Chapter Four.
1107 Words
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"This can't be happening, it's not fair at all, the principal can't suspend you," Tiana said. "Should I go and explain to him what those girls did to me? Everyone saw it." She added, close to tears, while I arranged my books inside my bag, trying my best to keep my composure.
"Don't bother, I tried convincing him, but his mind seems made up," I said.
"Really!" She exclaimed.
"But there really has to be some way out of this," she added.
"What really happened when you got to the principal's office?" she finally asked as I placed the last rows of books from my table into my bag.
"When I got to his office, he offered me a seat and told me that two girls reported me for bullying them and twisting their hands. They had witnesses and others saw i—"
"If others saw it then he should have known the right person to punish wasn't you," Tiana said eagerly, cutting me mid sentence.
"I suppose," I expressed.
"But he showed me footage of me twisting the girls' hands," I added.
"I bet he excluded the part where they poured food on me on purpose. This isn't fair," Tiana vented, her voice rising with every word.
I sighed deeply.
"He told me that as a scholarship student I should try to stay out of trouble, and that I am hereby suspended for three weeks, which is going to affect part of my scholarship," I concluded.
"He didn't. No. He actually used that stigma. You lost part of your scholarship — how pathetic can this school get. I am so sorry, I feel like I'm the cause of this," she said.
"Don't say that, trust me you aren't the cause. If anyone is at fault it's definitely those girls who poured food on you and instigated the whole thing. Besides, I didn't lose all of the scholarship, just a part," I assured her.
"But still, how do I cope with others without you? Who do I talk to? We are the only scholarship students in this class. You are my only friend in this school. Does this mean I have to exist in isolation for the next three weeks?" she added as she broke down in tears, with the rest of the class now staring at us.
"Mara Jill," a voice called out from behind. It was a teacher.
"The principal says you should get your bag and come to his office," she declared as I took my bag and left, with Tiana's sad gaze the last thing I noticed before leaving the class.
I followed the teacher and we went to the principal's office one more time, where I saw my mom sitting together with the principal. She had no expression on her face whatsoever.
"Mom!" I found myself saying, before she gave me an obvious look of disappointment.
"Your mom has been informed about your suspension, so she is going to be taking you home," the principal said to me and turned to my mom.
"This is going to affect part of her scholarship, but if this happens one more time, we are going to have her expelled," he declared finally.
The journey home was quiet, way too quiet. Although my home isn't really far from my school, it felt like a thousand miles at that moment. I have never been suspended before. Even when I committed offenses in my previous school, the worst I had ever faced was punishment, never something as serious as this.
"I am highly disappointed in you," my mom finally spoke when we got home.
It was an obvious, expected statement, but the reality of hearing it still made it hurt a little.
"Why did you do that? Why did you go around bullying students? I never taught you to be a tyrant," she declared angrily.
"You never taught me anything," I found myself saying before I could stop myself.
She froze in shock.
"You don't go around bullying rich students. If you have the energy for that, why don't you try something like making friends with them?" she said as soon as she found her words.
This made me pause in shock.
"You think I didn't try? Did you think I prayed to get in there for nothing? I genuinely wished to go to that school to make genuine connections which could maybe aid my future a little, but I was met with something else — something way worse. You wouldn't say this if you knew the deep classism that exists in there. If anyone was bullied, it was your daughter — repeatedly at that. I was called a peasant over and over because I was a scholarship student, and the one time I couldn't take it anymore and actually stood up for myself, I became a tyrant. You can do better, Mom," I lashed out.
"Better like what?" she asked.
"You could ask me what really happened, listen to me talk, be there for me during these trying times," I answered.
This made her break down in tears.
"You were bullied too!" she exclaimed.
"I'm sorry for failing you as your mom. I'm sorry for not giving you the good things in life that a mother should give her child," she added while crying.
I know I might be hard sometimes, but looking at my mom in that moment, I didn't see my mom — I saw a little girl realizing she had been trapped with nothing to do. And for once, I felt genuinely sorry for her.
"I am sorry, Mom," I found myself whispering, as I gently patted her back in consolation.
"But why is all of this happening now?" she exclaimed.
"Why is all what happening now?" I found myself asking.
"How do I handle all of this? You've lost part of your scholarship, and your brother..." she said, pausing mid sentence before breaking down in tears again.
"What happened to Myler?" I asked. She paused and looked at me, and without warning, she said —
"He's at the hospital, fighting for his life."
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