Sophia nervously wrung her wrists as she made her way down the hall of her high school; her abnormally clean, and not to mention, school appropriate shoes scuffed against the floor. She could see the look of anxiety on her face in the reflection on the windows as she passed them.
Overall, she looked like a studious mess, especially with her ponytail almost coming undone because of her fingers stressfully running through her hair because of tediously long math problems. Her crisply clean white polo shirt was untucked from her plaid skirt, it didn't help that it was a mess of wrinkles.
But, after all, she did have a reason to look like this: this was her first trip to the principal's office. However, this was a first she did not want to experience at all.
"What did I do?" She wondered as her eyes met the door of the principle. "Have I been getting too high of grades?"
Her fingers lingered above the dark golden doorknob; should she bolt?
She flinched when the door abruptly opened, revealing the stern principle himself. Sophia thought that his dark brown suit emanated ultimate power. However, her opinion changed when she saw how tacky his huge, magnifying glasses were.
"Miss Jackson," He pondered her presence. "Thank you for actually coming." She nodded respectfully, and gave him a small, polite smile.
"You're welcome, sir. But, why am I here exactly?"
The principle didn't utter a word, he merely opened the door, showing her battered brother slumped in one of the two matching chairs that faced the principle's desk. Sophia couldn't help it, but she rushed over to her brother's side. She knew that it was her overprotective, sisterly instincts that were kicking in.
When the boy turned his head from the window, she saw that he had had a bloody nose. Even if the bloody waterfall was done, some of it had dried around the different curves of his nose. Her eyebrows furrowed at the sight of him.
"What on earth did you do, Chase?" Chase opened his mouth to answer, but the principle did instead.
"This rebellious, young man thought that it would be a hoot to get in a fight with one of his classmates." He diligently informed her as he sat at his desk. To Sophia, he sounded like a grownup toddler, using prestigious words in order to tattle tale on Chase.
The principle neatly folded his hands in front of him; Sophia knew that he did this in order to hide his angry agitation. She also knew that the principle glared at her brother with disapproval.
Chase sat up in the chair; he leaned in closer to the man.
"I did not start the fight, Mr. Simmons. Tim Jones did."
The principle rolled his eyes.
"I asked Mr. Jones himself, and he said otherwise. Besides, your act of nearly drowning him in the fountain in the quad does not help your case, Mr. Jackson." Chase sunk back in the chair, but Sophia rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
Sophia knew and fully understood the fact that Chase had a horrible, impatient temper. He was like a walking box of TNT: one spark of a fiery comment, and BOOM, you get hurt with his explosive words, or punches. It depended on the day, really.
It's just too bad that Tim Jones had to be the victim of this outburst.
Tim Jones is one of the more popular kids in the school. However, he uses his popularity for the worst. He usually teases kids, and sometimes, he even physically abuses them. Unfortunately, Sophia has experienced his wrath back in the beginning of her freshman year. He threw her favorite book in a muddy puddle.
Sophia shook her head as she snapped back from the memory.
"Mr. Simmons, I hate to be so rude, but it probably was Tim Jones's fault." She let out a sigh as she walked over to the other vacant chair. "He has a tendency to physically harm others, you see." The principle raised an eyebrow as he considered Sophia's accusation.
"I know that Mr. Jones is not the most perfect student when it comes to social interaction, but let me remind you that your brother is in the same waters, Miss Jackson." His dark, judging eyes flickered over to Chase. Sophia's fists balled at her sides.
"How dare you compare my brother to that horrid boy!" Sophia even had the nerve to stand up. "At least my brother has the nerve to stand up to that idiotic pig. At least my brother knows wrong from right. At least my brother knows not to hurt his fellow classmates." She rested her hands on the principle's desk, leaning in closer to him. She made sure that her eyes were boring into his. She wanted to make her point clear.
"At least my brother can give Tim Jones the taste of his own medicine." She pulled back, her hands automatically falling to her sides. The principle managed to blink a couple of times before returning to his usual façade of ignorance.
"Yes, well, no matter how many words of wisdom you may preach to me, Miss Jackson, he still has two days of detention." Out of the corner of her eye, Sophia saw Chase's shoulders sag even more. She bit her bottom lip.
"All right, thank you, Mr. Simmons." Sophia didn't know why she was thanking the tyrannical man, but she had a feeling that he had lessened the punishment some.
Thank the gods.