Shame Shame Shame

Ch. 11

A month and a half has gone by since the whole blackmail situation that Gage pulled on Mrs. Moore and me has happened. I went on the date with Gage like he insisted I do, but it wasn't a very pleasant date. The night ended with us fighting with each other and him ditching me on the side of the road.

While this last month hasn't been the best, I can say that I've finally grasped living in this god forsaken small town where everybody knows everyone. Though, I wouldn't label this as a good thing. I feel like this town and everything that i've gone through since being here has taken a toll on me.

I have hardly spoken to Mrs. Moore, or should I say Riley, within the past month and i've isolated myself a bit from Veronica and Caleb, but we still talk when at school, and i've picked up some of my bad habits again. By bad habits, I mean that i've turned back to drinking and smoking again and am skipping classes just like I did last year after the accident with my parents happened.

"Miss Clark" I hear my last name being called in a muffled tone. I look up to see the principal of the school standing right in front of me, so I pull down my noise canceling headphones. "Yes Mrs. Davis?" I question her as she crosses her arms. "I would like to see you in my office within the next ten minutes. Please start packing up your things and making your way there." Mrs. Davis walks away without giving me the chance to say anything in reply.

My eyes immediately go straight to Gage as I see him sitting on the other side of the lunch room. Did he show Mrs. Davis the photos he took? He's been harassing me every so often, but not as consistently as he used to, and he finally stopped trying to get me to go out with him. So, why would he just now show Mrs. Davis the pictures?

I close out GarageBand and shut my macbook shoving it in my bookbag. I slide out the booth that I usually sit at during lunch and make my way to the principals office.

"I'm here to see Mrs. Davis" I say to the front desk lady who sits outside the Mrs. Davis' office as if she is her bodyguard. "Okay sweetie, go right in." She holds her arm out, pointing to Mrs. Davis' office door.

My anxiety starts to rise up as I can't help but fear she's calling me in to talk about the pictures of Mrs. Moore and me. I slowly push the door open and see Mrs. Davis filling out some paperwork. She lifts her head up as she notices me entering her office.

"Ah, Miss Clark, please take a seat." I do as she says and pull out one of the chairs that is sitting in front of her desk.

"So, why exactly did you want to speak to me?" I question, praying that she's not going to say anything about Mrs. Moore.

"Well Lexi, I'm getting quite concerned about your grades and attendance. Our records show that you are either failing or not turning in most of your assignments, and your attendance in your second and fifth period classes has dropped drastically." I let out a sigh, but more so in relief. "English and Science it looks like," Mrs. Davis adds then gives me a look as if she is asking for me to explain myself.

"I-" I go to speak but give up knowing that I have nothing to say in response, or at least don't care enough to give a proper response. "Lexi, I'm going to need an explanation" Mrs. Davis insists. "I don't have one. It is what it is. I just don't care enough to go to my classes. They're stupid anyways" I scuff, leaning back in the chair that i'm sitting in.

Mrs. Davis starts flipping though some papers and I see her grab one with my name and emergency contact information on it. "Well Lexi, I will have to inform your guardians about this." My eyes widen as I know this won't go down good with my grandparents, but Mrs. Davis continues "and if you don't get out of this habit then i'm afraid to say that you might have to repeat your senior year."

"Mrs. Davis, is that really necessary." My anxiety starts to rise up once again. It seems like all I ever feel is anxious nowadays. "What if I promise to get my grades back up and not miss another class period again?" I try to convince Mrs. Davis to not contact my grandparents. "I'm sorry Lexi, but i'm required to contact your guardians and inform them of this." "But-" Mrs. Davis cuts me off, "no but's" she holds her finger up. "Get going to your next class now. It will be starting shortly." She waves me off. I stand up from the chair and march out of her office in anger.