The Dangerous Doors of Shannon Anderson

Chapter Seventeen

By Friday I was running out of ways to entertain myself that didn't involve my phone, the internet, TV, or leaving the house (all still forbidden), or reading books (too dangerous). So there I was, sprawled out on my bedroom floor making a multi-color replica of the Washington Square Arch out of Aidan's old Legos when the phone rang. Someone picked it up, and I scooted over to my open door to listen.

"Hello?" Dad said from the front hallway. "Yes, of course. No, we haven't made much progress, I'm afraid. I see. Of course. No need to apologize, Mr. Hamilton, we understand." Crap. Mr. Hamilton was my principal. "We think it's for the best, too. Oh? Okay, I'll let her know. Thank you."

I could hear Dad exhale as he hung up the phone from all the way upstairs. I crawled back over to my Lego pile so that it wouldn't look like I'd been eavesdropping when he came upstairs, but the sound of his footsteps on the creaky staircase never came. Instead I heard Mom scream, "Seriously?", swiftly followed by two sets of feet running up the stairs.

The door slammed open and Mom just stood there, hands on her hips, Dad in her shadow. She looked like a dragon - a tiny, Irish dragon that had just had her nap interrupted. I could almost see the smoke billowing from her nostrils as she fumed in my doorway.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm going back to L.A.," she said, running a hand through her neat blonde bob. "Since you won't be receiving a diploma tomorrow, there's really no point in me staying."

She left the room. I blinked up at Dad, squeezing a Lego so hard in my hand it felt like it was cutting into my skin. And all at once I couldn't hold it in anymore. I wailed - absolutely dissolved into tears. You would've thought someone dear to me had died. Dad was on the floor with his arm around me in a heartbeat.

"I'm so sorry Shannon," he said, holding me tight to his chest as wracking sobs shook my body. "The administration discussed it, and they decided that without knowing where you were or what happened, it would be best to hold off on re-taking your exams for now. Mr. Hamilton said you're still welcome to go to the ceremony tomorrow, if you want."

"What, and watch Jessa and Tucker walk without me?" I choked. "You're funny."

"Shan..."

"What am I going to do, Dad?" I had never, ever, ever in my life imagined not graduating high school. I didn't even realize that not everyone went to college until I was like twelve. I had had a plan, and this was certainly not part of it. "Did Mr. Hamilton say I could take my exams later, or go to summer school, or something?"

"I didn't ask. They're just as concerned about all this as we are, you know. We'll figure out a plan later, but for now we all just want to make sure that you're okay."

"I'M OKAY!" I shouted, kicking my Washington Square Arch across the floor and into the wall where it exploded into a thousand colorful sharp plastic bits.

***

Mom was on a plane back to California by nighttime, which hurt my feelings a little even though I didn't want it to and even though I wasn't surprised. But at least I had my phone back.

I had about a million texts apiece from Tucker and Jessa, and a bunch more from random classmates, some I had never even talked to, everyone wondering where had I gone and was I okay and we're praying for you. Jessa's and Tucker's messages almost made a little story, starting with the general "hey, where are you, the exam starts in ten minutes", then segueing into the more frantic "Shan are you ok? I'm calling your dad" and "seriously, this isn't funny, the police were just here" variety, and ending with "oh thank god your mom just called and said you came home - CALL ME."

I knew that I should call both of them, but I also knew that the conversations would be just as bad as when I tried to tell Dad the truth, and the prospect of reliving that whole scenario twice more was too frustrating to consider. I threw my phone on the bed, and for the first time in almost two weeks, I picked up The Swiss Family Robinson.

Figuring it would be easier to ignore the fact that I had failed high school if I was sipping coconut milk on a sandy beach, I opened the book, and nearly had a heart attack when, just like when I was trying to explain my doors to Dad with The Complete Sherlock Holmes, nothing happened. I even checked under my bed again. No door. What the hell?!

I closed the book and tried again, and this time, the green bamboo door sprung open right on queue. Sighing in relief I scrambled through, with no concern for getting trapped, or how time would pass on the other side. The space-time continuum could start doing pirouettes for all I cared, and if I ended up stuck in a story forever, well, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. I didn't have much going for me at this point anyway.

It was a beautiful day in New Switzerland. The sun bathed the beach in that warm-but-not-too-hot glow, the penguins were playing, and there was a sandy spot underneath a banana tree that was calling my name. I laid down in the shade and closed my eyes, breathing in that sweet island air that smelled like flowers and salt and serenity.

What if I just stayed here forever, let the Robinsons take me in like Fritz wanted? I'd spend my time building impossible contraptions from the island's raw materials, and eating exotic fruits, and napping on a warm beach full of penguins and flamingos and squirrel-pig-kangaroo things. (Agouti was what they were really called, according to Fritz.) There were no grades here, and no one to tell me what I could and could not do. My future would be my own, and my only responsibility would be to live. The thought made me smile. At the very least, I could think of worse ways to spend a Friday night.

A/N: Do you think Shannon will decide to attend her graduation? Will she just stay in New Switzerland forever? Maybe something in between. Let me know your thoughts with a comment! Thanks for reading. <3