“No. You can wait in the waiting room. The principal has only instructed me to bring Noya and Sarah Jane into her office.”
Sarah Jane?
I bite the inside of my lip and stiffly nod while shuffling off the bed. Conner says he’ll wait for me in the waiting room even if the bell rings. I follow the nurse down the hallway, peeking into rooms. The smell of coffee and toast comes from the room to the right, where teachers sit in the lounge, talking among themselves.
I’ve never been to the principal’s office before. I’m part of the middle crowd, where nothing happens to me. No one notices me, nor do I put myself out there for anyone to see. The only difference now is that Conner is my boyfriend, who is in the upper class, where everyone notices him.
The nurse opens the door, and Sarah Jane is already in the room. I sit down beside her and overlook the principal’s desk. The principal is a tall lady with dark skin and leering brown eyes. Her gelled hair is tied back, leaving a frizzy bun atop her head.
“Who wants to go first and explain to me what happened?” Principal Rahman demands.
Sarah Jane points to me and yells, “She tried to attack me—I guess she was jealous that I had Conner first—so I pushed her off me!”
I lower my gaze and sigh. Why did I already know that Sarah Jane would aim for the victim tactic? I’d have more respect for her if she owned up to tripping me.
“And then her friend attacks me out of nowhere! Like, I was just trying to defend myself.”
Principal Rahman blinks slowly, and I’m wary of what she’s trying to make of all this. “Noya, what do you have to say for yourself?”
“Um…” I clench and then unclench my fists. “I w-was walking with my friend when Sarah Jane t-tripped me. Samantha attacked her afterwards, but her boyfriend took her away before Sarah Jane’s friend could fight Samantha. Then Sarah J-Jane verbally called me a slut. That’s when Aaron came in to defend me. Then the teachers came.”
“What! Aaron yelled at me! He called me self-centred and all that other shit!” Sarah Jane points to herself, her eyes wild. “I’m the victim! Don’t believe her. She’s…”
“Noya’s never gotten into trouble,” Principal Rahman says in a drawl of a voice. “You, Sarah Jane, have been called to the office six times this year. And I told you that if you make your way to my office again, you will be suspended, and I will strip you of your Year Twelve graduation.” Principal Rahman raises her hands towards Sarah Jane when she says, “And here you are.”
“It wasn’t my fault! Noya started it! She’s started all the arguments since she has been with Conner.”
“Conner is another excellent student who has never been in trouble. Sure, he skips school here and there, but his parents often call to explain the reasoning, and I’m fine with that because his grades are still remarkably high.”
I bite my lip when Sarah slumps in her seat, her eyes bulging. “Why won’t you believe me? This isn’t the first time she’s tried to attack me. She tried it in the girls’ toilets once before.”
“U-um…” I raise my hand and flinch when Principal Rahman flicks her gaze at me. “I-if I gave you more evidence of her h-harassing me, would you believe me?”
“I’m already leaning in your corner, but hard evidence, well, it’s something I can work with instead of he said, she said.”
I take a deep breath.
My hands tremble on the phone, and I scroll through recordings until I find the one I want to use. I don’t want to do this, but people like Sarah Jane are horrible and mean. I should have handed it to the principal earlier, but the thought of having leverage over Sarah Jane was good enough for me.
However, she will not stop and must own up to her crimes. Not just this, but for Conner’s mum as well. Stealing, taking explicit photos and sharing them around the school, bullying me—and others—is wrong, and she deserves punishment. I know that now.
This is deserved.
I place the phone on the table and push play.
51
JUSTICE
“You can leave, Noya,”Principal Rahman says. Her fiery, leering eyes glare at Sarah as she cowers, trembling in her seat.
“Okay,” I murmur.
When I leave, the bell for the end of lunch rings. Once he notices me, Conner rises from his chair, and I smile. I explain what happened—leaving out the recording—and he is happy that Principal Rahman believes my story and told me to leave. We both expect Sarah Jane to be suspended for the rest of the year and only allowed to come back for her exams.
“Come on. I’ll take you to class and then see you after school.”
In my next class, I explain to Sammy what happened. She’s cheerful among a fair few others in the class. Julien and Mark praise Sammy and admit that what Aaron said was hilarious. I feel a little more comfortable talking to them and the other people in the class. Julien and Mark still repulse me, and I have to push down thoughts of their hands on my picture.