“Oh, don’t you act like that was real! You knew exactly how much I would hate that. You’re like a child! Good grief, you can’t even match your shoes properly!” I’m practically shouting now, and I can’t help but notice that everyone else in the teacher’s lounge has gone as still as statues and quiet. A few mouths are gaping open in utter shock.
“I’m like a child? Are you serious? You’re the one stomping around and moping like a petulant child all the time! And the shoes were an accident. I was in a rush this morning!” she shouts back, not even caring that we’re causing a scene. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice several people stand up and quietly leave the room.
“Well, at least I’m not going around covering people’s rooms in sticky notes.”
“Oh my gosh, that was a week ago!”
“Mr. Stuart and Ms. Sullivan, I’d like to see you in my office immediately,” a stern voice says from the doorway. Oh, crap. Norah and I both turn toward the door and see Principal Spears standing there with her hands on her hips. She beckons for us to follow her and turns from the room, expecting to be obeyed. I can hear her heels clip-clopping down the hall as I gather up the remains of my lunch.
“Great, now look at what you’ve done,” Norah says. Her voice is thick like she’s about to burst into tears. “I’m going to lose my job, and then I’ll never be able to move out of my parents’ house. I’m going to have to panhandle on the street corners.”
“How is this my fault? You’re the one interrupting my class,” I reply as I walk out of the room. She follows behind me quickly, taking two steps for each one of mine.
“It was just a joke!” she yells, and the sound echoes off the walls. Principal Spears stops and turns to give us a warning look. I feel like I’m back in high school (as a student) all over again. The only times I was ever sent to the principal’s office growing up all involved Norah. Admittedly, some were my fault…sort of. Once, in history class, she wouldn’t stop talking, so I pulled her hair, and she whirled around and smacked me with her notebook. Another time, a boy had written her a note, and she was showing it to her friend. I snatched it from her hands and read it out loud for everyone around us to hear. That one was pretty low, even for me, and her reaction was justified.
But this…this is not my fault. The woman has had it out for me since the moment she walked through those doors. And all of this after I was nice to her. See if I ever do anything for her again. It obviously has no effect on her behavior toward me.
We both sit in the chairs across from Principal Spears. Norah tucks her hands under her thighs and bounces her legs like a nervous schoolgirl. Her fidgeting is making me more nervous than I already was. I reach over and clamp my hand on her thigh, just forceful enough to stop her fidgeting. She stops moving and looks up at me with narrowed eyes before smacking my hand away.
“It feels just like old times,” Principal Spears says in an exasperated voice. She smooths down her hair before leveling us both with a cold stare. She folds her hands on the desk in front of her and says, “I’ll admit that I was reluctant to hire you, Norah, remembering how the two of you bickered constantly growing up. I gave you both the benefit of the doubt that over a decade of distance and maturation had put an end to your ridiculous feud, but I see that I was painfully overestimating your levels of maturity.”
I sit up straighter, feeling very much like the same sixteen-year-old boy who used to sit in this exact chair, trembling in fear of the woman across from me. I’m about to open my mouth to defend myself, but I’m cut off.
“Am I being fired?” Norah asks in a shaky voice.
“I am mightily tempted, but no. I know of your situation. Your mother told me some of it before you moved back. Don’t expect many more chances, though, Ms. Sullivan. I’m not any more patient than I was when you were a student here,” Principal Spears says. I wonder what situation she’s referring to. Could it be the reason she suddenly moved back to Waverly? The reason for all the secrecy?
Norah nods her head and says, “I understand. Thank you for giving me another chance.”
“Let me make myself clear. If this continues, you may both find yourselves without employment,” she says. “I have enough students to keep in line. I shouldn’t have to discipline the teachers as well.” She rolls her eyes and shoos us from the room. Norah and I both jump to our feet abruptly and turn to leave the office. Our shoulders bump into each other when we both try to get through the door at the same time, and I grit my teeth to keep myself from saying anything. I step back and hold my hand out to gesture for her to go first.
Her eyes get all squinty, like she suspects me of having ulterior motives. Like I would actually do something to her in front of our boss literally five seconds after having my job threatened. I have bills that insist on being paid every month. Those rank a little higher on the priority scale than getting even with Norah.
She doesn’t move, so I walk out with her stomping her feet behind me. As soon as we’re a good fifteen feet down the hall, and I’m confident that Principal Spears won’t hear me, I whirl around to face Norah. She doesn’t stop in time and crashes into my chest. I’m starting to think she likes my chest and is doing that on purpose. I grip her arms and hold her away from me.
“If I lose my job because of you, I swear you will regret it, Norah Sullivan,” I say.
She stands straighter and puts her hands on her hips and says, “Oh, really? And what do you think you could possibly do to hurt me, Colby Stuart? I had the year from hell last year and lived through it, and I promise you that nothing you could do would be worse than that.” She looks me up and down and scoffs at me before walking away. I watch her until she turns out of sight, wondering what on earth happened to her.