"Thanks for doing this, Scarlett. I really appreciate it."
"Not a problem, sister! I know you didn't start that fight. I witnessed it," Scarlett reassured Jo. Jo agreed and told Scarlett her instructions again.
"Clear?"
"As glass, Jo. You've told me at least six times." Scarlett flashed Jo a smile, ensuring her she wasn't upset.
Jo nodded and inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of teenage rebellion and body odor. She exhaled with a whoosh, pushing the air through her nostrils, expelling the rancid air. She rolled her shoulders a few times, loosening the stiff joints. She cracked her neck, listening to the little pops, and mentally slapped herself. Plastering a cheery, yet fake, smile on her face, Jo grasped the silver handle and entered room 2001, Mrs. Illsen's Government class.
Mrs. Illsen was seated at her desk, her spectacles balanced on the end of her nose, her eyes pinned on Jo as she entered. For the first time, Jo noticed the older woman's eye color. A golden brown color, similar to honey. They were beautiful looking eyes. It was a shame they were hidden behind dainty spectacles.
Jo's smiled never faltered as she marched up to the desk, emitting confident vibes - or so she hoped.
"Ms. Hall," Mrs. Illsen addressed Jo. "I'm happy to see you are not late. Take a seat in the front row, middle desk." With a pencil in hand, she pointed towards the designated seat. Jo had no intention of sitting. The woman looked back down and continued to write whatever she had been working on before Jo waltzed in.
"Laura; may I call you Laura?"
"No, you may not." The teacher didn't bother to look up.
"Mrs. Illsen, ma'am, I think we both know I shouldn't be here."
That caught the woman's attention. "Oh? And why is that, pray tell?" she inquired as she raised her greying head to stare down Jo.
"Because I haven't done anything wrong. I may have retaliated, but the fight was started by Mr. Michaels. Did you not witness the entire exchange?" Jo resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest, keeping her voice level and sweet as sugar while she spoke.
"No, fortunately, I did not. However, I saw enough to know the both of you were shouting obscenities at each other." Those honey eyes held Jo's green ones.
"Yes, ma'am, we were. No offense, though, but I do not believe you are one hundred percent correct in punishing both of us equally, ma'am. I was merely defending myself from his onslaught of abusive words," Jo appealed to the teacher. One of Mrs. Illsen's fuzzy, black eyebrows raised up in question of Jo's news. Jo nodded earnestly.
"I have someone who witnessed the incident from start to finish," Jo stated. At her cue, Scarlett walked through the door frame, shutting the open door behind her. Scarlett flounced up to the oak desk, smoothing her bright, white skirt. Her neon pink blouse matched perfectly to her pink flats. Jo had a hunch that the redhead's favorite color was pink, but it was just a hunch.
"Ms. O'Malley?" Mrs. Illsen queried. Her honey eyes narrowed in confusion. Jo realized she had never asked about Scarlett's last name. The girl was Irish, a fact that now seemed brazenly obvious.
"Mrs. Illsen," Scarlett said with a nod. "I'm here to tell you what happened when you weren't in the room."
Mrs. Illsen made a motion as if to say, "Go on."
"Jo here had walked in with that goose egg on her forehead as you can see." Scarlett pointed to the bump on Jo's forehead, drawing a scowl from Jo. "Anyways, I asked Jo if she was okay and she complained of a headache. I offered her my water and some Advil for the pain which she gladly accepted. She then laid her head down on the desk. Moments later-"
At that exact moment, Greyson burst into the room, the door banging open hard enough to cause all three ladies to start. His hair was wild, flying in different directions as though he'd been sprinting to get to detention. His cheeks held a slight blush, confirming Jo's suspicion of running.
"I'm here!" he announced, winded. "Am I late?" He glanced up at the clock above his head. The occupants of the room also looked up. The clock read 3:19. He was, indeed, late.
Mrs. Illsen pursed her lips and fixed her gaze on the panting boy. "You are late, young man. Have a seat, front and center. Ms. Hall, Ms. O'Malley and I are discussing what transpired this afternoon in my class while I was absent. Not a word, Mr. Michaels," she added when his mouth opened. He quickly shut it with a snap, acknowledging that he was already late and he'd be better off not pushing his luck with the old woman. He took a seat.
"As I was saying, Mrs. Illsen, moments later, Greyson asked Jo what she knew of pain. Do I have to go into full detail, Jo?" the redhead interrupted herself. Jo sent her a withering look, confirming Scarlett's question. She sighed but continued on. Both girls were well aware of their charade. Scarlett had practically burst with glee when Jo had asked her to give a detail account of what had happened that afternoon to Mrs. Illsen. Know-It-All Scarlett was happier than a bear in a honey pot at the moment.
"Okay, then. Greyson asked Jo what she knew of pain. Jo responded saying she knew that the pain of her headache was making him appear fuzzy as it had moved behind her eyes. She also said the light was blinding and if he didn't start making sense she'd shut him up. Greyson told her she was incorrect, he was talking about pain that actually hurt you, the kind of pain that hurt your heart, your soul. Deep pain, Mrs. Illsen. Jo said, 'I know more about pain than you could possibly imagine,' and then she turned to say something to me. I assumed it was the end of the conversation, and I believe that's what Jo thought as well?"
Scarlett phrased the last sentence as a question, directing it at Jo. She waited for Jo's nod of confirmation that yes, she had thought the conversation was over. Jo nodded but her attention was elsewhere. She was observing Greyson's reaction to the ordeal. His face appeared to be set in stone. No emotion crossed his face. The only indicator revealing he was furious was the darkness that had clouded his grey eyes.
"Jo turned to me, thinking the conversation was over. Greyson, however, would no let the matter go. He laughed and told her she didn't know anything about pain. He insulted her, saying the only pain she knew about was when she spilled her coffee in the morning. He accused her father of tucking her in at night and called her princess, meaning it condescendingly. That's when Jo snapped and yelled at him. She told him to shut up and that he didn't know anything about her. That, I believe, is when you entered the room. If I am correct, you are aware of the rest, right, Mrs. Illsen?"
Mrs. Illsen nodded slowly, absorbing everything Scarlett had told her. She processed the new information for a moment, leaving the three students on baited breath.
"Thank you, Ms. O'Malley, you may go." Scarlett threw a sympathetic look at Jo. Jo mouthed a thank you at Scarlett, nodding when Scarlett motioned for Jo to text her later. Scarlett's thumbs moving over an invisible phone screen made Jo crack a small smile.
When the door clicked shut, Mrs. Illsen let out an exhausted sigh. She removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes with one hand. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her index finger and her thumb before replacing her spectacles in their usual place. Jo noticed the indents on either side of her nose, indicating she had been wearing the glasses for years.
"Please take a seat, Ms. Hall," Mrs. Illsen finally said. Jo quickly slid into the sit next to Greyson, careful not to look at him.
Mrs. Illsen folded her hands on top of her desk and peered at the two students in front of her. She studied them a moment with her honey eyes before she finally spoke.
"Mr. Michaels? Is Ms. O'Malley's account accurate?"
Greyson didn't answer his teacher, confirming her question.
"Then, in the light of this new information, I have no choice but to change the punishments. Mr. Michaels, your punishment time will remain the same. A week's worth of detention, starting this afternoon. However, I have a different task for you to complete, instead. You will be writing lines for the entire hour. "I will not speak unkindly or harshly to my fellow classmates during Mrs. Illsen's time." Word for word mind you, no contractions or abbreviations. Your lines will begin Tuesday. I will remind you of your sentence then.
"Ms. Hall, your punishment changes entirely. I wish you to attend two detentions only. Seeing as you did not start the argument, you will not be blamed. However, your language is inexcusable. During your detentions, you will be working on a project with your partner. The two of you will be constructing a presentation on the evils of foul language."
"Partner? You mean I have to work with him while I'm here?" Jo asked incredulously. Mrs. Illsen nodded.
"Yes. I expect the two of you to work together to complete the presentation. If you work well, you will both receive ten points of extra credit. The reason being, I expect at least two hours of work put in outside of detention. I am giving you merely one detention to use up as you'll be presenting on Monday. Are we clear?"
"I can't work with her!" Greyson finally erupted. His face had been growing steadily redder throughout Mrs. Illsen's instructions. Jo shot him an icy glare.
"Excuse me?" Mrs. Illsen narrowed her eyes at Greyson. He didn't flinch, but continued on.
"She's a stuck up snob!"
"Little redundant, there, Michaels," Jo muttered under her breath. Greyson ignored her.
"I can't, I won't! I refuse to work with her!" Greyson shouted. Jo rolled her eyes at his little tantrum. Jo decided the wise thing to do would be to keep her mouth shut.
"Mr. Michaels! That is enough from you for one day. I don't care what you can and can't do. I'm telling you you will work with Ms. Hall. Clearly, you are judging Ms. Hall before you get the chance to know her. I am well aware of your situation and frankly, your excuse is pitiful. Your story gives you no right to talk down to Ms. Hall like that. You don't know what she's been through just like she doesn't know what you've been through. Now, enough of this childish behavior. You are wasting your detention time to work on your presentation. Here." Mrs. Illsen placed a sheet of paper on the edge of her desk, indicating for one of them to pick it up. Jo stood and took the handwritten sheet and returned to her desk. Swiftly scanning the cursive sprawl of words, she realized it was directions for their presentation.
"You have the rest of the time to work on your project. Behave," she warned them. With that, she leaned back into her leather, swivel chair and picked up a thick novel to bury her nose in. Her greying head disappeared behind the book.
Jo glanced up from the paper to look at Greyson. She was not surprised to see him already staring back at her, his eyes radiating fury. Jo ignored him and gathered her things up to move to the back of the room, away from Mrs. Illsen's desk. She settled herself in a desk and dropped her backpack with a thud. When she was settled in, she began to read through the intricate calligraphy.
To her right, Jo felt the warm air stir with the presence of a human. She didn't bother to glance up as she felt Greyson plop down beside her, grumbling about the unfairness of his current predicament.
"I don't want to be here anymore than you do, Michaels," Jo informed him. He shot her a glare but held his tongue. He bent down and rummaged through his own book bag. Jo took a moment to study him. Her initial impression of him had been correct; he was very handsome. For the first time in weeks, Jo was seeing him without the hood to mar his features. He had dark brown hair, almost black, that sat in natural waves. It covered his face in a way that obscured her vision from his forehead and most of his eyes. His eyes were steely grey, the same color as the sweatpants he was currently sporting. He wore his trademark, plain black hoodie. Jo wondered if he ever got hot in that sweatshirt. Sometimes he wore dark colored shorts but he never took off that hoodie.
"Let's just get this over with," Greyson muttered under his breath. He plopped a creased red, spiral notebook on the desktop and stuck a number two pencil behind his ear, hiding it in his hair. Jo briefly imagined him constantly losing pencils that way.
Jo didn't bother to answer him. Instead, she looked up at the clock, doing some fast mental math to realize they actually only had ten minutes left of detention left. If she was being honest though, she knew it wasn't that impressive to glance at a clock and see you're five minutes passed.
"We can start this weekend. We only have ten minutes left." Greyson's head shot up to confirm Jo's statement. His eyes flashed with hope. "When can you come over?"
Greyson shot her a sneer. "What makes you think I'm hauling my ass to your house?" He spoke softly so Mrs. Illsen wouldn't pick up on the curse.
"I'd go to your place but I need to be home."
"Why?"
Jo didn't answer that. "Just... When can you come over?" Her voice was quickly becoming exasperated. Mrs. Illsen glanced up, catching the tone. She eyed them a moment, only looking away when Jo flashed her best innocent smile at her.
Greyson sighed. "I can be over Saturday morning, I guess. Probably around eleven."
"Eleven? Why are you even up that early?"
"Because the anticipation of seeing you again has me jumping for joy, Hall."
"Your sarcasm isn't appreciated right now. But fine, eleven o'clock it is. Don't be late, Michaels."
"You may go," the voice, crackled with age, informed them. The pair couldn't pack up their belongings fast enough. "Same time, same place on Monday, you two."
"May I keep these instructions?"
"Why else would I give them to you, Ms. Hall?"
"Thank you, ma'am."
The teenagers shuffled out of room 2001, eager to go their separate ways. Greyson mumbled under his breath, "Same bat time, same bat channel," as he stalked off. Jo couldn't help but smile.
"Wait!"
Greyson turned around, an annoyed expression gracing his features.
"I need your number."
"What for?"
"So I can prank call you." Jo rolled her eyes. "Because if I need to get in touch with you about the project then I can."
Greyson nodded and held his hand out. Jo eyed his hand warily before placing her brick-of-a-phone in his outstretched hand. Greyson scoffed at the old style phone but said nothing. He quickly typed in his number and tossed the phone back to Jo.
"See you around, Hall."
"I hope not."
*~*~*~*~*
Look at me updating twice in one day! I hope this makes up for so much lost time. Greyson and Jo are my favorite interactions. Addie grates on my nerves probably about as much as she does yours. Enjoy!
Please, I'd love to hear from you. Comment and maybe vote, too. Every little bit is appreciated!
Always,
L