Toni really tried but by the end of the school day, Shelby was grating her last nerve. After the memory of Shelby's kindness at the party, Toni convinced herself that the girl could be tolerable as long as Toni didn't instigate. Boy was she wrong.
It all really started in her science period where she had been paired with Shelby the previous day. Toni had had almost been looking forward to the lesson. Not because she was eager to seeing the other girl, but because she really just wanted the see what would happen. Expecting some change in their usual unsavoury dynamic. She didn't know why though, they had fought that morning with Shelby fully aware of her behaviour last night. Toni thought that maybe she was the problem, so she decided to take a friendlier approach than the morning.
She felt incredibly awkward as she took her seat next to Shelby, who, unlike Toni, looked put together and was dressed in clothes that she hadn't worn for the past two days. Toni decided that was a good place to start, "You look nice today," she whispered, cringing immediately after the words exited her mouth. It sounded like she was hitting on the blonde girl.
The compliment earned Toni an appalled glare but nothing else. Okay, in fairness she kind of deserved that. Her attempt at being a decent human being was off to a sour start.
The teacher at the front of the class rattled on for a few minutes, Toni taking notes before making another attempt with her frosty desk partner. "So, last night was pretty wild." She bit her lip and waited for a response.
"You embarrassed yourself last night." Shelby didn't stop taking notes as she replied.
With a huff Toni angrily turned the page of her text book. So maybe it wasn't Toni's bad attitude that set off Shelby. It was just Shelby being a boring bigot. It didn't explain Shelby's kindness from the previous night though. At this point Toni was getting too pissed off to care. She spun her pen in her hand, contemplating her next move.
She decided to give it one last chance. She leant over and whispered sincerely, "Spending the night with the boyfriend, things must be getting pretty serious."
Shelby's pencil stopped scratching along the paper as her hand stilled. Finally, a reaction. Not a positive one though, Toni realised as Shelby turned to face her. "My relationship is none of your business. Also, you smell."
Never mind, apparently the Shelby from last night was a drunken mirage. Toni wasn't going to play nice for no reason anymore.
Running her hand through her hair with a smirk Toni shot back, "Well, I worked up a sweat last night."
"Wait, you said that you didn't..." Shelby looked mortified.
"So gullible. That's probably how Andrew gets away with all his sleeping around."
It was many steps too far. Toni knew that even before Shelby ran out of the class without warning. Everyone watched her as she fled. Toni tried to sink into her chair as the teacher caught her eye.
"I know that this is your doing Miss Shalifoe. Frankly this doesn't surprise me; your behaviour so far this year has been unacceptable. Go find her and meet with the principal at the end of the day. I'm sure your parents are going to love meeting with you and Principal Evans this afternoon."
My parents? A wave of panic soared through her body causing her to outwardly shudder slightly. That meant that Carol was going to get a call. Just another thing to add to the list of reasons for Carol to beat the shit out of her.
What she did next was not any source of pride for her. In a fit of anxiety, frustration and anger, Toni balled her fists, about ready to deck the sarcastic, self righteous teacher. Luckily she executed a small amount of common sense and redirected her anger. Unfortunately she redirected it to one of the most expensive things in the room as she swept everything off of her table. Including a sophisticated scientific microscope.
The therapist that her old foster parent Mrs Conners made her see when she was 14 would have said she was slipping into old 'self-destructive patterns.' Toni would probably have to agree considering the carnage before her. She didn't look properly, but she did hear a lot of glass shattering.
Despite her shakiness and the fear coursing through her veins, Toni managed to hold back angry, terrified tears as she directed her gaze to her now seething science teacher. "Of course Mr Winters." With that, she took a page out of Shelby's book and fled the scene.
It wasn't that Toni didn't think about the consequences of her actions. She just didn't have time to think about them before she did whatever anger-fuelled, impulsive thing that popped into her head. It was only in times like these, after she had blown up, that the weight of her actions really hit. Only then did her brain catch up with her body to actually think about consequences. And there were a lot of them.
Toni left the classroom running but after the adrenaline from her eruption wore off, that became too painful. Wheezing, she made her way to the locker room. She didn't bother looking for Shelby, if anyone asked she would just say that she couldn't find her. Right now she needed a shower and the spare clothes that she kept in the locker room in case of emergencies. As Shelby had so kindly pointed out, her hygiene had reached emergency status.
After showering and changing, her lunch break had just about finished so she went straight to her next class. Throughout the rest of the day she could hardly focus. She could only dread her meeting with Carol and the Principal.
--------
By the time 4 o'clock rolled around Toni was shaking uncontrollably. A girl she had never met before in her final period even offered her a jacket. She tried to talk herself down and convince herself that it wasn't going to be as bad as she thought. But then she really thought about the things Carol could be pissed at her for. Punching her friend and running away, Being called to meet with the Principal, Breaking school equipment, and existing. And those were only the main four.
Toni was the first there and she took a seat opposite to Principal Evans. "Sorry," Toni said after a few minutes, "She isn't a very punctual person." He simply nodded and the pair sat in uncomfortable silence before a very haggard Carol burst through the door. Her body language was calm and she was polite to the Principal but there was a fire in her eyes that Toni instantly recognised.
"So, Toni's been with you for 5 months now?" Principal Evans flipped through some papers. "How is that going?"
Carol already looked fed up with the meeting. "She can be very unruly. It has taken a great deal of discipline to get her to behave even this well." Discipline is one word for it, Toni thought bitterly, her ribs twinging at the memory.
The stoic man nodded before continuing, "Have you considered a group home? It says here that that is the next best option for Miss Shalifoe."
Toni's heart-rate picked up. "Is this relevant?" She blurted without thinking.
"Sadly it is. Misbehaviour at school is often linked to misbehaviour at home. It is important to know whether your additional behavioural needs are being met at your current home."
Carol looked a bit personally attacked and interjected, "Toni is manageable at home. If anything unacceptable were to happen I would not hesitate to call social services and have her transferred."
The conversation went on in that same vein, Toni was hardly able to listen because she now knew everything she needed to know. Carol would send her away the second she takes anything too far. The good news was, for now, Carol didn't seem to think she had taken anything too far. The bad news was the probably horrific punishment she was going have to endure.
When the meeting ended, Carol and Toni walked to the car in total silence. As Toni reached for the door handle Carol slammed her hand onto the roof of the car, making Toni jump. "No. You can walk." She watched as her foster mom got into her flashy four wheel drive and took off, leaving the younger girl standing in the cloud of fumes.
She walked home without music and without thoughts. Her mind was completely blank, almost in a state of dissociation after the day she'd had. She almost walked straight past her house. Defeated, she didn't even hesitate or mentally prepare before walking in.
Carol, remarkably, was not waiting at the door with a baseball bat as Toni had half expected; but was sitting in the lounge watching TV. Toni slowly approached. "Carol, look, I am so sorry-"
"Please, Toni, just shut up and get out of my face. I'll deal with you later."
Shellshocked, Toni couldn't believe her luck. She stood there, staring at Carol completely dumbstruck. Suddenly terrified that Carol would change her mind if she just stood there, she quickly jumped into action and raced to her room. Finally a night with just her homework. No raging Carol, no beautiful Regan, no flighty homophobe, and no drama.
Firstly, she brought up google on her phone and started looking for jobs. That microscope was not going to pay for itself. As she was on her phone a text drew her eyes to the top of the screen.
Basketball Girls - Betty: Toni, did you see the email? You're off the team
Basketball Girls - Issie: Damn that's bad luck, what did you do?
Basketball Girls - Isla: Man I'm sorry Toni, What are you gonna do, we need you!
What am I gonna do? Good fucking question.