justifer 2

3. meetings

"hi i'm here to pick up summer theroux" jen smiled as she headed into the main reception.
"hi, can you sign this form to show you've picked her up please" the lady in the office said as she turned away to let summer know her mom was here.
jen scribbled her signature and looked up as her daughter walked through the door, eyes slightly red.
"oh honey" jen wrapped her arms around her daughter, kissing the top of her head.
these were some of the only times summer would not only let her mom hug her, but actually hug her back. hugging her so tightly it was as if she never wanted to let go.
"thankyou" jen said to the woman in the office as she led her daughter out to the car.

"what happened?" jen asked once they were sat.
"i don't know, i just felt like i couldn't breathe and then i started realising how busy it was everywhere i turned"
jens brow furrowed together as a tear rolled down her daughters cheek.
"come on, let's get you home"
jen held her daughters hand most of the way, letting her know she was safe.

"we have a meeting in an hour with the school, do you think you'll feel up to coming?" jen asked tentatively as they pulled up in the driveway.
summer shook her head.
jen nodded as she unbuckled her seat belt and they got out the car, heading into the house.
"hey how do you feel?" justin was in the living room when they walked in.
summer didn't say anything but let her dad give her a one armed hug before she retreated back to her bedroom.

soon enough jen and justin were walking to the schools front desk again.
they signed in and sat on the old cushioned sofa in the reception whilst they waited for miss yates to meet them.
"do you think they'll kick her out?" jen worried aloud as justin grasped her hand in his.
"i don't think so, but we've just gotta fight for her either way"
jen nodded then looked up as she heard the clack of heels coming closer and then miss yates' platinum blonde hair appearing at the door, ushering them in.
"i noticed summer left at lunch, everything ok?" the young woman asked as she led them down a quiet corridor.
"yeah she was just getting very overwhelmed" jen replied, still holding justin's hand tight.
they were shown into a small office where two ladies already sat waiting.
after shaking hands and introducing themselves everyone sat down and the meeting started.

"we understand summer has her weaknesses but-"
"don't call them weaknesses...please" jen said sharply before remembering she had to be polite.
"sorry..." the teacher said before continuing "we want to support summer the best way we can"
jen and justin looked at the other staff members expectantly.
"however..."
jens stomach dropped. she knew it was coming.
"this is the third time summer has purposely skipped school. we have a 3 times limit before we have to take more action"
justin side glanced to jen to see how she was reacting, her face was almost unreadable except the slight furrow in her brow.
now a new teacher started talking, taking justin's attention away from his wife again.
"we can't treat summer different to everyone else just because her parents are-"
"sorry" justin cut the middle aged woman off "we've never asked or wanted our kids to have special treatment because of what our jobs are. it's the last thing we and our kids want"
jen and justin were slowly losing patience with the school.
"we understand that" now mrs yates decided to talk, trying to save the situation before it deteriorated anymore.
"normally we would be excluding the child for a certain amount of time. but with summers record of being excluded already, her amount of detentions, dress coding's..."
jen knew where this was going. her jaw tensed as she stared straight ahead.
"we have to consider permanently excluding your daughter"
there's silence in the room.
justin's hands were gripping the arms of his chair tightly.
"what if we took her out ourselves?" jen finally spoke. justin's head snapped to the side looking at his wife confusedly, they'd never talked about this.
there was no reply from the staff so jen continued, "would our other daughter and son still be allowed to attend?"
"yes, their track record is almost perfect and their grades are really really good"
jens eyes were starting to burn slightly hearing these strangers completely ignore all of summers good qualities and only seeing her bad habits. and yet they praised the other kids like they were the lords angels.
"me and my husband will discuss this later and we'll be in contact when we have decided what we're going to do"
"ok thankyou both. here's some resources we've found have worked well with our previous students that have struggled. we hope they will help summer aswell" miss yates said with a small smile.
justin took the sheets of paper from her even though he knew if summer was to go to a therapist, they wouldn't be using one that the school suggested.

the doors slammed shut as they climbed into the car, sitting in silence just thinking.
justin heard a sniff and looked to see jen looking at her lap, her hair covering her face.
he placed his hand over hers.
jen didn't look up but she leant over the centre console, letting justin wrap his arms around her as she cried into his chest.
this wasn't how they wanted the meeting to go.
after sitting silently, except for a few sniffles from jen, they released from the hug and headed back home.

"how should we do this?" justin asked as he turned the key in the ignition to turn the engine off.
"we'll sit them down and just ask them what they want to do, i think that's the fairest option"
justin agreed and so they headed into the house.
luckily jackson and summer were already in the living room and alina was in the kitchen so they didn't have to wait long for everyone to sit down on the sofas.

"what's going on?" jack asked looking from his mom to his dad.
"the meeting didn't go well did it" summer guessed.
"not really...but this is a decision that is only up to you guys. it's not for us or the school to decide"
"you're acting weird" alina seemed nervous.
"would you guys rather be home schooled?"
justin asked finally.
"yes" was the immediate response from summer of course.
jackson and alina stayed silent, looking shocked.
"you guys don't have to decide now. if you want to stay in school that's absolutely fine, but you can drop out and we'll home school you if that's what you want." jen said.
"i want to stay in school, i don't have long till i graduate" jackson decided.
"me too, i couldn't leave my friends" alina agreed.
"ok that's fine guys" justin smiled "and summer, you're sure you want me and your mum to be teaching you?"
summer nodded.
jen studied her daughter for a second before looking to her son and other daughter, "could you two give us some time with summer?"
jackson and alina stood up and both headed upstairs.
"summer we're doing this so you're most comfortable ok? we don't want you taking advantage of being able to stay home now. which is why we've got some rules"
summer groaned as her head fell back on the cushion.
jen and justin hadn't planned this out previously but both were like minded and agreed with the other on what was about to be layed out for their daughter.
"you will have to do all your work, no skipping and staying in bed all day. at the weekends and once you've finished your school work for the day you will be able to go out and see friends or do whatever you do when you're not home"
"because you won't be going out and being as social you will be joining some sort of club-" justin started before summer cut him off.
"i have my swim squad, why isn't that enough?"
"we would just like you to do more, we're not telling you what club to join but you do have to join another."
"look baby you have quite a few more years until your finished with highschool are you sure you want to miss out of that experience just to have us or a tutor sitting with you 5 hours a day?" jen asked as she lent her hand out to hold summers.
"i think i'm pretty sure"
but jen could see a wobble underneath her stubbornness.
"sleep on it. ok? you don't have to decide right now." justin smiled.
"also, if for whatever reason me and your dad are both working at the same time and can't be here to do the home schooling you will get a tutor, you won't be getting a few months off just because we're not here."
justin nods in agreement.
"as long as the tutor is nice and good looking i don't mind" summer smirks as she stands up, excusing herself from the conversation she's starting to get bored of.
jen snorts as she also stands up, heading into the kitchen with justin following behind.

later that night jen is throwing some of their extra pillows off the bed and pulling the sheets back, ready to climb in.
justin joins her on the opposite side of the bed.
"do you reckon this is a good idea?" jen asks unprompted but justin knows what she means.
"i mean we didn't think it through at all, i'm sorry for just springing that on you too. the truth is i've been considering it for a while but the school already seem like they've had enough it just kinda fell out my mouth"
"hey it's fine, you know i agree with pretty much everything you say and do" justin wrapped his arms around his wife as they got situated under the covers.
"i think home schooling would be the best solution for summer now. but like you said, it's her decision to make. she has to live with the consequences not us"
jen nodded against his chest. "i'd just hate for her to miss out on that experience. i mean highschool was the best time i had as a kid, those are my best memories from childhood. i'm sad that she won't be making those memories too"
"i know. but you know highschool wasn't it for me, i hated being there and to be honest if someone had offered home schooling to me i also would've taken the opportunity in an instant. everyone just experiences it differently"

that night they both fell asleep, silently worrying about their daughters future; what this would mean for her future career and mental health.