You Can Run To Me

Thirty-Two

Nat got called into the Principal's office for the second time in her life on the very last day of February. She told none of her friends about it, though she had no definite idea of what it was about. There was a gut feeling though, and she could guess. Really, the stranger question was why they hadn't called her in earlier. But she refused to mention anything of it to her friends. She had recently made the grave decision to become normal... or at least pretend she was. She made her heart cold and hard, so it wouldn't fizzle every time Ephren looked her way. She put up a wall and decorated it nicely so she seemed just like the old Nat. The one with a life. She came up with woes and joys and shared them, and appeared to care in return, but none of it was real. In any case, confiding to her friends wasn't even an unlikely possibility anymore.

The new Natalie seemed just like the old Natalie. She hesitated with her knuckles inches from rapping at the door. She spent a full minute feigning procrastination before the man inside called her in.

The carpet was still pristinely black, and that was merely the first parallel to the previous time she was in this room. Why, she could almost believe she had slipped through some accidental wormhole and this was the past. If only. The principal was even sat exactly as he had been that day so long ago when she was still Natalie Birman, the awkward girl who had been late on her first day at college and was still flustered to have made friends so soon. His smile was just as wide; his eyes just as warm. But this time she was expected.

"Good morning, Natalie. I did say you can come in, you know. No need to stand there waiting."

Natalie crept in timidly, and perched on one of the chairs across the desk from the smiling man. She smoothed her hands over her thighs and looked at them resolutely, glanced up at the principal, then quickly returned her gaze to her twitching fingers when their eyes met. It was amazing how many little habits you noticed when you thought about them. She was constantly counting in her head to time it all right. It was all rather taxing, in truth. One day, though, she told herself it would be second-nature again. After all, it had only been a matter of days she'd been turning her life around.

Another quick glance, "so... so why am I...? Have I done something wrong?"

He laid his hands out flat on the table, and his smile miraculously melted away. He seemed almost unsure of himself all of a sudden. "You should know that this college exists to teach you adults in a safe environment; to help them on their way to becoming responsible members of society. As such, we have a certain... expectation of maturity in our students..."

"I don't understand." She looked balefully into his mismatched eyes. She had never noticed that before.

Now it was his turn to break eye contact. "I suppose that what I'm trying to say is... we have a zero-tolerance policy on bullying here. I'm sure you've seen the posters around campus and heard the talks."

Natalie nodded vaguely, then paused mid-nod. "Wait, but I haven't bullied anyone. I wouldn't do that."

The principal raised a hand to stop her flow. "No, Natalie. No one's accusing you of anything. In fact, we have reason to believe you're rather the victim of a bully."

Natalie rushed in, sliding forward in her chair, "I've never been bullied, Sir. Not here, anyway. As you said, this is college. People don't do stuff like that here."

"Believe me, Miss Birman, I wish that were the case. But I'm afraid we didn't print all those posters for no reason." She knew he was looking directly at her, but she refused to look up. "We know someone has been bullying you, Natalie. We even know who it was. You might have heard about them getting suspended."

"Who? I didn't even hear about that," lied Nat frighteningly easily. "I can't think why anyone would tell you I'm being bullied, because I'm not. Honestly, I'm not trying to protect anyone or anything; I'm just not being bullied." She allowed a little quaver to her voice towards the end, and watched as the principal's face hardened.