Tranquil Falls

Making Moves

"Hey, stranger," Emma said as she walked up to my locker, running her hand down my arm. "I missed you last night. Wanna make up for it tonight?" She leaned against the locker next to mine, her hand resting on my hip.

"Can't," I told her as I slammed my locket shut. "I'll probably be in my room under house arrest until I graduate."

"Oh no," she said, making a face. "What did you do?"

"Just let off some steam with Brody." I glanced over her head to see Collins scanning the hall for me. "Want to get out of here?"

"Absolutely."

I grabbed her hand and pulled her in the opposite direction of Collins as he called my name. She laughed as she followed me down a side hall and out the side door to the parking lot, hanging onto my arm as we headed towards her car since my mom confiscated my keys after the first time I took off.

"Mr. Arlington!"

"Shit," I muttered, stopping and turning around.

Principal Roach stood with his hands on his hips, staring Emma and I down from the sidewalk. Emma released my arm, shrinking back behind me. Roach stepped off the sidewalk and walked towards us slowly.

"Late bell just rang. What are you doing out here?"

"Emma forgot something in her car. We were just coming to get it," I told him as he stopped in front of me.

Emma stepped out and nodded. "Yeah, I left my practice bag in my car. My apologies, Principal Roach. It won't happen again."

He glanced over at her. "Get what you need and get to class. My office, Mr. Arlington."

"Why does she get off? I have class, too. I'm supposed to be showing the new girl around."

"We've got it covered, no thanks to you. I think it's time for a team meeting. Everyone's waiting," he said, motioning for me to return to the school.

I stared at him for a moment before I sighed and headed towards the main entrance. "You know, it really sucks that I'm always the one who gets in trouble when something goes wrong. No one else does."

"Is that how you really think this is going?" he asked.

"Yeah, because Emma is just as much at fault as I am right now, yet I'm the one being punished." I shoved open the door and stepped into the empty foyer.

"Well, Mr. Arlington, you're not being punished. We were meeting anyways," Roach said as he opened the office door and waited for me to step inside. "Your doctors and parents have some concerns."

"Concerns?"

"Yes."

I rolled my eyes. "They've had concerns for the last six months. Why does it call for a meeting now?"

"Because of your latest escapades, Mr. Arlington. Come. We don't want to keep them waiting."

I followed him down the hall, shoving my hands into my sweatpants pockets. He held the door to his office open and I walked in. I understood at that moment why people got super defensive when an intervention was done. I glanced from Mr. Collins to Dr. Rouche to my mom to my dad to Coach Perry.

"Take a seat," Rouche said as he walked behind his desk. They had made a strategic decision of making the empty chair be between my parents. It was as though they believed that if they sandwiched me between them, they could make me stay.

I dropped my bag to the floor and sat down, my leg immediately bouncing. I rested my elbow on the chair arm and rested my head against my hand, staring down at the floor. Everyone was silent for a moment. None of them wanted to be first. I wondered if my parents could smell the cigarette smoke on me from the one Brody had given me before we left. I hadn't smoked a cigarette since Taylor died. I'd forgotten what a stress reliever it could be.