“Mom, if you met Mr. Mathews', you’d totally get it. Besides, he was a total prick that day,” I said.
“Kass! Language,” she reprimanded.
“Sorry, a total brick,” I added sarcastically.
“Just try to refrain yourself. It would be a shame for this to go on your permanent record after all your hard work.”
I sighed, knowing she was right. I had been lucky to get off with detention and a slap on the hand. “I’ll try.”
“That’s all I ask,” she said, heading down the hallway to her room.
***
I arrived at school the next morning, struggling with the desire of hoping I would see Maddon at least once that day, while the sensible side of me knew I would only be playing with fire if I did. I knew if everyone caught wind us, they’d blow it completely out of proportion. Separating Maddon from my home and school life was crucial. Though it was probably for the best, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed when lunch rolled around and I still hadn’t seen him. I shuffled down the hall toward Mrs. Leighton’s office, trying to avoid the students who were celebrating the impending holiday break a few hours early. It had been one of those free-for-all kinds of days since the majority of the teachers had planned nothing in their curriculum for the last day before winter break. It was a waste to even make us come today.
Mrs. Leighton was speaking with one of the aides when I entered the office.
“Kassandra, come on back to my office,” she said, handing the aide the stack of papers in her hands. “Just add these to your stack,” she told the girl as we headed down the hall.
“So, Kassandra, last detention today, right?” she asked, settling down behind her desk.
“Yeah,” I replied, wishing it was my last day of counseling too. All this examination of my personal life hadn't sat well with me.
“How has it been going?”
“Okay, I guess. Kind of boring,” I lied.
“Really?” she asked, raising her eyebrows like she knew more than she was letting on.
“Yeah,” I answered defensively.
“I see,” she said, letting it slide. “How are things going at home?”
“Better,” I answered truthfully this time.
“That’s great,” she said, sounding surprised.
“I guess my prank and my cussing-out a teacher did some good after all,” I said, testing the boundaries.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” she hem-hawed, reaching into her candy jar to extract several holiday-wrapped Hershey's Kisses. She divvied them up and handed me a small pile.
“Thanks,” I said, unwrapping one of them and popping it into my mouth.
“I am pleased things are better at home,” she said, unwrapping her own chocolate morsel. “I would have preferred a different method to get those results,” she added, smiling at me.
“I’m sorry I pulled the fire alarm,” I said, using my finger to roll the small piece of foil that had covered my chocolate into a ball. “I guess it wasn’t very mature.”
She sighed. “Cussing out Mr. Mathews' wasn’t the most mature action either,” she pointed out.
“Maybe not, but it felt good,” I said, grinning.
A smile so brief that I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me flitted across her face before it was replaced once again with her neutral look. “Maybe next time you can find a more reasonable way to express yourself,” she said, trying to sound stern.
“Yes, ma’am,” I answered, unwrapping another chocolate.
“What are your plans for the holidays?” she asked, changing the subject.
I shrugged my shoulders, trying to act like the question didn’t bother me.