One Small Chance: a novella (a Love Story from Portugal) by Lucinda Whitney Page B

stood from their desks and walked out with him. Simon stopped at the fifth grade class and repeated the directive. The four students followed behind him, trading glances and shrugs and murmuring in Portuguese, even though they all knew it was against the rules.
    As they turned in the direction of the bathrooms, Isabel Antunes was already by the door.
    She gestured at the boys’ bathrooms. “What’s going on here?”
    Simon’s shoulders relaxed. “That’s what I’m trying to find out.” He held the door open for her. “The plumber is already in there. I’ll stay with these students.”
    A few moments later, Isabel pushed the door and the plumber followed behind holding a bucket in his hand. Isabel talked animatedly in Portuguese and the guy nodded. The students stepped back and turned bright red. They definitely knew more than they’d admitted.
    Isabel called for Simon. The plumber had pulled out the cover for the toilet tank and was in the process of extracting something from the interior.
    “What is that?” Simon asked.
    The plumber set it on the floor. It was made of a semi-rigid see-through plastic and there were streaks of color on it, now running on both sides.
    Isabel Antunes tapped it with the tip of her shoe. “That, Mr. Ackerley, looks to be some kind of Moaning Myrtle.”
    Simon looked at the floor where the strange object lay in a heap. The round glasses, the long hair in low pony tails. Just like the movie character.
    Isabel walked past him. When Simon reached the hallway, she had the students lined up against the wall.
    “Well, Mr. Ackerley is here now so who’s going to tell him what happened?” Her face was flushed but she didn’t raise her voice. At the continued silence, she touched the watch on her wrist. “We’re wasting everybody’s time, ladies and gentlemen. I advise you to confess right now. Class captains?”
    The oldest boy and girl raised their heads. The boy spoke first. “The boys put trolls in the toilet bowls of the girls’ bathrooms.”
    The girl looked between him and Isabel. “And the girls put the Moaning Myrtles in the flush tanks of the boys’ bathroom.”
    Simon looked at them for a moment. “How did you even make these?”
    “We used the 3D printer in the science lab,” said the sixth grade girl.
    Isabel crossed her arms. “And where did you get the design?”
    The fifth grade boy spoke up. “That was me. I came up with the design.”
    Isabel exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of her nose. After a moment, she turned to the students. “For the time being, it’s demerits for all the students in both classes. We’ll talk about this later when Mr. Ackerley and I have discussed a proper consequence for this inexcusable behavior. Now, go back to class.”
    After some instructions to the plumber, she left the bathrooms and Simon followed her down the hallway.
    “That’s some serious talent these kids have,” he said. “Now we just need to redirect their focus to something productive.”
    “Don’t worry. I intend to talk to the science and computer specialists about this.” She stopped and looked down at his feet. “What happened to you? You’re sloshing.”
    “An unfortunate consequence of the bathroom pranks.”
    “Pity. Those were nice shoes.” She opened the door to her office.
    They weren’t nice shoes anymore.
    After the last bell rang, Simon waited by the front door of the academy. His pants had half-dried and the secretary had brought him a pair of flip-flops. He suspected Isabel was behind the gesture, but couldn’t get it confirmed.
    She stood outside, saying goodbye to the students and waving at the parents, probably making sure the parents kept their heads and didn’t get into more fender benders. As if anyone would dare do anything against the rules in her presence. How she managed to instill respect and affection at the same time baffled him.
    She returned a few minutes later. “You’re free to leave, Mr. Ackerley.”
    “I’ll do