Page 33 of One Breath After Another

6.

Penny

WHY did things always have to get worse before they got better? Penny didn’t have the answer, and nothing was looking up for her lately, so the better part of her equation wasn’t coming anytime soon. That was never more apparent to her than while she sat in the principal’s office at her private school while the woman currently sitting on the other side of the large desk went over every infraction against Penny since she starting attending the institution.

Before, skipping a day—or several in the same week—hadn’t been a problem. Neither was her leaving classes early or her lack of interest in participating with the rest of the students. But then things started to get worse, her teachers started speaking up more, and the principal stopped overlooking what she called the obvious.

Or rather, Penny’s issues.

“Need I return to the topic of her delinquency again?” Mrs. Tippens asked. “Do you know how many days she’s missed this semester alone? And that’s before we even get into the half days, or the showing up late ... random missed classes in the middle of the day! Her attendance is the worst for any student on record at this school.”

“She has good and bad days,” Naz returned, unbothered by the principal’s show of irritation. “Given the circumstances around Penny before she came here, I thought we both understood that there were times she wouldn’t—or couldn’t—attend simply because ... well, we’re not going into all that again. You were agreeable.”

“Before I knew she was going to miss over half the year!” Mrs. Tippens fell back in the chair behind the desk and massaged her forehead with the pads of her fingers. “I was willing to work with the needs of my student—as I would for any student, Mr. Donati. I did not realize, however, the extent of Penny’s ...”

Needs?

Issues?

Total fucking mess?

She had a million descriptions to give the principal to help the woman out in her argument with Naz. Every single one of them would be valid, too, but she opted to not say anything at all. Surprise. The school was just another place starting to understand that things with Penny were not as easy as they seemed on the surface. Everyone saw her and what they knew on paper, and thought ... troubled. Anyone could deal with a troubled teen.

They were idiots.

Penny was far beyond troubled.

She passed that years ago.

Mrs. Tippens sighed, murmuring, “At the time, I didn’t fully comprehend the help and support Penny would need while attending this institution and finishing her final year. But it’s also hard to come up with a proper plan to make sure she has what she needs when she doesn’t even attend in the first place. I’m sure you understand.”

Despite being uncomfortable in the chair and not wanting to be there in the first place, Penny had done so because Naz asked her. Now, she couldn’t help rolling her eyes. Almost hard enough that she was able to see the back of her head. “You wouldn’t want me here on my bad days.”

“We want you here on all the days, Penny.”

Next to her in the second chair that faced the large, modern desk, Naz cleared his throat and shot Penny a look. One that said she should be quiet, and damn, she was trying, but this was harder than she expected.

Leaning forward in his chair, Naz rested his arms over his knees and clasped his hands together. The smile he offered to the woman on the other side of the desk was kind. Friendly, even, but Penny knew that was all for show. If there was anything she learned about Naz over the many months she had been living under his roof, it was that he could appear like anything he wanted ... or rather, what someone else wanted him to be.

Right then, the principal wanted compliance. An apology, maybe. She wanted Naz to tell her that everything would be handled from Penny’s lack of interest in school to the grades that were barely passable.

She wanted him to lie.

Because shit ... Penny planned on fixing nothing. This entire place was the least of her worries when it came to things she needed to handle in her life. Considering she still wasn’t even happy to wake up each morning, why would she care about something as stupid as high school?

It seemed ... ridiculous.

“The delinquency needs correcting,” the principal said. “Fast and first. Then, we can maybe move to making other things better. Like engaging her peers, the issues with her teachers ... incomplete schoolwork. All of it.”

“And we’re what, ignoring how difficult the last few months have been for her all the while?” Naz asked.

“I—”

“Her father’s trial and then death. Her frail mental health. I think it’s obvious that Penny does well to hold it together visually,” Naz stressed, arching a brow as if to dare the woman across from him to deny his statement, “but where she struggles internally, we see it in things like her disinterest in other people, or the ability to finish tasks that takes a certain level of commitment and even enjoyment that she just doesn’t have. Which I know you’re aware because the school has a direct line to her therapist in case things come up that need to be handled ... on either end. Is it really her fault for doing what she can, considering?”

“Mr. Donati—”

“Is it her fault?” he asked again, stronger the second time. “At least answer me.”