Asked to Compromise

“You skipped school again,” Dad said sternly, as I jogged down the stairs for dinner. I ignored him and walked straight into the kitchen.

“Hey, Mom,” I greeted her innocently. Mom gave me one of her looks. I backed off and grabbed a plate, ready to eat.

“Priscilla,” Dad yelled. “Do not ignore me.”

“Okay,” I set my plate down on the counter. “I- We didn’t skip the whole day, it was only the last three or four classes.”

“I don’t care what classes-”

I cut him off, “And for the record, I walked away from a fight in chemistry. This girl was asking for it and I was going to give it to her. But I didn’t, so give me some credit.”

“You don’t get credit for anything,” He scolded me. “Walking away from a fight compared to how many you’ve actually gotten into? Why do you start fights anyway? You know, this has been going on for too long.”

“I don’t start them, I finish them,” I retorted quickly.

“Priscilla, enough,” Mom said in her Italian accent. “Mr. Deegan wants to have a private meeting tomorrow, and we will be there first thing in the morning.”

I bit my tongue and sighed, picking up my plate and filling it with baked chicken and pasta. Deegan could kiss my ass. Whatever he called this meeting for and whatever “severe punishment” he was going to give me would be useless.

“Goodnight,” I said to my parents, picking up my plate and glass of soda to retreat back to my room and eat.



“Priscilla, get up,” Mom said, walking into my room in the morning. I stayed still and pretended like I didn’t hear her. “I know you’re up. Get up and get ready.”

I rolled over and rubbed my eyes. “It’s just a school meeting, Ma. I doubt Deegan has anything else better to do,” I mumbled.

“It’s not just a ‘school meeting’, it’s about you. Being on time is important,” She said. “You’re going to learn one day.”

“Okay, we’ll be on time. I’m getting up now,” I groaned before she could go on one of her psycho rants. I waited until she left while mumbling something in Italian. I kicked the blanket off of me and dragged myself to the bathroom to shower.

After my shower, I quickly did my hair and makeup. I put on a striped tank top with jeans shorts and converse. I grabbed my bag and met my parents downstairs, who were already waiting for me.
“Please don’t act out when we get there,” Mom said to me in the car on the way to the school.

“When do I ever act out?” I asked sarcastically. I picked at the frayed ends of my shorts.

“Cut the sarcasm, too,” Dad added.

I licked over my lips and bit the inside of my cheek, leaning against the leather seat. When we got to the school, Dad parked and we got out. I could already feel people looking at me with my parents, but I dared them to say something.

We walked through the parking lot full of people to the main building. I noticed the chick from yesterday standing by the doors. She was laughing until she saw me, and rolled her eyes.

“You got something to say?” I called out to her. “What did I tell you yesterday? I’m right here.”

Dad caught me by the strap of my bag and pulled me back. “What did we tell you in the car?”

I ignored him and gave her a death glare. I was going to kick her ass regardless whether it was today or tomorrow. She quickly walked away as we walked through the front doors and turned to the main office. The secretary automatically recognized me and my parents.

“I’ll go let Mr. Deegan know that you guys are here,” She smiled at my parents. Whenever I came in here by myself she gave me a disgusted look and she was rude.

I sat down in one of the chairs, staring out the glass wall into the hallway. Mom and Dad sat together talking. I smiled when I recognized the voices coming down the hall. Charlie and Max came around the corner, and almost didn’t see me until Max looked over. They walked into the office casually and I stood up, hugging them both.

“What are your parents doing here?” Max whispered.

“Deegan called a meeting after yesterday,” I shrugged. “I texted you last night.”

“Guess your last ‘strike’ is up then,” Max said.

“Guess so,” I agreed.

“Mr. and Mrs. Daniels, come on in,” Deegan said in his deep, raspy voice. “Priscilla, you can wait outside. I have to talk to your parents for a minute.”

I nodded and scowled at him when he turned around.

“Hey, Mrs. And Mr. D,” Charlie waved at them.

“Lookin’ good, Mrs. D,” Max smirked at my mom.

“Charlie, Max,” Dad said. “Nice to see you.” Mom just smiled at them before they both disappeared into Deegan’s office.

“Your dad totally hates us,” Max laughed. “But your mom…damn.”

“That’s my mom, dumbass,” I slapped him in the chest.

“That’s why you look so good,” Charlie said, laughing.

“Get out,” I pointed to the door of the office. “Go somewhere. Text me later. I’ll let you know how this goes.”

“Later, ‘Cilla,” They both said at the same time. I hugged them again before they walked back out and down the hall. Knowing them, they weren’t heading to class.

I sat back down and played with my phone, wondering what Deegan had to talk to my parents about first. If he was going to suspend me, I was used to it. There wasn’t really much punishment he could give me that I hadn’t got before.

“Priscilla, please come in here,” Mom said, stepping out of his office.

I sighed and put my phone away, standing up. I walked into the office and Mom gave me a weird look as I walked past her. I took the middle seat in the office, sitting right in front of Deegan’s desk. Mom sat to my left and Dad was standing up.

“Uh,” I looked from Dad directly to Deegan.

“You know what this is about, right?” Deegan asked, leaning forward in his swivel chair.

“I cut class yesterday,” I said. “Anything else, then no.”

“I told I expected you to come back to school with a new attitude and motivation. It’s still only September, and yesterday was your last warning,” He said.

“Okay,” I motioned for him to go on. “What, are you going to suspend me? Because if you are then--”

“Priscilla, shut up,” Dad said, standing beside me.

His tone and posture told me it was something serious.

“It’s time to take action. This,” Deegan held up a manila folder with papers in it, “is your transcript. We went through all of your grades for freshman and sophomore year. You’re not doing too great.”

“Well, I know that,” I said sarcastically.

“You keep this up, you won’t be graduating on time; which is why I called this meeting and spoke to your parents about it first. We can compromise on this…”

“What compromise?” I asked, looking at him.

“You either re-do sophomore year and get back on the right track, or we’ll have to transfer you to an alternative high school in California, A. S. High School,” He said.

“You can’t do that!” I yelled, jumping from the chair. “I can’t get held back! That’s not fair! You can’t send me away! You’ve lost your fucking mind!”

“Priscilla!” Dad yelled at me. “We talked about it, and you are going whether you like it or not. It’ll be a good experience for you, teach you a lesson.”

“Do you even know what A. S. High is?!” I shouted at Mom and Dad. “It’s like… jail! The convicts go there! Eric got sent there in freshman year!”

“We know what it is, and trust that there are no ‘convicts’ in that school,” Mom explained. “You’ve got to learn your lesson, Priscilla. I want to see you do something good and graduate on time. It’s a good school, great academics. It’s only for junior year, I promise.”

“A good school all the way in California! I’d rather be expelled and homeschooled!”

“It’s… you need to get away from here,” Dad said. “You need to get away from this scene and these people.”

“I’d send the rest of your friends there, but I don’t want you guys to tear the school down,” Deegan said. “Maybe with you gone, your friends can get it together, too.”

“This is such bullshit if you think I’m going to some school in California,” I said, grabbing my bag and storming out of the office. “To hell I’m not.”