Mr. Cartwright knew his son was not completely to blame. He had been too busy to pay proper attention to Lance and too much had escaped his notice. But he also knew it would be very dangerous for Lance if he continued to aggravate Alex.
He was a fearsome man, not just for his fighting skills but also now for his wisdom. There were not many people Mr. Cartwright needed to fear. But now he truly understood that Alex was someone they needed to be careful of. Lance stood by the gate for a long time after his father left.
Thinking about what had happened. Despite all the mischief he got up to at school. He had great respect for his father. He knew that he needed to obey him. Even if he didn't completely understand why Alex bothers father so much.
He returned to class feeling resigned. Other students ran up to him, wanting to know more about his father's sudden appearance at the school and the mysterious meeting he had with Mr. Ambrose After a while.
He got annoyed with their questions and made an announcement. I'm staying out of the way. If anybody wants to mess with Mr. Ambrose in the future, don't tell me about it. I'm not involved. I can't get mixed up in this stuff anymore.
Eric listened to this speech with a sour face. Annoyed that he was losing one of his favorite allies. But then his phone rang. The voice on the other end said. A deal is a deal. You owe me, my friend. His side.
Hey boss, don't worry, I'm bringing you some of my classmates tonight. Then we can talk about the head teacher, right? Bring the girls first, then we'll talk. The voice said curtly. And then the call ended.
The class soon began again. Everyone sat is meek and Demure's kittens, as if they had always been the best students in school. It was a complete turnaround from the cunning, indifferent miscreants who had first greeted their new teacher.
Alex looked around the room and wrinkled his nose. This room is a mess, you know. We're going to spend some time cleaning up. Tomorrow we're holding a parents meeting and all of your parents must attend. That's all. Then he left.
The class immediately began buzzing with excitement. They dreaded even the idea of a parents meeting. But they were excited that it was happening. They spring obediently into action, hunting down brooms and mops and rags.
They worked diligently to clean the room. Wondering if a clean room might make up for whatever Alex was going to tell their parents about them. I've been fixing my report cards. One student admitted while they worked. All the grades I've shared with my parents are completely fake.
If they find out, I'm in big trouble. None of their parents had ever visited the school. The sight of Lance's father walking in that day had already been a shock. Now that they knew, their parents really might visit the school. The class was nervous about their future. Eric refused to give in to the mood. We're not little kids.
He can't use our parents to scare us. I'm talking to the boss tonight. You'll know what to do. Alex had barely been there for a week, and yet the class was almost completely transformed. Eric felt like he was living through an invasion. Meanwhile. Billy had no idea class six was taking Alex's announcement so seriously. He wasn't worried in the slightest because he didn't think Alex had any chance of succeeding.
No one had ever managed to get the parents of the students of Class 6 to attend a meeting. He didn't understand what had happened with Mr. Cartwright. But he dismissed the incident as luck. Just because Alex had wrangled one father didn't mean he was going to be able to wrangle all of them.
Besides, if someone is busy and important, as Mr. Cartwright had managed to come to this school for a meeting that day. How would he do it again the next day? It seemed impossible to Billy that his schedule would allow it. Alex hadn't even shown proper respect to the Council member during his visit. There was no way he would return.
Billy tucked that detail away in the back of his mind to use against Alex in case he was more successful than anticipated. But no matter what, he was confident that this parents meeting would be Alex's downfall. He was so confident and so excited that he invited some of the other teachers out to dinner to celebrate in advance. Leonard Winters in particular was very happy to take him up on the invitation to go out and party in anticipation of Alex's downfall.
Lynne always supported Alex, and now she was very anxious about his promise to get the Class 6 parents to the meeting.
She was sure that as a substitute teacher he had no chance of getting the parents there.
As she was thinking about the situation, Alex happened to walk out of the classroom toward her.
"Mr. Ambrose, are you sure about tomorrow?" she asked him.
"What?" Alex was confused about what she was referring to.
"Mr. Ambrose, are you sure the parents of Class 6 will come?" she asked.
"Yes," Alex responded lightly.
"Mr. Ambrose, if you do get them to come, please make the most of the opportunity and make sure they understand what's really going on with their children. Class 6 students are the most disruptive in the school and their parents donate the least despite being some of the wealthiest people in Baltimore." Lynne was getting increasingly fed up with the situation and angry with the other teachers who were being so petty toward Alex.
As they were talking, Eric was loitering and watching at the school gate.
His appointment to meet with his 'boss' was coming up. Eric was hoping the older man would help him solve the problem of Mr Ambrose once and for all. His friends were all counting on him to get rid of the new teacher for good.