Kate kept her eyes downcast as Mr. Steinham’s unblinking eyes scanned the classroom. He was looking for the gum-chewing offender who’d just snapped an wad. Unable to determine the source of the crime, he sighed in frustration and returned to the pile of papers he was correcting. Kate stifled a laugh and was tempted to snap her gum again but thought better of it. She knew he would be waiting for it, and this time he’d be sure to catch her. Getting another detention wasn’t on her immediate to-do list; she’d just come off being grounded for two weeks, the last thing she needed was to be put back on.

She glanced over at Dannie and was surprised to see Skip ogling her unsuspecting friend. Dannie was bent over her assignment book, elbows propped beneath her breasts, oblivious to the fact that that particular angle afforded Skip a full frontal view of Dannie’s ample assets. Kate could almost see the drool trickling out the corner of Skip’s mouth. She tried to get her best friend’s attention by waving her hands, but Dannie was so engrossed in her book that she was unaware of Kate’s attempts.

“Yes, Miss Morgan? Is there something you need?” said Mr. Steinham.

Kate dropped her arm, “um…no, nothing. I was just stretching.”

The teacher’s brows pulled together in a disbelieving frown. Suddenly the intercom above the door came alive, pushing out the static-filled voice of Ms. Dawson, the school principal.

“Mr. Steinham?”

“Yes, Ms. Dawson?”

“Could you please send Kate Morgan to the office?”

“She’ll be right there.”

“Thank you.” The speaker clicked off and Mr. Steinham turned his attention back to Kate.

“You might as well collect your things, dismissal is in fifteen minutes anyway.”

A knot of anxiety twisted in Kate’s stomach as she shoved her assignment books into her backpack. Being called to the office was never good. She tried to think of what she’d done this time and came up with a quick list of offenses she could’ve gotten caught for. At the top, was mouthing off at the study hall monitor, or it might’ve been ditching phys-ed to have a smoke in the gym locker room, or it could be the fight she'd had with Jalleasa Tucker that afternoon, in the lunch room. The list was pretty long. She felt Dannie’s eyes on her and shrugged at the unasked question in her eyes. Dannie made a phone signal with her right hand and mouthed the words, ‘call me.’ Kate nodded and left the room.

She went to her locker and after opening it, tossed her backpack into the narrow space. She grabbed her leather jacket and threw it on. She checked the inner pocket to make sure her cigarettes and lighter were still there and snuck out the side exit door, behind the stairs.

There was no way she was voluntarily going to the principal’s office, going there only led to unpleasant conversations; usually involving detention, suspension or some other form of punishment for a crime against school policy. And the last thing she needed right now was more unpleasantness in her life.

***

She should be along any minute now,” the apology in Ms. Dawson’s voice made the woman smile, she’d never heard the older woman apologize in her life, especially to her.

Ms. Dawson pressed the intercom button on her desk that connected her with her receptionist, “has Kate Morgan showed up yet, Mrs. Turner?”

“No, do you want me to call Mr. Steinham again?”

“Yes, do that.”

Ms. Dawson and the woman waited in silence for Mrs. Turner’s call back. Just moments later, it came.

“Kate was dismissed almost fifteen minutes ago, she should be here by now.”

“Well, she’s not.”

“I can get someone to check the bathrooms…” suggested Mrs. Turner.

The woman smiled again, she instinctively knew Kate was no longer in the building. If the girl was anything like she’d been, she was long gone and on her way to somewhere else. The woman stood, “never mind, Ms. Dawson. It’s obvious she’s no longer here, I’ll try and get in touch with her another way.”

Ms. Dawson stood as well. The principal’s height and athletic build was as intimidating now, as it had been back when both women walked these halls as students.

“I’ll speak with Kate tomorrow and make sure she understands that leaving school property, before dismissal, is against policy. An in-school suspension will be doled out.”

The woman shook her head, “do you really think that’s necessary? She’s just being a kid.”

“Being a kid is no excuse for breaking policy. The rules haven’t changed that much Meg. If one gets away with it, another will surely try to do the same.”

Meg offered no more defense of Kate, “if you say so, Lillian.”

“I do.”

“And you’re the queen around here now, right?”

Lillian Dawson lifted one eyebrow and stated the truth, “I am indeed.”

“Have a great afternoon, LillyBill.” Meg’s old nickname for Ms. Dawson caused the hairs to stand on the back of the principal’s neck. It was the name Meg and her sidekicks had always used for her. It had been their way of poking fun at her oversized lips. Ms. Dawson was immediately transported to those days and almost reacted as she had back then, but held herself in check. She crossed her arms and watched in silence as Meg Madison sashayed out of the room.

Once inside her car, Meg thought about going to her ex-husband’s house and demanding to see Kate, but she knew Kent would never allow it. She’d left when Kate was just a little girl, she was now seventeen and almost through her junior year in high school. Meg had had no contact with her daughter in all these years. She knew her just showing up, out of the blue, would stir things up and cause a lot of pissed-off people to be even more pissed-off. But, she was still Kate’s mother, she still had every right to see her daughter, to try and reconcile with her. To let her know how many times she’d thought of her over the years, how she wished she hadn’t have had to leave when she did. How she desperately wanted to have some kind of relationship with her daughter.
(c)djc2008