Stuck Like Glue

Chapter 4

Kaitlyn's POV

Mrs Roth's obsession with that stupid essay is causing me a nervous breakdown. I mean, I need someone to actually help me; however, it seems as everyone is trying hard to be as unhelpful as they can.

Take Aatikah Summers, for example. She's always saying loads of shit about me and my group. Okay, I know she isn't the resident queen bee of this school, but what's sure is that she's devious, envious (especially of me and my good grades) and blunt. I hate that kind of behavior, not only because it makes her look very unpleasant, but also because she doesn't even know when to keep that fucking tongue held.

"Don't worry about that bitch. You don't need to deal with her at all," says Suzie, also known as one of my best friends and my usual project partner. "Anyway, should she even approach us, Tess and I have a plan. Make sure to trust us, okay?"

Meanwhile, Tess, my other friend, is coming back with a suspicious smile, which definitely means trouble. "Mrs Roth wants to talk to you, Kaitlyn. Oh, she doesn't seem to be very pleased."

"Shut up! Do you want her to think I'm worried?" I hiss, causing her smile to disappear and be replaced with an unpleasant look. Okay, I think I've been too harsh with her... Damn! Why can't I just shut up?

As soon as I hear my name, I approach the teacher's desk, not willing to show any sort of emotions. The less I show, the better. She gives me her usual stern look, before telling me to take a seat.

I obey, therefore getting ready to the barrage of insults I'm bound to listen to pretending they're harmless and useful for my education, all while they're just lowering self-esteem to dangerous levels. I usually tend to be quite confident, but never say never...

"Okay, Kaitlyn, we need to talk about your essay." What the fucking else does she think we need to talk? I really hate when she points out the most obvious things. Mom and Dad, at least, don't do it in a such blatant way, though. I mean, she's only supposed to tell me my grade and that's it.

"I didn't like it." What does it mean? Isn't a teacher just supposed to look at grammar, punctuation, syntaxis and that's it, without giving personal opinions? This is what pisses me off most of that woman. She can't give an impartial judgement for her own sake. All that bias is making me want to puke.

"Its content... well..." Now, she's pretending to stutter, definitely annoying me. Her attitude is getting on my nerves, seriously. I know, I know, I sound repetitive, but I can't help saying that again.

"It wasn't on point." Okay, I was supposed to write an essay about family life, and that's what I did. She can't just say it wasn't on point without giving me a proper explanation, something a teacher should do, otherwise what kind of teacher would she be? I know the answer: a dysfunctional one, someone who should retire as soon as possible.

"Excuse me, but what does that mean?" I ask, trying hard to be as polite as possible, but she instead perceives it as rude.

"Don't try to contradict me, young lady. When I say it's not on point, it's not on point. You just take your mistakes, fix them and then learn not to repeat them again so that next time you'll accomplish this task perfectly, did you understand?" She raises her eyebrows and I can't help nodding, though, if I could, I'd strangle her instead. She's worth being denounced for dissing.

I'm not even trying to explain myself, I'm too busy being insulted without even being able to defend myself. I really hope the Principal isn't insane enough to refrain from dismissing her once for all.

"In other words, you went off topic. You just wrote a barrage of nonsense." Her bluntness and arrogance have just gone over the limit. That's enough. Where's the Principal? I must have a talk with him. I want this woman out of this school, right now.

Suddenly, I hear someone knocking the door, and the silence there being in the room for a long time becomes creepier than usual. When the door opens, it shows the Principal and the Viceprincipal both looking furious. It could be because some students sabotaged the alarm system, or snuck into the school's secret archives, or maybe made out in the janitor's room instead of attending classes... Who knows, everything could happen in this madhouse.

Instead, it really seems as this mess involves a teacher, or, better say, more than one. "Mrs Roth," says in fact the Principal, "we learnt that you have had a relationship with a former school inspector for years..." The inspector he's talking about is called Darren Douglas; he resigned about two years ago, claiming that he had health issues, though nobody else at school believed him and still keeps not believing him.

Her usual stern look is turning into a blazing glare. She doesn't like anyone messing up with her personal life, something the head teacher is doing in such a way that it makes me think he may be an undercover spy.

"If that's true," adds the Viceprincipal, "I'm afraid we have to dismiss you. It's against the school's ethics and it's highly unprofessional."

"How dare you insult me and my reputation in front of my students?" she hisses. She never liked the Viceprincipal, often accusing him of being corrupt, but who is she of giving such hard accusations when she herself isn't exactly a good person? "You know what? You can't dismiss me, because not only I intend resigning, but, also, I'm gonna sue you for damaging my reputation. You'll hear from my lawyers very soon."

She storms out of the class, having no hesitations to push the two men - without even apologizing! - and literally run! This means that the essay is only the last of my problems, considering that I have so many other things to think of, such as having to share my room with Matt Larkin! Why can't I just have a normal life? I mean, why do problems always have to catch up with me?

Seeing the head teacher and his substitute leave the room is confusing me even further. Now, I'm supposed to actually focus on myself, but I think today is a day I won't forget that easily.