Rise Up

Talie

Mr. Miranda had me by the upper arm as he marched me to the main office. Another teacher had the other girl. I didn't even know her name. Once we reached the office, I snatched my arm away and he told me to sit down.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" he demanded, hands on his hips. "Are you crazy?"

I didn't want to explain. I was fighting back angry tears. What that girl had said was disgusting and unforgivable. The other girl was deposited at another set of chairs against the other wall. I glared at her, letting her know I wasn't letting this go easily. Mr. Miranda saw and stood between us so I couldn't see her.

Soon, the principal came out of his office and called me in first. I told him my side of the story. This girl from my English class had overheard Mr. Miranda say we'd pick up dinner on the way home, and she'd asked if I was sleeping with him. I snapped. Simple as that.

Maybe I would've let it roll off my back otherwise, but I was already upset about my dad and how poorly I was doing in school. Now everyone was going to know I was living with Mr. Miranda. It was weird. Everyone would think I was teacher's pet and would start bugging me to steal answer keys.

After I was done telling Dr. Fisher my side, he called Mr. Miranda in. He sat next to me as Dr. Fisher began.

"Lin, it appears the reason Talie got so upset was that the other student was implying she was sleeping with you," he told Lin. He let out a disgusted sigh and leaned back in his chair. "Apparently she overheard you talking about something related to home."

"Jesus," he muttered. "Talie, that's upsetting to hear, but it's still no reason to get into a physical fight. What happened?"

I had my arms crossed and I looked away. "I just saw red. I'm not sorry. That's a sick thing to say."

"It's disturbing, but this isn't the Talie I know," he said, looking at me. I refused to look at him. Dr. Fisher sighed.

"Physical violence is a mandatory three day suspension," he said, typing on his computer. He added it to my growing list of misdeeds. "Talie, you've had a lot of detentions lately. What's up with that?"

"Missing work," I said.

"Well, this suspension will be the perfect opportunity to get all caught up," he said. He glanced up at the clock. "Since detention has already been going on for 15 minutes, we'll cancel it for today and you can make it up next week. Any questions from either of you?"

We both said no. Mr. Miranda stood up and I followed behind him sheepishly, knowing he was upset with me. We both gathered up our stuff to go and rode the subway home in silence. When we got home, I could tell he was still pissed.

"Go to your room," he told me. "You're grounded."

"What?!" I asked, exasperated. "You can't ground me. You're not my dad."

"I'm your guardian while your dad's away," he countered. "Go. Now."

There was something in his tone that made me not argue. I just sighed and trudged off to my bedroom. Really, I could just go to my own apartment, but I had a feeling he'd call the police again. I stayed in my room until dinner time, doing my endless homework.

During dinner, Lin and I didn't talk. I barely spoke a word. I disappeared to my bedroom, wanting to be alone. A half hour later, there was a knock. It was Vanessa.

She smiled weakly as she walked in and closed the door. I set my textbook aside so she could sit down.

"Hey," she said. "Lin told me what happened. Are you okay?"