The Senior Hit List

~Chapter 3~

All I can do is squirm in the uncomfortable wooden chair as I play with my fingers. Beside me Ashton breathes out a deep sigh as he slumps down in his chair. Meanwhile Ronnie stairs up at the ceiling, his head propped against the back of his chair. 

"I can't believe you guys got us into this mess," Sam mumbles as she crosses her legs dramatically.

Ronnie's head shoots up to throw her a scowl. "If your friend here didn't go around chucking pieces of bread at people we wouldn't have this problem."

"No body told you to get involved," she hisses.

"Can you both just shutup?" Ashton mumbles in annoyance, causing a hush to fall back over the room.

It's the silence that really irks me. I'm not one for quiet. I need noise, even small noise; I need something. Therefore my mind focuses on the ticking of the clock above the principal's desk, while my eyes roam the office around me. The warm mahagony desk is cluttered with files as are the shelves and presumably the drawers. I'd assume a principal would be much more organized than this.

Interrupting me from my commentary, the door creaks open revealing principal Rowley in all his beer gut glory. His eyes briefly roam over us, before he shakes his head and ambles to his desk chair. Slowly and cautiously, he eases himself into his chair before giving us a stern look of disappointment.

"Do you realize how long it's going to take to clean up the mess you all created?"

I remain quiet, looking to my right and left to see if anyone has the courage to reply. I get my answer when after a couple of seconds everyone is still silent.

Mr. Rowley sighs, shaking his head once more and taking off his glasses. "What possessed you all to even start something like this? I don't understand how young folks' minds work sometimes. Regardless, you all have to suffer the consequences for your actions. What do you all believe your punishment should be?" His eyes shoot from one person to another expectingly waiting for a response.

Clearing my throat, I answer meekly. "Detention?"

Ashton lets out a frustrated groan as he leans his head back against the seat.

Nodding in satisfaction, Mr. Rowley places his glasses back on the bridge of nose. "I think that's definitely a good reprecussion. I'm requiring you all to attend detention for the next three days, including today so you can assist with the cleanup process that the cafeteria is currently undergoing. I'll be calling your parents to let them know."

It's now Sam's turn to groan in frustration. Afya definitely will not be too pleased when she receives this call and neither will my mother. Nicely put: we're screwed. 

"You all can return to class, and I expect to see you all back here at three o'clock, unless your parents say otherwise."

The imminent feeling of punishment is in the air as each of us rises from our seats and exit the office. There's a tension amongst us, but I find relief when we all venture our separate ways and head to our classes. For the rest of the day there's a damper on my mood, so when I arrive at three o'clock back at the principal's office I have a less than stellar attitude.

Sliding into the last open seat, I sit beside Ashton and Sam as Mr. Rowley looks up from a file on his desk. "I'm glad you all made it here on time. After discussing the situation, we have come up with a punishment that will fit all of your schedules. You still have to help clean today, but since some of you can't make it to detention the next few days, we decided to have you all help with the carnival on Saturday."

To that, every one of us lets out a large groan. Most schools look forward to their carnival, but no one here does. Actually, barely  any students from our school attend and that has one reason: middle schoolers. Don't get us wrong, we don't hate middle schoolers, but we'd rather not spend our time surrounded by them--especially not the ones in our area. Our carnival is always overrun with them and therefore, many high schoolers don't really  go.