Chapter Thirty Two: S.O.S by Jonas Brothers
Rose was standing in front of the school, about to go in. Jack took her hand and smiled. "It's going to be okay."
"I don't understand why I can't change classes. I'll stand in the back, I'll sit on the floor. I don't care," she cried. "I don't want to do this."
Jack wiped her tears. "It's going to be okay."
"I'm going to ask again," said Rose. "I'm going up to the office. I'll see you later."
Rose kissed her cheek. "I love you," said Jack.
They went into the building, and Jack went to the staircase. Rose was going to the seventh floor, so she waited for the elevator. The elevator doors opened, and the everyone left. There was only one person in the elevator, and it was the one person Rose didn't want to see: Ruth.
Rose heard Jack's voice in her head telling her to be strong. So, she got in the elevator and pretended that everything was fine. No one spoke, and finally they had reached the seventh floor. Rose left and didn't look back.
R: I ran into her in the elevator.
R: I almost died
J: What did you do?
R: Just didn't say anything
J: I'm sorry.
R: I'm going up to the office now. Talk to you later.
Rose went into the office. "How can I help you, dear?"
"I need to speak to Principal Greene," said Rose.
"Do you have an appointment?" The receptionist asked.
"No," said Rose. "But this is urgent."
"Okay, well he's free right now," said the receptionist. "You can go right in."
Rose knocked. "Come in."
She entered and explained to the principal what had been going on. "I understand," he responded. "I really do. And I'm going to do everything in my power to get you transferred."
"Thank you so much," said Rose.
"But these things take time," said the principal. "I need you to continue going to class until we can take care of this."
"What?" Rose asked.
"By law, we cannot let you graduate unless you attend every twelfth grade English class, except for two possible missed classes," said the principal. "I'm really sorry, Rose. My hands are tied."
"Okay, thank you," said Rose. She left and walked to the bathroom, holding back the tears, when she ran into Jack.
He stopped her. He put his protective arms around her. "What's going on?"
"I can't do this," Rose choked out. She was hyperventilating, shaking, and crying.
"Come with me," said Jack. He took her hand, and they walked back to the office. He didn't stop at the receptionist desk; he went straight for the principal's office.
"Hey, you can't go in there!" The receptionist said.
Jack didn't care. He walked right into the principal's office. "Young man, I'm in a meeting."
"Look at her," said Jack, pointing to Rose. Her eyes were red with tears, and she was still breathing heavily. "You cannot do this to her. This is absolutely unacceptable."
"Mr. Dawson, I told Rose that I would do everything I can to transfer her," said the principal. "But I said these things take time, and for the time being, she has to go to class."
"That's not good enough," said Jack. "I have been at this school for thirteen years. And I've seen people transfer for absolutely no reason. You need to either get a teacher to teach her one on one, or you have to transfer her. But if you don't do this, I will go to the school board. And I won't stop until I get Rose out of here."
"If she misses two more classes, she cannot graduate," said the principal.
Jack scoffed. "We'll see." He took Rose's hand and they walked out. She started to cry all over again. "Shh, shh," he comforted her.
She couldn't calm down. "I can't go back. I don't want to!"
"I know," said Jack. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Let's go home."
They arrived at home, and Rose cried against Jack's chest for a while. She finally fell asleep, and he snuck out of the room.
"Jack, what were you doing upstairs? Boys are not allowed upstairs," said Molly.
"I need to talk to you about something serious," said Jack.
Molly nodded. "Okay," she said. They sat down in the living room. "What's this about?"
"Rose's mother left her when she was a kid," said Jack. "And she started working at school this year. And she's our English teacher."
"I assume Rose knows?" Molly asked.
Jack nodded. "She knew immediately," he said. "Listen, she can't stay in that class. Today, she started hyperventilating."
"Did she ask her advisor to transfer?" Molly asked.
"She asked her advisor, she asked the principal," Jack began.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing," said Jack. "There has to be some kind of rule against this. It's a major conflict of interest."
"Absolutely," said Molly. "Listen, I'm going to call them and see what we can do."
"Thank you so much, Molly," said Jack.
"I'll call now," said Molly. She picked up the phone and dialed the number. "Hi, this is Molly Brown. Can you please connect me with Principal Greene?"
There was silence while Molly listened. "This is absolutely unacceptable. Either you sort this out, or the Union Square group home will send their kids somewhere else."
Jack smiled as he watched. "Are you serious?" Molly demanded. "And you seriously won't override this stupid rule, given the circumstances?"
"This is absolutely unacceptable," said Molly. There was a long pause. "Yes, talk to the board, get back to me."
She hung up the phone. "Well?" Jack asked.
Molly sighed. "There's a mandatory school rule that says a student must attend three classes before requesting a transfer."
"He never mentioned that today," said Jack. "I don't understand."
"I really don't know," said Molly. "Would Rose be open to going?"
Jack shook his head. "Listen, Molly. This has to be solved tonight. Because according to the principal, if she misses another English class, she doesn't get to graduate."
"I'm going to do the best that I can," said Molly. "And she really can't just… tough it out for one semester?"
"I don't think so," said Jack.
"Okay, I'll get this taken care of," said Molly. "I'll show up to his house if I have to."
"Thank you," said Jack. They sat there awkwardly for a second.
Molly smiled. "Go ahead, go back upstairs," she said. "No use in me pretending not to know you sneak into her bedroom every night."
Jack chuckled and smiled. "Thanks Molly."