Chapter 3
The Next Morning
The next morning Lizzie nervously eats her breakfast. Matt flips bits of dried cereal at her. "Stop it, dork!"
"Ha! Ha! Lizzie has to meet the principal."
"Leave me alone."
"You're such an amateur. Couldn't even leave school without getting caught."
"Go away, freak!"
"Have fun on your suspension."
"Mom! Make him leave me alone."
Jo sighs with exasperation, "Matt, leave your sister alone." Matt throws another piece of cereal at his sister.
"Mom, he's still throwing things at me."
"Matthew McGuire, stop badgering your sister or you'll be grounded for another week."
"Another week?"
"You're already grounded for a month. Do you want to make it two?"
"No."
Sam walks in the kitchen. "Sam, can we just run away until they turn eighteen?" an exasperated Jo asks.
"That sounds good. How about running off to a small island near Hawaii."
"Now you're talking." Sam embraces Jo and plants a deep kiss on her lips. Jo returns the kiss.
A disgusted look spreads across Matt's face, "Eww! Get a room!"
"Hey, I can kiss my wife any time and anywhere I please." He gives her another kiss, and Jo giggles. Sam snaps back to reality, "Okay, Matt get your stuff. We'll drop you off on the way. Lizzie, are you ready?"
"I guess so," she replies dejectedly.
When Sam, Jo, and Lizzie arrived at the high school, they saw Gordo and Miranda and their parents. "Can I go talk to Gordo and Miranda," Lizzie asked her parents.
"Sure, go ahead," Jo replied.
Lizzie walked over to her friends, "Hey Miranda, hey Gordo."
"Hey."
"So, what do you think will happen?" Miranda asks.
"I don't know," Lizzie replied.
"Who narked?" Gordo inquires.
"I bet it was Kate or Claire." answered Lizzie.
"I thought she had changed when we were in Rome, but I guess not."
"There's principal Ungermeyer." Miranda states.
"Let's get this over with." They rejoin their parents and walk into the office.
"Lizzie, Miranda, and David were seen leaving school premises just after the first period tardy bell rang," the principal stated, "which generally carries a two-day out of school suspension." Two days! My life is over! "However," the principal continues, "none of them have gotten into trouble, since Rome and their grades are good. I think we can waive the out of school suspension in favor of two days of in school suspension starting Monday. So, I'll see the three of you in ISS when you return to school. Normally I wouldn't let students make up work missed for out of school suspensions or unexcused absences, but I'll make an exception. You can make up your missed work during ISS Monday." The principal gets up, shakes hands with the parents, and escorts the group out of the office.
Lizzie walks to the car with her parents. She puts her hand on the car door and began crying. Jo puts her hand on her daughter's shoulder. Lizzie turns around and buries her tear-stained face in her mother's arms. "I'm sorry, mommy."
"I know you are. Let's just go home."
"Okay."