn't do anything. Before I'd only been gagged for a while, and then Mrs. Anderson would tell me I could take the tape off. It stung, but if I took it off slowly then it didn't hurt so much. Maybe because I was up there in front of the class, time seemed to go slower, and when the other students kept making fun of me I had enough all of a sudden.
"MMMMMMM!"
A ripple of laughter passed over the whole class as Mrs. Anderson turned to me.
I waved my finger at some of the kids who'd been laughing at me. "Mmmmm, mmmmmmmm!"
"Sherri, you're supposed to be quiet now. That's why I put the tape--"
"Mmmmm, mmmmm mmmmmmm!" I couldn't help myself. With Mrs. Anderson turned to face me they all started pointing at me again.
Mrs. Anderson sighed and rubbed her cheek. "If you're not going to be quiet, then I think you need an extra lesson."
That got me to put my finger down. Kids covered their smiles with their hands as they realized, like I did, I'd only made things worse for myself.
"Now, unless you want to make things worse for yourself, don't make another sound. Is that understood?"
I nodded and slunk into the chair. What else could I do? I'd already made things worse for myself. As the morning dragged on I got sore from Mrs. Anderson's hard wood chair. Slowly the pointing and giggling diminished, but it never really went away. I was sure I'd already been gagged longer than ever before, and I didn't know when I'd finally be able to take that tape off.
After a while Mrs. Anderson stepped behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Okay, class, time for lunch." The other students all lined up by the door as Mrs. Anderson bent over to whisper in my ear, "I'm going to lead the students to the lunchroom and then come right back here. Don't get up from the chair or take your tape off. Understood?"
I nodded. After a minute or so the class went out to the lunchroom. I could hear other classes file past in the hallway, but I didn't look at them. I wondered if any of them saw me.
Mrs. Anderson was gone for a long time. I thought being watched by everyone was hard, but those minutes of silence were even harder, dragging on forever. I wasn't getting hungry, but I worried that I was going to be gagged all through lunch. Was that the "extra lesson" Mrs. Anderson promised?
Finally Mrs. Anderson came back in and shut the door. She'd never shut the door before. Dread pooled in my stomach. She pulled one of the students' chairs up in front of mine and sat down, and the oddest thing was she had this sweet smile on her face as she did it.
"Sorry I took so long, sweetie. Had to have a little chat on the phone with your mother."
My eyes shot wide open. Now I was really in for it.
"Relax, I didn't tell her you'd been naughty. I was just making plans for after school with you."
That confused me. She didn't tell Mom I'd been bad, but made plans for after school?
She crossed one knee over the other. "Most students who get their mouths taped shape right up. I rarely have to tape them up again a second time. You're the first to get her mouth taped three times in the first month of school."
I nodded. After the respite of those quiet minutes, my cheeks began to burn again.
Mrs. Anderson leaned towards me. "You didn't even try to hide that you were whispering to Sadie, did you?"
I paused, then I shook my head. I hadn't hidden it at all.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say that you like having your mouth taped. Is that why you got in trouble?"
She smiled that sweet smile at me again, as if to tell me that she understood. I had to be honest. I nodded again. Being taped up in front of my classmates was humiliating, but there was something about wearing those gags that felt comforting, the way they hugged my face, how warm my cheeks got under all that tape.
Her smile widened, showing her pearly, perfect white teeth. "I thought so. You like the feel of the tape on your mouth, don't you?"
I nodded again.
"Do you like the attention you get from everyone?"
I shook my head. That was the only part I didn't like, the stares and giggles.
"Do you think you could learn to like it?"
I had to pause again. Could I? I didn't think so, but I wasn't sure. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Okay." Mrs. Anderson stood up and walked over beside me. "Listen to me, Sherri. I know you like having your mouth taped, but I can't have you keep disrupting my class. I have things I need to teach you, and every time I have to tape your mouth up that means less time I have to teach. Do you understand?"
I nodded, pain shooting through my stomach again. When she put it that way I felt bad for whispering to Sadie just to get taped up again.
"So I'll make you a deal. I know some people who can make you very happy, and I'll take you to them after school. Would you like that?"
Happy? I wasn't sure what she meant. I pointed to my gag. "Mmmmm mmmmmmmm mmmm?"
"Yes, you'll have your mouth taped. But there are two things you have to do for me. The first is that you have to promise to stop disrupting my class so much. I can tape you up in school maybe once a month, but no more. Do you promise to do that for me?"
I nodded. That was fair, I thought.
"Say that you promise."
"Mmm mmmmmm."
"Good." She put a hand on top of my head and stroked my hair. "Now, the second part will be more difficult. You have to agree to be taped up all the rest of the day."
The rest of the day? My eyes widened.
"It'll be hard, but I know you can do it. You'll have to go without lunch, but I can feed you later. You'll also have to go out at recess with your mouth taped, where all the other fourth graders can see you. That'll mean even more teasing. But if you want to meet the people who can make you happy after school, you have to do it."
I looked away. No lunch? Being teased at recess? I thought I'd already reached my limit being gagged so long already.
"If you don't want to go through with it, you can take the tape off now and go join your classmates at lunch. But if you do, I'll never tape your mouth again. If you're naughty I'll send you right to the principal's office."
Never taped up again? I was sure I could find a roll of duct tape in the garage and gag myself, but there was something about Mrs. Anderson taping me up, her warm hands, the care she took to make sure my gag was just right.
"Can you go through the rest of the day with your mouth taped, Sherri? Nod if you can."
I got butterflies in my stomach. What to do? I thought being gagged as long as I'd been already was hard enough, but I had to go through the rest of school like that? Taped up in front of the whole fourth grade? But if I didn't do it, then Mrs. Anderson would never tape me up again. And she said she'd take me to people who would make me very happy. I'd already trusted her enough to admit I liked being taped up. Could I trust her even more?
"Sherri?"
The thought of never being taped up again was too much for me. I closed my eyes and nodded.
She patted my head. "That's good. Now, it's going to be hard at recess, but unlike in class you'll be able to make noise. In fact, I'd like you to make noise for me at recess. Do you think you can do that?"
I looked up at her. Her request sounded strange, but I nodded.
"Good. Can you whimper for me? Make eyes at me like a puppy's?"
"Mmmmmmmmmmm." I widened my eyes and scrunched my neck a little like a turtle's.
"That's good. Now, can you get angry at me, scowl at me and really scream into the tape?"
"Mmmmmmmmm!" I lowered my brow at her. It didn't feel right doing that to a teacher, but she asked me to.
"Louder!"
"Mmmmmmmmmmmm!"
She pointed at me with one hand, the other covering her giggling mouth. "Ha ha, look at you all taped up!"
"MMMMMMMMMMMMM!" I wasn't faking anger. My cheeks got hot with it.
She smiled her sweet smile again. "That's good! Do you think you can do that to the kids at recess who come up and tease you?"
I took deep breaths through my nose, nodding again.
"And if someone asks you a question, say your response into the tape, even though no one can understand you. Okay?"
I nodded.
"It'll be frustrating, but I promise it'll be worth it. It's Friday, so I'm the playground monitor. You'll stand beside me, and I promise I won't let the kids take things too far."
That made me feel a little better, but not much. Could I really take all that teasing for a half-hour?
"Now, before the other students come back, do you need to use the little girls' room?"
I didn't have to, but I thought I'd better anyway. I nodded.
"Ask me."
I closed my eyes. "Mmm mmmmmmm, mmm mmmmmm mmmmmmm mmmmmmm mmm?"
She laughed a little. "Yes you may. Hurry back, though."
I got up from the chair and ran out of the room and down the hallway to the restroom. The hallways were empty because all the fourth graders were at lunch, but I still didn't want anyone to see me.
As I was washing my hands I looked up in the mirror. I thought that boy who'd gotten his mouth taped earlier looked silly, but I looked even sillier. Even though the letters were in reverse in the mirror, that big "WHISPERER" written over where my mouth had once been just made the gag look more ridiculous. My classmates had already teased me so much that day, but now the whole fourth grade would see me taped up that afternoon. What had I gotten myself into?