Chapter 6

Her heart raced as the bell rang. Joanne took a seat carefully, holding her short uniform skirt firmly to make sure she would not flash her thighs. The classroom was awfully quiet, no distraction, no nothing. She tightened her grip on her pen, while her other hand was placed on her thighs. She stole brief glances at the invigilator who got his full attention on the book he was reading, For One More Day, a classic, Joanne thought.

She coyly lifted her skirt, showing 2 fully inked thighs. She began writing the passage she copied from the book to the exam paper. Unfortunately, she could not fit the whole chapter on her thighs, so she had to improvise some phrases with her own words. She covered her thighs when she heard footsteps. She gulped her own spit once she noticed that the teacher was walking towards her. He stopped halfway to pick up a pencil that must have fallen from her classmate’s desk. He then made his way back to his table to continue his reading.

Joanne let out a deep sigh of relief. She hoped that no one caught her in her illicit action. Although she finished early, she pretended to struggle for a few more minutes before she decided to hand in her paper. She did all this to make sure no one would suspect a thing.

“Ms. Phoenix, I believe this is the first time for me to see you smile.”, said Mr. Cunningham. Her calculous teacher.

“Well, if you must know, I’m feeling oddly good today.”, Joanne replied before she left the room.

**

“Sorry I didn’t help you, that was my first time tutoring and I already suck so bad.”, Annette profusely apologized.

“Don’t sweat it. I think I might have aced this one.”, Joanne found it easier each day to pretend to be nice to this family. They were gullible as much as they were cunning, Joanne's words, not mine.

“Joanne Phoenix to the principal’s office.”, was announced to all the speakers available at school. Everyone in the room then turned their heads to our Joanne. She ducked her head down. Her cheeks grew hotter each second.

**

She walked while staring at her new pair of Prada oxford shoes. To this day, she wasn't sure why Victoria paid so much attention to Joanne's wardrobe. Then, she finally entered the ice-cold room. She was given permission to sit on the chair. Joanne bit her lower lip, she knew where the conversation was going. It’s ridiculous how one’s confidence can shatter in a matter of milliseconds.

“I’m sorry, please don’t kick me out, it was a one-time thing.”, Joanne begged, she could feel the sudden warmth on her face, from the embarrassment.

“What is a one-time thing?”, Mrs. Hunter questioned.

Joanne raised an eyebrow. She was not sure if this was a trap or the principal really was clueless about the fact that she cheated on her test earlier that day. Whatever answer she chose to give, she was sure that she was going to get expelled, so she lied. “I ugh… accidentally entered a wrong bathroom.”, she cleared her throat. Her statement sounded more like a question.

Mrs. Hunter smiled. Joanne’s heart raced, she did not understand what the smile meant. “Just don’t make a habit out of it.”, she finally replied. What a relief, but what could this meeting be about? “I’ve been hearing a lot about you.”, she continued.

“I mean, you have to, I’m still under surveillance, aren’t I?”, Joanne tried to confirm her current status in the school.

“Yeah, and we’ve had a few meetings since your arrival.”, Mrs. Hunter said. Joanne crossed her fingers behind the chair, in hope that her principal would not catch her doing so. "You are brought up a lot in these meetings.", there was another pause. "Listen, this is a very difficult decision to make, but I'm afraid you're going to have to repeat another year next summer."

Joanne felt her heart skip a beat and not in a pleasant way. She understood that she had been falling behind, but she would never face such an ill fate back at home. Her initial instinct was to blame her mother, then her father, and everyone else she could possibly think of. Even if she got into Harvard, she would not get enough credit to enter as this new fancy prep school refused to give her the acknowledgment she believed she rightfully deserved, especially knowing what happened earlier that month.

Without saying another word, our little Joanne walked out of the principal’s office. Speechless and embarrassed. Life had never treated her kindly, but this was the lowest point of her life. Going to Harvard had always been her dream. Of course, she had to give it all up just because her heroin-addict mother chose to overdose instead of being a decent mother. She did not have anyone to talk to about all this either, which just made the situation even worse. With her whole face turning pale, she walked to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, tears started dripping from her eyes. She had been trying to be strong, but her heart could just take as much. It was getting exhausting, life was getting exhausting. For a moment, she just wanted to escape this harsh reality.