Fated to the Sapphire Alpha

Chapter 4: Sharpie Insult

Mason came to walk beside me. I slowly looked around to see where Samantha had gone, and out of nowhere, she disappeared. I turned in a small circle to see if it was just in my head, but evidently, I was left with only Mason, who was now looking at me like I was an i***t.

Internally, I agreed with him; I had just done something stupid, spinning around like that. I thought Sam was still around, but she had vanished right when Mason arrived.

Looking back at Mason, he gave me a small smile. I gulped hard, fearing he would take me to his best buddy and my worst nightmare. Instead, he said:

“Hey, we haven’t really met, and that’s probably on both of us, but I’m hoping things get better between us soon. I just wanted to make sure you got to your classes safely after going to the principal’s office. I heard you got ambushed twice today by the Barbie girls of the school.”

Mason was partly asking, partly offering help. He did sound cute, but I had to be strong because I knew he had charm. I just didn’t expect him to use it this quickly.

He didn’t make any advances toward me. Instead, he did exactly what he was suggesting—he made sure I got to my classes safely. Despite already having missed three classes, I was summoned to the principal’s office again. Going there twice in one day was enough to give me high blood pressure.

After Mason left my side to handle his own things, he assured me everything was alright. That’s when Samantha appeared out of nowhere, nearly giving me a heart attack.

We walked to lunch, and during that time, she asked a lot of questions. I gave her about four answers for each one. I told her about Zara. I told her about Amanda. But I didn’t tell her about Mason taking me to the principal’s office or that I met Kyle, who sort of interviewed me about Damon—the guy who still gave me the creeps.

As we were getting up, we both heard the intercom announce my name, asking me to go to the principal’s office. Samantha looked at me with wide eyes filled with fear. I forced a smile and went to the office, internally praying that today would just end.

Waiting for the principal with my bag, the door finally opened, and I heard the loud voice of my irritated mother. My entire body tensed as soon as I heard her, and without moving a muscle, my breathing began to quicken. I was terrified of her.

I felt something running down my nose. Grabbing a tissue, I wiped it to see that I was having a nosebleed. I took more tissues and pressed them to my nose to stop the bleeding.

Once I felt a bit more relaxed, I took my inhaler—for what felt like the eighth time today—just as my mother started yelling at me.

“I’ve had it with you!”

She smacked the back of my head hard enough that the tissues stuffed in my nose fell into my lap.

As I picked up the tissues to put them back in, I thought about my mother and how anything she did to me felt like having a stroke. Considering everything I had going on, it could be a real possibility. I hoped for some space from her once whatever this was got sorted out.

As I was finishing with the tissues, the principal spoke in a no-nonsense tone.

“Miss Frunk, please take a seat while we wait for social services.”

Seeing my mother compose herself after hearing him made me realize she had no idea he was in the room. Up until then, my mother was fuming. She took out her phone and started texting someone. A few minutes later, a man walked in with a briefcase.

He held the door open for another man who resembled Kyle but lacked Kyle’s tan skin and had odd-looking brown contact lenses behind reading glasses.

When he entered, he closed the door behind him. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew the school had intervened in my life, and something was going to happen today. I just wasn’t mentally prepared to understand what it was.

There were many things I didn’t understand—like Kyle suddenly acting so professional. The guy had done so many reckless things on school grounds, it baffled me to accept that he had a serious side.

And then there was Zara shoving me into my locker. To others, it might have seemed like a typical reading scenario, but to me, it was as natural as walking through a park.

What surprised me was when Mason told me that Zara had been expelled for bullying me. As usual, she got off easy, while I received her beatings without remorse.

Letting out a breath, I spoke to myself internally. I needed to reassure myself that everything would work out.

For my sanity’s sake, I wondered if I should be concerned about landing someone in trouble today.

I hoped I hadn’t because I had been very careful about whom I angered today. I even went so far as to advertise myself as the school’s “stupid” with the Sharpie on my forehead.

My thoughts were interrupted when the principal spoke, looking up at me with great concern.

“Mishi, your nose is bleeding again… here.”

He extended his hand, holding a box of tissues. Without thinking, I reached for it, but my mother’s annoying voice stopped me.

“Thank you for paying attention to my current situation and providing the tissues. Honestly, it’s like I’m raising a toddler. Mishi, have you not learned common courtesy? Pay attention to yourself.”

My entire expression changed within seconds. There it was—my mother’s instinct to degrade me. I wanted to say everything I needed to, but I decided to let her finish first. Then, I took a deep breath and used my inhaler again.

I started speaking after pumping air into my lungs.

“Thank you for everything. I don’t mean to be rude, but could you please explain why both my mother and I are here?”

After replacing the old tissues, I inserted fresh ones into my nose. I kept the inhaler in hand—something told me I would need it.

I didn’t wait long for a response, as he began speaking and gesturing to each person in the room.

“This meeting is to show social services that you are not safe at home and that you require better care to fully progress in your near future.”

Principal Swan gestured to the man with the briefcase, and I followed his hand with my eyes.

“Meet our school’s social worker, Dave Sohan. He has gathered information from other social workers who have reported the abuse your mother has subjected you to, as well as your father’s abandonment. We had a court agreement to obtain your medical records, which helped determine our decision.”

Everything he said made me look at my mother, who was sitting beside me. My heart was racing at a thousand miles per second, especially since my mother looked like she wanted to kill him.

Principal Stephen Swan was always in charge. He constantly received information from students, mostly those looking to improve their grades. He had a bad reputation among many students, particularly those like me, which made my current situation even more stressful.

He had friends who were just as bad as he was, and instead of addressing their behavior constructively, he would publicly shame them, making them the “troublemaker of the day.”

Sometimes, there were more than ten students from different grades. Once, it was me. I had to endure it because I had asked for help for a mutual friend who was also a bully. That was on me. I learned my lesson and never tried it again—I just kept to myself and set better boundaries.

Eventually, my friend took many of our collaborations as her own and found great success. I wondered why she suddenly stopped after getting good grades, and I wondered the same about Principal Swan standing before me now.

Dwelling on all this was a waste of time again. I do this when I’m nervous, but it seemed I was finally going to be free of my mother’s abuse. I just wondered at what cost.

In one year, I would graduate and take control of my life. If I could pass high school, I was confident I could succeed.

Although, nothing would happen if the other man in the room deemed me unfit. The mayor, who had insisted on attending this meeting, was none other than Governor Ken Knight.

Principal Swan snapped me out of my thoughts when he said, “Governor Knight is familiar with your case and believes he can provide a solid solution for you. For now, we will handle this directly with your mother. But for your peace of mind—you did nothing wrong, Mishi. You cannot live like this any longer. You will continue attending this school, but you will not be returning to your old home. We have agreed that you will reside with the Knight family for now, and we need to discuss certain matters without you in the room.”

Hearing him made my eyes widen. I was being moved to live with Governor Ken Knight?

As in Kyle’s father?

I swear I felt my left eye twitch at what they had just told me. I appreciated that they were aware of my situation, but why on earth did they want me out of the conversation?

Do I really not have a say in any of this?

Governor Ken extended his hand to me, and I shook it respectfully, despite still panicking on the inside. I tried to hide my panic as he said:

“I promise you that I will explain everything to you. For now, please wait outside with Mr. Grant.”

He spoke in a tone that left no room for argument. I walked outside, where a man with a build similar to Mason’s was sitting with a bag of McCoolers.

As the scent of French fries reached my nose, my stomach let out an unexpected growl.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, trying to calm my rumbling stomach. Twice today it had reminded me of how hungry I was. The man laughed—almost identical to Mason’s laugh, but muffled by the fries in his mouth. He spoke as he chomped down on them.

“Come over here and eat. You’ve been excused from work today. We’re going to help you with a lot of things, starting with food. I hope I got it right.”

With a bright smile, he said, “I asked one of the employees at your job what you enjoy eating, and this was their response.”

He handed me the bag. I opened it to find French fries, ten nuggets, and an apple pie. My stomach growled again at how delicious everything looked.