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I slapped him.
SIX
DAISY
“Are you serious?You’re going tosuspendme?” I’m crying. More like sobbing. Clutching a gob of crumpled, damp tissues in my fist, the endless tears streaming down my face.
“You give me no choice, Daisy.” The pained expression on Matthews’ face is little consolation to the turbulent emotions currently swirling inside me. “School policy is that a student cannot put hands on another student.” I start to protest, but Matthews is one step ahead of me. “It doesn’t matter what he said. Words are one thing. Physical violence is another.”
What Arch said was the most hurtful thing someone could’veeversaid to me, and I’m sure he knows it. That’s why he said it. He knew it would get to me.
Mommy issues. He doesn’t even know my story, but he knows enough to hurl those two words at me and stab me right in the heart.
He’s a prick. A dick. An asshole.
All words I don’t normally like to use, but he deserves to be called them. Every single one of them.
“Why didn’t he get suspended for what happened between him and Cadence?” I ask, feeling defiant.
Matthews’ eyebrows shoot up, as if he’s surprised that I would question him. “I investigated that matter further and it turns out Mr. Lancaster didn’t touch Miss Calhoun.”
“She head-butted him.” I’d heard the stories whispered around campus and regret I didn’t actually get to see it.
“And she’s been properly punished, just like Mr. Lancaster has. This matter between the two of you is completely different.” His expression turns the slightest bit pleading. “You leave me no choice, Daisy. YouslappedArch. Right in front of Vivian. She saw the entire incident. I have to suspend you.”
Sitting up straight, I try my best to keep my composure as I whisper, “For how long?”
“Two days.”
Two entire days. “And will this go on my school record?”
He nods, remaining quiet. Looking helpless.
I crumple, the fresh tears coming, and I bury my face in my hands. The headmaster lets me cry it out, tapping away on his keyboard, and I wonder where Arch is.
Probably laughing at this very moment while my life has been ruined.
“Will he get in trouble?”
“Who?” When I lift my head and glare at him, Matthews clears his throat. “You mean Arch Lancaster.”
I nod, steeling myself for his answer.
“He’ll be written up and given a week of detention.”
“That’s it?” I’m incredulous.
“It’s standard for his behavior.”
“He’s a menace.” I leap to my feet, suddenly too irritated to sit still. Not like I can pace around Matthews’ cramped and crowded office. There are books and things everywhere. “He needs to be stopped.”
“Slapping him in the face isn’t the way to stop him.”
I pause, staring at the headmaster, whose hands are probably tied because the boy I slapped just so happens to be part of the family that owns the school. The boy who comes from immense wealth, while I’m the girl with the dad who is the school groundskeeper, and to the Lancasters, we’re nothing but lowly servants who work for them.
“When does my suspension begin?” I lift my chin, desperate to be brave.
“Right now. You can come back to class first thing Thursday.”
