Oops.

23. Teachers.

Finn.

Finn?

Oh shit.

I'm in trouble.

"Finn!" I yelled out startled. "I...Uh...what are you?—"

"Marley what in the world is in your hand?" Finn called out. He sounded like Mom when she found me smoking my bedroom that one time.

"It's not mine! I wasn't smoking!" I cried out.

"I saw you put that in your mouth! I in that classroom up there when I looked out and saw you." He pointed to the health classroom. Oh the irony in that. "I saw you put it in your mouth and ran down here to stop you." He then looked on the ground and saw the empty box and the old cigarette on the ground. "Marley, how many have you had?"

I lost it after he asked me that. I dropped the cigarette and fell to my knees sobbing. I wasn't sobbing because Finn caught me smoking, I was sobbing because I let myself get to this point. Smoking outside of school being in a spot that I thought wasn't visible to anyone else. I felt Finn pull me back up and hug me softly in a friendly embrace while telling me everything would be okay. I then felt the two of us start walking into the school.

Well, off to being expelled now.

We got inside the school. I kept my eyes shut as we moved to the principals office. Once inside, as I heard a door open, Finn brought me inside and helped me sit on a chair. I didn't open my eyes and face Principal Figgins. I just wanted to get expelled now and just go home and do nothing. Just sit in my room.

"Mr. Schue I think I know why Marley has been acting differently lately." Finn said.

Mr. Schue?

I opened my eyes and saw we were in Mr. Schue's office and not Principal Figgin's office. Mr. Schue was in his seat looking between Finn and I, a little confused too, and asked, "Finn? Marley?"

Finn squatted to my eye-level and looked at me. "Go on Marley," He said softly. God he was being nice to me now. "Tell Mr. Schue." I looked between him and Mr. Schue and Finn comforted me. "It's just us in here, nobody else."

I lost it again sobbing. My throat was too dry to even say a word. So instead I pulled my bag up on my lap and began digging through until I pulled out the cigarette box I just opened, another cigarette box and a lighter to use for them. I held them all in one hand and placed them on Mr. Schue's desk as close as possible and then I sat back down and leaned back against the chair.

Mr. Schue was silent for several minutes. Shocked that I was doing this, smoking cigarettes. "You smoke?"

I nodded.

"On school property?"

I nodded again. Finn said, "I caught her outside when I was in the health classroom cleaning up the room."

"Was it just today?" Mr. Schue asked me.

I shook my head. "A while..."

"Since your Mom—"

"A week after Sectionals." I said before he could finish.

That came to a surprise for the both of them.

"After we lost Sectonals I blamed myself, because I did cause us to lose because I fainted and we had to stop...which is already bullshit in the first place. And so I had stress from that and then stress because Glee ended and everyone was joining different clubs so they could do something for the rest of the year and then my Mom had to work extra jobs and hours to pay for my hospital bill and I had to see a stupid therapist on Wednesdays after school. All this stress built up and then I had a cigarette one day and all the stress I had on my shoulder was lifted. Singing and writing songs helped too, but smoking really helped me relax and get rid of stress. And as more stress came up like homework and tests and quizzes came up and making sure I was okay for Regional I just kept smoking and I got to this point where I felt like I had to smoke all the time." I explained.

"All the time?" Finn asked.

I nodded. "Before school, after school, before Glee practice, after Glee practice, as soon as I got home, during homework, studying for tests and quizzes and two or three before bed."

Mr. Schue and Finn just looked at one another shocked. They didn't think someone might be under this much stress and only able to handle it by smoking.

I wiped a few tears away. "My mom caught me once and I lied saying that I was only doing it once. She thought I stopped but I kept it hidden from her after that." I felt my voice crack. "If I known she died.. I would of told her before she passed away." I started to cry again.

I felt Finn resting a hand on my back and rubbing it. "It's okay, it's okay," He said soothingly. "Calm down Marley, it's alright."

"Am I expelled?" I asked Mr. Schue.

"No," He sighed. "Maybe suspended for a week for smoking on school property. Does your guardian know about this?"

I shook my head. I didn't want Minnie to get in trouble.

"Okay..." Mr. Schue said. He went silent again as his pen tapped on the desk, thinking deeply. "Alright, this is what will happen with Principal Figgins. You will be suspended for one week for smoking on school grounds. That might include classes, but it could just mean no Glee Club and you can still attend classes."

"Okay." I said.

"I also want you to find time to see Ms. Pillsbury and talk to her about any problems you are having a difficult time with." He said.

I didn't want too, but I nodded.

"I'll ask the health teacher if she knows any place for teenagers to go to get over this smoking habit. I'll leave your name out. And from that point I want you to do whatever it is you're told to do in order to stop smoking. Okay?"

I nodded again. I felt a little better. I wasn't going to be expelled.

"Marley did someone here force you to smoke? Did they pressure you?" Finn asked.

"No, I did. I made friends with someone who doesn't go here and I tried a cigarette of theirs. But I haven't seen them in a while." I told him.

"Alright then." Finn said. "Is your locker clean?"

Fuck. The drugs. "I can go clean it now."

"Do that and come back here."

I nodded and practically ran down the hallway to my locker and grabbed all the drugs I had inside. I hid those in my backpack and then took the three cigarette boxes I had and placed them in my jacket pocket. I returned to Mr. Schue's office and handed the boxes over to him and Finn. They talked to me for a few more minutes, mentioning they wanted to have a meeting with Minnie in the future about this smoking habit. I nodded for that and made a note to tell her.

"Marley I'm not happy that you've been doing this

After all of that I ran outside, thinking Ryder got bored and left, but saw him leaning against the door of his pickup truck. "What happened?" He asked. "It's been a half hour."

I sighed and lowered my head. "Finn caught me smoking."

Ryder's jaw dropped down and his eyes went wide. "Shit!" He roared out. "What happened after that? Are you in trouble? Are you expelled? Suspended? What!?"

"No, not expelled. Maybe suspended from Glee club only. And I have to have a meeting with Ms. Pillsbury every week at some point and have a meeting with her, Mr. Schue and Minnie to discuss this. And of course that means my social worker is going to be notified about this and come to the meeting too."

"Are you going to get in bigger trouble?"

"No. I hope Minnie doesn't though. I like her house and if I stop smoking and getting high and whatever, nothing will change. She doesn't care what I do most of the time." I said. "I just wanna go see a movie."

"One more question."

"Fine."

"Is Lark out of your life?" Ryder asked me.

Damn he had a point. When I hung out with Lark these days we got high and smoked cigarettes together. But he was still my friend too...but his influence on me now is putting me in jeopardy.

"Marley?"

"I don't have to smoke or get high when I'm with him, Ryder." He didn't look too happy with that answer. "I don't know, I have to think about it."

"You had me and Unique and Glee club before Lark." Ryder said. "Just a tip."

We both climbed into the truck to go see a movie at the movie theater. The whole ride there I thought about Lark and what I was doing with my life now.

Oh so what do you think Marley is going to do now with her life?