GRACE

A DAY OF DETENTION

A DAY OF CHAOS!

A DAY OF DETENTION!

I sat in front of Miss Ross with a paper and a pen in my hand, writing down my essay. The whole school was empty except for a few teachers who were too lazy to do their schoolwork, me and this muscular lady in front of me.

Muscular yes, I mean super duper muscular, she can easily lift 20-30 kg of dumbbells. She has this rich, tanned skin, long, curly hair that is always braided, and now she is sitting in a blue shirt and a tight black skirt, correcting the work.

Suddenly she stood up. "Miss Laurent, do your work, I'll be right there." She said and pushed the chair in front of her with a squeaking sound and left the room.

Detention yes, I was in detention, why, I can tell you.

Detention wasn't a new experience for me. I had a reputation for finding myself in peculiar situations and this time, it involved Mr. Fitzroy who was as round as a beach ball and whose bald head seemed to glow under the fluorescent lights of the classroom. He scolded me for no reason. He asked me what the Pythagorean Theorem is. I told him something like "the Pythagorean theorem, which is very helpful in math and every student should know it and it's really important to know the Pythagorean theorem because without it we can't solve any math problem." And well, he kicked me out of the class. And in return, I just deflated his car tire. It was quite simple, you know.

It was harmless right?

Wrong!

The old bald guy complained to our dean and now I was sitting in detention working on my assignment. Finally the teacher came in. "Are you finished, Miss Laurent?" Miss Ross asked in her thick southern accent. I nodded and handed her my work. She put on her glasses and checked them two or three times, then handed me my papers. "You can go." She said hesitantly as I gave her a bright smile and left her office.

Just as I turned the doorknob, a deafening scream shook the whole world. "Miss Laurentttttt......" Her scream startled all the birds perched on the branches as they suddenly flew away. I controlled my laughter as best I could and did the only thing I could do better. I ran away.

Leeroy was waiting for me in the car. He's my best friend, he's the one who always listens to me and is a friend everyone needs. "Let's go Lee." I said as I pulled out my phone and saw 17 missed calls from mom, 3 from Ellie, and tonnes of texts from Bella. It was about 5 o'clock in the evening. I wasn't a kid anymore, I could take care of myself. I dialled my mom's number.

"Hazel, are you okay? Has something happened to you? Where are you? When are you coming home? Are you safe?" She bombarded me with a thousand questions and I gave her a simple answer.

"I'm at the entrance, mom."

My mom is very nurturing. She is the sweetest creature you will ever find in the world. Just as I ended the call, Leeroy answered. "Did you do something wrong again?" He knows me all too well. He is literally my saviour and my caregiver. I gave him a convulsive smile and he understood.

"Hazel, when are you going to stop, you're almost twenty." I rolled my eyes and gave him a don't-tell-me-what-to-do look. "Age is just a number, Lee." I said as the gates to our driveway opened. I hopped out of the car and saw my mom standing at the front door waiting for me. "Mom." I hugged her and dragged her into the house. And then she began to torment me some more.

The food was good. The old, powerfully built man with the huge beard and the aura of Zeus sat in his high royal chair. The man was my father. He is not a man to be taken lightly. Because he can turn your world upside down in a matter of seconds. I'm not particularly friendly with my father, just a bit of formal talk and that's it. He's my dad and I don't know him at all. Sometimes he seems like a stranger to me. I closed my eyes and sent up a generous prayer to set the whole house on fire. Like a bomb! And the beautiful red, orange, yellow flowers everywhere.