Secrets

Chapter 12

"No, no, no, no, no!" the vice-principal of Prufrock Preparatory School shouted in annoyance. "That is entirely wrong."

Holly sighed laboriously, a word which here means in great pain or very slowly, both meanings which applied to the young girl's current situation. The act of breathing laboriously can often be used to express one's current condition or how he or she might be feeling in the presence of something rather annoying. For example, if you are a woman about to give birth, your breathing would be very much laboured as you attempt to bring new life into the world, or it might be equally as strenuous as several medical professionals in irritating voices tell you to calm yourself and keep your breathing even, despite their inability to understand the great pain and the phenomenally difficult task of carrying and delivering an infant is on yourself. Or you might be an Olympic athlete who has just completed a gruelling 26-mile (or 42.2 kilometres) marathon in which you placed very well, and your breathing would be laboured after putting your body through such tiring and rash exercises. Or it could perhaps be that you are being flocked and followed by some aggravating reporters who desire to know what you will do next. I, myself, often breathe laboriously after spending a long time fleeing away from the law and other villainous people who desire to bring me into their custody or after a long night of crying and desiring to go back and save the woman I love.

However, in the case of Holly S, she was neither giving birth as she was too young to do so, or running in a marathon, or fleeing the authorities or villainous people... yet. She was very much breathing laboriously as the annoying voice of her vice-principal continued to stop her as she attempted to play her violin during his poor excuse for "lessons." Lessons are often referred to a specific period of time in a classroom or over one's life where you learn valuable and important information that can either help you in your chosen career or how to survive in the vast and often scary world. The word lesson is seen to be taught by a teacher and another person, quite often younger in age, as the student, but despite what the vice-principal at Prufrock Preparatory School called it, what he was doing with Holly was not a lesson.

A man who for many years claimed that he could play the violin was now constantly interrupting a girl who could, in an attempt to correct her and improve her skills. She, of course, did not need any corrections but every time she attempted to play, the egotistical man would stop her and find anything to criticize.

"What did I do wrong this time?" the young girl sighed, completely running low on patience, which was the reason that she sighed heavily. She placed her violin in her lap while sitting on a stack of papers which were quite numerous in the administrative office. She could hardly believe that this man was qualified to even run a school, especially in the dark, dirty, and disorganized office from which he worked. It would not be a bad assumption to assume that Vice-Principal Nero did not care in the slightest about anything besides his violin recitals, much less the feelings he was hurting by constantly criticizing the girl's playing. Yet, Holly had been forced to sit in this office for the past week or so, attempting to participate in the lessons which she was ordered to take by this unqualified man. She had been forced to skip lunch, which meant she lost her cups and glasses for drinking, and had to sit in the administration building, which students were forbidden to enter, and this meant that she had also lost her cutlery. In addition to these unfortunate inconveniences towards eating three meals a day, Holly was also forced to be separated from her friends, whom she missed the opportunity to socialize with between classes. Now it seemed she rarely saw them, with the exceptions of breakfast, dinner, and just before the recitals, but she could not help in missing them, especially Duncan Quagmire. The thought of the handsome young journalist brought a smile to her face and a pink hue to her cheeks. In fact, she would often think about her special friend to allow herself to tolerate these lessons and not breathe with such labour all the time.