Game of Patience

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

She had expected the car journey to the house to be quiet, like when Phillips drove her from the office back to the house when she first got into a fight.

But she was wrong.

"Expelled. You have barely been there for over a month and you were expelled!" Phillips had repeated that word over and over like he couldn't believe that it was real. Like the more he repeated it the more it would sink in. "I sat in the office with the headmaster and he said that maybe school wasn't for you. I tried to tell him that you just needed time to adjust and things were hard currently, that even the strongest and most adaptable people would struggle. But he told me that he didn't think the school could cater to you. Do you know how much I tried to convince him you'll try harder? Brooke, are you even listening?"

"You tried to tell him I'd try harder." She repeated back to him as she stared out of the window. Only half heartedly listening.

"You promised you would try to stay out of trouble."

"What was I meant to do? Ignore her? Report her? I tried those things, no one listened. I hated it there. Sam was the only thing that made it bearable. She was ruining everything, she was the school bully, she picked on loads of people. Someone had to stand up to her."

"Stand up to her, yes. But not like that! Your parents wanted you to go to school. Finding you a new one and getting a new uniform will take time. Especially with this on your record."

He pulled up outside the house and got out as soon as he stopped the engine. Brooke followed and he locked the car behind them.

As soon as she got inside, Phillips sent her to her room.

"No point doing homework now. Just study something while I sort some stuff out. I'll call you when dinner is ready."

She walked upstairs and slammed her door. Phillips yelled up the stairs, but she didn't listen to what he said, she didn't care. She wanted her parents.

She jumped on her bed and cried. She wondered what they would think of her now if they were here.

"But they are not here because if they were, I wouldn't have been sent to school." She said out loud through her tears. She needed to rationalise with herself otherwise the 'what ifs' would build up again and instead of just a few stones to step over, she would have a wall she would have to scale.

She wiped away her tears and neatly hung up her school uniform, not that she would be needing it again anytime soon. Her stomach felt like it was doing flips. She had ruined the chance of a new start and now Phillips probably hated her too.

She looked at her phone and texted Sam. He had been texting her when she was in the office and car but she never replied. She decided to call him instead. He picked up after the second ring.

"Hey."

"Hey." He said calmly. "How is everything?"

"I got expelled."

"Oh my God? Are you okay? How did Phillips react?"

"I'm okay. He is disappointed and angry and I probably ruined whatever chance I had of a fresh start."

"I doubt that. I don't think he would have taken a teenager into his home unless he was prepared to deal with all of the teenage rebellion."

Brooke laughed as she cried, Sam had a way of saying things that made her smile.

"Look Brooke, you messed up. But everyone does. All you can do now is try to make it up. Study wherever Phillips sends you. Try your hardest and help him pick a new place. Show him that you're willing to learn."

"Thanks Sam. I better go. I'll text you. Keep me updated on school yeah?"

"Well you'll be glad to know that Morgan's lackies haven't spoken to her since. I think you set them free in a way. Take care of yourself, you can text me whenever you want."

Brooke hung up. She was going to miss seeing her friend so much, maybe she could have him over at some point when Phillips wasn't so angry.

She wiped her face and opened her door. She walked into the bathroom and took a quick shower. She didn't take long, she only wanted to wash the beans from her hair. The door gave a loud click when she opened it, the steam from the room quickly mixed with the cooler air of the hallway. There was a big temperature difference between the two rooms, she loved a hot shower, but she may have had it too hot.

She could hear movement in the kitchen. As she walked down the stairs, the steps creaked as she descended. She walked into the kitchen as Phillips was taking stuff out of the cupboards. On the first few days she stayed here, there was hardly anything in the cupboards. But now Phillips keeps them stocked up.

"You're not really getting the idea of the punishment of staying in your room until you're called."

"I don't understand the punishment," she said, sitting on a chair at the table "all my stuff is in there, so it's not much of a punishment."

"I'm open to taking away your things if you really want. Go back upstairs until I call you."

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out and I'm sorry I got expelled and I put you in a difficult situation. I'll try to do better, I'll try to fit in."

"It's a bit late for that now Brooke. I have to find somewhere else that will take you. It's so much easier to find a new school for a student who wasn't expelled from their last."

"Maybe I can get a tutor to teach me here?"

"No way." He said quickly. "You do not get kicked out of school then get a private tutor like you wanted in the first place. I'm not rewarding you for getting expelled. If you wanted a private tutor you should have done what you were told and I might have considered it later on. But now, that is an option I'm not even considering."

"But it will save you trying to find a place for me somewhere else."

"No Brooke. No. While you are in my care you will do as I say and you will go to school with other children. I will find a school to take you even if I have to send you to a boarding school."

"Boarding school? As in a school I live in during term time? No way!"

"You don't get a choice. You were meant to work with me on the first school, you had your chance. That school was your chance to make a fresh start. Look, just go upstairs until dinner." He closed the cupboard and turned to the oven.

"Why won't you listen to me? I'm trying to help." Brooke pushed her chair back across the floor.

"Go upstairs. Now." Phillips shouted.

Brooke ran up the stairs and slammed her door shut again. When Phillips called her for dinner, she didn't answer, nor did she move.