We have all thought of getting even sometimes. Maybe we’ve had somebody exact revenge on us in the past for something we did, and we’ve considered exacting retribution on other people.
There’s a difference between envisioning the plan that will get you your desired retribution and carrying it out. However, the people in the stories that follow dealt with it as intimately as they could.
Even if not every vengeance story is a good one, you’ll find that these stories provide you with a lot of satisfaction as you read them. These individuals accomplished what the majority of us have only dreamed of doing.
At our middle school reunion this week (most of us attended the same K–8 school, ages 6–14 for our friends across the pond), my friend Janice (who I’ll call Janice) brought up this recollection as we were all laughing and chatting over Zoom.
Two grades would be taught together in our schools, except Kindergarten (that is, first and second grade would be taught together, third and fourth grade together, and so on).
Every year, the 7th and 8th grades were required to complete a unique project known as Toy Team (TT).
In essence, we would be divided into groups and given the task of creating a certain toy to sell. To judge our projects and get awards in a variety of categories (Best Presentation, Best Design, Best Research, etc.), representatives from nearby firms would be invited.
This project was intended to educate creativity, cleverness, teamwork, etc. However, it ended up being more bother than it was worth. for reasons that I’ll discuss shortly.
I had an intense dislike for TT. The main explanation for this is that the girls handled the secretarial duties (such as compiling final reports, surveying the groups, and listing outcomes), while the boys took charge of toy construction. Even though it wasn’t fair, I was always too scared to voice my opinions or seek assistance in creating something I’d always loved.
However, because of one child, my eighth-grade year was the one that nearly broke me.
Let’s introduce Carlos (not his true name). Despite being in seventh grade, Carlos was considered a math and science prodigy. Since none of the teachers at our school could instruct him at his level, he was forced to attend the nearby high school to take math and science programs.
In addition, he took tremendous satisfaction in being a cool kid, and he had a group of admirers who followed him around to validate his grandeur.
Carlos was, in all honesty, a little punk who could have needed a few lessons from the school of hard knocks. He was an extreme jerk who constantly denigrated other people. Since his parents, who were Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy brought to life, had supported him and threatened everyone in their vicinity, he was also extremely dangerous.
Carlos attended a private school, and because his parents were generous benefactors, even the teachers had restrictions on how harshly they could chastise him. He dismissed it, saying that detention was the worst thing they could do.
Seriously, Carlos was untouchable—that is until he killed someone.
When we found out we would be matched with Carlos, Janice and I were ecstatic to be in the same group. Carlos took over the project right away and started micromanaging Janice and me. Because Janice and I were quiet, private, and only concerned with our work, Carlos and his cronies found us to be easy pickings.
Carlos then went on to ruin our entire TT experience. He insisted that we had to write down our glider’s design since only he, as the chief math and science expert, could construct it.
Since it was only an eight-week group project and we knew our teachers would do nothing, Janice and I first put up with it.
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