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Mrs. Parks stared us down as she wrapped up the phone call I suspected was from the substitute gym teacher. I squirmed in my seat, glancing at Carson from the corner of my eye. He sat with one elbow planted on the arm of the chair, his head resting in his hand like he was bored and had other places to be, like this trip to the principal’s office didn’t even faze him.
I scowled as I turned my gaze forward again. Four years in this high school and I had never set foot in this office other than to help with something or receive some sort of accolade. Until today.
I bounced my leg as Mrs. Parks placed the phone back on the receiver, flicking an errant lock of blonde hair from her face. “I have to say, Mia, I’m surprised to see you here,” she said.
A wave of shame washed over me, and I bit my lip.
“Carson.” Mrs. Parks nodded at him, and I couldn’t help but feel slightly smug she hadn’t said the same about him.
“Would either of you like to share your side of the story? Mr. Gorby already gave me his account.”
I glanced at Carson to see if he was eager to snitch, but he had dropped the hand cradling his head and sat there, eyes trained on his lap. He may be annoying, but he wasn’t a tattler, I mused. Well, neither was I.
I pressed my mouth into a tight line, fighting off the words that wanted to escape. Do you see my face? I wanted to yell.
“Okay, then.” Mrs. Parks lounged back in her chair and tapped her pen on the desk as if thinking of the perfect punishment.
I began to sweat under her scrutiny. Her gaze settled on something behind us, to the corner of the room before it returned back to us and she smiled.
My underarms dampened, and my throat rivaled the Sahara. Why was she looking at us with that excited gleam in her eye? Oh, no, this wasn’t good.
I said a silent prayer for mercy.
“Technically, you both assaulted each other. That’s pretty serious stuff. Normally, for something like this, a suspension would be on the table…”
I felt all the blood drain from my face. Suspension?
“But,” she continued, “I might have an alternative idea, a little peer remediation, so to speak.”
I didn’t like the sound of this.
“Remediation?” Carson asked, his forehead crinkling.
I turned to him. “Remediation means the correction of something bad, so—”
“I know what remediation means,” he snapped.
A grin curved my lips. “Touchy.”
“Kids!” Mrs. Parks banged her hand on the desk. “Can we get along for two seconds?”
We both nodded while stealing guilty glances at each other.
“Every year, as I’m sure you’re aware, Sweet Water High sponsors the needy families at Christmastime with the Angel Project. Mrs. Burnham usually coordinates it. She puts up the tree, does all the shopping and organizing, and raises added donations, but she went on maternity leave two weeks ago, leaving us empty handed.”
My stomach sunk. Oh, no…
“You two,” she pointed between us, “will work together to oversee the Angel Project this year. And, remember, Sweet Water families are relying on you.”
“But it wasn’t my fault.” The words burst from my mouth before I could stop them. There was no way I was doing charity work alongside my enemy. Besides, I planned on preparing more essays over break so that if I didn’t get accepted for any of the early admissions programs I applied for, I’d have back-ups. That and I still needed to work on a date for the dance.
“Mia, you tried to strangle him.” Mrs. Parks’ pointed gaze shifted to Carson’s neck, then back. “Regardless of whether he threw a ball at you or not, I cannot condone you taking matters into your own hands and assaulting him. Heaven knows there may have been a time or two I’ve wanted to strangle a student, but…” Her voice trailed off before she cleared her throat and straightened as if remembering who she was talking to. “Physical assault is not condoned at Sweet Water. Ever. You either work on the Angel Project and learn how to get along, or you can have a two-week suspension for the remainder of the semester leading into winter break.”
My eyes widened. “But I can’t have something like that on my school record. It will affect my college applications. I’m waiting to hear back from—”
“Well, then, it sounds like you’ve made your decision.”
I stared at her for a moment. She looked far too happy about her proposal, which led me to believe she was only thrilled to pawn the charity project off on someone else. One less thing she had to worry about with the holidays looming around the corner.
