I listened closely before peering around the corner. Nothing. Perfect. I stepped out and quickly made my way down the corridor, my heart hammering in my chest. I came to a stop at a metal door and tested it. It was locked. I carried on further down the hall, my heartbeat loudly thumping in my ears.
Right now, I was exploring somewhere I probably shouldn’t be. But after a quick look around the bottom floors I'd gotten bored. Sure, the school looked fancy, but there wasn't exactly anywhere special I could just chill at without getting caught immediately. I didn't want to have to worry about people just walking in on me. I was looking for proper hiding spots, the kind you could go when you were skipping class. The lower floors had all been too open, with cameras everywhere. So I'd gone higher. They hadn't said what was above the lower floors, but they had mentioned they were off limits.
Now that I was here I knew why. They were dusty and filled with random machines, wiring and huge metal pipes. Probably stuff that kept the building going. I'd managed to slip through a door that read ‘Personnel Only’, in big bold lettering. It'd caught my eye and I'd just opened it. It wasn't my fault it wasn't locked. Probably should've been; I'd seen at least three rats in here already. It was pretty dark up here so I couldn't tell. Anyway, now that I'd found myself exploring this maze, I was starting to get bored. It had been fascinating for all of five minutes, but the novelty was starting to wear off. It was just a bunch of locked doors, dust and wiring.
Suddenly I froze. I could hear voices. They sounded close. Really close. Crap, I’d been too caught up in my own thoughts and stopped paying attention. I heard the creak of a metal door and a low blue light settled on part of the wall just around the corner. The voices suddenly got a lot louder. Shit.
"Hey man if they don't have orange juice then I don't want a drink" a voice said.
"You need to drink man, this job's gonna take a while" a different, closer voice responded. He was about to come into the hallway and I was about to get caught red handed. The corridor was too long to make a run for it without being spotted. Did I run and pray they wouldn't see my face? But what if they caught me? Crap. They were still talking, but I only had a few seconds before whoever it was came around the corner. I looked around frantically and spotted a door slightly up ahead I hadn't tried yet. I darted towards it and tested the handle. It was unlocked. I threw it open and it screeched slightly. Shit. I shut it behind me and stilled my breathing. The voices had stopped. Crap, crap, crap. I waited, my body trembling as I pressed my back against the door. There were a few seconds of silence.
"You grabbing lunch or what?" the first voice said.
"You didn't hear that?" the second one responded.
"Hear what?" the first said. There was another pause and I heard the sound of footsteps pass the door. I needed to run. But if I moved they'd hear me. Shit.
"Eh it was probably some rats. See you in a bit Bob" the second voice said. I tiptoed and peered through the door’s slits, catching a glimpse of a guy in a high-vis walking down the corridor.
"Remember nothing but orange juice" the first voice, Bob, called out. The guy in the high-vis chuckled as he walked. He disappeared from my vie and I breathed a sigh of relief. Now, how to get out of this. Did I wait till he got back, or did I go now and pray he didn't double back and spot me? What if the other guy heard me leave? Dammit. Wait what would even happen if they caught me? They were construction men. They didn't have an obligation to rat me out. And even if they did it's not like I should be afraid of trouble. I wanted to get suspended, didn't I? Well, it was one thing if I was caught skipping in the halls and a completely different matter if I got caught in a no students zone. I sighed and looked around the room I was in. It was mostly empty with a few boxes in the corner and some wiring running along the walls. I paused, spotting a door on the other side of the room. I made my way over to it, reading the red lettering on the door. 'Stairwell to roof'. I tested the door and it opened to a set of metal stairs that spiralled upwards. Oh yeah.
-
I sat on the roof relaxing as the chaotic sounds of New York’s traffic echoed around me. There hadn’t exactly been much to explore on the stairwell and the first door I’d reached had been blocked. Lucky for me all the stairwells had side doors that were interconnected, and I’d managed to find an unlocked door leading to the roof. There was a great view of downtown Brooklynn and the East River from here. It was kind of noisy considering we were smack dab between the Brooklynn and Manhattan bridge, but it wasn’t all too bad. Kind of peaceful when you got used to it. I didn’t know the time, but considering I’d fallen asleep, woken back up, and sat around for half an hour it was probably close to the end of the school day. This was probably enough to get a suspension, or at least the first step towards one. I’d probably over done it a bit though. Still, I couldn’t believe it had been this easy. I shifted slightly, feeling an uneasiness roll around in the pit of my stomach. I ignored it. I'd gotten exactly what I wanted. I didn't care if I got in trouble with some random teacher I didn't know, and when Big Sis found out she'd be as mad as she always was.
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Suddenly a small tingling shot through the side of my neck. I recognised it as the telltale sensation of an insect crawling across my skin. I swatted at it and my hand came away with a smear of insect juices. Gross. I wiped it on my trouser leg, then wiped at my neck. I lay back down closing my eyes as I enjoyed the breeze, trying to find a comfortable position again. The sound of metal creaking shook me from my peace and I sat up to see a security guard walking over to me. Crap.
-
The school definitely didn’t mess around. I’d been taken to the principal’s office immediately and now I sat face to face with her. She was more imposing than I remembered. She was African American with a large well kept afro, piercing brown eyes, and angular glasses. She wore a grey blouse, with a white top, and her office was absolutely spotless, with various academic achievements, awards and framed newspaper clippings about the school lining the wall.
“Do you understand why you’re here?” she said in an icy tone. I gulped.
“Yes” I replied.
“Then tell me” she said. I hesitated.
“I… uh… skipped class on my first day, and went on the roof which is a big no-no.” I said.
“Good. Now tell me why you did it”
“I… uh… I… I wanted to skip class”
“Ok. Do you think that’s a reasonable excuse?”
“No…” I said trailing off.
She broke eye contact, picked up a pen and scribbled something down. She tapped a few things onto her computer then sat still.
“What should I do with you?” she said, still looking at her screen. We sat in silence for a few moments.
“It wasn’t a rhetorical question Lucas, what should I do with you?”
“Uhm, a suspension” I said. Her eyes narrowed as she turned to me.
“Why?”
“Isn’t that what usually happens if you break this many rules?”
“No, I’m asking why you want a suspension” she said. I froze, and I must’ve given something away, because a small smile played on the principal’s lips. I looked away.
“Are you not going to answer my question?” she asked. I shook my head.
“Very well. I think a two months of afterschool detention would be suitable. We’ll postpone it till you settle in, give you a chance to get to know your fellow students. Is that ok?”
“Yes Miss” .
“I’ve already called your guardian and notified them about the situation. I don’t want to see anything like this again, or we could be looking at expulsion. Am I clear?”
I nodded.
“You can go. Take this timetable with you. Your sister’s outside to take you to your dorm room” she said.
Shit.
I stood up and turned to the door. I hesitated then reached for the handle and opened it. Maria towered over me, her eyes burning with the anger of a thousand suns as her glare bore right through me. I closed the door softly, and laughed awkwardly.
“Hi Maria. I didn’t expect to see you so soon” I said.
“Shut up” she said coldly. I shut up and looked at the floor.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” she said. “Can you even fathom the magnitude of stupidity it takes to pull off what you did today?”
“No I-”
“I told you to shut up” she said, anger all but apparent in her tone. I felt my insides squirm, as though trying to escape the fate that was about to befall me.
“You’re going to apologise to Big sis immediately, and you’re going to make sure this never happens again” she said, jamming her phone into my chest. I nodded, and dialled Big Sis.
The phone rung three times before she answered.
“Hello? What’s happened now Maria?” Big sis said on the other end of the line sounding tired. I didn’t say anything, instead cringing as my spirit disintegrated.
“Maria?” Big sis asked.
“It’s me” I whispered. I pulled the phone away from my ear as a string of Spanish curse words exploded from the phone loud enough to hear without speaker phone on. When the cursing stopped I put the phone back to my ear, the sound of Big Sis’ ragged breathing the only thing I could hear.
“I’m sorry” I said, quietly.
“Sorry?! Sorry?! Do you think sorry even begins to cover it! How stupid can you be?! I just…. I can’t…. we’ll talk about this later when I don’t feel like I want to kill you” she said. The call ended and I handed the phone back to Maria, sniffling. She snatched it away.
“Stop crying. You did this to yourself” she said.
“I’m not crying” I said.
“Whatever. Just follow me” Maria said, walking off. I trudged behind her following along. This most definitely hadn’t been worth it.