Paraplegic (COMPLETED)

Chapter 5

My blood is boiling. I can practically feel the heat radiate from my skull. I was humiliated in front of everyone. Everyone! I'm McKenzie Rose Barlow, the prettiest, most popular girl in school. I don't deserve detention!

The three of us are sitting in Principal Mayer's office waiting for him to return. After escorting us here, he barked out orders for us to sit and stare at the wall, not allowing us to talk, not even so much as breathe in one another's direction, then he stormed out of the room in a slur of grumbling words. He's been gone for almost an hour. I don't know where he's at. Every once in a while, I hear voices from beyond that oak door, but nothing more.

There's a creepy looking cat clock above Mayer's desk; its unceasing tick-tocking is digging at my sanity. It's this black and white cat with big, buggy eyes. The eyes sweep right, then left with each tick-tock sound; its tail doing the same. I need something to distract me, so I reach into my purse and withdraw a bottle of clear coat nail polish. Aurora is sitting to my right. She looks over at me to see what I'm doing, then nervously shakes her head, no doubt implying that Mayer will kill me if he finds out. I brush off her silent implications with a casual wave of my hand. I don't care what Mayer thinks. Try as he may, he isn't going to lay a hand on me. I own this school.

The girl who caused this mess is sitting on the other side of me. She's slumped down in the desk chair; the heels of her sneakers are perched on the edge of the seat. She smells worse than I do, like eggs and mayonnaise and a combination of other horrid stenches I can't quite pinpoint.

"So did it take you years to hone your skills or are you that much of a klutz naturally?" I say. The girl squirms in her seat, but doesn't answer. She's probably fearful of my status at this school. If I wanted to, I could plant rumors about her that will spread through these halls and haunt her until she's forty. She's wise to fear me.

Aurora leans in close to me. "You shouldn't be doing that. What if you get caught?"

I dip the brush into the bottle and apply a second coat. "Doesn't matter. I'm suing this school anyway."

"I thought your dad was a criminal defense lawyer. Does he even do these types of cases?"

"Um. Hello! I'm his daughter. If I want something, I get it. And I want justice. No. I want vengeance! I was humiliated in front of half the school on something that wasn't even my fault. It's hers!" I jam a newly polished fingernail in the girl's direction. "Yeah, that's right oaf girl. My dad's a lawyer, so you better be scared!"

I look up at the clock; it's almost two. I'm gonna be angry, like She-Hulk angry if I miss the photo shoot. I overheard one of the students from drama club say that the school has hired a professional photographer from New York City. That's my dream job. Ugh! I can't wait to break free from this building once and for all.

Breathe, McKenzie. Breathe. Only one more day. One more day and you will be a high school graduate, then you can leave this rotting hole in the dust for good.

I look over at the girl again. "So, oaf girl, what's your problem anyway? You got some sort of vendetta against us rich and populars or something?"

I wasn't expecting her to respond, but to my surprise she does. "I don't have a problem. I just wanna go home."

I slowly clap my hands together. "Well, well, well. Would you look at that? She does have a voice box after all. Mind telling me why you bombarded me in the school hallway and again in the cafeteria?"

She pauses. "I'm sorry. Okay? I didn't mean to bump into you. I didn't see you."

"A likely story. Unfortunately, the odds aren't in your favor. I might be willing to believe that lie if it had only happened in the hallway, but again in the cafeteria on the selfsame day? Hardly! That's intentional."