CONSUME

[05] deal or no deal

***

kameron springfield

Anna and James were silent as Mrs. Davis began to explain.

"Of course, why don't you have a seat?" She said, pointing at the couch where Axel resided. I scoffed, but then quickly covered it up with a cough. Anna, James, and Mrs. Davis all looked puzzled by my reaction.

I shook my head and gulped, "O-oh, no that's okay. Um, what's this about?" I asked again, standing by Anna's chair where she sat. She reached up and touched my arm gently, as a way of greeting me. I smiled at her warmly, looking at her short brown hair that was tied up neatly in a bun. Then I acknowledged James, his blonde hair that was mixing with gray waving over his forehead. Round glasses sat on the bridge of his nose as he pursed his lips with a small smile at me. Anna let go of me, and I looked back up at the Principal.

"So," Mrs. Davis began. "Axel Conynghim here has a little problem." She raised an eyebrow at Axel, but I refused to even look his way. She looked as though she were upset with him, or disappointed. I don't know what his expression is, though. After everything that's gone down between us, I dare not look him in the eye or else I might die from embarrassment.

"O-oh..." I looked down at Anna again who seemed to have a bit of a shameful look on her face. Confused, I asked, "What is it?"

"Axel's grades are in trouble," Mrs. Davis started. I wanted to roll my eyes at her words, because couldn't she tell me something I didn't already know? I kept it together, just nodding. "He needs an easy credit to boost his Grade Point Average, or else he fails. Graduation isn't going to be an option, let alone playing through the Lacrosse season."

Anna shook her head, sighing. She placed her hand on her cheek and turned to look at Axel. "Seriously. I still can't believe you'd let this happen. I've been telling you to get focused and pull your grades up." James looked upset too, but he didn't say anything. If there's one thing I've learned about him over the years, it's that James Conynghim is the most easygoing, unbothered man on the planet. However he still seemed a bit let down, so I knew that meant this was serious.

"Mom, I--" Axel started but Anna cut him off. "No, I told you so many times that this is unacceptable. And now you've gotten poor Kameron involved. She's so smart, and--"

I shook my head, "Wait, wait, wait." I licked my lips and took my hands out of my jean pockets where they were. Crossing my arms over my body, I looked at Anna. "How am I involved in this?"

Mrs. Davis continued, answering my question. But I really didn't like what she had to say. Clicking her tongue, her red lipstick moved on her mouth as she spoke, "Like I mentioned, Axel needs an extra credit or club to add to his transcripts. He can't play Lacrosse this season because of he's been consistently failing in multiple classes throughout his high school career."

I shook my head lightly, not enjoying where this might be heading.

But Mrs. Davis had more to say. "This means that the extra curricular credits that he gains from doing a school sport will be gone. Without that, there's no chance at graduation."

Anna sighed out of distress. She stood up from her chair in an instant, and I got startled from the sound of the wood scraping against the floor. She began pacing around the room nervously, "No chance at graduation? I-- this is absurd!" She shot her head at Axel, "What have you been doing all of these years? Screwing around and skipping classes to--"

"Mrs. Conynghim, please." Mrs. Davis said. "Don't worry, there's still a way to fix this." Anna looked at her and huffed. She placed a hand on her hip, and waited to hear the supposed solution.