Not Your Average High School Experience

I've got a bad feeling about this.

"Look, I'm going to have no choice but to suspend her, despite what it will do to her. There were six other students that were able to tell me Elizabeth did in fact strike Allison. Not to mention that Allison came to me moments after the fight, her cheek quite red showing that she had been hit." Mr. Thompson, the rather large and well-muscled Principal of the school explained to Elaine as they sat in his office.

Elaine couldn't help but let out a rather loud sigh at the fact that this was how the matter in the lunch room was going to be taken care of. Elizabeth was going to be suspended for a fight that she hadn't even started and it was going to cause her grades to go down, as well as allowing Allison to believe that she could get away with just about anything in this school. That was something Elaine did not want to even picture. Elaine sat there in the rather comfortable leather and oak chair, biting her lip slightly as she tried to think of a way to keep Elizabeth from getting a punishment that she didn't deserve. After a moment she cleared her throat slightly before speaking.

"Sir, what about her grades in her classes? Are you willing to just let them slip because you suspended her for something that she didn't even do?" Elaine said as she sat a little taller in her chair, also leaning forward ever so slightly. Mr. Thompson seemed to think about this for a moment before he shook his head and looked at the woman seriously.

"Look, you're new here so I don't expect you to understand the history with that girl outside my door, which is why I'll say this. That girl is nothing but trouble and has been ever since the accident. If she didn't do it, she most likely would have sooner or later, which is why I don't really see anything wrong with suspending her now. Besides, her grades really can't get any lower than they are now. She's almost failing every class that she's in so why should I care about her grades when she herself doesn't?" Mr. Thompson said while looking at Elaine seriously, removing his frameless glasses, setting them down on his desk as he also put a few papers to the side of the desk so that he could study Elaine's face to see if he could find a reason why she would be interested in the young lady.

Elaine raised her eyebrows slightly at the mentioning of an accident, wondering what exactly could have happened to change the way that the girl acted. What could have made this girl want to cause nothing but trouble? Elaine thought to herself as she looked down at her grey skirt before letting out a sigh as she looked back up, meeting Mr. Thompsons hazel-eyed gaze with a bright green one of her own.

"I just don't think that she should have to suffer for something that she didn't start, which is why I agree with you on the choice of punishment when it comes to the two girls. I just think Elizabeth needs to have some other form of 'punishment'." Elaine said while fiddling with her thumbs as she thought of something else that Elizabeth could do that would satisfy Mr. Thompson so that she herself wouldn't get in trouble for going against the man who ran the school. After a moment of thinking, the man relaxed in his chair slightly and raised his eyebrows while looking at Elaine expectantly.

"Alright, what do you suppose she do otherwise?" The man asked, clearly interested in finding out what exactly Elaine had in mind when it came to other forms of punishment. Elaine thought for a moment longer before remembering that Elizabeth's grades weren't the best. Smiling slightly to herself, she soon wiped that smile off her face and looked at Mr. Thompson seriously.

"I say that she has to spend her afternoons here in tutoring. With me, because I'm guessing that all the other teachers see her the same way that you do and won't take her. Now, before you say no, think about it. Her grades aren't the best and I'm also sure that she doesn't want to have to stay after every day simply so that she can work hard to take care of her grades. It will be like a punishment for her." Elaine explained before starting to look hopeful as she saw that he was clearly thinking it over in his mind. After a moment, Mr. Thompson stood up, getting the suspension papers off of his desk, soon putting them in a drawer before looking back up at Elaine.

"Alright. She starts today and keeps this up until the end of the semester, because I rather like the idea and I want to see just how much the two of you get accomplished. Though I don't expect much." He replied while mumbling the last part to himself, not aware of the fact that Elaine had heard what he had said. She huffed slightly as she stood up as well, fixing her skirt before offering a hand for him to shake. He looked at it before shaking it, soon dropping his hand back down to his side.

"Thank you, sir, you won't be disappointed." Elaine said, watching Mr. Thompson nod his head a little before she turned and walked back out of his office door. Once she walked out of the door, she pulled it closed behind her and walked over to stand in front of Elizabeth, though she stopped a little short of the girl. Elaine had got ready to speak before noticing that Elizabeth seemed to be focused on something else completely, relaxed and clearly not worrying about the outcome of the meeting that had been happening.

Looking down at the girl, Elaine could see that Elizabeth was running her fingers over a section on the top of her right forearm. For a moment Elaine thought that it was just something that Elizabeth was doing to keep herself busy but after a moment, Elaine looked a little closer and noticed that her fingers were moving over a section of slightly raised skin. A scar. Elaine wondered how Elizabeth could have gotten a scar that ran just above her wrist and maybe an inch below her elbow.

After Elaine had been standing there for a moment, she suddenly cleared her throat which caused Elizabeth to look up, flipping her black bangs out of her eyes as she slowly stood up. As she did this, her scarred arm went behind her back, soon followed by the other one as she bit her lip slightly.

"So, how long am I going to be out for this time?" Elizabeth asked as she raised her eyebrows slightly, having expected that she would be getting suspended for what had happened. Elaine looked over Elizabeth for a moment to see if there was any sign that this thought made her angry and she didn't find any. The idea of getting suspended didn't seem to bother Elizabeth at all, which caused Elaine to think that maybe the girl had been suspended quite a few times and it no longer bothered her.

"For now, come with me." Elaine said as she walked past the girl, heading out of the office area and back into the hallway. For a few seconds the only sound in the hallway was the sharp click of each of her steps, caused by the high heels that she was wearing, though that soon changed when a faint shuffling sound was heard behind Elaine. After a moment Elizabeth was walking alongside the woman as she was asked.

Elaine kept walking, not saying anything before she soon turned down the hallway that would lead them to her classroom. It didn't take them long to get to room 317, which Elaine unlocked before walking inside only to have Elizabeth follow not even a moment later. While Elaine walked over to her desk, Elizabeth picked the student desk that was right in front of Elaine's desk to sit down on, rather than in.

"You're not going to be getting suspended this time. I managed to work things out with the Principal so that you don't have to get suspended because of a fight that you didn't even start." Elaine said as she sat down in her desk, looking at Elizabeth for a moment before starting to look through her drawers to find some work that they could work on for the time being.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows slightly as she heard that she wasn't going to be suspended before suddenly realizing that there must have been a catch. Elaine kept looking at the desk before soon looking up as she pulled out a thumb drive, knowing exactly what was going to be on it. After putting the thumb drive in the port on her school computer, Elaine looked over at Elizabeth, immediately recognizing the questioning look that was on the younger girls face.

"What's the catch?" Elizabeth asked as she got off the desk and shoved her hands in her back pockets, walking to stand a little closer to the desk as she got a little more curious about what she would have to do since she wasn't getting suspended. Elaine bit her lip slightly before taking a deep breath so that she would be able to say this without the fear of the girl's reaction.

"You've got to stay after every day for at least 45 minutes to study with me so that your grades can hopefully improve before the end of the semester." Elaine explained, preparing for the anger to kick in at the fact that this was the trade. Any student would be pissed to find out that they were now having to stay later after school, rather than being able to get out of school for three days, though most weren't as relaxed when suspension was a threat as Elizabeth had been. Sure enough, Elaine got just the response that she was looking for.

"You can't be serious. You didn't have to do that, I would have gladly taken the suspension because it would have gotten me out of this hell hole for two or three days." Elizabeth said as she pulled her hands out of her pockets, only to cross her arms over her chest.

"Oh? So, you're willing to allow you're grades to slip because you've been blamed for a fight that you didn't start? You and I both know that Allison should be the one getting suspended, yet you are more than willing to take the blame. Why is that? Don't your parents wonder why you get suspended?" Elaine asked, now wanting to know exactly why Elizabeth didn't seem to mind that she was the one being suspended over Allison. Elizabeth looked angry at the deal that had been made until her parents were mentioned. For a split second, Elaine was able to see a change in the emotion on her face before it was immediately covered back up with anger. Elaine knew the look as one of sadness and pain.

"Why do you care? I mean, what does it matter to you what my parents' think of this and why I'm so willing to be suspended? You just got done taking to the principal and I'm pretty sure you got the basic overview of me, so why do you care? I'm nothing but trouble, always have been and you really don't need that." Elizabeth said while uncrossing her arms, running a hand over her face before starting to rub the scar that was on her arm once again.

"I care because I don't want to see you suffer because of something that someone else should have to pay for. It's not fair to you and I want to make things right." Elaine answered while standing, pushing her chair back slightly as she walked around the desk to stand in front of Elizabeth, holding her hands behind her own back.

"Well, I don't need you to set things right. I'm perfectly fine with getting suspended if it means that I don't have to be around this stupid school and the people inside it. You really should listen to the principal when he says that I'm a trouble maker, because he's right. I'll most likely end up being the largest pain in your ass and there will be nothing you can do about it until the end of the semester." Elizabeth said as she looked into Elaine's eyes, hers' holding no emotions and Elaine picked up on the fact that Elizabeth wanted to keep it that way. Emotionless. Elaine let out a sigh and thought for a moment before answering, wanting to make sure that she was going to be taken seriously and understood completely.

"I don't really care if you turn out to be the largest pain in my ass, because I promised that I would try to make your grades better by helping you after school and I don't care what you think about it. You're going to stay after for 45 minutes every day and you're going to study as I see fit, am I understood?" Elaine said while showing off her serious side, wanting to get Elizabeth to understand what was going to happen here and that there was no getting out of it. After a moment Elizabeth nodded sharply before slumping into one of the desks so that she would be ready to learn whatever they were going to cover today.

"Yes ma'am." Elizabeth said flatly while looking down at the desktop, moving one of her hands to lightly drum on the desk, already wanting to get this over with. Elaine watched the way Elizabeth responded and suddenly got a bad feeling about what she had just signed herself up for.