February 28, 2006
Jim sometimes could not believe how quickly the year had gone by. There were only about 4 months of the school year left, and he couldn’t remember where the previous ones had gone. Things had slowed down for him in the last week or so, though, as basketball season had come to a disappointing end with a first round loss in the state playoffs. Still, it had been the best year for West Scranton since Jim led the team to the state quarterfinals as a senior. People around town were congratulating him for the team’s success, and even though Jim, self-deprecating as always, said it was the players that had gotten it done, he felt some pride well up inside him about his contributions to the team’s success.
Things with Pam were, unfortunately, he thought about the same. It was so weird because he was so grateful to have her friendship during the day that it made him almost physically sick to think about losing that, but at the same time, not having more left this little ache inside of him that just never seemed to go away. Even when he was coaching, he was conscious of her presence in the gym, and he would find his eyes being drawn to her. And sometimes when they were talking or messing around with Dwight, he would see her smile or look at him in this way that left him thinking, ‘Maybe.’
But Jim felt it best to focus on that as little as possible, because, Pam was, after all engaged to be married. He was at least thankful the wedding wouldn’t happen this summer, as was originally planned.
“Hey, Pam.”
“Oh, hey, Jim.”
“How are things in the control center, today?”
“Well, Michael is considering instituting what he likes to call ‘Movie Mondays,’ where he plays bits of a movie over the closed-circuit television every Monday afternoon from 2:30-3:00.”
“Seems like a good idea.”
“Yeah, it didn’t go over well with some people. Angela came running into Michael’s office within minutes of receiving the memo yelling that she did not approve of Movie Monday. I’m pretty sure Michael is scared of her sometimes.”
“That feeling is…well, it’s natural to be scared of her, Pam.”
Pam giggled. “I still can’t believe a guy like you can be scared of a 5’1” tall woman.”
“Pam! It’s not at all about her height. I know she couldn’t like, beat me up, but still…things that are short can be scary. I mean, have you never seen The Leprechaun?”
“You’re also scared of leprechauns?”
“Geez. Not all of them, just that one.”
“Okay. What about Chucky?”
“Chucky?”
“The doll. Did that scare you?”
“Um, kinda.”
“Hmm.”
“So anyway, what’ s new with you?”
“You mean since this morning?”
“Um, yeah, it’s a fast-paced world, Beesly.”
“I forget that sometimes around here. Well, nothing’s new, really. Um…I guess…well, Roy and I decided to put the wedding off for a little bit.”
“Oh.” Jim really had no idea what to say to this, considering he personally wanted to jump up and down. But Pam probably wouldn’t appreciate that, so instead he just said, “ Really?”
“Yeah, we um…well, we just aren’t sure we have enough money saved up yet, so…maybe we’ll get married next Christmas. Or maybe the next summer.”
“Haven’t you been saving money, like, for a while now?” Whoops, not the nicest thing to say, Jim thought to himself. But it didn’t seem to faze Pam.
“Um…yeah. We just…we just want to make sure that um, the timing is right, ya know?”
“Sure…yeah. Gotta make sure that everything is right before you make a decision like that, I guess.”
“Well, the decision is, uh, made…we just want to be sure we get started off on the right foot, I guess.”
“Right.” Jim just looked at Pam, trying to figure out what to say. In the end, he decided the conversation was over, as was typical when Roy came up. “Well, um, good luck with all of that, I guess, um, I’m gonna go get lunch since I was too lazy to pack mine today.”
“Okay. Bye.”
When Jim got back to his classroom after he went out for lunch, his computer desktop was changed to a picture of Chucky.
Today was February 28, the last day of February, and for that Jim was thankful. Michael had been giving daily announcements about Black History Month, and they were, well, insane. The end of today meant the end of the insane announcements. Well, it meant the end of the insane announcements about black people. Yesterday’s had been particularly inspiring, with Michael talking about how he ran into Tupac last week. Last week’s Chris Rock routine had also been pretty good. Maybe the best day was when Michael went through about 15 black jokes and explained why each was offensive. Pam thought that was the best announcement, but Jim was partial to the Tupac dedication.
Today, Michael had his grand finale video planned, which he would broadcast to the school over closed circuit television at the end of the day. Jim couldn’t wait. He and Pam had a bet on what Michael would do. Jim predicted Michael would read stories by Uncle Remus. Pam had predicted that Michael would read the Emancipation Proclamation.
It was the last class of the day, and there were about 5 minutes left. Jim no longer had the last period of the day off. Instead, his planning period was the period before last. Jim had to change since one of the teachers had gone on maternity leave. Jim was happy for his co-worker, but upset for himself. Jim had told the class he was done teaching for the day, so they could work on homework or talk. Basically, Jim was worn out. It had been a long day and an even longer month. So what would 5 minutes hurt? The class had basically gotten through everything Jim wanted to cover, anyway. Jim was checking his email when he heard someone say, “Mr. Halpert?”
“Hmm? Oh. Yes, Jennifer?” One of the girls in the front had gotten his attention.
“Do you…um…do you have a girlfriend?” Jennifer’s friends started giggling.
“Um…no, I’m single right now. No girlfriend.” Yeah, this wasn’t weird.
“Oh.” Jennifer let that sink in and then said, “What about Ms. Beesly?”
“Ms. Beesly?”
“Yeah, you know, the secretary.”
“Um, she’s engaged. We’re friends.”
“Oh. Okay. We thought you guys might be dating.”
“Um…no. She’s engaged to Roy Anderson- the football coach.”
“Oh. Really. I didn’t know that. We just…saw you guys talking and thought maybe, you know, that you two were together.”
“Nope. Just friends.”
“Okay. Sorry to bother you.”
“No problem,” Jim said. Jennifer turned around to talk to her friends, and the group continued giggling.
Jim all of a sudden got this really paranoid-like feeling. Was he that transparent that a group of 15 year old girls that saw him talking with Pam thought the two of them were together? Jim decided maybe he needed to tone things down a bit, out of respect for Pam and her engagement and out of necessity. He just felt like he couldn’t be around her without his feelings for her, which were definitely more than friendship, popping up. Whenever she laughed or came up with a great idea to prank Dwight…he just needed to start to back away from her. He loved her friendship, but it was too difficult to go on without more, and it wasn’t really the moral thing to do to pine over an engaged woman. Especially when it was apparently obvious to everyone what he felt.
“Attention, students and faculty,” the voice of Dwight K. Schrute came over the loudspeaker. “Please immediately cease what you are doing and please turn on your closed circuit television sets. It is time for the conclusion to Principal Scott’s month long series of announcements regarding Black History Month. I have personally videotaped this announcement, and I assure you it is not only educational, but inspiring as well. So without further ado, Michael Scott.” This oughta be good, Jim thought.
Soon, the image of Michael Scott dressed as Abraham Lincoln came on to the screen. “Hello, students. I am Abraham Lincoln. In the 18th century, I freed the slaves of America and the world. I did this with the Emancipation Proclamation. As such, I am the greatest white black man in history. Even better than Eminem. I am here to speak to you about black history, and from my position I know a great deal about this subject. I only wished I could have lived longer to tell people about these issues, but I was shot by James William Booth.” Jim’s class was already shaking their heads. “I have a great reputation for helping black people. For example, just before the Civil War, I told Robert E. Lee, that if you are a racist, I will attack you with the north. I single-handedly re-united the United States and amended the Constitution to outlaw slavery. Unfortunately, many did not and still do not follow my lead. People, prejudice still exists. I am a fan of diversity. I once said that a house divided against itself is in serious trouble. So the question is: where do we start rebuilding this house? The answer is that we start with the foundation. And our foundation should be trust and understanding and an ability to accept others. Let us build bridges into the 20th century and eliminate hatred and prejudice. Please keep these ideas in mind not only this month, but all year long so that we can build a better tomorrow full of exclusiveness rather than inclusiveness.”
The video continued running with Michael just sitting there for about 10 seconds. Then Michael said, “Dwight, turn the camera off. Turn it…give it to me.” Michael stood up and wrestled the camera away from Dwight and shut it off. Over the loudspeaker, everyone could hear Michael say, albeit muffled, as if he had his hand over the microphone, “Dammit Dwight! Why did you show that part? What is wrong with you?” Seconds later, Michael began speaking again at normal volume, “Hello, West Scranton, my Union army. I just wanted to wrap this month up by saying I hope you all have learned a few things and have taken what I have said to heart. It’s been a great month, but the battle rages on in the streets. Well, not just in the streets. Black people do live in other places…um, the fight continues in our schools and other places, too. The fight for equality. Which is good. It’s great. So have a good afternoon, and I would like each of you to spend 30 minutes tonight considering what you can do to take equality to the next level. Good night, everybody! You’ve been a great audience!”
Jim stood up and said, “Okay, everyone. Have a good day. See you tomorrow, when we will go over proper research techniques, and how important it is to fact check. Even though you can rise to a position like Principal without these abilities, you don’t want to look…well, it’s important to be accurate with what you say. See you tomorrow.”
Jim was pretty sure he owed Pam some French onion sun chips. Even though Michael hadn’t read the Emancipation Proclamation, he had mentioned it. And even pronounced it correctly. And a deal’s a deal.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I’m all around not sure about this chapter, but I let it sit for a long time before I finished it and changed how I was going to do it and I am incapable of doing better. So it’s done and here.
Oh, and I added 2 chapters today (so don't forget chapter 16) because I won't be able to add another for a couple of days probably.
Oh, and I added 2 chapters today (so don't forget chapter 16) because I won't be able to add another for a couple of days probably.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for reading. I wasn't sure how the last 2 chapters actually went, so I would appreciate feedback on them if you have any.
