One Hundred Roses (London Series : book 1)

Chapter 12: Headmasters office

Róisín Jones walked slowly down towards the headmasters' office, embarrassed. She had been told that the cost of replacing the old door was a very large amount of money, and she was not a well off person. She was dreading what the headmaster would say and, even more importantly, what her parents would have to say. Her heart was beating at an alarming rate as she got ever closer to the door. She dragged her heels as she approached it, raising her hand into a fist and knocking three times softly.

The headmaster opened his door with a creek .his old silver hair combed back in the way he always does when he is angry. His grey suit worn at the elbows from so much condescending leaning and the collar and sleeves frayed from the same reason. He always managed to keep his shoes squeaky clean and polished to perfection like a soldier, a scary and condescending soldier .he looked her up and down in an extremely intimidating manner, his eyes burning her. He backed away slightly from the door enough to let her in but not enough to make her even the slightest bit comfortable. She walked over to the chair silently so as not to give him any more ammunition than what he already had.

She cast a quick glance towards him to see why he hadn't taken a seat yet. However, he had. He was sat at the opposite side of the room next to the window which had its curtains open wide enough to cast an intimidating shadow across the room towards where she was sat. She turned to face him slowly.

"Good morning, Miss Jones"

"Good morning headmaster" she replied in a hushed voice. His stare intensified on her, he leaned forwards in his chair resting on his condescending elbows.

"You know why you are here?"She nodded slowly, tears coming to her eyes."...and I must say I am very surprised as I wouldn't have thought you to be one to damage school property. you are aware that we could charge you for the doors replacement, miss Jones..." there was no stopping the tears from flowing down her face , how was she going to tell her parents and how could she pay them back when she didn't have a job? "However, I have been informed about the circumstances in which the damage was incurred and I would like some extra information from you before I decide on the punishment ".

He sat back in his chair with a posh notebook and parker pen in hand. He gestured with his hand for her to speak."Enlighten me, Miss Jones". She sat back and pondered what to say, she didn't really want to go into such personal matters with the head teacher of all people. She would definitely say something about Levi but maybe not the engagement.

She told him most of it. She told him about how he took her out on a date before revealing some very shocking information that she wasn't ready to share yet. She told him about how she had stormed off and leant against the door and how it just sort of broke.

He wasn't really that sympathetic about it, he did offer her a minute outside to compose herself however. After she had told him all the details that he had insisted upon knowing, he asked her if he could come see the damage for himself later.

"Make sure that no one has tampered with the doorframe in the time that you have been here. I will be there at five to assess the damage, which should give you enough time to attend your science lesson" he said before ushering her out the door and slamming it shut when she was on the other side.

She trudged back to her room slowly, her heels dragging behind her. She had a lot of time to think between leaving the office and getting back to her room, it was at the opposite side of the university. The hushed voices on the corridor embarrassed her; the voices never had anything nice to say. She heard one girl suggest that she had "kicked the door in", others suggested that she had crushed it for attention because she was an "attention seeking hoe" which was far from the truth.

She was relieved when she finally got back to her room, not for long however. Levi was sat on the end of her bed.

"Get out Levi, I hate you"

"Róisín please hear me out..."his voice was calm and reasonable which baffled her. She sat down warily on her chair, prepared to listen. "I have broken the engagement off with Camille and, if you'll let me, I'd like to give us another shot...do you want that?" She sat there, still, for a moment before standing up directly in front of him.

"So there is no chance of you and Camille ever getting back together..." He nodded "...and there is no way you will ever cheat on me like that again "She felt bad, she was getting his hopes up. "No, Levi, I don't believe a word you say anymore. It's over". A very audible shuffle came from outside the door, people had been eavesdropping. Levi left, pulling the bed sheet down from the doorframe as he did.

Moments later, the headmaster arrived.