“It’s your sister again,” my father immediately announced as I entered into the vehicle.
“Yup, I knew it. Brownie points for my prediction coming true?” I joked, sliding my backpack onto the seat next to me.
“Now’s not the time for jokes, Vincent,” my mother in the passenger seat forewarned, looking over her shoulder to gaze into my soul with her piercing hazel eyes. I rolled my eyes and chuckled to myself. My father stepped on the gas, and we were out of the parking lot faster than a cheetah after his prey.
“What’d she do this time?” I questioned, pulling out my phone to check to see if I had more notifications.
“From the frantic voice of the principal, she ‘flung chairs around, flipped several cafeteria tables during lunch, and was disrespectful to her multitude of teachers.’ This is so much worse than last time,” my father spoke as he made a left turn onto the main road.
“Oof, no kidding. I wasn’t like this when I was younger, right?”
“Of course not. Tobianna just… has a really bad attitude,” my mother spoke quietly, almost in a whisper. This statement made my father grip the wheel even harder than he already was. I couldn’t tell if he was nervous or scared for what his daughter could be doing in that building.
-~-
The three of us turned to face each other in shock. The principal cleared his throat and decided to repeat his statement.
“Your daughter is not welcome back here, I’m sorry. She’s done this once before, but never to the extent that we’ve seen today. She’s threatened the lives of countless students today, and we can’t have that here,” the principal uttered, entwining his fingers and placing them on his wide desk.
“L-Listen, Mr. Davidson, if I may plea—”
“Hold that thought, Mrs. Sybil. One of you needs to get your daughter first.”
“I’ll get her while you guys talk,” I stood up from my seat and reached for the doorknob. “Where is she, exactly?”
“If I’m not mistaken, she should be in the cafeteria cooling down. Hopefully…” the principal trailed off with his words. Before then, I was out of the room and down the hall.
Stalemate Middle School had been my previous before moving onto high school. I did make a lot of great memories here, and most of the teachers here I still love to this very day.
I heaved out a long sigh and continued walking.
My sister must be giving them a lot of trouble… I hope they don’t project those feelings onto me whenever I see them again…
I pushed open the cafeteria doors to spot Tobianna pounding on a long metal table and not saying a word. I blinked in confusion as I stumbled towards her.
“Tobi, what are you doing?” I asked, crossing my arms. No one else but me called her Tobi, and yet it seemed to comfort her a lot rather than calling her by her full first name.
“I’m taking a stand,” she mumbled coldly.
“Stand for what?”
“A stand of not wanting to be here at school anymore,” I exhaled greatly before sitting down on the table she was slamming her fists on. The table shifted slightly with every slam. I covered my face with my hands before gazing at her again.
“Tobi, school is important.”
“So what? It’s not good for me.” Slam.
“You have to learn. Gain knowledge. Meet new people.”
“It’s not going to help me.” Pound.
“Yes, it will, Tobi. You haven’t given it a chance yet.” I grabbed the hand that she was using to beat the table into submission.
“Stop. Come on. Let’s go home.”
Tobi stared into my eyes with distaste. Her eyes shook for a few moments in unnerving anger and rage.
Then, they softened. She nodded and sighed, slowly making her way to the cafeteria doors. I smiled and quickly followed after her.
“There’s that good sister of mine,” I claimed before scooping her backpack from the floor. We both exited into the hallway, which had me guiding her back to the principal’s office.
“Aha, there’s our golden student,” the principal smirked as we entered into the room. My mother was visibly sweating while my father was tapping his feet to the rhythm of a familiar song. Perhaps it was one we heard in the car on the way here.
“So, Tobianna, do you have anything to say about your actions today?” my father asked, turning his body to face towards his daughter. The girl stared down at the ground, coupling her hands behind her back.
“I’m sorry, Principal Davidson. I’ll try to keep my temper down,” Tobianna’s apology came out slow and steady.
“I accept your apology, Tobianna. Just to let you know, you have a three-day suspension,” his eyes landed on me. “I’m surprised you didn’t turn out more like your brother. He’s never been in my office before, let alone for nothing this bad…” A small growl of disapproval could be heard escaping from Tobianna’s lips, but no further words were spoken.
“Well, I think that we’re done here. I hope you all have a wonderful day,” the principal pronounced, gazing directly at the door. In the blink of an eye, we were out of there and in the car, putting on our seatbelts.
“We’ll talk when we get home. I’ll be speaking to the both of you about something very important about this household.” The engine sputtered on soon after my dad made that comment.
“What? What did I do?” I exclaimed as we zoomed off into the dimming sky.
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