Clarisse

Chapter Two

         Monday mornings should be illegal; attending school before ten on a Monday morning should be illegal. Getting home from a college party after three in the morning also is not doing me any favors with handling this Monday morning.

          My head is still pounding after last night's loud bass thumping and the massive fatigue from only getting less than two hours of sleep. To make matters even better, Georgia had stayed up waiting in the dark of my room to scold me.

A little bit excessive if you ask me. However, Georgia's methods are not nearly as excessive as the Principal Secretary's need to hit the overhead intercom any chance she can get.

           "Clarisse Messer, report to Principal Millan's office at once!" Her shrill voice processes in my head as long nails being dragged across a chalkboard.

          Why does Mrs. Trejo still work here? How can anyone stand working with a woman who sounds as annoying as she does?

        The worst part about all of this is that I am not hungover. Well, not hungover from alcohol but sleep deprivation is a real pain. Maybe I will find a vampire that can turn me into one of them just to avoid the consequences of no sleep. Just keep me far away from the disco ball species; I already attract enough attention as it is.

As I make my way down the nearly barren hall, I feel a hovering presence following right behind me. Don't tell me he is taking it upon himself to come join a meeting that he is not invited to. Not that I should be surprised since he did crash the Dance committee meeting last week. I have never seen Paxton attend a school dance nor have I ever heard him spout positive remarks on school dances.

         Snagging a quick glance at a classroom window, I get my confirmation. The six-foot-two, brown-haired, and green-eyed giant is trailing right behind me.

         I decide to ignore him and lead the two of us to the closed office door. Normally I would be polite and hold the door open for strangers behind me, but Paxton is just straight up strange.

Placing my hand on the metallic handle and pushing down, I fling the office door open and march right into the lobby. The silent giant follows me but takes a seat in the purple plush chair by the door.

Mrs. Trejo is nowhere in sight so, out of habit, I lean over her desk and begin to uncap all of her pens sitting in the small bucket.

"Principal Millan is ready for you, Miss. Messer." Mrs. Trejo announces from somewhere behind me. I quickly pull the last pen cap off and straighten my posture.

       Plastering a smile on my face, I turn around to face Mrs. Trejo. "Thank you for your service."

        Paxton is up on his feet once again, but he decides to take the lead this time. Mrs. Trejo doesn't bother to stop Paxton from entering Millan's office, even though there is no "Copeland" in "Messer." This is also a violation of privacy but Paxton is the epitome of privacy violation.

          "Mr. Copeland, please come in!" Mr. Millan's deep voice rumbles enthusiastically. I peer around Paxton to see the dark-haired, middle-aged man sitting behind a massive desk. The smile on his face is so wide I can see the crow's feet from where I am standing.

         Paxton steps off to the side leaving me exposed to Principal Millan's line of view. The smile on his face defaults back into his standard grimace.

"Miss. Messer, close the door and have a seat." I can feel the enthusiasm radiating off him just like I can feel the sun radiating onto my skin at the beach.