"Oliver?"
"What is it Peck?" Oliver asked over his shoulder.
"Slow down a second" Gail demanded in a shaky voice.
Oliver stopped and turned to face Gail. He was well aware of the strained relationship between Gail and her mother. Gail absolutely dreaded being anywhere near the woman and would no doubt try any attempt to stall the interaction. Oliver was well aware of this, and knew he couldn't let Gail get away with it. "What's the matter Peck?"
"You can still redeem yourself in my eyes. Just go in there and tell my mother I'm not here".
"Hm, and what do you suggest I say when she wants to know why you're not here?"
"I don't know!" Gail replied exasperatingly. "Make something up!"
"You know I am a terrible liar Peck"
"How are you a terrible liar?" Gail asked in disbelief. " You're an adult!"
Oliver shot her a genuine look of confusion. "What does being an adult have to do with being a good liar?"
"Uh, because you have had years more to practice lying than kids" Gail stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Oliver chuckled. "Peck, that doesn't even make sense".
"It makes perfect sense!" Gail defended. "You-"
Oliver cut in before Gail could begin to explain. "Peck, as much as I would love a glimpse into the reasoning of a teenager, you're mother is waiting. So let's go".
"Alright fine" Gail sighed exasperatingly. "Tell her," she paused, biting her lip in concentration as she thought of a good excuse. "Oh, I know!" she continued, her face lighting up enthusiastically a moment later. "Tell her I got eaten by a bear!"
Oliver's eyebrows shot up, an equal mixture of disbelief and amusement flashing across his face. "You want me to tell your mother you got eaten by a bear?"
"Yes! Tell her we were all hiking and a bear popped out. I fought him off with my mad ninja skills while everyone else escaped. But it ate me in the process. Make sure you tell her I fought valiantly and saved a lot of people".
"Peck that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard" Oliver breathed out through his laughter.
Gail glared at Oliver. "Well I'm sorry. It was the best I could come up with at the moment" she spat sarcastically.
Oliver smiled amusingly at her, completely unfazed by her harsh tone. "Now Peck, I know you can do better than that".
Gail narrowed her eyes at Oliver's challenge. "Fine" she huffed. "How about I was kidnapped?"
Oliver frowned, all hints of playfulness gone from his features. "Kidnapped?" he repeated, hoping that Gail wouldn't really stoop that low to avoid talking with her mother.
"Yes, kidnapped" Gail paused momentarily to increase the buildup to her punch line. "Tell her I was kidnapped by Big Foot in the middle of the night".
Oliver rolled his eyes, the tension in his posture vanishing as he realized Gail was just joking. "I think that one is worse than the bear idea".
"Well then just use the bear story!"
Oliver sighed heavily. "Gail," he began in a serious tone. "Come on. Just go talk to her. It won't be that bad". Oliver decided to ignore Gail's snort and continued undeterred. "She's not here because of the incident earlier" he assured genuinely. "The sooner you go and talk to her the sooner you'll be done. Ok?"
Gail breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed her shoulders, the tension in them dissipating at the simple movement. Although Gail would never admit it, she was worried her mother was here because Principal Barber had told her about earlier. Her mother loved criticizing her and would probably welcome the opportunity to do so after she found out about Gail's shenanigans. But, if her mother wasn't here to scold her, what else could she be here for? Couldn't a simple phone call have worked better than coming in person? Gail sighed. There was no use contemplating the reasons for her mother's visit. She would find out soon anyway.
"Alright. Lets get this over with" she relented grumpily.
Oliver smiled and motioned for her to continue following him. Gail reluctantly fell into step behind him once again. Several moments of silence passed before Gail spoke again.
"How about bitten by a werewolf?"
"Nope"
"Bird Flu?"
"Keep trying"
"Vampire?"
Oliver laughed. "Peck, I think I can make a pretty decent case that you're already a vampire".
Gail scowled. "Hilarious. I've never heard that one before" she muttered sarcastically. "Zombie Apocalypse?"
Oliver's laughter filled Gail's ears and it made her smile. "I think that one could work Peck".
"Told you I would think of something good" she retorted.
Oliver stopped at the door and turned around, a genuine smile on his face. "Yes, that you did Peck. You ready?" he tilted his head towards the door.
Gail's walls immediately came back up, the tension in her body returning full force, as she stood up tall, and wiped away all traces of a smile. "No" she answered honestly.
"It'll be fine" Oliver assured as he patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"Easy for you to say. She isn't your mother".
"Just get this over with and then later come by my office, I will have a fresh box of donuts for us".
Gail perked up at this information. "Really?"
"Yup, really".
"The chocolate ones with chocolate icing right?" Gail asked.
"Of course Peck! I do have taste after all".
"You sure we can't ditch this and just go eat now?" Gail pleaded, trying one last feeble attempt to get out of seeing her mother.
"No can do Peck. Get in there" Oliver commanded lightly. He simultaneously grabbed the door handle and Gail, shoving the woman into the room and closing it before Gail had a chance to reply.
"Hello Gail. So nice of you to finally show up" a woman's voice said.
Gail looked up into her mother's disapproving eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out silently, hoping to prepare herself for what was about to come. "Hello Mother".
Gail stood staring at the closed door long after her mother had left. She was in complete shock. Her mother had informed her that there summer plans to travel through Europe were now being canceled. Her parents had decided at the last minute that heading some sort of police sabbatical all summer throughout Canada was more important than spending the summer with their daughter. So now, instead of being in Paris in four weeks, she was going to be stuck in this boarding school all summer. How could she do this? What does her mother expect her to do all summer in this boarding school? No one will even be here!
Dozens of emotions washed through Gail like a giant, storm induced wave. She wasn't sure which one should take precedent. She didn't know why she was so shocked her mother had once again chosen her job over her own daughter. It always happened. It was one of the reasons Gail was sent to a boarding school to begin with. So her parents could work as much as they wanted without having to worry about feeding dinner to a kid every night.
No, she wasn't surprised her mother bailed once again. She was surprised her mother would make her stay at the boarding school all summer though. Did her parents not trust her enough to stay at home? She could get a job if she had to. She could even stay at an aunt or uncle's house. Anything would be better than being stuck in this school in the middle of nowhere all summer.
Gail sighed and heaved the door open to the office. She knew she had given her mother enough time to leave. So the prospect of running into her again had vanished. Gail briskly began to walk down the hall back to her dorm room. After today, all she wanted to do was lie in bed and hope this day had been a dream.
Gail turned the corner quickly, deeply immersed in her own thoughts to be paying attention to what was in front of her. The moment she turned the corner she smacked hard into someone, causing a bouquet of lilies and sheets of paper to scatter everywhere. Gail looked up at the person, a string of insults on the tip of her tongue.
But when she saw that it was Holly she had run into she bit her lip. After this morning Gail vowed that she would make a better effort to be polite to the girl.
When Holly registered that Gail was the person she knocked into her shocked expression quickly morphed into anger. "Unbelievable! You just don't give up do you?"
"Huh?"
Holly scoffed, "Don't act all innocent. You know exactly what I am talking about! How long have you been waiting here? Or is one of your friends down the hall alerting you of my presence?"
Realization dawned on Gail and she looked at Holly in disbelief. "Wait, you think I ran into you on purpose?" The look on Holly's face indicated that is exactly what she thought. Gail just stared at her dumbfounded. She wanted to retort back with a lieu of insults, but she reframed from doing so. She was going to try and be polite to Holly from now on, even if Holly wasn't making it easy for her.
"Holly it was an accident" Gail replied truthfully.
"Oh, right of course. Just like my hair right?" Holly pointed to her hair still tinted a faded pink. "Or my cat?" Holly took a step forward and narrowed her eyes at Gail. "Or any of the other hundreds of pranks you have played on me in the last few years?"
Gail closed her eyes momentarily to shove the anger rising inside her back down. She had no right to yell back at Holly. She deserved every word Holly was throwing at her. She knew she had to stand there and let Holly do this. It was only fair after everything she had done. She would just have to take it, even if every thought in her brain circled around fighting back.
"Holly, it was an accident okay?" Gail muttered once Holly had stopped to take a breath. Before Holly could start again Gail bent down and began to pick up the crumpled and disfigured flowers.
"Don't touch those" The tone of Holly's voice made Gail freeze. A hand immediately shoved her back and she dutifully stepped away. Holly knelt down and gently began to pick the flowers up.
Gail's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why is Holly so distraught over flowers? Gail noticed Holly's back rise and fall rapidly. Gail heard a distinct, almost imperceptible sniffle come from the girl. Was Holly seriously crying over a bunch of flowers?
"Holly?" Gail said hesitantly.
"Go away" Holly managed in a shaky voice.
Gail's patience was beginning to run thin. She hated it when people cried in front of her. She never knew what to do. She always felt so awkward. But the fact that it was Holly crying in front of her just seemed to make it worse.
"Look, if you're seriously that upset about a bunch of stupid flowers, I'll go buy you some new ones". The moment Gail uttered those words she immediately regretted it. Holly's whole body instantly stiffened; the quiet sobs stopping.
"They're not just a bunch of stupid flowers!" Holly said through her clenched jaw.
"I'm s-"
"No!" Holly cut in before Gail had a chance to apologize again. "Don't say another word Gail. You have already caused enough damage. Just leave me alone. Now".
"Hol-"
"Leave me alone!" Holly said more forcefully.
Gail took a step back and slowly walked around Holly. Once she was a few feet away she turned back around to see Holly's body shaking again. "I'm sorry" Gail whispered loud enough for Holly to hear. Gail turned around and ran down the hall as quickly as she could. What the hell just happened?