The Principal

Chapter 3

The classroom buzzed with quiet chatter, but I couldn’t help sneaking glances at him.

I scolded myself for this forbidden attraction. I knew it could never happen—not in a million years. For God’s sake, he was married, probably with a family. He was old enough to be my dad. Yet, my body wanted him more than anything I’d ever desired.

I never saw myself as beautiful. To me, I was just a plain-looking girl with medium-length dark brown hair, brown eyes, and light tan skin. I was invisible.

My small group of friends often told me I was tall and skinny, that I had the perfect body. But I couldn’t see it. And I knew, deep down, he would never find me beautiful—especially compared to the other girls at school. His wife, whoever she was, must be stunning to be married to a man like him.

God, I need a distraction. My mind was spiraling. I turned to Beth and whispered, “Can we please listen to that BTS song?”

She smiled, her eyes lighting up at the mention of K-pop. “Just Right?”

“Yeah, the one with the cool dance at the end.”

She quickly typed on her phone, and seconds later, she handed me an earbud. The upbeat pop song filled my ears, and we started singing along, moving to the rhythm like we’d done a million times before.

When the song ended, I glanced up—and froze. Mr. Smith was watching us. No, he was watching me.

Our eyes locked. My cheeks flushed pink, and I quickly looked down at my hands, trying to hide it.

My friends began chatting in rapid Spanish. I must have looked confused because a deep, melodic voice cut through the noise.

“Do you not speak Spanish, April?”

I turned to see Mr. Smith smirking at me.

Stupid asshole. I knew he was teasing me because I was half-Colombian. Forcing a smile, I replied, “I understand a little, but my father didn’t teach me much growing up.”

He raised an eyebrow, still smirking. “That’s a shocker.” Then, he turned to Angelis and started speaking flawless Spanish.

I was taken aback by how effortlessly the language rolled off his tongue, like music. I shook it off, annoyed at how weak I felt. Popping my earbuds back in, I tuned everyone out.

The rest of the class passed in a blur. Before I knew it, the bell rang. A wave of sadness hit me as I left the classroom.

The rest of the day dragged on. My classes were boring, and the minutes crawled by. When the final bell rang, I wasn’t excited.

I boarded the same yellow bus I’d ridden for months, sitting next to Beth as we chatted about K-pop, just like every other day.

Half an hour later, I was home. I ran upstairs to my room, which was the first door on the left.

Inside, purple curtains framed the window. A full-length mirror hung on the wall, with my dresser to the left of my bed and my closet beside it.

I flopped onto my neatly made purple bed and stared at the white ceiling. A smile played at my lips.

“Today was a good day,” I whispered to myself.

I drifted off to sleep, already excited for tomorrow.