The Framing

Seventeen.

January 14th. 7:30am. My driveway.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," Alex said to me over the phone. Since my car was in the shop I couldn't take it to school so I was making him take me.

"What's up?" He asked as I got into the front seat.

"I'm tired as hell," I said. I got back at 2am and only got a few hours of sleep.

"I hear ya," he said and started driving.

"I can't believe you're getting to school this early," I told him.

"I don't even think my homeroom teacher knows who I am," he said.

"Do you ever drive with music?" I asked. Whenever I was in the car with him we always rode in silence.

"Yeah but you probably wouldn't like what I'd put on," he said.

"Maybe you'll be surprised."

"Yeah okay then," he laughed and hit play. It was a bunch of screaming vocals that I didn't understand. "You hate it, don't you?" He said.

"Well I don't hate it," I lied, "what else do you listen to?"

He skipped through the next couple of songs and they were all similar to the first one he played. "Oh I see," I said.

Eventually we made it to the parking lot and met up with Kevin and Thomas on our way into the building. I was careful like I always was opening my locker and inspected it. Once I realized it was safe, I put my coat and my bag in and took my books to homeroom.

I wanted to sit with John when I walked into first period but I wasn't sure if he was mad at me like Nate was, so I decided to sit in the back. I was surprised when Kevin walked in and sat next to me.

"Hey," he said.

"Oh hey," I told him. Alex told me that he's tough to get to know but once you do, he's a pretty decent guy. Maybe that was starting to happen.

We went over the study guide for our midterm exam on Friday and asked questions about it. After that, I ran into Alex in the hallway and we walked to second period together. I knew that Mr. Douglas was most likely not the one after me, but I was still cautious around him.

"Are you ready for the midterm on Friday?" I asked.

"I think so," he said, "I was going over the notes you sent me and most of it seemed easy."

Alex and I sat with each other at our usual spot by the window in the middle row. Some students were giving us dirty looks since a lot of people think Alex is some scary tough guy, but I've learned to shrug it off.

We went over notes like we did in first period. Alex was paying a little attention which is a lot more than he used to. I was copying down everything Mr. Douglas was saying until around 9:30 when the phone rang. He went over to answer it, then looked at me.

"Ally they want you down in the office," he said after hanging up. Alex and I shared a concerned look, and then I grabbed my stuff and left.

I kept thinking about what happened a few months ago when I was first called down to the office and how terrified I was because I had never gotten in trouble. There was something different about this time. I actually didn't care.

I walked up to the front desk and she told me to go see the principal. I walked in and saw my mom in there and I knew what this was about immediately. My mom was supposed to come to the school today and ask to see security footage. Obviously, he looked it up and saw that it was erased.

"Did you guys find the guy who slashed my tires?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Why don't you have a seat and we'll talk about it," he said. I sat down. "Your mom came in this morning and told me what happened. When I asked the security officer for the parking lot footage from yesterday evening, he told me it had been erased."

"How did that happen?" I asked.

"I was hoping you'd know something about that," he said.

"Look I'm a victim here," I said, "are you accusing me of slashing my own tires?"

"No," he said, "I was just wondering if you knew anything about this."

"No."

"Well okay then," he said and looked at my mom, "I'm really sorry there was no way I could have helped you this morning."

"I'm really sorry too," she said, "I assume you'll be the one paying for my daughters car then?"

"Excuse me?" He said.

"My daughter trusts this institution to make sure that her and her belongings are kept safe while they are here. You have obviously failed to do so. It is not my daughters fault that this happened to her, and someone needs to pay." I was honestly shocked she was sticking up for me like that.

"You'll have to go through the school board and file a claim," he told her.

"I want to see the footage of my daughter putting a knife in her locker," she said.

He signed and got up. "I'll be back in a minute," he said and left the room.

He was gone for about ten minutes. I sat in here with my mom in complete silence which was awkward, but eventually he came walking back in.

"I'm sorry but it seems that the camera in that hallway was off that day," he said.

"Then my daughter does not deserve to be punished there is no way you can prove she did this."

"But it was in her locker. How else could it have gotten there?"

"That's a great question. If only there were cameras that worked that could answer it," my mom said, "I want any record of this to be erased and I want her punishment ended. Or I'll sue, and I'm a lawyer, and you don't want that happening."

The principal typed some things into the computer. I could tell that my mom was making him nervous. "I think we have a deal," he said. He gave her information to contact the board of education about my car and then we left.

"Thanks," I said as we walked down the hall into the office.

"I'm sorry I've been so tough on you," she said, "I wish I listened to you from the beginning."

We hugged for an entire minute in the middle of the front office. "I have to get to third period," I said, "I'll see you when I get home."

I walked out of the office and started walking towards third period. I felt this huge weight lift off my shoulders now that my mom was no longer mad at me and I didn't have detention anymore. Although there was still a problem. I still had to deal with the fact that someone was after me.