***
High School.
A misleading introduction to adult life, where you will forget the majority of what you learn. But alas, it's a requirement.
A young blonde made her way down the empty halls to the principal's office. Taking in every detail. She noticed many posters all filled with meaningless gibberish along with the stench of cologne as she passed the lockers.
Knock. Knock.
"Ah, Miss Hofferson. Please come in." The principal greeted. "Take a seat."
The young girl took a quick look around before taking a seat at the principal's desk.
"Astrid Hofferson, Senior, late of Hunter High, interesting record..." He tore up the paper in his hand. "What's past is past." He assured. " You get a clean slate here. We won't dwell on what it says on a piece of paper, even if it says... huh." He glanced at the paper.
"Principal Matthews. I know my transcripts are a little colorful."
"Are you sure, colorful is the right word?" He thought as he began to tape them back together.
"It's not as bad as it sounds." She said.
"You threw a student across the gym!" He shrieked.
"I did. But-"
"And set him on fire." He read.
"Actually it was just his jacket." She muttered to herself. "But there was more to the story than that." She insisted.
"Look, I believe in second chances. So, don't blow it."
"I won't. Thank you."
***
Astrid was so glad to be out of the principal's office. She knew it was going to be a rather awkward encounter, but that was a new level of awkwardness. She trudged towards her first class, which was the second class of the day. Math.
She hesitantly creaked the door open and poked inside.
"You must be Astrid." Her teacher greeted her with a friendly smile. "I'm Miss Lawrence. Please, take a seat." She gestured to an empty seat beside a young raven-haired girl who was waving emphatically. Astrid rolled her eyes before taking a seat.
"Girl, you have been M.I.A for three years." The raven-haired teen gasped. "Where have you been?! You haven't posted on Instagram in months."
"Heather, relax. I've been... around." She sighed. "Just been dealing with some stuff."
"Yeah, I see that." She motioned to the bruise over the blonde's eye. "I heard you and Dom broke up." Heather smiled sadly.
"Yeah, let's not go there," Astrid suggested as she got out her workbook.
"Oh, when I get my hands on him I'm-"
"-Not gonna do anything!" Astrid warned. "He got what he deserved."
"Not from where I'm standing." Heather huffed.
"Heather, just let it go." Astrid pleaded.
"Astrid, the guy hit you!" She hissed.
"And now he has no eyebrows and two broken ribs, problem solved." The blonde stated. "I'm trying to move on, so can we please stop talking about it."
***
The bell rang, dismissing the class.
"Okay, so I can't talk about the ex?" Heather checked as she led Astrid to the library to pick up her textbooks. Astrid shook her head. "Or your dad?"
