Principalities
January 2nd, 2014 StoryStarter prompt: His touch was gentle against her cheek, but the kindness in his eyes had give way to a clouded fury that scared her...
It was her first time in the principal's office, so Brianne had no idea what to expect. It was sort of weird that they brought her in and sat her down in the wooden hardback chair and left her alone in the drab little grey walled office, she thought. I mean, weren't there things of value in the office? Maybe in the desk? Or the lone file cabinet sitting next to the desk? If she was the type of person who got sent to the principal's office, weren't they afraid she would be the type of person who might steal the brass armadillo paperweight? Or the coffee mug with BECKENWORTH HIGH printed on the side? Were the answers to EVERY exam located somewhere in a drawer? Couldn't she just snoop around a little and cause all sorts of trouble? Couldn't she take the Sharpie marker from within the cup o' pens sitting right in front of her on the desk and write obscenities all over the walls, or the furniture (what little there was) or Mr. Vergera's suit jacket? Suit jacket. There was probably a wallet. Or keys to his Cadillac. Damn... what WERE they thinking leaving her here alone?
Wait a minute. Of course. It was a test. There were cameras. There had to be cameras. Right? Yes. That was it. So they were trying to entrap her. Yes... Yes... of course. Because honestly, they didn't have much on her. I mean, yes, the cafeteria table got tipped up and all the plates and trays and silverware crashed to the floor. But she was one of 9 people sitting at the table. How much trouble could she be in? It wasn't like they could prove WHOSE idea it was to have everyone bang their knees on the bottom of the table at the same time just to see if they could get the table to fold up vertically. No one even thought they'd be able to do it. I mean, didn't the janitors lock them down somehow after they unfolded them? And really, could they even prove that she participated? What if she was just innocently sitting there, eating her grilled cheese and tater tots and BAM! the table flew up and all her tater tots spilled to the floor with her plate and silverware and last 1/3 of her sandwich? She LIKED tater tots. Why would she want them scattered on the floor?
And now, here she was... just lucky enough to be the first of the 9 to be brought in and sat down in Mr. Vergera's office while the others waited together in the hallway. Where was Mr. Vergera anyway? If this was so pressing, why wasn't he already in his office waiting for the table crashing vandals? Was he getting the full story from the cafeteria monitors? Was he conversing with teachers or administrative people about what type of punishment to hand down? This was crazy. Maybe this was all part of the punishment. Make her sit there and think about what she did, and feel the anticipation of the punishment start to grow and let the anxiety take over. Well, it would take more than that to ruffle the feathers of Brianne Banner. They'd learn that pretty damn quickly, she told herself.
Then the door opened. The door she hadn't noticed because it just looked like part of the wall a few feet to her left and just behind her left shoulder. Just back over her shoulder enough so that it was in her peripheral vision when it opened, but not close enough for her to notice it was a door until just this moment. This moment when Mr. Vergera stepped out and Brianne could clearly hear a toilet flushing for just a few seconds before he slowly shut the door and muffled the sound.
Mr. Vergera silently stepped in front of her and sat on the front edge of the desk facing her. He was so close she sat back in her chair to avoid accidentally brushing against him with her forehead. Then he bent forward, placed one hand on his knee and reached towards her with the other. His touch was gentle against her cheek, but the kindness in his eyes started to give way to a clouded fury that scared her. Yes, for the first time in a long time, Brianne Banner was truly, truly scared.
It was her first time in the principal's office, so Brianne had no idea what to expect. It was sort of weird that they brought her in and sat her down in the wooden hardback chair and left her alone in the drab little grey walled office, she thought. I mean, weren't there things of value in the office? Maybe in the desk? Or the lone file cabinet sitting next to the desk? If she was the type of person who got sent to the principal's office, weren't they afraid she would be the type of person who might steal the brass armadillo paperweight? Or the coffee mug with BECKENWORTH HIGH printed on the side? Were the answers to EVERY exam located somewhere in a drawer? Couldn't she just snoop around a little and cause all sorts of trouble? Couldn't she take the Sharpie marker from within the cup o' pens sitting right in front of her on the desk and write obscenities all over the walls, or the furniture (what little there was) or Mr. Vergera's suit jacket? Suit jacket. There was probably a wallet. Or keys to his Cadillac. Damn... what WERE they thinking leaving her here alone?
Wait a minute. Of course. It was a test. There were cameras. There had to be cameras. Right? Yes. That was it. So they were trying to entrap her. Yes... Yes... of course. Because honestly, they didn't have much on her. I mean, yes, the cafeteria table got tipped up and all the plates and trays and silverware crashed to the floor. But she was one of 9 people sitting at the table. How much trouble could she be in? It wasn't like they could prove WHOSE idea it was to have everyone bang their knees on the bottom of the table at the same time just to see if they could get the table to fold up vertically. No one even thought they'd be able to do it. I mean, didn't the janitors lock them down somehow after they unfolded them? And really, could they even prove that she participated? What if she was just innocently sitting there, eating her grilled cheese and tater tots and BAM! the table flew up and all her tater tots spilled to the floor with her plate and silverware and last 1/3 of her sandwich? She LIKED tater tots. Why would she want them scattered on the floor?
And now, here she was... just lucky enough to be the first of the 9 to be brought in and sat down in Mr. Vergera's office while the others waited together in the hallway. Where was Mr. Vergera anyway? If this was so pressing, why wasn't he already in his office waiting for the table crashing vandals? Was he getting the full story from the cafeteria monitors? Was he conversing with teachers or administrative people about what type of punishment to hand down? This was crazy. Maybe this was all part of the punishment. Make her sit there and think about what she did, and feel the anticipation of the punishment start to grow and let the anxiety take over. Well, it would take more than that to ruffle the feathers of Brianne Banner. They'd learn that pretty damn quickly, she told herself.
Then the door opened. The door she hadn't noticed because it just looked like part of the wall a few feet to her left and just behind her left shoulder. Just back over her shoulder enough so that it was in her peripheral vision when it opened, but not close enough for her to notice it was a door until just this moment. This moment when Mr. Vergera stepped out and Brianne could clearly hear a toilet flushing for just a few seconds before he slowly shut the door and muffled the sound.
Mr. Vergera silently stepped in front of her and sat on the front edge of the desk facing her. He was so close she sat back in her chair to avoid accidentally brushing against him with her forehead. Then he bent forward, placed one hand on his knee and reached towards her with the other. His touch was gentle against her cheek, but the kindness in his eyes started to give way to a clouded fury that scared her. Yes, for the first time in a long time, Brianne Banner was truly, truly scared.