Kenna, in a stiff blue chair underneath the harsh rays of the ceiling lights, urged patience to be her virtue. Her palms were hot and oily. She rubbed her hands down her dress once, twice, the third time still brought no relief.
hey nobody really likes you anyway
She lifted her head with a stiff neck. Her mouth ached for some water. The baby hand of the clock hopped in it's circle. Mom moved too, just once. Dad stayed on the nine. Principle Wilson walked around the corner. When she stepped forward, her tan stockings veiled over a floral tattoo wrapping around her calve.
"Kenna, you can come in", she gave a motion to follow her as she zoomed by.
Kenna's gaze glazed over the room. Principle Wilson was a long blonde woman. Her bob was a flat line above her shoulders like if you held up a ruler it would be perfectly straight. She only had a computer, a keyboard and a mouse on her desk. The walls had family photos. The corner of the office held two gray armchairs. She sat in one of them and raised her soft tanned arm to let it float down and gently pat the seat in front of her.
"I wanted to chat before I sent you off for your first day today", she smiled without showing her teeth.
Kenna's legs shook a little as she approached her chair and sat. She nodded. Immediately she took the edge of her pink dress and twisted the fabric.
"So, I had some conversations with your parents the past few weeks and your therapist as well. You have been cleared to come back to school full-time, and you are of course welcome here. This administration wants to reiterate again that we have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to bullying," she spoke slowly as if she were being cautious to enunciate each word. "Have you read the school's handbook?"
Principle Wilson took her hands and clasped them together on her lap. Her thumbs pressed into each other.
"Yes I have read them ma'am", Kenna replied.
"Perfect, now, I have arranged for a student to guide you around the building for the day. I hope that you get along well here."
With that statement she stood and smoothed her skirt and checked her watch. Kenna looked down to see the crumpled part of her dress. It looked as if someone had trampled through a rose garden. Kenna's legs, still not as steady, miraculously got her back to the hallway. A girl was standing at the help-desk conversing with the secretary. She stood on her tip-toes despite being tall enough to see.
you shouldn't be wearing that dress it looks horrible on you
The girl at the desk turned around and Kenna gasped. This girl looked just like Her. Kenna let her eyes blink a few times before looking again. And then she yelped with a jump as the girl appeared right in front of her.
"I'm so sorry," the girl apologized, stepping back away from her. "I didn't mean to scare you."
She held out a hand. On it she had faded words from a permanent marker, her wrists were decorated with some homemade string bracelets.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Lily", the girl said as she waited for Kenna to shake her hand.
"Sorry, what did you say?" Kenna stepped back.
The girl's hand was still in the air. She quickly pulled it back to her body.
"Nice to meet you?" she asked slowly and softly.
"Your name is Lily?" Kenna checked.
"Oh, no. Daisy. Close though. They're both flowers," she smiled.
"Oh, okay, alright. I'm Kenna", she rolled back her shoulders and shook out her hands.
Daisy led the way through the donut shaped school; past the walls of art work, past the courtyard that housed a family of ducks, and past the numerous classrooms holding back a wave of students. Kenna nodded along as Daisy gave a detailed account of life at the school. She went through a cycle of letting her eyes follow a finger pointing to something, the cafeteria, the computer lab, the football field, only to let them drift back and look upon this girl next to her. Kenna's cheeks were warm as she soaked in Daisy like the sun. She seemed so much like Her. They had heads of chestnut hair that water-falled down into a stream of curls. Their eyes were warm brownies. The difference though, one was here and one was not.
