"Lady's please lower your voices?" said principal Lang as he dropped two tablets of Alka-Seltzer in his glass of water. Lacey looked at principal Lang and apologized, "Sorry principal Lang, but I am not going to sit here and let Syrita talk trash about something she has absolutely no clue about." Lacey then stares Syrita dead in the face and says, " Do not disrespect me and call me out of my name. This is my last warning. You have one more time to call me a whore, liar or sociopath lover… Just one more time." Syrita, turned her body towards Lacey and stuck her neck out as if she were trying to make certain Lacey heard loud and clear of the words that were about to come out of her mouth. Lacey turned her head in disbelief at Syrita's audacity to encroach on her personal space. Syrita smirked and whispered, "I hope you rot in prison with him." The word "him" was followed by a loud smack. Lacey looked at her right hand as it stung from slapping Syrita across the face. Lacey was a bit shock at what just occurred. Although it was an impulsive reaction, Lacey couldn't help but to relish at how good it felt to slap Syrita. Syrita sat erect while grasping her throbbing left cheek. Lacey cringed at the sight of Syrita's red face. Syrita's nostrils flared and her eyes became glassy. Syrita then jolted out of her seat and lunged for Lacey's neck. Lacey then yanked ferociously on Syrita's long curly hair. Syrita yelped, "Ouch, you witch!" When Syrita refused to loosen her grip on Lacey's neck, Lacey then began to kick and punch wildly. Lacey evidently hit something, because Syrita was balled on the floor and Lacey could actually breathe. Just when Lacey finally could massage her throat, she was struck in the shoulder by an Encyclopedia. principal Lang screamed that's enough, Janet, call the police.
Lacey was on fire! She didn't care about the consequences anymore. This was war! Lacey was enraged and bellowed, "You want to throw heavy books! Really! Seriously!" Lacey shoved principal Lang to the side as she leaped across the desk, wrapped her hands in Syrita's hair and began to bang Syrita's head to the beat of her emotional break down. Lacey could feel the principal yanking at her arm, but Lacey ignored his attempts because she had a few more things to say; "I…(bang)…am…(bang)…so (bang)…sick of you thinking you own me and this school… (Bang). You… (Bang) are… (Bang) nothing… (Bang) but… (Bang) a… (Bang) self… (Bang) centered… (Bang) miserable… shady…(Bang)…leech… (Bang)." Lacey finally released Syrita's hair from her grasp and allowed the principal to shove her onto the other side of the room. Lacey staggered breathlessly into the corner feeling both triumphant and invigorated, while principal Lang kneeled to pick a battered Syrita off the floor. Suddenly the office door busted open and in enters the police. principal Lang was grateful to see the police officers finally arrive. He had been scratched and spit on from when he tried to prevent Lacey and Syrita from engaging in a brawl. He felt as if he were a referee in the midst of a street kickboxing match. Once the officers grabbed both Syrita and Lacey, the principal felt the need to examine his clothes, only to discover that they were disturbingly disheveled. His tie was wrapped around his neck; his blazer was no longer fastened and his black shoes were covered in scuffmarks. principal Lang straightened his tie and requested they take Syrita to the nurse's office. As for Lacey he was reluctant to shed any pity, because she not only shoved, and tousled his attire but also knocked everything off his desk when she leaped for Syrita. For a brief moment he considered expelling her, but that would have been a bit drastic.
principal Lang sat on the corner edge of his cleared walnut desk and sighed, "Lacey what has gotten into you? First you rouse Mrs. Crane and Mrs. Desai at the hearing and now you try to crack Syrita's head open. You could have refrained from responding. I know in the moment you felt insulted but I could have taken care of Syrita with a suspension considering I witnessed her provoke you. However, now I must suspend the both of you." Lacey shook her head. She winced at the sound of suspension. In all her academic success had she not once been reprimanded or disciplined? Lacey felt her throat knotting up. As much as she wanted to display a nonchalant attitude, she couldn't because an annoying single tear escaped the rim of her right eyelid and slid from her cheek into her lap. principal Lang noticed it and was actually relieved to know that he was affecting her conscience. Lacey looked at principal Lang with a blank stare and spoke in a low raspy tone, "Do what you have to do." She then slowly stood erect, turned and sashayed out the office. As Lacey walks towards the exit door, she begins to replay the events of the day in her mind. Lacey knew principal Lang probably thought she had lost her mind; but that wasn't the case. All her frustration had boiled to the surface. A switch simply went off in her head. Rage was what she felt and rage was what she released. Her view of Syrita had changed in those few moments when they were face to face. Lacey didn't see a teenage girl. Instead, she saw everything that was wrong with society and Syrita was the epitome of it all. Of course the safe and logical thing to have done was to not get involved, not speak up and not fight back, but Lacey wasn't anyone's doormat. If this is what they call falling from grace, then she wasn't going down quietly.