Veronica's Back

Chapter 3

September 24, 1999

Dear Diary,

"Remember, your paper on 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is due on Monday! Two pages is not a lot to ask for, so it better be on time!" I yelled over the loud bell, as the class got up to go to their next class. I didn't have another class till after lunch, so I sat at my desk and flipped through my lesson plans, making sure it all flows and that I'm not assigning too much work all at once. I made adjustments, moving a project to next week, switching lessons out for today, adding in work periods, the usual. About halfway through the period, I heard voices in the hall, and rolled my eyes. If you're going to be that loud in the hall, teachers will hear you. I walked to the door, my boots clicking against the floor. I opened the door, and saw a group of girls standing a mere five feet away from me. And not just any girls.

"Sofia, Sophia, and Sofiya. Shouldn't you be in class?" I asked. They looked at me, just now acknowledging my presence.

"We're going to the washroom." Sofia, the one in red said.

"Together?"

Sofiya, the one in yellow, pipes up. "Well, Sophia and I are going to the office to pick something up." She said. I heard a door close behind me, but I refused to take my eyes off these three.

"Well then you wouldn't mind showing me your hall pass?" I asked, knowing full well they didn't have one. Their eyes darted around anxiously, trying to rack their brain for an excuse. Someone walked past us, with her head down, not looking in our direction.

"Hold up." I stopped her. The girl looks up. One of my homeroom students, Eva. "You should be in class too." I said.. She looked like she was about to say something, but Sophia tapped on my shoulder.

"Here's our hall pass." she said, and handed me a slip of paper, I looked at it, knowing at first sight it was a forgery.

"You know, this isn't the worst forgery I've seen. Who did it?" I asked, smirking. All their eyes widened.

"Well? Who did it? I won't kill you." I said. Eva slowly raised her hand. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"How did you give it to her?" I asked. She looked around nervously.

"I-I drop-dropped it on the f-floor." She stuttered. Hm. That's a new one.

"Where are you all supposed to be?'

"Science."

"Spanish."

"Math."

"Gym."

I took them all to their respective classes, after talking to their teachers, except Eva. I took her back to my classroom with me. She was sweating profusely, practically shaking. I pulled up a chair in front of my desk and gestured for her to sit down. I sat down at my desk, facing her.

"First, calm down. This isn't the end of the world, but we need to talk, and I need you to be calm for that. Okay?" I said. She nodded, but kept shaking.

"You aren't in trouble." I said, in my most soothing voice, trying to calm her anxiety. She didn't answer. I opened my desk drawer and took out a foil wrapped hard candy from a tiny jar. I usually use them for myself, but I spared one. I placed it in front of Eva.

"It's meant to calm your nerves." I lied. She slowly unwrapped it and put it in her mouth. Slowly but surely, her breathing returned to normal and she stopped shaking. Hail the placebo effect.

"Now then," I started. "Why did you forge a hall pass for them?"

"I-I was trying to be nice." She mumbled. I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Is that really why?" I asked. She fumbled with her hands in her lap. "Well, I- yes." She said. I nodded.

"Nothing to do with you wanting to be their friend, right?" Her head jerked up and looked at me, shocked.

"How did you know?" She asked. I smiled.

"Because I went down that exact path when I was in high school. I was great at forging handwriting, still am, if I do say so myself. Listen, do you want to be friends with them because you like them, or because you're scared of them?"

"I like them." She said, with the most confidence I've heard come from her mouth all day.

"You like them? The biggest bullies in your grade, probably in the entire school, and you like them?" I asked.

"Okay, so I'm scared of them. But if I'm friends with them they won't pick on me!" She exclaimed.

"Have they ever picked on you before?" I asked.

"Not yet, but they might!" She replied. I sighed.

"Trust me, you shouldn't change yourself to be friends with someone, especially if you're only being friends with them because you're scared. You'll let their anger fester and infect you, and soon you'll be exactly like them. I've been through it all, it's not a fun experience. Got it?" I said. I'm doing everything I can to make sure no one ends up like me, even if some people will ignore me. Eva nodded, I think she's sensible enough to stay away from them now.

"Now before I let you go, I do have to ask; did you have an actual hall pass when you were in the hall?" Eva nodded. "Can I see it?" I asked. She didn't move, and looked down. I sighed, and wrote out a detention slip.

"You could've just said you didn't have one, nothing would have changed." I said, as I ripped the slip off the notepad. I held it out to her, and she took it, not making eye contact with me.

"I'll see you period four." I said as she walked away.