Chapter 21
I had little reason to expect Monday would be anything other than an ordinary day. My focus was on Wednesday and the upcoming signing meeting. So when I got called in to the principal’s office, it took me by surprise.
Mr. Schmitt handed me the note. His classroom was on the third floor—it was a boring, typical math class. It only took me a moment to dump my things into my bag and leave the classroom behind.
There was only one thing Principal Wroth could have called me for, and it made me want to skip. Or whistle Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead. The only other student I saw in the hall was Will. He looked like he was just finding his way to class; if so, he was exceptionally late. I waved at him, and he waved back.
Each step I took caused an echoing clack on the white tile floor of the hall, even though I tried to stay quiet. As loud as I thought I was, I knew it was nothing compared to the noise I would have made had I been wearing heels. One of the teachers did, and it seemed like the whole school could hear when she was on the move.
Once I’d reached the end of the hall, I hugged a right and headed for the stairs. They were right there, leading down to the main floor. I took them two at a time, caring less about noise since I wasn’t close to any classrooms.
Another right, left, and left brought me to the office. I pulled the glass door open and walked up to Wroth’s receptionist. “Hey, I got a slip asking me to come here?” I said, holding out the white piece of paper.
The receptionist took it, smiling at me as she did. “Hi Ashley. I’ll tell Principal Wroth you’re here.” My immediate thought was how cool it was that she knew my name, until I realized what that showed. I didn’t want to be on a first-name basis with the principal or her receptionist.
I sat in one of the chairs and waited. It wasn’t long until the door to the principal’s office opened and Principal Wroth gestured for me to come in. I pushed off from the chair and headed inside.
It was exactly how I remembered, even though I hadn’t been inside her office since the year before. Even the clutter on her desk looked eerily familiar. I walked over to the chair across from her desk and sat as she did.
“Ashley,” she said, her expression unreadable. “I think I have good news for you. Do you remember how we discussed… Ahem, a certain Facebook page?”
I nodded.
“Okay, good. Miss Smith and Miss Donovan have taken it down.” A hint of a smile tugged at her lips, as if she knew what that would mean to me.
“Thanks.” The funny thing was, in that moment I didn’t feel as if I’d gotten a big break. Maybe it was because I’d already known, or maybe I’d started to get used to Loser McGee… No, not that. I never would have gotten used to Loser McGee.
Principal Wroth shrugged. “It’s my job to ensure a safe and secure learning environment. You should never have to be afraid to come to school. But Ashley, I am slightly worried that you didn’t come to anyone about this. In the future, will I have to conduct home visits to figure out what’s troubling you?”
I smirked, thinking about the upcoming meeting. “Principal Wroth, I don’t think anything could ever trouble me again. Life is pretty good right now.”
She eyed me for a second, trying to assess something I could only guess at. “Ashley, life has a way of making fools of those who believe themselves invincible. I’m glad that things have improved for you, but I’m also worried that you might be flying a little too high right now.”
“Sure.” I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. As if being happy could ever be a bad thing.
“Okay, you don’t agree. That’s your right.” She sighed. “Miss Smith won’t be bullying you again. At least, not if she wants to stay at this school. Do you promise to come to me if she does return to her old behavior?”
I was surprised she even had to ask. “Yeah, of course I will.” Sensing that our business was concluded, I started to stand.
“Wait, there’s something else.” She gestured for me to stay seated. “Miss Donovan mentioned that she wanted to apologize to you.”
“Alright.” After a moment, I realized she might think I was agreeing to accept an apology. “Sorry, I don’t think I can handle that. Right now, if I saw Maya or Jessica I’d probably do something that would get me sent right back here.”
Principal Wroth sighed. “I understand. As principal, I hope you can eventually reach a positive resolution, but I also see why it might take some time to forgive them.” Her maternal expression took me slightly off-guard. “Until then, I’m glad to hear you’re happy.”
“Thanks, Principal Wroth,” I said. When I rose from the chair this time, she didn’t stop me.
There weren’t any chances for Maya to even try to apologize until after school. We only shared one class, and we sat on opposite sides of the room. Even though the class let out five minutes early, I made sure I was one of the first ones out the door. The way I saw it, I was just as likely to slap her as I was to play friendly.
On some level, I did want to hear Maya’s apology just so that I could figure things out. Maybe she would tell me just how involved she’d been with Loser McGee. I desperately wanted some backstory, some explanation for why she and Jessica had tortured me.
After school, I met up with Charlie at our usual spot, near the red trash can. When I glanced over to the larger pack of sophomores, it surprised me to see that Jessica wasn’t there. Maya was, though.
“Hey Ashley,” a boy said. The voice came from over my shoulder, forcing me to turn to figure out who was talking to me. It was Will; he walked over to my right side, stopping a couple feet away as if he was joining our little group.
I frowned at him, not sure why he was choosing to stand with us. “Hey Will. How are you?”
“I’m good. You know, Mondays always suck.” He shrugged. “But I got to miss one of my classes, so that was kinda cool.”
“Oh, you did?”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t anything exciting. Just… You know, school stuff.”
There wasn’t much I could say to that, so I didn’t force the conversation. I let it die out for a few seconds, while I tried to figure out why Maya kept looking at me. Maybe she was trying to gauge whether it was a good time for an apology.
“Um…” Will frowned, like he was searching for the words to say something I could only guess at. “You seem happier than usual. That’s good.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I am happier than usual. I didn’t tell anyone else yet, but our band is gonna get signed.”
The news didn’t bring quite the reaction I was expecting. Then again, I didn’t know Will well enough to guess at his reactions. He gave me a little half-smile. “That’s cool. Look, Ashley, that day last year… I thought you already knew. Actually, I was hoping that talking to you about it would be a good thing. So that you could know you had some people on your side. I should’ve pushed Maya harder though, to get her to shut down the page.”
“It’s okay.” The words came out angrier than I intended. On the one hand, I figured I couldn’t blame Will too much, since I probably would have found out about the page eventually. On the other, it would have made my life so much easier if he’d just convinced Maya to shut down the page.
He exhaled slowly. “So we’re cool?”
Our bus arrived before I could answer; it still made the annoying screech when it stopped, but by then I was pretty much used to it. “Yeah. And um, thanks for telling me. It was painful to see, but I think it would have hurt even more if I hadn’t found out for a while. It’s done now, so let’s just move past it.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” The half-smile he’d been wearing widened. “So, do you prefer Ash or Ashley? I think Charlie’s the only one I’ve ever heard call you Ash, but…”
“I really don’t care much either way,” I said. “Well, actually, I think I like Ash more. It’s more familiar, if that makes sense.” I made my way toward the bus door, and Will and Charlie followed. Up ahead, I could see Maya hanging back, glan
cing at me as if she was hoping we could sit together.
Maybe she didn’t remember the last time she’d tried that, but I certainly did. “Oh yeah,” Will said, “I’ve got you. I’ll call you Ash, then. So you guys are just gonna go to practice?”
“Yeah.” It seemed like he was trying to force the conversation, but to my surprise I wasn’t that irritated by it. “You don’t wanna hang out with us, do you? You can hear our music, and we were talking about offering t-shirts if you want to buy one.”
Behind me, Charlie cleared his throat. “Are we inviting spectators to practices now?”
“Yeah, why not? It’s not like I’m asking Jessica to come watch us. It’ll be good to have someone to practice in front of.”
“That’s okay guys,” Will said, “I’m a little busy tonight, anyway. Maybe later, though?”
“Maybe later,” I agreed, letting Will move ahead. Maya gave him an icy look as he pushed past her; a moment later, she turned to me with a raised eyebrow.
She cleared her throat, glancing at Charlie behind me. “Do you want me to stay?” he asked, staring pointedly at Maya.
“No, you can go on ahead, I guess.” I could handle Maya. Heck, I could handle Jessica. The confrontation on the bus had left me confident that neither of them could hurt me. I moved out of line, standing off to the side a few feet away from Maya.
“Look,” she said, “The Loser McGee thing… I don’t know how to explain it, but it wasn’t my fault. When it started, I just thought Jessica was going to use it to vent. I didn’t know it would just be about you, or that anyone else would see it.”
I knew there was more there. Principal Wroth hadn’t punished her though—at least, it didn’t seem like she had—so she had to be telling at least some of the truth. “Okay,” I said, drawing both syllables out.
“And like I said, I’m really sorry.”
“Okay.”
Her brow drew down once she realized I wasn’t going to say more. “Do you hate me?”
“Hate you? I don’t know, maybe I do. Like I said, in my mind you’re just as bad as Jessica.” I felt as if she should be happy I wasn’t yelling at her; I was choosing to play nice, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“Oh, well I don’t know what else to say. I really am sorry...” She focused on the ground, kicking at a stray rock that landed a foot or so behind me.
“And I don’t know what else to say either. You know what I think of you.” The last girl in line jogged up the bus steps, and I knew in a minute the doors would close.
Without another word, I moved past Maya and got on the bus; I’d done it so many times that I didn’t even have to think as I made my way up the steps. I found the row where Charlie was waiting and fell into the seat beside him. “What did she want?” Charlie asked.
“Nothing. It’s just like the last time Jessica was gone. She wants to be friends when Jessica isn’t here. Otherwise, I’m not worth worrying about.” I shook my head. “Whatever, I don’t want to focus on her.” Despite what I’d said, as the doors closed and the bus rumbled to life, I couldn’t help thinking about Maya.
She was Jessica’s best friend, her partner in crime. When Jessica had made fun of me, she’d always been there. I doubted I could ever forgive her, no matter how much she apologized. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I should. My anger had helped me survive Loser McGee. The whole experience had made me into a stronger person, and I couldn’t help feeling as if forgiving Maya would ruin it.