Chapter 30

Nyree drove in front of me, and I drove behind her to get to my high school, and before I got out I managed to dry my tears enough to walk in.

The principal, guidance councilors, some of the staff, and the one and only Ms. Brown. My substitute teacher.

Ms. Brown wore a disappointed look on her face, her arms were crossed, and in one hand she held a file which had my name on it.

"Dani Hills." The principal said in a stern monotone. His deep, croaky strained voice was enough to tell me 'you're in trouble, young lady' and 'expect the worst'.

"Yes?" I response trying to keep eye contact with him without sweating from nervousness. He might not be the most energetic and expressive principal of my school, but heck he is the scariest person of it. My teacher, the one Ms. Brown has to take over for, is scary too but she at least has mercy on us.

This man does not have any mercy-he does not take no shit, no excuses, no attitude, no crap. None. Of. That. If a student decides to misbehave despite his warnings or red cards, he'll expel them and hand them a slip of paper that basically says 'Ocean High School does not except deficient children to learn in our buildings'.

And by the way he is staring into my soul-he is planning on handing over a yellow card. A warning card that has less punishment than a red card does.

A card is handed to a student depending on their behavior to give to their guardian or parent. A green card means good behavior or very little punishment to none. A yellow card means little punishment, and a red card means the punishment where changes will be done.

You have to hand in your card as soon as you walk into your classroom or when the principal asks for it. The punishment will take place at Saturday detention and will be lifted when the principal decides you learned your lesson.

"Do you know what this is?" The principal asks me while showing me the yellow card.

I nod.

He places it down in front of him but the words on it faced me. "Explain to me why I am giving it to you, and follow up your explanation with a reason why you think it shouldn't be given to you."

"I admit that I walked off school property during school hours, and skipped all of my classes for today but I did it for a family emergency. The guardian you have on file that I live with...i-is dead." My breath hitched in my throat and my eyes stung as I felt them gloss over. That feeling of loss returned and was threatening to get me to cry again. I used my index finger, and thumb to pinch my skin on the back of my hand underneath the table to fight back the tears. "I know it's unexcusable and I should've thought of my actions before I acted them out."

I shook one of my legs and bit the inside of my cheek. I pinched my skin harder feeling the pain but my mind refused to tell me it hurt. The only pain I felt was inside of my heart. "I-I'll take any punishment you give me, i'll continue to keep my grades up, and to do what needs to be done for my future."

I licked my lips and a sob escaped them. I gave up trying to put up a brave front and rested my head on my arms that I folded on the table, and I sobbed hard into them loudly. I couldn't even stay strong for long-I'm just a weak person. Weak and alone.

I bet Lauren, Melanin, and Lexie will make fun of me now.

Nyree rubbed my back in circles and whispered "It's okay, Dani." into my ear over and over again to try to calm me down.

I heard the principal clear his throat. "Dani..."

I refused to lift up my head and replied in a raspy and shaky voice. "Y-yes?"

"A regular student would be handed a yellow card for breaking a rule and missing class, but as the truth states in your file-you are only living with one guardian. And since that guardian is no longer here, I'll give you a green card only this once, and you'll take your classes in detention for the next three days. I will only repeat this once, and only once-Ocean High School does not take rebellious behavior lightly. If you decide to do it, think before you try to attempt it on our grounds, got it?"

I nod, my face rubbing against my arm.

"Also Miss Nyree has filed in that you'll be living with her for the remainder of your school days, if this happens again-i'll send in a letter to your new address stating you are suspended for two weeks for disrespecting our school rules."

"Y-yes sir."

"And Dani." I heard Ms. Brown say so I slowly lifted my head to look at her. I knew my face was messed up, but I didn't care-I wanted to go home and cry my pathetic heart out. "I am allowing you to attend your grandmother's funeral, and you can come in after school to complete your missing assignments before I type in your final grade for that day."

"Thank you." I sniffed.

Nyree pet my head with care and said, "Take note of this to be better, okay?"

I nod. "C-Can I...go now?"

"One more thing." The guidance councilor, Ms. Bare, said before placing down two photos onto the table with a neutral expression. "We looked over these two incidents, but thankfully Lauren Brooks spoke to us before we spoke to you. She told us that the first incident was you saving her from a gang rape, and the second incident was you saving her from the school's football player, Isaac Phillips, is that correct?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "Dani, next time please inform us of these kinds of things, we can't figure out what happened if you don't speak up. A student told us about you fighting, and we looked over the camera footage to check. If we didn't get told of this, then those boys wouldn't have gotten expelled from this school."

"What?"

"We expelled those boys from this school, and everyone they came across the same way they did to you two has come forward about it. I am happy you stood up for Lauren, but next time you do please for the sake of your and our reputation."

"Yes ma'am."

The principal stood up out of his chair and nods to us. "You are free to leave, but Dani complete your assigned work before the deadline."

"Yes sir." I said as I slowly rose from my own seat.

Nyree stood up with me while grabbing the green card from the teacher and papers. She followed me out of the school in silence, and paused behind me while I was getting into my car.

"Hmm?" I turn to face her. "What is it?"

She sighed. "When we get home, I have to tell you something that your grandma was meaning to tell you for years. But before we do get there, I need to stop by somewhere to get something."

"Nyree?"

Nyree walked to her car and climbed into it.

I stood next to mines with confusion and sadness written on my face. "What does she mean by that?" I mumbled before climbing into my car to follow her.

~~~

I sat on my bed underneath my cover, Nyree sat on the edge of my bed on top of it, and looked at me while holding a orange envelope in her hands. It was thick and looked heavy.

She sat the envelope on her lap and placed her hand on top of it. "First thing's for sure, I need to tell you what your mother's been doing under the shadows that's been brought to the public eye years ago. It's not bad but she wrote a will that her employees discovered a while back."

"What does that have to do with me?" I asked.

"She made a company years ago called L'amour De Dieu, she used your drawing for the mascot logo." Nyree reached into the envelope to pull out a paper and handed it to me.

It was indeed my old drawing-two hands together and a heart shaped moon hovering above them.

"I don't get it." I said but then I suddenly remembered the letter. I reached over for my bag, searched through it, and pulled it out. It was wrinkled badly but that didn't matter. I opened it and smoothed it out carefully to read the words on it.

Before I end this heartfelt letter, I have a small secret to tell you. It's about mother's past. If you heard anything about her, consider it a half-truth. She's an important figure in society. That's why everyone speak of her name like a celebrity. I can't say on this letter, but I can say that you're next in line for the job.

"Next in line for the job..." I looked back at the paper Nyree gave me and looked up at her. Realization hit me. "Am I next in line to own her company, L'amour De Dieu?"

"Yes, but before you can step foot there. You'll need to graduate first, and train under someone to manage that company smoothly."

"Who was managing it all this time?"

Nyree pulled out another piece of paper and handed it to me. "Indigo Ferris Hills...your adopted older sister."