"Harper!", the principal's voice cracked through and I froze instantly as goosebumps ran all over my body, prickling from my neck down to my wrists. “What crime have I committed this time?”,I asked myself as I stood up, my chair scraping loud against the linoleum.
I racked my brain, trying to remember if any of my secret offenses might have been exposed — the forged permission slip, the chemistry lab after hours, the hiding inside toilet in other to escape punishment of lateness.
"You don't have to stand up," he said immediately, gesturing me down with a weathered hand. "Anyway! You are the only student with a vacant seat," he paused as he cleared his throat, the sound thick and phlegmy.
A heavy silence settled over the class. "So, Julius Martin over here would be your new seat partne
