The Bully's Princess

CHAPTER 7 - Caught in Principal's Web

His guilt over what he had just finished doing radiated clearly on his face. He was so wrapped in his thoughts that he failed to greet his friends, who thumped him on the shoulder as he walked past them.

He, however, halted when he got to Principal Lancester’s door. He breathed in heavily. He knew he was headed for trouble. Mrs. Golden was not a lover of his. He wondered if Dahlia had ranted out on him. He would twist her preety neck if that was the case.

He knocked gently, waiting for the dreaded 'come in', and it did come.

"Yes, come on in," came Principal Lancester’s gruff voice.

Peter walked in without hesitating. It was best to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Principal Lancester was sitting on the sofa in his office, a newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. His lanky frame sat relaxed, as if he had no worries in the world, despite the fact that he was the principal of a large school. With no Mrs. Golden in sight, Principal Lancester looked up, c*****g an eyebrow at Peter, his face creased into a flight frown. Peter signed inwardly. He knew he was done for. As Principal Lancester gave his body an overall perusal, Peter wished the ground would open up and swallow him.

"What brings you to my office this fine morning, Mr. Blythe? Are you in any trouble? "

"No... no sir." Peter answered hastily. Principal Lancester set down his cup of coffee. observing Peter’s appearance

"Wow, you always manage to change our school’s dress pattern every time." Peter. "And I won't condone it," Principal Lancester said firmly, his eyes sliding across Peter’s form. His mouth was set in a grim line. It showed he wanted to say more.

Peter, who had no idea what he was talking about, took a downward check on himself. He was shocked. His buttons had slipped open to the fourth one. The inner white tee shirt was peeking out. His shirt was out of his trousers. He groaned in pain.

Dahlia must have been the orchestrator of this chaos. He had been so busy righting her clothes that he had failed to do his. He set to work, promptly righting his clothes.

"You looked shocked. "Aren't you aware your own clothes are off?"

"No... I mean yes. I was aware. I was at the restroom when your message was brought to me. So I ran out promptly.

"Oh really?

"Yes," Peter answered convincingly. He would not make any slipups.

"Oh no. That is not correct, Mister. You are not one to do that, especially if the message includes me. You would probably run in the opposite direction, opposite to my door post. "

"Not at all, Sir." Peter said, hating the way he stuttered and appeared nervous.

Principal Lancester dropped his newspaper on the table. He stood up and walked to his desk.

"I never called you." And I do not know who gave you such a message. "You are probably someone who knows I have something urgent to discuss with you." Principal Lancester shrugged.

Peter tightened his hand in anger. He would so throttle Anna’s throat when he caught her. How dare she mess with him?

"Are you listening to me, young man?" Principal Lancester shouted at Peter, who looked lost.

"Yes sir, I am."

"It has come to my notice that you move around with Greg and his friends these days." And you know, the divisional police officer at the police station is my friend, and he says he is on the lookout for the criminals in Westernside. He wanted me to suggest truant students that might likely partake in such acts... The principal paused, watching Peter’s reaction to his words.

Peter stood stoically. He was not going to fall prey to this. He made sure his eyes were as clear as day. He stood erect.

"But I told him there were no such students in my school; he should look for his criminals in another direction," Principal Lancester claimed, looking pointedly at Peter. "I hope I am right, Peter."

"Yes, sir, you did the right thing. "There are no thieves at Edron Academy," Peter affirmed. His mind was filled with so many doubts. Trouble was definitely brewing on the horizon. He needed the cash. Greg had been calling him for several days now. He was fast running out of feed money. He would have to go on another outing with Greg. Principal Lancester’s warning was not sitting well with him. The damn old man definitely had a nasty plan up his sleeve.

If he was not careful, he would end up at Granny Jane’s door once again, hoping to get food.

"That will be all, Peter. You don’t have to look all serious. You just have to make sure you stay away from trouble and do stay away from Greg and his gang. Those boys are bad news," the principal warned, fixing him a stern glare.

"Yes, sir." Peter did not wait for a second; he dashed out of the office door. He made for his classroom immediately. He would happily scrape off Anna’s wonderful hair for playing such a trick on him. She would be sorry by the time he was done with her.

But the statistics teacher, Mr. Eric, was in the class by the time he got there. Peter quietly took his seat. The teacher’s hard stare followed him as he sat beside a very quiet Dahlia. She would not even look at him. Her face was blossom red.

"Mr. Blythe, would you please prefer to concentrate on the class test rather than be distracted by your seat partner, who is quite preoccupied with hers?"

Peter was awed. Class quiz. He had no idea there was a quiz.

The teacher walked forward and dropped the statistics paper in front of him.

"You are behind the scheduled time." So it would be in your best interest if you hurried, but I doubt you would be able to answer any of the questions in there anyway. "Students like you are only a waste of my precious teaching," Mr. Eric said, annoyingly. Peter was not bothered by his words anymore. He knew the teacher's opinion of him. They did not approve of Principal Lancester still giving him admission, though they had no other choice but to teach him.

Peter took his seat. Glancing through the quiz questions He went blank as he read through them. He knew none of the questions. His mind went blank. He took a snippet at Dahlia, whose hands were moving swiftly on the sheets despite being new to the class. He caught a glimpse of Anna, who was busy chewing her pen.

He shook his head in disapproval. He had really been mixing with the wrong crowd.

"Mr. Blythe, "Please do concentrate on your task; you are very well behind schedule." Mr. Eric’s demeaning voice rang in Peter’s brain as he snuck a glance at Dahlia once more.

He shook his head. He knew he was bombed. He was going to fail the quiz, which was not going to help his final grade.

It was either he got himself in order, or he plunged down the same lane his father stumbled through. And that was the same line he was currently walking.

He sat smugly and racked his empty brain to solve the equations he had never studied. He would hate to end up like his father, but if he continued this way, that was definitely going to be the end result. He needed to find redemption and fast.

He took a subtle glance at the mass of curls poured onto the desk next to him. She was so lost in her writing that she failed to look up from her paper. To his delight, he envied her. She was so loved and collected. He knew just what he had to do. He would state his interest in her more clearly now. He hated to model a baby but she was everything he ever wanted.