HONESTY SUCKS.

"Oh!, for crying out loud! The 8:15 morning bell is ringing. Tonya! I have to go", Cindy said nervously. She hung up the phone without hearing her bestie's reply. She rushed into her Moral Behavioral Studies class and sped walked to her seat.

She could feel eyes on her because of the 'This girl loves fishing" t-shirt that she wore twice a week to school. The boys loved it and would talk to her a lot but the girls in class thought she was weird. Cindy's comment - "Free country baby"!

"Miss, you're late"!, yelped her teacher. "Yes, Mr. Lucas", Cindy said, without looking at him. She hurriedly sat down and begin to open her textbook.

The teacher was standing to the board writing the class's assignment. Cindy's phone began to vibrate. She quickly looked at Mr. Lucas while covering her phone with her notebook - He was busy writing.

She then looked at her phone without bending her neck to keep an eye on Mr. Lucas. The text read-

"Hey girl, is everything okay? Did you get in trouble? We know how Mr. flucas Lucas is...Hey Miss, you're late lol."

Cindy giggled and then muffled her mouth. Her teacher turned around to scan the room. She froze as if she was staring at the board. Mr. Lucas then turned back to the board and continued to write.

She looked down quickly and texted back -

"Yea girl, I gotta go. be outside at 2:55."

She looked up and Mr. Lucas was walking her way. She pushed the phone down in her purse and sat as still as a rail.

He begin to talk about the assignment. "Class, I'm going to pass out 3 pages of moral behavioral suggestions." Cindy sighed hard without realizing how loud it sounded. Mr. Lucas's voice elevated. "Excuse me, Miss Cindy is there a problem"?

The class giggled and Mr. Lucas began to look around the room until it became quiet. "Uh, no, Mr. Lucas, there's no problem", Cindy replied gently. Then she whispered, "I do declare, it's days like this I'd rather be playing scrabble."

He continued, "So, as I was saying, there are 3 pages. You are required to study the morals intensely because you will be expected to give a written summary on each of the moral suggestions and hand in the assignment a week before the semester ends. You must be able to clarify why you think society should consider adopting these morals in order to promote peace in the world."

Cindy quietly thumbed through the pages, while holding her hair slightly back toward the left ear. Her eyes stretched and she slyly rolled them. Then, she raised her hand. "Yes Miss Cindy"? Mr. Lucas said. "Soooo, how long should the summary be on each moral suggestion", she asked?

Suddenly, Cindy's phone vibrated again - but in her mind it sounded like a grenade going off!

"Oh, God"!, she mumbled while pretending to pay attention for the reply. Mr. Lucas paused and then replied, "Well, the summary should be long enough to get your point across, and short enough not to bore me." "Yes sir, Mr. Lucas", Cindy responded. She then fake smiled while easing her hand into her purse that was sitting on her lap.

Mr. Lucas kept walking around giving summary examples to a couple of the moral behavioral suggestions. Cindy pulled the phone up but kept it near the inside top of her purse. She would peek down just enough to view the text - and then look up repeatedly to keep an eye on Mr. Lucas. The text read-

"Hey, beautiful, this is Carlton Birch".

Cindy's eyes grew wide with excitement. She had prayed that Carlton would get her number one day and call or text.

"But, not in Moral Behavioral Studies class", she whispered.

She looked up quickly to make sure Mr. Lucas was not coming her way. Then, she went to her quick texts feature and sent -

"can't talk now."

"Really"! she said down low, and all she could do was shake her head at lousy timing. She kept the phone clutched in her hand inside of the purse.

Mr. Lucas's voice became faded as she thought louder about how this moment could turn into a disaster. "What if Carlton never calls back? What if I walk outside this door and see him walking a pimpled face girl in the hallway?" What if he turns out to be a creep? What if he can't dance, or kiss? What if he squeezes his toothpaste in the middle instead of rolling it up at the end"?

Suddenly, Mr. Lucas scans the classroom and notices Cindy staring off. "Miss Cindy"!, he bellowed at her while standing at the front of his desk.

She continued thinking. "And, what if"...

"Miss Cindy"!, Mr. Lucas calls her again, but this time in a more elevated voice. Cindy hears his tone, looks at him puzzled and replies "Uh, Yes, Mr. Lucas. Is there something wrong"?

He yelped, "good question! well, is there"? The class giggled and Mr. Lucas looked around the room until it became quiet. He looked back at Cindy and waited for her to answer his question.

"Uh, no sir," she said. Cindy's face was flustered as she angrily eased her phone all the way to the bottom of her purse - underneath her shades, passport and makeup.

"So, now", Mr. Lucas said. Then he paused and scanned the room for a few seconds. He turned, looked at the board and continued to talk. "Class, your finals are coming up in 3 weeks and this assignment will consist of 40% of your last semester's grade." He looked over his bifocals and said, "I believe that is plenty of time for you to give a thesis statement to each of the moral behavioral thoughts outlined on these 3 sheets, don't you"?

Cindy wrote NO on the bottom of her notebook with an angry face - then joined in with the Class saying, "Yes, Mr. Lucas"! Suddenly, her eyes noticed a part of moral behavioral suggestion #1 on the 1st page, which said: Never tell a lie.

She raised an eyebrow and mumbled "Well, I just flunked that moral"! The bell rung and all the high school students began going out the classroom in single file. Cindy was on the second row but she managed to be 2nd in line because she wanted to see if Carlton Birch would pass by while walking someone else down the hall.

She walked slowly out the door looking for him. She gazed up and down the hallway, but the only one that was at the end of the hall standing at the exit door was Tonya.

Cindy continued walking the long hall and stopped at the door. She then looked back and took one more glance down the hall but it was empty. She turned around and said,, "Oh, hey bestie." As soon as Cindy walked down the steps, Tonya bombarded her with questions. "Hey girl, how was your day? Did anything exciting happen? Do you have homework because if not we can go hang out at the mall."

Cindy sighed and replied while looking around slightly for Carlton. "Oh, just a typical day in Mr. flucas Lucas boring class, and yes, the mall sounds nice. Maybe, I can practice up on my moral behavior," she said with a smirk.

Tonya looked at her weird and said. "You're joking right"? Cindy smiled and responded "never-mind girl. Let's go fishing instead"!

THE END.

Oh!, by the way, Carlton called Cindy the next afternoon. They dated, graduated together, went off to college and lost contact for years.

However, after 3 years they met again and graduated college together. They later married and ended up having 5 kids!

And, Mr. flucas Lucas retired and started a Moral Behavioral Suggestion group to help rehabilitate juveniles (still rolling my eyes)

Well reader...

The Moral Behavior suggestions are down below. Take the time to see how you can bring more peace in society by utilizing these principles daily!

• Never tell a lie- the Bible says treat your neighbor as yourself.

• Work on making yourself a better example for people that will visit your space. Avoid unhealthy emotions like a plague.

• Apologize only when it's necessary - Preserve your words for the one(s) that aren't interested in hearing you beg.

• You may be the last poem that someone will ever recite. Make inspiring statements that will attract and navigate your listeners to succeed.

• Don't be rude, sit up straight and look a person directly in the eyes when you're speaking. Their integrity or the lack thereof can be exposed through their willingness or hesitation to reciprocate the gesture of eye contact.

• Be yourself, don't pretend - it's an ugly road to travel alone.

• Honor your elders, never disrespect someone who does their best to make it in life.

• Be slow to offend, give your best. Always practice what you preach.

• Never mock a novice, teach others to quickly forgive when life has hurt them the most.

• Pursue freedom, when the bondage of pain keeps you isolated from embracing life.

• Never argue with a person about their pet peeve(s). Allow life to teach you patience!

• Make a point to try new things without focusing on things that didn't go well.

• Happiness comes when you realize your true purpose in life. Joy comes as you're experiencing the peace of God.

• When people are sincere, the impact is felt from their heart to yours. There is no destination that fulfills your life like victory.

• A skunk's spray is way more tolerable than a hypocrite. Keep your circle free of these 3 culprits:

instigators,

agitators and

perpetrators!

As the title says "Honesty sucks", this is true to the dishonest person. Remembering and applying the above principles will alleviate a lot of disappointment from your daily life. "So let integrity ring"! A lemon will cause the lips to pucker, but it's benefits are good for you.

Moral of story - Galatians 5:20 -22 is the true meaning of a world living together in unity.