Ivan thought of himself as a mature adult, despite being the youngest kid in his group of friends and probably his school. That's what you get for being a genius.
And adults always deal with their problems with maturity, Ivan did so as well.
But when it came to his grades...
Ivan thought it had to be some sort of mistake. He even checked with his science teacher, Mr. Murtaugh, about it. But he just brushed the boy off.
"My grading is final, Mr. Torre."
Ivan mocked him as soon as he left the classroom. Not the most adult thing to do, but Ivan couldn't help it.
How could he have gotten a B+?! He really worked hard on this paper! He triple checked it, and he didn't even use any sources to help him with this.
Yet he got a freaking B+!
Ivan Torre with a B+ on his permanent record?! No sir!
Ivan Torre was a straight A student, and he'd love to keep it that way. A B+ on his report card would absolutely destroy his reputation.
So there was only 1 way to solve this.
He was going to sneak into the school tonight and change his grades on Mr. Murtaugh's computer.
Ivan was probably crazy for doing this, but he really didn't want to be caught dead with a B+ anywhere on his report card.
The plan was simple. He was going to sneak into the school, sneak into Mr. Murtaugh's classroom, and quickly change his B+ to an A+. Hopefully, there was no one else in the school with him.
Once he found a way in, he quickly and quietly ran up the stairs, and stopped in his tracks when he saw his science teacher go in the classroom.
Great. Now this was going to be harder than Ivan thought.
Ivan crawled into the classroom and right to the desk where Mr. Murtaugh's computer was, and he made sure to be extra quiet and careful as he typed on the keyboard.
Now his B+ was an A+!
Once Ivan finished, he made his way out of the room, but he accidentally bumped into something, making a noise.
That made him jump and just run quickly out of the room.
Ivan hoped to God that Mr. Murtaugh didn't see him or hear him. If he did, he'd be in so much trouble.
If Ivan thought a B+ on his permanent record was bad, a criminal record was even worse!
Ivan didn't want to go to jail!
He really shouldn't have snuck into the school.
Ivan ran to the cafeteria and decided to hide there for a while, at least until Mr. Murtaugh left the school and he could escape undetected.
An hour passed by, and Ivan snuck out of the cafeteria and was about to run out of the school, but then he saw something that looked like someone's shadow near the door.
He ran the other way and ran upstairs. He ran into a classroom and hid behind one of the desks.
Ivan thought he may as well get comfortable, because he might have to spend the night here. Oh well, at least he'll be in class extra early.
But then Ivan jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and his face turned pale when he saw Mr. Murtaugh smiling down at him.
"After hours, Ivan, you're not supposed to be here.", he said.
Ivan looked away from him, trying to come up with a good explanation for why he was here.
But what was a good explanation for being in school after hours?
All Ivan could do was stammer.
"Before you stammer out your little lie, I need to ask you something.", said the science teacher. "I was just locking up for the night, and I had one last thing to do before that. Which was finalizing everyone's grades. And for some reason, your grade was a straight A+. Which is strange, because I clearly remember giving you a B+."
Ivan was getting more pale by the minute, and he felt himself even starting to sweat.
"Would you please explain that to me?"
Without even answering the question, Ivan just fell down on his knees and started to beg.
"I'm sorry, sir! I did it! I changed my grade on your computer, I was just so angry, because I'm normally a straight A student! I'm so sorry, Mr. Murtaugh! Please don't call my mom, I don't want to get in trouble! I'll do anything!"
He looked up at his science teacher and saw that he was still smiling down at him.
"Anything?"
"Yes, sir! Anything!"
"Stand up, Ivan."
Ivan stood up on shaky legs, and Mr. Murtaugh reached into his desk and pulled out...
Handcuffs?
"Let's make a deal, Ivan.", he said. "I'm going to punish you for breaking into the school, and you're going to take it like a big boy. If you do, I won't call your mother and I may even let you keep your A+. But if you don't and try to run from me, then I will let your mother and the police know about this. Think about how that would look on your record."
Ivan felt his skin crawl.
He didn't want to get in trouble, but he was also scared to see what kind of punishment Mr. Murtaugh had in store for him with those handcuffs.
What was more important to him? His record or his dignity?
"I'll take my punishment like a big boy.", he said, barely getting the words out with how small his voice sounded.
Without warning, Mr. Murtaugh grabbed Ivan's wrists and put the cuffs around him, picked him up and laid him down on the table with his arms placed above his head.
"If you're good, then I promise to make this very quick.", he said.
Ivan shut his eyes tight as he waited for his punishment...
That's when he felt soft little skittering around his belly.
He tried to speak, but all that came out were bubbly little giggles.
"Oh nohoho!", he said through laughter, trying to hold it in for a moment before it all came out. "No! Noho! Please no! Oh my gohohod!"
"Ah ah ah, Ivan. Remember. Take your punishment like a big boy."
Ivan whined through giggles as Mr. Murtaugh continued his relentless assault.
Even though it was very soft, that didn't mean Ivan couldn't feel it. In fact, soft tickles were worse. That only makes you dread the real onslaught of torture that awaited you.
Those tickles went all around his belly, then they kept moving up, and Ivan let out a soft squeal as he felt those fingernails dig into his ribs.
"AAAAAHHH! NOHOHOHO! Ahahahahahahahaha! You're so meahehean!"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that a bad spot?~"
Teasing only makes the sensation worse.
Ivan continued to laugh as those fingernails kept dancing all around his ribs, and he just hoped that this punishment would end soon.
Then those fingers went to his underarms, and if Ivan wasn't flailing around before, he definitely was now. His back arched and he kicked his feet around as he laughed louder with those nails in his sensitive underarms.
Too bad Ivan was still so small, because he couldn't even roll off the desk or slam his arms back down.
His giggles got softer as his science teacher removed those tormenting fingers away from his armpits and went down to his sides.
...Then all the way down to his hips, and that's when he started digging in again.
"AAAAHHHH!!!! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! STAHAHAP!!! PLEASE! NO MORE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
"But your punishment isn't done yet, and if I let you go, I'm going to have to call your mother."
Ivan really didn't have a choice but to accept his punishment.
The fingers let up, and Ivan finally got a chance to catch his breath. But that was short lived when he felt Mr. Murtaugh take off his shoes and socks.
"No! Please! Not there!"
But the science teacher didn't listen to his begging.
He held one of his feet in a tight grip and started playing around the poor boy's toes, and no matter how much Ivan tried to struggle, he couldn't get away.
"This little piggy went to market.~"
"AHAHA! NO!"
"This little piggy stayed home. ~"
"STAHAHAP!"
"This little piggy had roast beef. ~"
"NO! NOHOHO MORE!"
"This little piggy had none. ~"
"PLEASE! DON'T DO IT!"
"And this little piggy went WEE WEE WEE all the way home!"
"AAAAAHHH!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NOHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!! PLEASE! OH NO! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Murtaugh started scribbling those fingernails all around those tiny little toes, and Ivan lost it. He couldn't believe how much it tickled!
Then he repeated the same thing on his other foot, and Ivan lost it all over again.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! SIR, PLEASE! PLEHEHEASE!! NO MORE!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! TOO MUCH! IT'S TOO MUCH!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Finally, he let up, and Ivan caught his breath.
Sadly, it was once again short lived, because Murtaugh went straight to his belly and started blowing on it, and Ivan felt a wild wave of sensitive vibrations all around his poor tummy.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! SIR, PLEASE!! NO MORE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! STOP! YOU'RE KILLING ME!!! I CAN'T TAKE AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE OF THIS!!!! PLEHEHEASE!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
When Murtaugh finally let up again, Ivan didn't even have any energy left. He didn't put his arms down when Murtaugh finally removed the handcuffs from his wrists.
"Alright, dear. I'm finished now. When you're ready, I'll walk you home. Okay?"
"Mhmm."
"Okay."
That night, Ivan learned that he wasn't as adult as he thought. Because if he was, then he wouldn't have broken into the school just because he didn't like his grade and would've handled the situation more maturely.
But also, Murtaugh just got him to laugh like a child, because he gave him the most childish punishment in the world.
Oh well, at least Ivan got to keep his grade and didn't get in much trouble.