Party Of 1 (A Niall Horan Fanfic)

Chapter 8: Missing Credits

Rory Harper walked down the long corridor, trying to keep her head down. Her black converse padded the empty hallway. Just as much as she was quiet and unnoticeable in classrooms, as she'd hoped it would be this year, it was quickly taken away the second she heard her name being called down to the principal's office. 

To say Rory was confused was an understatement. Just as had she not done anything wrong, she hadn't done anything good. An average student. 

Inside the main office there were teachers rushing around- printing copies, talking to fellow administrators, checking files. The receptionist told her to sit quietly in a chair while she IM'd Mrs. Logan, the fresh new principal of Grover High. 

Though Rory had gone through, in her opinion, many principal's, Mrs. Logan seemed different, in a way, from others. In that she was a woman, for one. But it was clearly more than that. It strikes odd to Rory that a Stanford graduate would end up in the city of Fort Wayne. 

Mrs. Logan appeared in the hallway minutes later. She smoothed out her light purple dress. She motioned to Rory to follow her to her office. 

Mrs. Logan's office reminded Rory of her grandmother's house. There was an old cuckoo clock hanging alone on a wall. The only furniture in the room was Mrs. Logan's desk, two uncomfortable chairs, and a small bookshelf in the corner. A small lamp on the thick wooden desk gave the room a feeling of dusk. 

Rory placed her backpack at her feet. She twiddled her thumbs, seemingly observant. Mrs. Logan began.

"It had been brought to my attention that you are a senior, yes?" Mrs. Logan asked, intertwining her hands and placing them in her lap. She overlooked Rory's features, observing her calm demeanor. Her dirty blonde hair was braided to one side, some pieces falling out on the other side. She wiggled her arms out a bit in her leather jacket, but discreetly. 

Rory nodded. 

Mrs. Logan opened the only thing other than a lamp on her desk; Rory's file.

"It seems to me that you do not have enough credits, and will not have enough, to graduate. Why is this?" Mrs. Logan smiled.

"I don't know, you tell me." 

Mrs. Logan shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Rory made Mrs. Logan feel out of place in that it was almost like she wasn't there- that Rory wasn't seeing her, even though she was, in a way. It made Mrs. Logan feel small, for some odd reason, considering she had the highest status in the school. 

"Why do you take classes that have no path for you? They appear to be chosen randomly, and there is no pattern to which field you would like to study in the future."

"That's because there isn't," Rory replied. 

"And why is that?" Mrs. Logan asked. She stood up, smoothing out her dress in anxiousness as she felt Rory's stare upon her back. She peered out the small window into the hallway. There were no students out- it was the middle of third period. Mrs. Logan perched her hand on the middle sill. 

"Why do I have to decide everything now?"

"Because that way you will have explored your options, and made a career path. Which, you obviously haven't. Your guidance counselor has said that you appear to be disengaged on the topic concerning your future. Considering your options at the moment, there isn't many things that you can choose to do. I see you have taken quite a few engineering classes, is that what your main interest is?"

"No."

"What about any of your core classes? I see you're doing exceptional in Calculus?"

"No."