Exotic

~ your word against mine ~

Ms. Hudson gestured for Aidan and Caleb to sit as far apart as the room allowed, which would have been fine if she hadn't placed me as a barrier between them. I crossed my ankles, tucked in my elbows, and tried to make myself as small as possible, hoping Ms. Hudson would forget I was there if I averted my eyes long enough. Flanked by Caleb and Aidan, I didn't imagine it would be hard to go overlooked.

"Mr. Stewart."

Damn it. I looked up with a tight expression, a picture of guilt to be sure. Ms. Hudson tilted her chin down to look frostily at me over her glasses. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise she wasn't going to continue before I responded. I cleared my throat, louder than intended.

"Y-yes?"

How one stammers over a single word, I wasn't sure, but I was full of tricks that morning.

"I've had the pleasure of never meeting you in here, though I'm fully informed of your... track record," she announced ominously. "You barely have the required attendance to graduate thanks to your behaviour last year, though that hardly makes a difference when your grades are poor enough to hold you back a year all on their own."

My mouth felt stuffed with cotton balls, soaked up of all the moisture so I could only push out a barely-there, "I know," before sinking in my chair and hanging my head.

"Though your teachers have seen a vast improvement over the last few weeks – I understand we have our wonderful OLOT tutors to thank for that – what I am trying to impress upon you here is that you are on extremely thin ice, Miles. Do you understand?"

My tongue felt swollen in my throat, and all I could do was nod.

"So, I would recommend being truthful from here on out," she spoke very properly, without an ounce of pity as she tore my academic record to shreds in front of the entire office. I glanced back at Alba, who looked resigned, and Aaron, who appeared to be sweating despite Ms. Hudson's air-conditioner running so high that the office felt like a circle of hell. Maybe it kept her heart cold enough to head Truman High School. "Mr. McCaffrey. I must say, we have to stop meeting like this."

Aidan stared daggers down into his lap.

"And Mr. Proust. That is a surprise to say out loud, outside the context of an assembly," she admitted. I couldn't help feeling like I had gotten off the worst out of the three of us. "This is the kind of situation I would prefer to settle amongst my fellow educators before calling you in, but I'll admit, I'm at a loss."

Before she could clarify what she meant, Mr. Troutman spoke up, sending a rainstorm of spittle down on everyone's heads as he barked out. "I want him put through the wringer, Sandy. I don't care what kind of year he's had."

Ms. Hudson's piercing glare soon had him correcting himself to her proper title, with a cursory 'ma'am' thrown in for good measure. I didn't like Mr. Troutman's tone, which rang with the barely contain temper of a discharged military sergeant, but since he could have been referring to any one of the three of us, I wasn't sure yet if I was a witness or target. At least there were a decent amount of bodies packed into the room I could shield myself with if he was referring to me.

"In due course, Mr. Troutman," Ms. Hudson practically sneered. There was no love lost between them, it was clear. She turned her attention back to us, specifically me, being in the centre. "I've had quite the morning. I'd only just settled when half the bloody faculty came bursting in with cries of vandalism, violence and vicious rumour-spreading. I believe you boys each know something about at least one of those, if not all?"

If I hadn't been paralysed on the spot by her glower, I might have complimented her poetic prowess. She enjoyed a bit of alliteration. I might have also responded more playfully aghast to her use of 'bloody', but I really didn't want to be expelled in front of Aidan McCaffrey.