When a Good Girl Goes Bad
Author's Note:
I am sorry for the delay. I wanted to write a scene where Maggie gets herself in hot water in the principal's office, but I couldn't quite visualize it…that is, until I watched a few episodes of "Psych" and was inspired!
In the principal's office scene, the principal of Hawkins High, Mrs. Winnifred Wilcroft, will be portrayed by Kirsten Nelson. The role of the principal, in my mind, is very similar to that of Kirsten Nelson's role as Karen Vick in the show "Psych", which is what helped me visualize the scene.
I have a hard time picturing Karen Vick with an 80s hairstyle, so you readers familiar with that time period can use your imaginations.
Anyway, on with the story!
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"Hi, I'm looking for Callum Brocklebank, who owns the place?" I asked nervously as I approached the counter, clutching the wooden box that hadn't been fully explained to me. My backpack felt heavy on my shoulders and my hands felt sweaty, but I hung onto the box.
The woman behind the counter, who was untangling necklaces, looked up and replied, giving me a friendly smile, "Mr. Brocklebank stepped out for lunch, but will be back in an hour or so. Is there anything I can help you with?"
I shook my head and replied, "Uh, no, thanks, but no"
The woman frowned, "Shouldn't you be in school right now? You go to Hawkins High School, correct?" I nodded. She then said, "My son is a Senior and he's allowed to leave campus for lunch, but you look like a Junior, am I correct?" I nodded.
She went on, smirking, "11th graders aren't allowed to leave the campus for lunch, and yet here you are! I think I should call up the school and let them know one of their students is here without permission"
I felt like I was going to throw up, so I zipped the box back in my backpack, turned and bolted from the store, almost knocking over a few priceless artifacts on my way out. When I pushed open the door and felt the cool air wash over my sweaty face, I was able to relax.
As the door swung shut behind me, I glanced around and chewed on my lower lip, trying to figure out a way home, or back to school. How did I get here in the first place? Well, after a lot of convincing and some flirting, I had gotten Jonathan to drop me off at Junk Deluxe. Keyword; drop me off, meaning I had to find my own way home.
Clutching the straps of my backpack, I glanced this way and that before I spotted a familiar couple sitting on the bench down the way, outside of Melvald's. As I got closer, I realized it was Joyce and Bob, enjoying boloney sandwiches and cans of Dr. Pepper, as they had a nice conversation.
I crept closer and leaned against a parking meter to listen in on their conversation, which I knew almost by heart from watching the show. It was in episode three, the one called "The Pollywog".
Basically, Bob mentioned his JVC was dinged up, Joyce asked him to speak English and he had clarified that he meant his video camera. He then mentioned seeing, on the tape, that there were some bigger kids picking on Will. Joyce, of course, went into Mama Bear mode and muttered something about wanting to harm those kids.
Bob then would mention that this is what he admired about Joyce, the fact that she wasn't afraid to punch back, and that he was never really one to put up a fight. He mentioned struggling a lot like Will when he was a kid, with bullies.
After his little soliloquy about bullies and how he's lucky that he gets to date Joyce Byers, the two smiled at each other and then leaned in to kiss. As they kissed, I moved from my spot by the parking meter and walked down the sidewalk to the bench where they sat.
Bob opened his eyes, saw me, sat up and spoke, "Oh, hey there, Maggie" This made Joyce startle and turn to look up at me. Bob then asked, "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
Joyce turned to Bob, "Good point, I thought I asked you to make sure that this girl doesn't play hooky?"
Nodding, Bob replied, "You did, and I made sure that she got into the school. She went right in through the front doors. Seemed like she was embarrassed about something though"
Rubbing her temple, Joyce asked, "Oh, Bob, you didn't embarrass her, did you?"
Shrugging, the man answered, "All I did was roll down my window, lean out and call to her, "Make good choices, kiddo"
Joyce just groaned, "Oh, Bob, she's in high school, and generally, high schoolers don't like being called "kiddo", especially in front of their fellow classmates"
The man sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right"
Just then, my stomach decided it was the right time to let out a groan of hunger, loud enough for both Bob and Joyce to hear. Joyce looked concerned, "Oh, Maggie, you must be hungry. Here, you can have the other half of my sandwich"
Before I knew it, I sat on the bench in between Bob and Joyce. Bob spoke, as Joyce gave me the other half of her sandwich, on the wax paper the sandwich had been wrapped in, "Maggie, I'm going to run into Melvald's to get you a can of soda, what would you like?"
I replied, as Joyce guided my arms out of the straps of my backpack and then set my backpack on the ground between our feet, "Coke would be great"
Bob smirked, "Yeah, but what kind? We got Sprite, root beer, uh, Dr. Pepper"
Joyce gave a giggle as she fixed my hair, which was currently in a ponytail, "Bob, she means an actual Coke, you know, Coca-Cola"
After Bob nodded, winked and then went inside the store, Joyce asked, giving my ponytail one last tug, "So, how'd you get here? You were in Junk Deluxe, weren't you? Unfinished business?"
I replied, "Jonathan dropped me off. Yes, I was in Junk Deluxe, but Callum wasn't there, so I wasn't able to finish my discussion with him" Joyce nodded as I took a bite of the sandwich.
As I chewed, Joyce asked, "Are you in the same grade as Jonathan or a grade below? I forgot"
I answered, "I'm a grade below. Jonathan's a Senior, I'm a Junior"
Joyce then frowned, "If I remember correctly, the school rules state that only Seniors are allowed to leave campus for lunch and yet here you are. Something tells me that this wasn't Jonathan's idea, it was yours" I just shrugged nervously and took another bite of my sandwich.
"Here you are, a nice cold can of Coke" announced Bob, sitting down beside me.
Joyce gave me a glare and said, "You'd better snarf down the rest of that sandwich and Coke because I'm not gonna allow you to eat or drink in my car" To Bob, she said, as I cracked open the can of Coke, "I'll explain later"
This, ladies and gentleman is where I get a chance to use my very handy skill of chugging down liquids super quickly, I mean, REALLY fast. There's this special muscle in my throat that allows me to do this. Sure, I got a little brain freeze and the hiccups for like a minute, but those were only temporary.
"Seriously, Maggie, what's gotten into you lately?" exclaimed Joyce as she pulled out of her parking spot. She went on, as I buckled my seatbelt, "I mean, faking an asthma attack to get out of detention, me resorting to pulling you by the hand out of the thrift store after you refused to leave, have I missed anything?"
I replied, "The reason I got the detention in the first place?"
Holding up a finger, the woman said, "Yes, thank you. Do you mind explaining this sudden change in behavior? I want to fill that maternal role that you seem to be missing in your life, but I can't do that if you won't tell me what's goin' on with you"
I gave a nervous squirm on the seat and replied, "I'll explain everything when I can, I promise"
Nodding, Joyce said, "Okay, but I'm gonna hold you to that"
As soon as I entered the school, not long after that, I heard over the intercom, a female voice boom with a slight crackle, "Margaret Langford to the Principal's Office, please, Margaret Langford to the Principal's Office, please" I sighed and swore under my breath as I adjusted the straps on my shoulders.
After what felt like an excruciatingly long walk, I finally found myself at the closed door of the Principal's Office. The nameplate on the door read, "Principal Winnifred Wilcroft" Man, here comes that nausea again.
The secretary looked over at me and said, "Please take a seat, Miss Langford, Mrs. Wilcroft is with a student at the moment" With a sigh, I sat down in the plastic chair by the door. The seat of the chair was ice-cold, thanks to the frigid air blowing down on it from a nearby vent in the ceiling.
"Well, well, well, Miss Margaret Langford, is it?" spoke a familiar voice, about ten minutes later, after the student had left. I looked up to find what I could only describe as a version of Chief Karen Vick (from the awesome show "Psych"), if she were a high school principal in 1984. I always thought Chief Vick was intimidating, but man oh man, seeing her in real life, was kind of scary.
Leaning against the doorframe, Mrs. Wilcroft jerked her head in the direction of her office and said, "Please, do join me, in my office"
I shakily got up from my seat and followed the blond woman on cooked spaghetti legs into her office. Mrs. Wilcroft closed the door behind me and gestured at a hard wooden chair in front of her large wooden desk. SHE had an awesomely comfortable-looking cushioned chair.
Sitting down in that aforementioned chair, the woman folded her fingers on the blotter, leaned forward and asked, "Do you know why I brought you in here, Margaret?" I shook my head. She gave a smirk, "C'mon, take a guess" I shook my head again.
Sitting back and folding her arms, Mrs. Wilcroft spoke, "Alright, I'll tell you a story, tell me if this sounds familiar. A student by the name of Steven Harrington came to me and told me that he overheard you coercing a Mr. Jonathan Byers to take you off campus for lunch"
I sputtered, "I thought that was allowed"
Shaking her head, Mrs. Wilcroft replied, "Nope, it was explained at the start of year assembly that 11th grade students are not allowed to leave campus for lunch while 12th grade students are allowed. Furthermore, 12th grade students are not allowed to take 11th graders off campus for lunch"
She went on, "It seems that you were fully aware of this rule and chose to ignore it and do your own thing. In fact, I spoke to Jonathan Byers and he told me what you told him, that you knew you weren't allowed to leave campus anyway, but chose to convince him to break the rule with you. Thank goodness Mr. Byers is an honest kid"
Mrs. Wilcroft went on, as I sat in my chair, arms folded, stewing over the fact that Jonathan had betrayed me and that those tutoring sessions were over, "Now, for your punishment, I believe a week's worth of detention is in order"
She went on, "Chief Hopper has informed me that, due to your asthma and the fact that William Hargrove attends Saturday detention, you cannot serve detention on Saturdays, so it'll be lunch time detentions all week instead"
I sat up, "Who's to say that Billy Hargrove won't be attending those as well? What will we do then?"
The principal smirked, "You know, we can, put you in a different classroom, if such a situation occurs" I heaved a sigh.
I asked, "So, is Jonathan Byers going to get in trouble, same as me? He's the one who agreed to my coercion and took me off campus for lunch"
Principal Wilcroft replied diplomatically, "That is none of your concern, young lady"
This whole time, my feelings of betrayal, anger and annoyance at Jonathan Byers boiled over and my impulse control issue, got the best of me. Leaping to my feet, I cried out, wishing I had room to slam my hands on her desk, "BULLSHIT!"
Pointing to my chair, Mrs. Wilcroft ordered, "Margaret Langford, take your seat this instant, before I decided to add on an additional week of punishment"
Just as I was about to take my seat, the door opened, making my head swivel around and Mrs. Wilcroft look up. The secretary poked her head through the door, "The Zimmerman boys are at it again. Better go take care of them"
I spoke up, "Or Joyce Byers might do it for you"
To me, Principal Wilcroft said, "You, hush" and then to the secretary, "I'll be right there" and hurried out of the room without another word, pulling the door shut behind her.
Now that I was on my own, there was a chance to make some mischief, so I walked around Mrs. Wilcroft's desk, sank down in her chair and opened a drawer labelled with the words, "Confiscated items"
Rifling through the array of items inside, I took out a bottle of schnapps, pocketed it, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, pocketed that as well, and then closed the drawer after snagging a few colorful rubber bouncy balls. I had a bigger collection at home, but what I DON'T have is any from the 80s!
I was trying to pick the lock to the drawer that held the more confidential files a little while later when I heard Mrs. Wilcroft returning. I had to act fast! Opening the container of cigarettes, I slid one out, placed it in my mouth, put my feet on the desk and crossed my ankles.
Just as the door opened, I leaned back, Ferris Bueller style, my hands clasped behind my head, unlit cigarette poking out of my mouth.
I realized too late, that I had the wrong end sticking out, but I was able to quickly switch it as the woman standing in the doorway, stepped into the room, shut the door behind her and spoke, her voice shaking with anger, "Forget the week of lunchtime detentions, Margaret Langford"
She went on, trying to keep her voice steady, "Oh no, no, no, no, young lady, you now have two weeks suspension" She paused, "Is that a bottle of schnapps sticking out of your pocket? Make that three weeks, and you can look forward to serving a week of lunchtime detention when you return"
Opening her door, she ordered, "Please leave my office. I do not want to see you until three weeks have passed. Also, have Mrs. Richardson call your guardian and inform him of your punishment"
I scurried out of the office, not being able to believe my luck. Of course, when the Professor was called, he asked to speak with me. When I told him the story, he was actually proud of me because I had earned myself all this extra time to get into the Upside Down, time that would normally be spent in school.
Of course, I had asked him, "Well, why did you place me in school then?"
He had answered, "It's part of your mission; attend school and use your free time to either complete homework or work on getting into the Upside Down to get footage, of course!" I didn't quite understand this logic, but whatever.
After gathering my things from my locker, I left a note in Del's locker, telling her to meet me on the wall that separated the middle school field from the trees beyond, because the wall would give me a good vantage point to watch Will get attacked by the Shadow Monster. Nothing I can do to stop it, so might as well watch, right?
Author's Note:
So, the timeline is a little skewed here, but then again, it's going to be slightly different from the show anyway.
For those of you who watch "Psych" I hope you enjoyed the visual imagery of Chief Karen Vick as an 80s high school principal….under a different name, of course. I just chose her for the visual image and I'm glad I did!
I know the three week suspension sounded harsh, even for a first time offender but I'm guessing this principal knows what she's doing. Either that, or I've been watching a lot of "Psych" and imagined what Chief Vick would do in that situation. A police chief is similar to a high school principal, at least in my inexperienced mind.
