The Inside Stories

Chapter 3

After the incident in the gym, Tessa and I were really tired. We decided to take the rest of the day off and just go home. Tessa could leave but there was a problem when it came to me. I had a bad reputation of leaving school premises and going on dates during school hours, so I had to get a note from the principal. I had to make up a reason good enough for her to let me go.
When I went in, her assistant told me to wait in the anteroom. About ten minutes later, I was called in.
Sitting behind a large desk, was my Principal. She was like Godzilla. Her tight bun at the nape of her neck, glasses balanced on her nose, greying hair and well fitted blouse and skirt made her look really scary. But the surprise was that Melinda was with her.
Mrs. Peige asked me to take a seat. "Yes Ms. Hess, how may I help you?", she asked me.
" I really want to go home Mrs. Peige. You see.." Before I said anything else, she interrupted me.
"Please don't come up with any stupid reason like you're sick or have a doctor's appointment. They're really old."
"This time it's a genuine reason ma'am. Mr. Smith told me that I have to do better in my math tests or I will not be promoted. So I would like to go home and start looking for ways to help myself and to start preparing." I made this sound as real as possible.

She stared at me for sometime and then said, "Alright Ms. Hess. I'll let you go home but before that I want you to do some explaining." I looked at her curiously and then from my peripheral vision I saw that Melinda had this sly smirk on her face. Something smelt bad.

"Now don't try and act dumb Ms. Hess. I would like to know why you thought that it was okay in this school to behave violently? Miss Melinda here tells me that you broke her tooth."
My mouth was agape. How dare she!
"She started the fight." I shouted. "I was walking down the hallway when she came and started insulting me."
If Melinda could be a kid, complaining all the time, even I could be one.
"Now Ms. Hess, I do not believe what you and Melinda say unless you have witnesses." Shit! I wouldn't have any witnesses. Everybody started gathering around us only when I started insulting her.
"Chloe came down earlier to my office and said that you had insulted Melinda and then she pounced onto you. Ms. Melinda has already gotten her punishment for misbehaving but now it's your turn. A lot of people saw you punch Melinda really hard. The school nurse had to administer high doses of painkiller to reduce her pain. "
Now I know why Melinda got up right after I punched her and left with an evil grin plastered to her face. Such a fucking bitch!

"Ms. Hess, you have gotten into trouble a lot of times before for sneaking out, violation of school property, bunking classes and misbehaviour with teachers but this is your first case of physical violence. Earlier I did not take very serious action as you are a teenager and it is in your nature to cause trouble."

Wait, what? The punishments she gave me earlier weren't considered serious action? After school detentions for weeks, lunch time in the library, extra Math classes, all that wasn't serious! Bloody Jesus!

Suddenly I remembered about the gym incident. "But Mrs. Peige, Melinda tried to hurt Tessa. During practice, she was supposed to catch Tessa but retreated her arms at the last moment. And also, Rita filled in dirty water in the bottle given to Tessa."

Melinda looked shocked but soon composed herself. "Mrs Peige", she sounded really innocent, "Accidents such as those happen often during practice. And anyways, Tessa didn't get hurt very badly. As for Rita's bottle, I saw Alicia messing with it."

"What the fuck! Shit, I wasn't supposed to say that out loud."
Mrs. Peige just glared at me. She dismissed Melinda, who left triumphantly. I was sort of glad that she dismissed Melinda.

"Ms. Hess, you and I have a lot of talking to do. You have three complaints against you in one day. Playing pranks, insulting and the most serious one, physical violence.
To say that you have for yourself into trouble would be an understatement Ms. Hess. The previous punishments I have given you do not seem to teach you your lesson. This time I'll have to take very serious action. Earlier, I said that you would need more than a C grade on your Math test to get promoted, but now I have changed my mind." I gulped loudly.
"Ms. Hess, now you would need an A grade on at least four out of your five subjects, Math being one of the four. And also, your test papers would be set separately and would be comparatively tougher than the others."
THIS IS NOT FAIR!
"Before you say I'm being unfair, let me tell you that your father is with me in this decision. He has said that you must improve in academics and has requested me to cut down your time for cheerleader practice and dance session. Earlier I thought of taking it a little easy on you but now I have changed my mind. You will no longer be the captain and will be removed from the dance team. Melinda will be the cheerleading team captain and Rita will take your place in the dance recital."
I felt my eyes watering. They couldn't do this to me. Dance was always my saviour. It was always there when I felt depressed, even through my awful middle school years. I couldn't speak anymore. I tried reasoning with her but words didn't come out. It felt like eighth grade all over again. I felt helpless and all I wanted to do was cry. Mrs. Peige asked me to leave and told me that I could go home. I walked out of her room and tears started flowing down my face. I started running so nobody would see me. But my miniskirt and five inch heels weren't made for for running. I heard my heel break and my skirt rip a little. My ankle got twisted. After removing my heels, I limped my way to the stairwell. After making sure nobody else was there, I slumped against the wall, sat on the stairs and start crying loudly.
I took out the Hershey's bar I keep in my purse for breakdowns like this. After finishing more than half of the bar, I felt a little better. The chocolate made me feel a little better, like I had some support. It made me feel like I had a friend. I looked up after my tears fully stopped and I was stunned. He was there like before, standing with a napkin and his jacket in his hands, his eyes full of understanding. I don't know why, but my heart swelled and I felt a lot better.