Under the Surface

Chapter 17: Danielle

The school bell had just rung signifying that second period had just ended. It was 10am Tuesday morning and Danielle had reluctantly scheduled her meeting with Mr.Wright for now. "Hey girl, wanna skip next period and go to the mall?" questioned Ava, walking beside Danielle in the hallway after they exited the classroom. "Oh...you know I'm kind of busy at the moment, maybe some other time?" she replied, smiling. She didn't want Ava and Bethany to know about her meeting with Mr.Wright. "Bummer, okay, I'll text Beth and see if she does," replied Ava, skipping on ahead of her to try find Bethany. 

At this stage Danielle had made it to the door of Mr.Wright's office. She had her books up against her chest and tried to juggle not dropping them whilst knocking on his door. She heard a faint, deep voice call from inside saying "come in!" so she opened the door. "Hi, I'm Danielle Lawrence, I made an appointment online to see you now?" she said, as she closed the door behind her. "Yes! Hi, take a seat!" he smiled, as he pointed to the arm chair on the opposite side of his desk. Danielle slumped onto the seat and as she did she dropped all her books to the ground. Mr.Wright placed his glasses on and looked at his computer screen. "So, Mrs.Wilson recommended that you come her and talk is that correct?" he asked, eyes squinting at his screen. "Yeah. I guess she's worried about my grades, they've kind of slipped a bit within the last few months," answered Danielle, looking around his office at all the shelves full of books and his diploma framed above where he sits. Mr. Wright was probably around thirty five years old, he had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and his skin was quite tanned. He dressed like a college professor. "I see that," he replied, scrolling through her grades on the computer system. Danielle squirmed in her seat due to how uncomfortable she felt him sitting in front of her reviewing her scores. "What happened? You went from an A plus student to a D and C- student within the space of about six months," he questioned, now averting his eyes from the screen to Danielle. Danielle shrugged. He looked at her and said "well, Danielle, there has got to be a reason. Smart people like yourself don't just let their grades slip down so dramatically for no reason," he questioned, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. "You can tell me, I want this to be a safe place. Remember anything you tell me will remain only with me. Are there personal issues going on in your life? Problems at home maybe?" he questioned. "No," she answered, not making eye contact with him. "Well we can't work through the problem if you don't tell me what it is. I know deep down you want to get back on track and get your grades up. I can read people, I studied psychology," he said, smiling with proudness. Danielle sighed. "I guess, it all kind of started when I became friends with Bethany Davidson and Ava Norburn," she said, crossing her legs. "Ah! I know them!" he said in a way which implied he knew what they were like. He continued, "so you became friends with them? When?". "Uh, at a birthday party around six months ago, we kind of just started talking and then started hanging out together and became friends," she answered, picking at a thread on her ripped jeans. "I see," he said, "I mean, I know those girls and I know they're maybe not the best influence in relation to school," he finished. Danielle nodded, she knew he was right but she felt bad as if she was ratting out her friends. "Well, obviously if they're your friends we're going to have to work out a strategy in order for you to be able to remain friends with them without the friendship affecting your school grades," he said. "Yeah. I still want to be friends with them, but...I mean, I really want to become a doctor and I know I'm jeopardising my future right now but at the same time, I'm a teenager I want to have fun and not take life too seriously so I'm trying to balance everything and it's so hard. I also am at a stage in my life where I no longer feel invisible in school, I'm actually popular and well known now. I can't go back to being a nobody again," she sighed. She only realised how much she blurted out after she finished talking. "I see. So you enjoy being friends with Bethany and Ava due to the perks it brings you, such as popularity?" he questioned. "I mean, yeah I guess so. But they're also my friends too," she replied. "I understand. Okay, well what I think you should do is definitely prioritise school and school work above hanging out with friends, because you can hang out with friends your whole life however right here and now you're at school and as you said, you want to be a doctor, use that as your goal to get back on track. I'm not saying to not have a social life, of course you can go out, but if you feel like you're not on top of your work and there is a cool party to go to, I would say stay at home and get your work finished." he said, moving forwards and placing his elbows on the desk. It's not that simple, Mr.Wright. "Okay, thanks for your help," she said, offering a small smile to him as she started to gather up her books. "No problem. I'm going to book you in for the same time next week just for an update session, is that alright?" he questioned, typing away on his computer. "Sure," she shrugged in reply.