Dawn leaned in, her eyes focused on the whiteboard, it was a term dating back to a time when every classroom had one.

    Now it was the equivalent of a huge computer with a screen that responded to touch or in schools with better funding, simple gestures without having to even touch the board; making it easy for teachers to access any teaching materials they wanted as it had access to the Web .

  Mr. Melchett was their history teacher , a tall slightly obese man with a very prominent and thick handlebar moustache. He had a penchant for being extremely loud and it was hard to fall asleep in the class when it sounded like he was shouting all the time.

 However, he was also incapable of making any event sound interesting and as he droned on monotonously about some obscure event from Home’s distant past, a good number of students at the back were starting to doze off, George and Edmund among them.

 Dawn usually had no problems staying awake but her stomach was giving her some problems. It was churning and making odd noises, rumbling and it felt as if it was being stretched. Dawn was worried it would disrupt the classes that were level with her stomach. Usually they would give her a little poke if she was doing that but thankfully nothing like that had happened.

 “ Hey Graham, how are you feeling?” Dawn whispered into the class.

 Graham looked at the eye staring back at him but it began to retreat as Dawn leaned back and the rest of her face came into view, Dawn’s seat didn’t offer her the best view of the class but she had to make do with the limited infrastructure of the school.

 “ I’m fine. Anything wrong with you?” Graham replied, unsure of why Dawn would ask such a question.

   She gave a little shake of her head, “ A little but I think I’ll be fine,” Dawn didn’t feel like elaborating, it might only disgust Graham if she discussed her bodily functions and she didn’t want that.

 “ Miss Martel, you might believe you’re whispering but a girl your size is incapable of that. Please refrain from ‘whispering’,” Mr. Melchett had used air quotes, causing several students to snigger as Dawn could only look on sheepishly.

 “ Unless you intend to contribute to the lesson, zip it and look at the board. If not, you can doze off like Messrs George and Edmund at the back.” He glared at the two boys, now wide awake once they heard their names.

 “ Sorry Mr. Melchett, we were just resting our eyes.” Edmund calmly replied.

“ Sorry, it won’t happen again,” Dawn mewled.

 “ You’re forgiven, now pay attention.” Mr. Melchett turned without looking back at her.

 Dawn was embarrassed but it was nothing new to her, she had often been told off for talking in class, despite her attempts at whispering, she could never get the volume right.

 Now the whiteboard switched to a series of videos, a few groaned as they realised it would be another class of videos again. Dawn leaned in and tried her best to focus.

“ Now pay attention, I’ll pick a few students at random to answer questions. Failure to answer will require a one page report on the videos you just saw.” Mr. Melchett tapped a button on the screen and the video began to play. He then sat in his chair while it played.

 The videos themselves were uninteresting except that it covered the more recent history of Home and unsurprisingly for Dawn, she saw her mother in the video, mentioned as she saved the planet from various threats, including a scientist who had become a rampaging giant after an experiment gone awry. Dawn remembered that one, Jessica had said she did not want to kill her but she had no choice; she had to kill a woman she once considered a dear friend. That story had scared Dawn, who couldn’t imagine killing someone she held dear to her.

 A few minutes later in another video it happened. Dawn’s uneasy stomach had stopped but without even knowing it, Dawn farted. It sounded like a school band playing one long note at full blast and she immediately covered her face as it happened. As it was, everyone knew since she couldn’t hide it at her size.

 If anyone was sleeping in class, they weren’t anymore. Everyone was awake and all knew who had passed gas. There was much giggling and laughter and even Mr. Melchett had cracked up but unlike the rest of the students he managed to stop himself from laughing at Dawn.

“ Alright! Alright!” He bellowed to the class, “ There is no need to laugh at Miss Martel, what happened to her has occurred to all of us, no matter how much we deny it.”

 Dawn on the other hand was just grateful that it didn’t smell although she could hear some coughing from the lower floors. Deciding not to take any risks, she lightly fanned her butt, hoping to dilute the gas.

 Graham gave her a playful shrug, “ It happens. No sweat.”

“ I know, thanks.” Dawn was glad he didn’t laugh although the same couldn’t be said about the rest of the class.

 “ Lets continue with the video, everyone please divert your attention away from Miss Martel’s fart and towards the screen, it is far more interesting and more educational.”

 Everyone began to settle down and as Dawn listened to the sounds from the classrooms below hers, she could hear the voices getting quieter as the teacher told them to focus on the lesson. She felt a little sorry for the classes closest to her butt, they would have received a full blast but it was a one off incident, nothing more.

 Or it would have been, if not for what happened next.

 Dawn was more relaxed, her little release had taken some off the edge off her stomach pains, she made a note to ask Tucker what exactly went into that sandwich when she got home. Then, a second blast issued forth from her butt, this one went for several seconds longer and was more pungent than the preceding one.

 Dawn could smell it and it was rancid, rotten eggs had nothing on it. She tried to fan it away but this only succeeded in blowing it into the classroom. People began to clutch their noses, eyes watered as everyone gagged on her flatulence. No laughing this time, even George and Edmund were gasping and retching as their lungs filled with the noxious fumes Dawn passed out.

“ I’m so sorry!” Dawn uttered as she watched the struggle unfold.

 ‘ It’s….alright….Dawn…” Graham managed to get these few words out before coughing furiously.

 “ It’s okay Dawn, it was an accident! I’m sure of it!” Mr. Melchett assured while pressing his nose against a fine handkerchief, using it as a filter against Dawn’s gas. He managed to open the door with one hand, his other used to keep his nose protected.  

 “ No one leave, we will wait for the smell to dissipate before we continue. No one leave their seats!” Mr. Melchett barked at everyone and no one moved although a few students were questioning the wisdom of staying.

 Why must this happen to me? I’m a good person, I never hurt anyone, Dawn thought, her own eyes starting to water. Except for her, the reason was not physical.

“ I’ll just head home,” Dawn suggested quietly. No one opposed it, everyone was trying to survive. Not just in her class, those below were affected by the blast too, the situation was no different from what she was currently witnessing.

She got up and made the mistake of turning around, letting her bottom face the class. One gas cloud forced itself out of her anus, sounding like a ship’s horn in volume. Graham was the closest and was blown back, a look of shock on his face. He hit the opposite wall and fainted from the stench. A similar fate happened to those nearer to the window but none were blown back as far or as hard as Graham did.

“ Oh no!” Dawn exclaimed looked inside, a sense of dread building. The acrid odour was all she could detect and then she saw the unconscious bodies of her classmates, knocked out by her bodily functions. Tears gushed from her eyes, she had just humiliated herself in front of the entire school. Nothing anyone did after this would ever top this farce.

 “ I’m sorry!” That was all she could say as she bawled her eyes out while grabbing her things and when that was done, she took off, unable to stand around and risk further humiliation. She just ran, her long slender legs making it easy for her to get out of school and run home.

 All the while she was in tears, leaving little droplets as they fell off her cheeks and splashed down to the ground, leaving dark stains on the concrete pavement.

 It took her a matter of minutes to reach the house, easily distinguishable as it was the biggest single storey house in all of Home, even the richest Homeans stayed in smaller homes than Jessica and Dawn did.

 She opened the door and closed it, running past Lucky who was the only thing inside. He was his usual sunny self but he sensed something was wrong with his “mother” and ran with her, following with her to her room.

 “ Lucky,” she cooed while crying, stroking his head with her finger.

 “ Why am I so useless? My own mother is a hero on Home, she went on countless missions for it, saved the world so many times but all I am is a big waste of space. She fought a crazy giant and my biggest achievement will be big smelly farts!” She threw herself onto her bed and buried her head in a pillow. She didn’t want anyone near her, all she wanted was the Earth to swallow her and end her pain.

************

   Graham woke up on the hard concrete of the school yard, the last thing he remembered was looking at Dawn’s butt before some force knocked him out. He could see the clear sky and the sounds of other students chatting amongst themselves. Shouldn’t they be in class?

He could still smell Dawn’s fart, that girl had quite the butt. Sitting up, he could see other students still passed out while all around teachers checked to make sure the students were okay. Principal Baldrick was doing his rounds but as Graham had come to expect, he wasn’t contributing much by talking to various students in  but somehow, things were running smoothly since there was a general lack of chaos.

 Getting up, he went over to Mr. Melchett who was sitting by himself.

 “ Can I help you Graham?” He usually called students he was more fond of by their first names although those students were not allowed to do the same to him.

 “ Where’s Dawn? Why are we all outside?” Graham asked, confused by the situation.

 Mr. Melchett sighed but then he remembered Graham had not been conscious after Dawn last blast. “ Dawn ran off, she was rather distraught after her...last fart knocked you out . I can’t believe I’m saying this but that is what happened. You and a few other students got hit and you guys passed out from the force of it. You’ve been out for two hours.” He was a little shell shocked, speaking slowly and his eyes stared off into the distance.

 “ Then what happened?” Graham pressed his teacher for more answers, Mr. Melchett looked at back him ,snapping out of his trance.

 “ After that we had to evacuate the school, the smell was unbearable and we got some paramedics to come down ,take a look at you guys but fortunately, none of you needed to go to the hospital.” He still used the slow, soft voice, a stark contrast from the sharper and louder voice he used in the classroom hours before.

 “ I’ll go check on Dawn,she must feel terrible. Is it okay if I visit her?” Knowing Dawn and Graham did know her, she must be feeling awful over what she did to her fellow students.

 Mr. Melchett nodded his head but showed little emotion, “ Go on, school’s dismissed while the cleaning staff work to remove the smell. It’s…” He coughed hard, “ irritating at best and gut wrenching at worst, literally gut wrenching.”

 “ Thank you,” Graham had little to say, he began to run towards the nearest bus stop, intending to take a bus to Dawn’s house.

“ Where are you going Graham?” Graham turned and saw Edmund and George, curious to know where although Graham suspected the question was more rhetorical in nature. Edmund strutted up to him in the usual manner, arrogant and feeling as if he were in control although the latter aspect had died down after Dawn came into the picture. George followed from behind but with less confidence and he looked...guilty? How could that be?

“ To see Dawn, she needs a friend to be by her side after what happened.” Graham replied, inching away from them. Edmund grabbed him, “ Relax, we’re not going to stop you. Because after today, she won’t come back. Dawn Martel will be gone, after I slipped peanuts into her sandwich. Who knew it would be like this? I expected a bloated face but this takes the cake!”

He laughed, it was almost a cackle while George joined in but with less heart and soul in it.

 “ Go and see her Graham, say your goodbyes and soon it’ll be just the three of us! Just like old times!” He had to shout that last part as Graham had run off.

 For Graham, he realised he needed to get there soon. Dawn needed his help, something to ease her through such a difficult time or she might just blame herself. She was his friend and just as when she saved him from bullies, it was his turn to return the favour. He could only hope he wasn’t too late.