The Star in Our Faults

Chapter 23

I sat opposite Mrs Thompson, Anna's class teacher. She peered at me over the top of round glasses and must have been at least 60.

"Miss Lancaster, you know this is a very serious matter. Fights are dealt with severely here." she said sternly.

I nodded, crossing my legs and tried to look very professional. "Mrs Thompson, could you please go over what exactly happened?"

The teacher consulted the papers in front of her. "Well, apparently Anna and Emily were just talking and suddenly Anna attacked Emily. Emily then fought back and the two were wrestling with each other until I broke them apart."

Mrs Thompson over pronounced every syllable and added extra emphasis on words when she thought it was needed.

I shook my head and a million thoughts rushed through my mind.

"I just don't understand why Anna would suddenly start a fight with someone. It seems so unlike her. Are you certain?" I asked, bemused.

"Miss Lancaster, we do have witnesses. I can prove to you-" she began.

"No no, it's fine, I believe you," I muttered. "So, what's the punishment?"

"Well since it's Anna's first day at school, she won't receive any major punishments. She's had a good telling off by me, as has Emily, and I hope you will have a stern talking to her. Please tell Anna that fighting is not tolerated at this school, and any more trouble will be dealt with more severely."

"So what happens now?" I asked. After all, it was the middle of the school day. Anna's teacher had phoned me at lunch time so as not to disrupt lessons.

"I think it would be best for Anna to go home with you know and miss afternoon lessons. She can come back to kindergarten as normal tomorrow."

I nodded and thanked Mrs Thompson for meeting with me. Although, as I shook her hand, all that ran through my head is 'you're lying'. Anna would never just attack anyone. There had to be a back story that the teacher couldn't be bothered to find out.

I walked out her office and see Anna sitting on a kids' plastic chair beside the door. Her head was bent over and golden hair fell over her face.

"Anna?" I asked, and Anna's head shot upright. "Come on, we're going home."

She had a worried expression plastered across her face. She intertwined and twisted her hands together while biting her bottom lip, signs that she was nervous and guilty.

Together we walked to the old battered car. I had been too worked up to walk here when I heard what happened. We drove home in silence and once we reached the parking lot outside the apartment, we just sat. Finally I broke the silence and asked a simple question.

"Why?"

I looked deep into Anna's eyes, but she didn't return the stare and just looked down at her feet. I wasn't too angry, just confused and maybe even a little worried. Anna didn't answer my question for a couple of minutes, and that's when I did start to get angry. But suddenly Anna exploded.

Not literally.

"It's not my fault!" Anna exclaimed. "Emily came up to me and she was saying really mean things so I told her to go away but then she started talking about you!"

"Me?" I said, surprised. I hadn't been expecting this.

Anna nodded furiously. "So I told her to leave me alone again. But then she started talking about your ca-can-ca-"

"My cannula?" I helped.

"Yes! Your cannula. She started asking questions about it, and so I answered them. Then she started getting mean about it and she was talking about you, and suddenly I got really angry and I just attacked her! Next thing I remember is Mrs Thompson pulling us apart. I'm such a bad girl!" Anna started crying.

I hugged Anna from across the car. "No Anna, you only attacked Emily because you were provoked."

"Provoked?" Anna asked, wiping her tears away.

"Yeah. It's like the only reason you started a fight is because she said something mean to you first."

"Yeah!" Anna said.

"But next time someone provokes you, just go to the teacher and don't start fighting them. Because if you attack someone, you're going to get in just as much trouble as them." I said wisely.

Anna nodded and hugged me back.

"Hey, lets go inside and get a little treat. What about some cake?" I grinned.

"Cake!" Anna shouted, and jumped out the car, ready for me to unlock the door that led into the lobby.

I smiled at her, but really I was thinking about this Emily girl. She must of seen me drop off Anna at kindergarten. It was normal for people to have strange reactions to my cannula, especially young children who didn't know how to hide their feelings well. But still this girl seemed a little...weird.

I pushed the thought out of my mind and went to unlock the door.

Authors note: Short update sorry! I will hopefully update really soon, like next week or something.

So yeah I'm working on another story just now, but I'm not going to publish it until this is finished. It's called 'Operation: Get a Life'. I'm going to post the blurb below, so please give me any feedback. Good or bad, I just want to know how to improve it. Please comment! So here it goes:

Jenna Williams is geeky, unpopular, a teacher's pet and definitely not living the dream life of a modern day teenager. Suddenly it reaches the end of the year and summer break starts. Jenna is bored out of her mind with no studying to be done and for the first time ever she wishes that she had a life outside of school. Desperate for help, she consults her two best friends and together they come up with the idea of 'Operation: Get a Life'. But can Jenna really 'Get a Life' before summer finishes, or will she begin the new school year as the geek she was before?