words i will never say in person

behind the office walls

"you know, you could care less about what goes on around here."

the woman's eyes slowly look up to the girl sitting at the chair in the desk in front of her. she doesn't look less than a senior, but seems to have her focus on what she's saying. she's dressed as just someone her age would be, nothing flashy or too expensive. the principal could tell she was almost silent until the moment she spoke.

she didn't expect her to say something like that.

"pardon me, what do you mean?" she chuckles nervously as her hands ghost over the keyboard in front of her.

"you could care less about what goes on around here." she repeats slowly, word for word, like talking to a toddler learning their first sentence.

"i'm sorry, i think you're misinterpreting something here. i care about what's going on right now. i care about how my school is and my students-"

"you called me up here for what, a bullying issue? something that you obviously seem to not know anything about. you think that here in your office, you're far from your students, that if a situation comes, a problem can be resolved by a piece of paper, a pen, and a proper person who you can tell will tell the honest truth."

"i called you up here for a reason." the principal said harshly for a minute, trying to intimidate the young individual in front of her. to her shock, the girl looked even more determined and seems to focus on the woman staring right back at her.

"no, you called me up here to write a story.  you didn't ask me "so, how do you feel about the situation?" or "do you know why you're here?" see, you tell us at the start of the year, "if you ever have a problem, you can come up and tell us anything." but the moment a student comes in here, you shut them up by slamming a paper in front of them to tell a story that you don't know if it's real or false."

the principal stares at her for a brief second, almost shocked to hear the words come out of her mouth. the moment she had figured out who she was, high grades, never sent to the office once, she expected someone who would turn the match off in this fire.

"you're just saying this because you are my principal. you are only doing this for this school's reputation. you don't know how many students are crying themselves to sleep at night. you don't care about your staff here. you just care about the money you can get without having to stress about another incident happening."

she pauses for a split second and leans back into the chair slowly while continuing to stare at the woman who knows that she's right.

"you aren't there for us. and you never will be. we will eventually figure out things on our own, and i'm sorry you weren't taught that sooner in life." she laughs a small laugh, picks herself up with her bag behind her, and walks out without slamming a door.

and behind the office walls, the woman calls up the next student to tell their side of the story.