Across From Me

Thirty Nine

Clementine felt very stupid.

Nursing a busted lip, bruised knuckles, and a black eye wasn't the greatest thing, especially when your mom was yelling at you.

Everything was going fine, it was going well. Clementine was happy, she knew that. She never meant to get so angry. She didn't mean to break Celine's nose. As soon as she was taken away from Celine and was able to come back to her senses there was a deep feeling of shame that consumed all of her.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that Celine got to make everything up about her, lie about it, and then continue to try and tarnish her reputation, and Clementine is blamed for being angry about it. Sitting in the principal's office as Celine tries to spin a sob story about being the real victim, and how horrible and violent Clementine was. Clementine sat and let Celine spin her story. But at this point, everyone was getting really tired of her.

While Celine had nobody to defend her, Clementine had plenty.

Of course, Clementine had Mika, Olivia, Beth, and Minnie to defend her, but there were plenty of others who vouched for her story. Anne came in personally to explain everything, and Ezekiel came in too to defend Clementine. Along with some of Clementine's old friends, the same ones who believed the rumor at face value. The same ones who couldn't look her in the eyes. She couldn't understand the sudden change of heart, but if she had to guess, it was guilt over the whole thing. But even then, Clementine never got an apology from anyone, even when the truth about the rumor and Celine spread across the school, Clementine never got an apology.

They both got suspended, which was fair enough. But there was nothing left to be done about Celine, as they figured they had punished her enough. Clementine, despite knowing that they wouldn't do anything else, was angry regardless. It truly wasn't fair, because Celine ultimately got away with it.

But Clementine got to walk out of the office with people on her side, which is more than Celine could claim to have, and more than she would have expected.

Of course, Clementine had a lot to be grateful for. Grateful she didn't get her ass kicked by Celine, that she had friends who loved her, and that she got off with just a week suspension which probably wouldn't mean much because she was 'a good kid who did no wrong' according to her school counselor.

Her mother on the other hand was another story.

Clementine sat in mute fear as she watched her mother be told the outcome. There was no yelling or protesting, just solemn, slow nods, which meant that Clementine was really in for it when she got home. Clementine bit at her nails.

Just as she expected, her mother yelled at her for all but an hour, continuing even when her voice became hoarse and weak. She continued when she went through Clementine's room, taking everything she felt was unneeded. Which included colored pencils, a phone and phone charger, a camera, paintbrushes, plenty of books, and any and all forms of entertainment. Her school laptop was left behind, but her room was left barren.

Clementine was lucky she got nothing more than that.

Clementine spent her whole week of suspension doing schoolwork because if she was doing anything else she would be on her mother's bad bad side, which is much worse than the bad side. She got Beth, Mika, and Olivia to bring her the schoolwork she missed each day, and sometimes they would hang around for a little while. Not for long though, until her mother kicked them out and Clementine was forced to work again.

But if Clementine was completely honest, she felt free. It felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and now she was finally able to move on. Of course, she wouldn't have wished for the outcome that she got, but she didn't want to change it either. What was done was done, and hopefully, Celine would leave her alone.