Asked to Compromise

“Alright, pass your homework up to the front,” Mr. Seward said the next morning.

Papers were shuffled and soon a stack of papers was handed to me over my shoulder. I held them out to Seward, waiting for him to collect them. He came over, taking them out of my hand. I watched him look through the pile of papers as he stood in front of my desk.

“Priscilla, where’s your homework?” He asked, realizing that a worksheet with my name on it wasn’t there.

“I didn’t do it,” I shrugged, looking up at him. I rolled my eyes hearing people whisper behind me.

“I guess you’ll do it in detention after school then, along with tonight’s homework,” He said, placing the pile of papers on his desk.

“Don’t take it personal, ‘cause I didn’t do anyone else’s homework either,” I smirked.

That’s how I landed in detention on the second day of school. I’d been here for two hours already, it was five o’clock. Everyone else that got detention had already left. They all did their missed work as soon as possible and were free to go. Not me, though. I hadn’t even lifted my pen.

Seward and Haner both sat at the table talking and laughing. I wanted to hit both of them. I banged my head against the desk like I did whenever I was bored. The first thing Haner did when I walked into the room was take my iPod and phone.

“I can sit here all day if you don’t want to do the work,” Seward said.

“Can you really?” I asked sarcastically, lifting my head up.

“Yeah, I can,” Seward said. “What about you, you have anywhere to go, Mr. Haner?”

“Nope, no, I don’t think so,” Haner said, pretending to think about it.

“Honestly, you’re better off just doing the work,” Seward said seriously.

I scowled at them. I looked at the pile on the desk next to me. I had to do last night’s and tonight’s chemistry work, english work, a page of math problems, and even Sullivan assigned work for tonight. I wasn’t stupid, I knew I was better off doing it so I could leave. I didn’t want to do it, and they weren’t going to tell me what to do.

It was another half hour of me sitting there bored. In my mind, I wanted to just get the work over with. But I was stubborn and I wasn’t going to let them think I’ve given up here.

“It’s 5:30,” Haner said. “Are you going to do it yet?”

“Nope,” I shook my head.

“Okay,” He shrugged. “You’re only hurting yourself. Do you know how many kids we’ve dealt with that are like you? The ones that think they’re so big and bad and won’t do their work… You’re not the first, or going to be the last. We know everything in the book.”

“I should’ve fucking punched you in your mouth when I had the chance,” I seethed, standing up. I fought with myself to stand my ground and away from him. Because if I snapped, I was going to go after him.

“Very threatening,” Haner said, standing up too.

We both stared at each other intensely. So he was a little more intimidating and bigger, who cares.

“Dude,” Seward intervened. “Don’t even do it.”

“You’re not going to come here and think you run this,” Haner said, ignoring him. “Don’t try us, Priscilla. I just told you we’ve dealt with kids exactly like you.”

“Fuck you,” I snapped.

The door opened and closed from behind me. I figured it had to be one of the teachers since almost everyone had already left the main building. I kept my stare on Haner.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” I heard Sullivan’s voice from behind me. “Hi, Priscilla.”

I didn’t respond. He walked over to Seward and pulled on Haner, talking quietly so I couldn’t hear them. I relaxed and sat back down. Haner looked over at me a few times, so I knew they were talking about me. They talked for five, maybe ten minutes before Sullivan walked over to me.

“Hey,” He said. “You don’t want to be here all night, trust me.”

I looked at him blankly while he looked over the work I had to start and finish.

“Come on, I’ll help you,” He sighed.

I crossed my arms over my chest, looking out the window.

“You guys can go,” Sullivan told Haner and Seward. “I’ll help her get it done.”

“Fine,” Haner said. I heard their footsteps cross the room and then the door opened and closed.

“They’re gone,” Sullivan said from the desk beside me. His hands touched my folded arms, pulling them apart. “Don’t be so stubborn and defiant all the time. If you just do as we say, it wouldn’t be that bad.”

I stayed quiet and took deep breaths. I didn’t want to explode on him. I actually liked this guy.

“You’re not going to talk to me?” He asked. “I’m trying to help you here, Priscilla. Do you have a nickname I can call you by?”

“’Cilla,” I said. “My friends call me that.”

“Okay, ‘Cilla,” He chuckled. “What do you want to start with first? I think english is easiest.”

“Fine,” I said.

He pulled out the two worksheets from Seward’s class and put them in front of me.

“This should take like, fifteen minutes to do,” He said.

I sighed and picked up my pen, reading over the directions. I started scribbling down the right answers quickly.

“I don’t like to see you guys fail,” He said while I wrote. “You’ll self-destruct here. We’re here to help you guys.”

“Yeah, some of your friends don’t act like it,” I muttered. “You’re the only one I really like.”

“Sucking up to me, huh?” He laughed. “I’m cool as long as you are. The rest of them are too, you just have to get on their good side.”

“I think that’s ruined for me,” I said.

We talked some more while I finished.

“Done,” I said, pushing the papers to the side.

“See, that wasn’t hard,” He said. “You didn’t want them to watch you do it, did you?”

I shrugged, not wanting to answer that question.

“Okay, that leaves math, chemistry, and my work to do,” He said.

“I want to do chemistry,” I said, reaching over and taking the chemistry book.

“Alright, I’m not that science inclined so,” He said and I laughed at him, knowing what he was getting at. “I can help you with the basics.”

“Okay,” I said. I opened the textbook to the pages that were assigned and took out a sheet of looseleaf paper. It wasn’t hard, just some basic stuff of atoms and elements.

Sullivan talked to me the whole time I did the chemistry and trig work. He asked me about my family and my old school and then told me more about this one. We talked about a lot of different things like music and other interests. It wasn’t distracting either, it was actually comforting. He knew his math, too. Math was never one of my strong points, which was another reason why I’d probably hate Haner even more this year. Sullivan really helped me out a lot.

“It’s 7:23,” Mr. Sullivan said, checking his phone. “You work fast. Now all you have to do is one paragraph for me, and you’re done. One paragraph on the Colonial Era.”

I nodded and wrote a heading down on the sheet of paper.

“You can use your notes, too,” He suggested.

“I, uh, didn’t take any,” I admitted. “I haven’t written down anything for any class, not just you.”

“Why, Priscilla?” He asked and I shrugged. He ruffled his messy hair. “You need to take notes from now on. You’re not going to pass like that.”

“Okay,” I said. “Honestly, I just hate taking notes.”

“You need to start then,” He said. “I’ll help you out.”

He went over yesterday’s and today’s lesson and lectures, helping me with the writing. I listened to him this time, taking separate notes and writing the paragraph he wanted for tomorrow. The paragraph took less than twenty minutes to write.

“You’re a smart girl,” He said, reading the paragraph. “I can see it, we all see it. It’s just how you use it. You can do the work, you just haven’t been working to your full potential.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes. I hoped he wasn’t going to go into the same lecture I’ve had by most of my teachers before and Deegan. I didn’t want him to get all serious on me.

I shoved my binder and folder into my bag, ready to leave as soon as possible now. Sullivan uncuffed his black button down and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, revealing his tattoos. After seeing three out of five of them heavily tattooed, I presumed Sanders and Haner were too.

“You can have these back now,” Mr. Sullivan said, handing me my cell phone and iPod.

“Thanks,” I said, tossing my ipod into my bag and turning my phone on to see if I had missed anything.

Sullivan held the door open for me and closed it behind us. We walked down the hallway silently.

“Hopefully you have enough time to eat and get back to your room,” He said. “If not, I’ll vouch for you, just this once.”

“Thanks,” I said again. It was eight o’clock now, which meant I had two hours until curfew. Not that there was anything for me to do around here at this time anyway since I didn’t know anyone.

“Maybe you’ve learned your lesson and you won’t want to end up in detention again,” He said as we both walked out the front doors. “Goodnight, Priscilla.”

“Doubt it, but goodnight Mr. Sullivan.”