Believe Me ✔️

[15] Detention

"How do you think you did on the test?" Douglas asks as we start walking down the hallway, on our way for another fun day of detention in the library.

"I want to think positive, but I'm a horrible test taker, even with notes."

He laughs, and it's the greatest sound in the world. "I'm sure you did fine."

"I'll meet you upstairs. I'm just gonna put some stuff in my locker."

Douglas salutes me. "See you upstairs, Addition."

Tiana is waiting for my at my locker. My heart starts racing and I keep a poker face, ignoring her while I dial the combination. "Hey, Addy," She says and I want to slap my name out of her mouth.

"What do you want, Tiana?"

"I want you to keep my boyfriend's name out of your mouth," She starts, and I glance over for a second and see a burning hatred in her eyes. How far we've come since third grade. "Do yourself a favor and grow the fuck up, Addy."

I step forward, in Tiana's face, and whisper, "Tell your boyfriend to stay out of my bedroom."

That pisses her off. "Oh, you little bitch."

"You might want to get off that high horse of yours, T, and get a grip. Your boyfriend isn't as perfect as he claims to be. Everyone has skeletons in their closet, but it just so happens Paul's is made of glass." I slam my locker shut, loud, and swear I see Tiana flinch. I don't say anything else and leave her standing alone.

Eyes glue to me as I pass them in the hallway and I will myself not to break down and start crying. That'd make me look even more pathetic. Douglas waits for me by the entrance of the library. "Everything okay?"

I don't know how to answer that, so instead I say, "Yeah, it's just had plans after school and detention killed them."

"What could be better than detention with me?" Douglas teases, and I roll my eyes and laugh.

We walk in and there's over a dozen students scattered across the tables. Their voices drop and their eyes turn to me. In a second their leaning over and whispering in each other's ear. Oh, I wonder what about. I planned on skipping detention, like I usually do, but when I heard Mrs. Jenson's in charge of detention this year, I figured it wouldn't kill me to stay.

Douglas leans over. "Tough crowd, huh?"

"You have no idea."

I spot Mrs. Jenson across the room and start walking to her. I catch a few words from the students' conversations: liar, slut, whore, attention, and liar again, my favorite. Can't they come up with anything new or creative? I hand Mrs. Jenson the yellow detention slip and she looks at it. "Addy... what a weird sight. I wasn't sure I was hearing things right when I was told you'd be joining us in detention today."

"Actually, five weeks' worth of detention," I correct, adding, "Which is utter bullshit."

"What? Are you serious?" Douglas asks.

I nod. "Yeah. I missed five days because I had the flu, so Principal Tee thought it was fair if I got five weeks, though I may think he's being a bit biased."

"Principal Tee's head isn't screwed on right, but you didn't hear that from me." Mrs. Jenson crumbles the yellow slip and tosses it in a trashcan. Why do they give us those paper slips if they just end up in the garbage? Waste of paper if you ask me. "I know this is your first detention this year, so I'm going to give you a choice I only give to my favorite students."

Hearing that I'm her favorite student brings a smile to my face.

Mrs. Jenson gestures to the students, saying, "Would you like to spend your detention with the other students doing homework in silence..." She turns and points to an empty room. "...or help rearrange the library?"