* * *
"Wow," I said as we pulled up in front of the school. "Hard to believe I'm going back to school."
"You need a minute?" Jason reached to turn off the ignition, but stopped as an icy winter blast shook the Jeep.
"You can go on without me, I'll be fine."
"Hey, no way."
We sat silently for a few minutes. A few more kids pulled into the student lot, but went straight into school.
Jason smiled. "This was a lot better when it was warm."
"What time is it?"
"Like six forty," Jason said, pulling up his coat sleeve so he could look at his watch.
"Guess we should go."
Jason got the door for me and while I wouldn't call it a death march, we both definitely slowed the closer we got to the school. There weren't many kids there yet, we had our meeting before classes began. Mrs. Hall looked up when we got to the office door.
"You ready for this?" Jason mumbled.
I wrapped my arm around his. "We're ready."
Things didn't happen the way we expected. First, I had to wait while the principal talked to Jason. He got a stern warning about responsibility. I didn't know the principal, but what she had to say almost sounded like a well-prepared speech—the words chosen very carefully. We had more or less agreed to just take our medicine, so I was surprised when Jason argued a point.
"I did act responsibly," Jason said. "A classmates future, possibly her life was at stake. The most responsible thing to do was for me to do something about it."
"That's what we have the police for. I'm sure they could have helped."
"Trust me, I was the only one who could resolve the issue."
"And what issue was that?"
Even outside the office I could feel Jason tense. Ms. Moore didn't know what happened—but that seemed impossible, Mrs. Whitaker would have had to explain in order to get them to agree to the make up work. Obviously, she didn't believe the excuse was the real answer.
"I'm not really at liberty to say," Jason finally said. "I would be breaking a confidence and I'm not sure if I wouldn't be breaking some kind of law. I mean no disrespect, but my mom—"
"Well." Ms. Moore's chair creaked as she leaned back. "I have a nice letter here from Coach Singleton. He seems to think you're a very mature young man and agrees—at least off the record—that you acted responsibly." She pushed back from the desk and stood. "See that you stay in school Mr. Whitaker. See Mrs. Hall, she has this semester's class schedule for you."
"Sweet!" Jason said.
The doorknob turned.
"And Jason—"
"Yes, Ms. Moore."
"From what I hear, in some circles they think what you did makes you a hero."
"Thanks."
The door opened and Jason stepped into the outer office all smiles.
"Ms. Faulkner," Ms. Moore said, motioning me toward her office.
Jason winked and mouthed, "We're good."
Whenever I had seen Ms. Moore in the past, she seemed very much in control. She just had that air of self-confidence about her. But as I took the seat across the desk from her, she seemed very flustered—very much out of her comfort zone.
"Well," she said, "how are you, Izzy?"
I noticed she used my first name. With Jason it had been very formal, except right at the end. I tensed fearing that maybe it meant the worst. Maybe they were going to hold me back as punishment, or maybe worse yet, they weren't going to let me attend here at all. "Nervous."
Her smile looked genuine. "You don't need to be nervous. We all want to do what's best for you."
Ah, oh, here it comes.
"Under normal circumstances," she continued, "I would recommend a different school since there are obviously issues here that—well contributed to your running away." Her voice softened as she continued. "We don't know one another—I hope that changes—but one thing you should know about me, I don't like to lose."
I glanced up into her concerned eyes.
"I feel as though I failed you, Izzy."
"What happened wasn't your—"
"All my students are my responsibility." She pulled some papers out of a folder on her desk. "All your teachers wrote very nice things about you—you're a wonderful student—hard worker—gifted, all the kinds of things an administrator wants to hear. But, they also wrote that you were distant from your classmates—quiet—even reclusive. These are the kinds of warning signs, that well, frankly we missed."
"I chose not to—"
"Avoiding people is not a natural choice. Sure, we all need our own personal space, but social interaction is an important part of the high school experience. It teaches you how to act when you go on to college, a job, or start a family."
"I understand," I said, hoping she'd move on.
She pulled another letter out of the folder. "Your mother says you're staying with the Whitaker's this semester."
"Yes. Mrs. Whitaker has been kind enough to let me stay with them."
Her brow rose as she looked up from the letter. "Jason's a very nice young man."
I didn't know how to respond, so I didn't.
"Well, your make up work bears out what your teachers said, you are indeed a very bright young lady, and after all the nice things Coach Singleton had to say—well, I'd have to agree. We just need to work on your social skills."
"I'll try." I felt like I needed to offer her some tidbit of information. "I'm trying to rediscover myself—after I learned I was adopted and met my birth mother, you know."
"Wonderful." She didn't seem surprised at the revelation so Elizabeth must have put something in the letter to that effect. "I know I speak for the entire staff when I say, we're here to help."
I got up as she walked around her desk, but flinched away as she extended her hand. That brought a crease of concern to her brow.
"Try to fit in, Izzy. Make an effort and I think you will be pleasantly surprised how the other students react." She opened the door.
"Thank you."
"See Mrs. Hall for your schedule. And Izzy, stop by my office once a week and let me know how you're doing. Together we can get you where you need to be."
"Okay." Great, now I was under surveillance. I guess it could have been worse.
Mrs. Hall welcomed me back as she handed me my schedule and was all smiles until I asked about Cathy. It seemed shortly after I left, Cathy started having nightmares again. Then, when she and Alex broke up—entirely Alex's fault according to Mrs. Hall—Cathy just put up a wall.
Jason met me in the hallway, just outside the office.
"What classes do you have?" Jason asked.
I folded out my schedule next to his to compare. Obviously we didn't have any classes together. I happen to see Ms. Moore's short smile before she went back into her office.
"Man, this sucks. I was hoping we'd have at least one class together."
"You didn't really think they were going to put us together, did you?"
"They did this on purpose? Ah, I guess there's nothing we can do about it." He glanced at our schedules again. "At least they're close—I can still walk you to class."
"Guess that'll have to do."
Jason leaned closer. "You okay? I forget sometimes—you know you seem to be able to deal with—everything."
"The guest room helped a lot—upstairs, well, it was just too much, but since I moved downstairs it's better."
"And school?"
"I think I'll be okay."
"Cool." Jason nodded down the hallway. "Shall we."