Water on the Moon

Chapter 6 - The Betrayal of A Lifetime

The conference room door is closed. Knowing I'm nervous, Briggs opens it and goes in first. I'm so thankful for that. I follow. I've wiped my eyes and cleaned up so it doesn't look like I've been crying. No one should suspect a thing. I plan to just put on a brave face and act optimistic and it'll be over with.

I walk in and take the seat at the end of the table, closest to the door. After shutting the door Briggs takes the seat at the head of the table, next to me. I was hoping he wouldn't stay.

I look at the clock, 1:36, now only 24 minutes remaining in the school day. I wonder how long this meeting/intervention/interrogation will last.

"Ok I'll start off by saying, Luna, you must know why you're here," Kearney begins, "your mom has called this meeting because she is worried about your academic performance, as are your coaches and teachers. They want to help you get back on track with your schoolwork and are willing to work with you to set up a plan. How does that sound?"

"Fine" I mumble, still having a hard time trusting Briggs didn't report our conversation yesterday.

"Luna, we are not here to attack you or ridicule you. We want to help you by understanding why your grades have dropped and create some type of plan, whether it be extra help, a tutor, or other accommodations," Kearney adds, seeing how obviously uncomfortable I am.

"K," I say while looking down at my fingers as I chip at my nails. I haven't made eye contact with Kearney, haven't made eye contact with anyone since I walked in and sat down, I can't. I'm terrified that my secrets will come out, that they are going to be able to read me somehow. I don't want to have to deal with it, not like this, not in a room full of people. They were secretive about this meeting, so I can't help but assume that they have a hidden motive.

Kearney looks over towards my mother, "Lynn, I know you've said she's been on a specialized education plan back in elementary school, which has offered her extra support and accommodations from teachers and staff, is this something you would like us to work out to have in place?"

"Yes, I definitely think that would be something that would help, but she needs to put in her share of work as well," my mother says looking sternly over at me.

"I will," I say to her in an annoyed tone avoiding eye contact.

"Luna, we're trying to help you here. You need to stop being rude and give us some incentive to continue to help you," my mother scorns.

I look up at her with a confused and angry look on my face but before I had time to even think of a response Briggs steps in to my defense.

"If I may say something," Briggs begins and I look over at him grateful that he's cut in before I could snap and say something mean to my mother and embarrass myself even more than I already feel so.

"Luna voiced to me just a few moments ago that she is nervous for this meeting because there are a lot of people in this room and she feels uncomfortable, she even went so far as to say she feels like it's everyone against her. I don't think she means to act rude, but I do think this is hard for her to be here in this room with everyone knowing that she is struggling. She is here so I think we should absolutely give her credit for that. She could have taken off if she wanted to but instead she made the right decision to stay and she came to me," he explained.

Boom roasted. You dumb bitch. But also that was kind of a hit to me too. Why did Briggs have to go ahead and flat out admit that I am struggling. Whatever, I decide to let it slide, I can't get upset at every little detail. Anyways, I've never really liked my mother. She's not an evil person, just not a good mother.

"You are right, I apologize. Luna, please work with us," she pleads, "we want you to succeed."

"Ok, sorry," I say putting a forced effort into my words.