Asked to Compromise

The next week was Thanksgiving break and the campus was like a ghost town. A lot of kids were surprisingly allowed to return home for the week of the break. Then, there were the few like me who’d gotten into trouble and weren’t trusted to go back. At least classes were out for the entire week until the following Monday. It didn’t make sense to continue classes if half the school wasn’t here.

My break started with a new routine. Without classes, I could pretty much wake up whenever I wanted, eat whenever I wanted, and of course, I still had a punishment to worry about. My punishment didn’t include running the track this time- it included cleaning pretty much the whole school with Eric, Kelly, and Allie.

“Priscilla, how could you do this?” My mom yelled at me over the phone. “We sent you there for a reason, and you do drugs!”

I thought I had already heard the most and last of it the first time she yelled at me. The first time was the worst when she found out I wouldn’t be coming home for Thanksgiving. She went on and on forever about how disappointed she was and how she’d thought I’d changed. I thought that she’d almost cried.

“I have talked to Mr. Sanders and I just can’t believe this. I did everything for you, Priscilla! You ruined it by hanging out with those kids,” She shouted, her accent thick as ever.

“Giana,” I heard my Dad’s voice in the background. There was some shuffling and soon he was on the phone. “Your mother is very upset at what’s happened.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” I sighed. I still heard Mom cursing and yelling in Italian in the background.

“Oh, I know you know. I won’t rant on again like she did. You know how we feel. Hopefully, you can get your act together and visit on the next holiday,” He said.

“Fine,” I said, dropping my shoulders.

“I have to go calm her down now,” He said. “Stay out of trouble.”

“I will,” I rolled my eyes thankful that he couldn’t see me.

I hung up, slamming the phone down onto the hook. Sanders was nice enough to give me privacy during phone calls with my parents. I pushed myself from his desk that I was leaning against and walked out of his office.

“So, how do you feel?” Sanders asked me when I came from his office.

I brushed past him and ignored him. I heard his footsteps behind me and it wasn’t long before he stepped into stride with me as I walked down the hallway. With no classes to teach, there wasn’t much of a reason for them to dress professional. Sanders was dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

“Priscilla,” He called my name in a warning tone.

“How do you think I feel?” I snapped at him dramatically. “I want to go home.”

“You should have thought about that before,” He said as we approached the hallway that we were cleaning up as punishment. “Get back to work.”

I bit my tongue, picking up the rag and window cleaner. Eric had a broom in hand, sweeping the floor. Allie and Kelly had the task of collecting trash. It was mostly quiet between us, all of us probably thinking the same thing. We all regretted that weekend. We all wanted to go home.

I heard someone clear their throat behind me as I bent down to wipe the bottom half of the glass. I glanced behind me to see Haner’s face.

“You missed a spot,” He said, pointing to a spot high above that I couldn’t reach.

“Well, obviously, I can’t reach that high,” I said, standing up straight.

“Well, obviously, you’re going to find a way to clean it,” He said, mocking me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, dropping the window cleaner and the rag onto the floor.

“You fucking clean it then,” I sneered at him.

I walked away, kicking over the mop and bucket. Soapy water splashed and flooded the floor. Sanders called my name but I only ignored him, heading straight out the door. I walked across campus, determined to get to my dorm before I screamed.

I hated it here.