Masked Girls

16. DISCIPLINE

In primary school, I never got into any real trouble. 

Yes, there was occasional incidents of not handing in homework and (very) frequent incidents of forgetting to bring things, including said homework, as well as petty rivalries over the dumbest things with those I considered enemies back in the day. But not discipline trouble, never the kind where my name got taken down to be remembered for ass-frying. Perhaps it was also that we were stupid little girls in an all-girls' school, and teachers saw nonsensical behaviour as a phase of childhood, to some extent.

Good times, my dudes.

I guess the not-so-strict rules were what gave me a culture shock at Rifton. After not tucking in my shirt for PE once, I found myself having another in-toilet mental breakdown again because demerit points were a thing. Perhaps puberty had brought on the entire 'rebellious phase' that adults used; all I was sure of was that the more they wanted to punish me, the more I hated the rules with a burning passion.

Back to that fine ol' Monday, the week after my crusade against Lisa, the prefects jumped at us with another one of their nasty spot checks, leaving me with another demerit point because my skirt was apparently too short if it was only covering 80% of the knee.

Ah, note taken, next time I'll add more fabric so that it's floor length. Imagine how proper and respectful I would become! Indeed, the studies have shown that an increase in skirt length leads to an increase in decorum in female students!

That was the first thing in the day to get me in a bad mood. The second was when I received my Algebra test - a large 15/20 was slapped onto the front cover with a bold red marker-like pen. It wasn't a bad grade in the grand scheme of things - but we been knew that it was awful. I was actually confident about doing well in the test and possibly getting full marks but somehow, I'd managed to make careless mistakes that took the five marks off my paper.

I couldn't believe there was a time that I felt like the world had ended from scoring anything below ninety percent, goodness. Now, passes and a seventy-plus average were already a safe grade. 

When would I get my glow-up? All I was having were a series of go-downs.

"We have six full marks for this test - Juliette, Natalie, Sarah, Caitlin, Angeline, Rianne." Mdm Lorenzo announced with her signature strict voice. "You six can follow me to the office to collect your prizes when the lesson ends." Instantly, the entire class began a round of applause for the full-markers, but most of them remained cool about it or just smiled as they received looks of awe. I, however, just tried to contain my anger. Goodness, why are they so smart all the time? 

Juliette's face was completely blank as she turned her focus towards the board, her excitement numbed by many similar scores that she had attained. Caitlin was visibly pleased as she nodded politely, as did Natalie - who had a smug-ish look on her face, probably due to Gillian's unimpressed face as she nudged Lisa, her mouth moving with a few silent, resentful comments that I was too far away to hear.

I watched Lisa reply, similarly solemn as they soon turned to the screen flashed with equations.

Happy, airhead, I-got-pics-to-share-and-PSLs-to-drink Lisa wasn't here today, it seemed.

Did Selene Chan know why? Perhaps, she did have an idea... but always better to check with someone else.

I tapped Elise on the shoulder, "Hey, dude, is it just me or does Lisa seem a bit... sad today? Or, okay, not sad, but like... not as happy-ish? Like, I'm pretty sure she's normally supposed to be chattering away at this time of the day."

Elise frowned, a mild irritation etched on her face, probably because I had forced her to engage in conversation with someone like myself. Yes, I was a loner with no power in Rifton, but to ignore someone was still rude, and most followers of cliques were still too conscious of their own decorum to outright display hostility towards a peer, even a loner. "I guess. Maybe she didn't do well for the test or something. I don't know, just a guess." She picked up her green pen and looked back at the screen - a clear indication that the conversation I had initiated was over.