Secrets: Unfolded

1.Principal's Office

"Principal Harris will see you now," the tall receptionist with the emotionless face said. Seriously, what is with her? she looks like she came straight outta prison. Anyway, I did not have time to deal with her, my nephew's life was in danger. Wait, why am I thinking that? I only got called by his principal to do a routine meeting, apparently they do it with all parents and guardians. But in my heart I knew something was wrong, very very wrong.

"Mrs. Maverick?" The middle aged lady said, not even looking up from whatever it was she was reading. "It's Ms. Maverick, actually," I replied, in a calm tone. Nothing is wrong, I reminded myself. This is routine. The lady, Principal Harris finally looked up and she looked surprised, (can't blame her) "Oh, I thought you'd be, well, older," She said, "how old are you dear? if you don't mind me asking." "I'm 23," i said, "Principal Harris, is anything wrong with Brady?"
"Well, sit down, dear." I did. Feeling nervous as hell. She started, "Brady is a very special child, Ms. Maverick,"

"Call me Ellen," I interrupted.

"Very well, Ellen. Brady is a special child, with many gifts actually. But he is young, and to go through what he went through, is not easy."

"I understand that."

"So we thought that he should see our guidance counsellor, Mr. Donnovan, and he did. Mr. Donnovan thought he was doing well, he was opening up, but after three weeks, the progress stopped."

"No one ever told me about the counsellor."

"Well, Ellen, it wasn't very big of a deal. Children get sent to the counsellor all the time. It's routine."

"Okay, so what's the problem?"

"The problem is that not only did Brady stop responding to Mr. Donnovan, his behaviour is changing gradually. He is becoming a bit quieter in class, spacing out, not paying attention, he even fell asleep in a class. Which made us worry. A bright child like Brady, should get proper care."

"Wait are you saying I'm not a good guardian?"

"Well, this may seem a little harsh, but I never thought of that until I saw how young you are. People your age aren't exactly suited to take care of kids. And you have to take care of two kids, with emotional issues, two kids that need extreme care and attention. You're just too young to have that."

This principal was really getting on my nerves. She's telling me that I'm not taking good care of the kids? Did I not leave my job for them? Did I not leave Manhattan to live in snooty Beverly Hills with them? Did I not leave my whole life behind only so I could take care of the children of my Mentally deranged half sister? Why should I take this shit? I was just about to unleash my rage when I took a deep breath and controlled myself. This is okay, at least he isn't hurt or dead or kidnapped.

"So what do you think I should do?" I asked the principal.

"Well, this is probably nothing. But we do advice that you keep an eye on him. talk to him, connect with him. And if it gets Worse, maybe he'll need sone professional help."

"Thank you, Principal. I'll keep that in mind." I said standing up from the chair, as I put my hand forward for her to shake it. She did, saying, "Thank you Ellen, keep us updated, don't hesitate to talk to us if you feel any problem." As I reached for the door,  I suddenly turned around, "Oh, how's Susan doing?" "Oh, she's good, she saw the counsellor too, and her mental state developed. She is doing just fine. They're both such bright children", the principal said. I smiled at her, and got out of the room, only to see the robotic face of the receptionist. I walked towards the driveway, preparing myself for the tough conversation I'd have at dinner table. Like a good little family, we have our dinner together. 'A good little family,' that sounds like a lie. Good little families don't have murdered dads, psycho moms, and a quiet young aunt taking care of two children. Then what the damn hell was our little family?