Beautiful Bedlam (16 page)

“Hey,” Logan said softly as he stood behind her. She mustered up a smile and turned to face him.

“Hey.” She replied with forced cheer. He looked at her baffled by her sudden happy mood, as if nothing had happened.

“Can we talk about yesterday?” he asked in a low whisper.

“About what?” she asked innocently without taking her eyes off Mr. Blake. She wished he’d stop flirting already.

“About…you know what your mom said.” Logan

“Oh you mean her random drunk ramblings? I wouldn’t take too much account in to what says when she’s had a little too much.” Sienna chuckled and hit him lightly on the arm as if he had said the funniest thing ever. Her mother was right. He really did have exceptional arms.

“Sienna-“

“Just drop it, Logan. I don’t want to talk about yesterday. Can we please forget it ever happened? What is wrong with you? Since when did you become this person who always wants to talk? Give a girl some space!” she hissed irritated suddenly and turned on her heel leaving him open mouthed, shocked and most definitely hurt. Logan looked up to see Mr. Blake and Bethany staring at the both of them, mirroring his facial expression. His face immediately hardened as if it were made from stone, his jaw line protruding as he kept his head down and left quickly.

“Wow and people say I’m a bitch.” Bethany chuckled.

“Bye Will.” She called over her shoulder as she tittered after Logan on her heels no doubt to offer him a shoulder or more to cry on. Sienna regretted her words the second she said them but she just needed some space. She couldn’t look at him anymore. She couldn’t take looking and loving those eyes that never loved her back. It hurt too much. It was always easier to push people away than to embrace them.

“How can I help you Miss Rivers?” Mr. Blake asked in an already resigned voice. It was then that she remembered what day it was. ‘
Happy birthday Logan Jackson’
that voice commented wryly.

“This can’t be possible. I got a B. I studied all night for this test.” Sienna cried and dropped her paper on to his desk. “What can I say? A B is a perfectly good grade and quite frankly its what you deserve.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“What I deserve? Who are you to say what I do or don’t deserve?” she asked angrily. She deserved more. She deserved so much more than what she got.

“I’m your teacher. Perhaps if you paid attention more in class instead of dozing off or starting fights with other pupils you’d have attained those few marks you so desperately crave.” He said harshly suddenly sitting forward in his chair.

“Dozing off? Just because I don’t laugh at your weird British jokes, which no one even gets doesn’t mean I’m sleeping! And fight? That wasn’t even a fight and it was
after
class. It probably wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t so busy making advances on your barely legal pupils!” She exclaimed loudly.

“I didn’t mean that.” She gasped immediately as she stared wide-eyed at him in awe of what she had just said. That voice cackled. She looked to her left but no one stood there. She sighed and rubbed her temples.

“Come with me to the principal’s office.” He said strictly his face a vision of controlled repressed cold anger.

“I’m sorry sir. I just lost it. I’ve been under a lot of stress with-“

“I don’t care. Let’s go.” He said briskly and grabbed his coat jacket from the back of his chair.

“You don’t care? Fine, I don’t care. I take it all back. I meant every single word.”

“Good for you.”

“Oh and Bethany is seventeen so according to the laws of the state of Pennsylvania, you’re good to go. Sure, you’ll probably lose your job but-“

“Walk.” He said tersely as he nudged her slightly in the back.

“Whoa! I don’t know how it works in Potterland but here in America we don’t touch our students. What do I need to carry a rape whistle around you?” she growled at him.

“You are over the line and you know it. Sit.” He hissed back at her indignantly as he knocked on Sharpe’s door. “Sit!” He practically snarled at her as she stood adamantly by the chair with her arms crossed over her chest. “Stand. Roll over. Bend over. Yes, yes, I know what your usual girls are used to hearing.” She said drolly as she rolled her eyes.

“I want you out of my class.” he shouted suddenly losing some of his cool.

“You and me both buddy.” She retorted cantankerously just as Sharpe opened her door quickly. “What on earth is going on?” she asked as she glared at the two of them. “Come inside.” She sighed when she saw Sienna.

“I’m William Blake. The new chemistry teacher.” He said politely as he shook hands with her.

“Sienna Rivers, ex-nerd, undisputed reigning chess champion of the class of ‘09 and the proverbial all around wiseass degenerate pain in your backside.” She said without missing a beat as she extended her hand to the principal.

“You’ve grown bolder in my absence. Sit.” Sharpe said austerely and pushed her spectacles up the bridge of her nose as she sat on her swiveling red chair behind her desk. “              I’m sorry we’ve had to meet under such circumstances. This was not the first impression I wanted to give you-“

“You want to keep your job. We get it. He marked my paper wrong.” Sienna said abruptly and showed Sharpe her paper.

“Look question six is marked incorrect even though it’s correct!” she said pointing to it. Sharpe didn’t even look at it.

“I’d like to request a transfer of a student.”

“I second that!”

“Why? You’ve never changed classes before what seems to be the problem. Surely, there must be a way we can resolve it.” Sharpe said as she looked at their angry faces. She felt more like a marriage counselor than a principal just then.

“She is constantly late, doesn’t participate in class, is rude, always daydreaming or even falling asleep,”

“That’s because I already know the stuff and I only ever fell asleep once. Twice.” She corrected herself quickly realizing she wasn’t exactly helping her case.

“I want her out.” He said adamantly.

“And I want a teacher who doesn’t look like a twelve year old.” She retorted acerbically. She sighed as soon as the words came hurtling out of her mouth.

“Sienna, Mr. Blake is a very well-educated man who graduated from Stanford with honors with a major in chemistry and a minor in psychology. The only reason he is so young is that he excelled so much in school he graduated a lot earlier than the norm. You could really learn a thing or two from him.” Sharpe chastised furiously.

“Well, if he’s so great. What’s he doing in a no name town like ours? Shouldn’t he be in London or California or something?” she muttered.

“Instead of questioning your teacher, how about you start questioning your attitude and behavior. Is this how your mother raised you?” she asked angrily.
“I want to speak to you alone.” Mr. Blake said suddenly to Principal Sharpe in amidst the stony silence and icy glares that were exchanged between the females in the room.

“Be careful. He uses that line on all the girls.” Sienna retorted.

“That’s enough out of you. Out. Wait outside til I call you back in.” Sharpe shouted and pointed to the door. Sienna did what she was told. She sat outside reveling in this side of hers she spent far too long suppressing. She knew her comments were outrageous, her behavior appalling, her attitude disgusting but for once in Sienna’s life she felt good and a small part of her even enjoyed playing the villain. She was sick to death of that good girl act who-

“Come in.” Sharpe said as she opened the door to her office suddenly. Sienna took a seat begrudgingly.

“First, I would like you to apologize to Mr. Blake for your rude conduct and vile accusations.” Sharpe ordered succinctly as she glared at Sienna as if she were a cockroach under her boot.

“I’m sorry.” She apologized through clenched teeth to Mr. Blake who seemed to be enjoying this a lot more than she would’ve liked.

“You will have detention every day after school for a month,” she said smoothly. “With Mr. Blake.” She added with a small tight condescending smile.

“Excuse me, what?” Sienna asked confusedly with her head raised suddenly.

“You will not be transferred out of his class by next week Monday. You will attend weekly meetings with the school guidance counselor for your anger management issues.”

“My…my anger management issues?” Sienna asked and bit her lower lip to stop herself from smirking or worse laughing at the absurdity if her comments.

“You want to go to Harvard, is that right?” That was right. She wondered how Sharpe even knew that? Perhaps her nerdy reputation really did exceed her self!              

“Yes.” Sienna replied hesitantly as if she were walking in to a trap.

“Well then you’re going to have to start working a lot harder.”

“Is that…is that it? Can I leave? She asked tentatively. It all seemed almost too good to be true minus seeing Blake everyday after school.

“Not quite. We are waiting for your mother. I called her immediately after you left. She’ll be here shortly.”

“My mother? There was no need to call her.”

“Its just standard procedure for the school.”

“Honestly, there’s no need. I’ll go to the guidance counselor. I’ll take my B grade. Its okay, you don’t have to mark it again. I’ll behave in class. Honestly you won’t even know I’m there.” She gulped and looked at Mr. Blake imploringly who looked back at her with no mercy, rather like she was a chemistry equation he couldn’t quite figure out.

“Perhaps you should have that before. Maybe now you’ll think before you open that mouth of yours.” Principal Sharpe said airily just before her secretary knocked on the door informing them of visitors. Sharpe quickly stood and smoothed out the crease lines on her drab grey pantsuit and ran her fingers through her short mousy brown hair. This simple notion only seemed to baffle Sienna further.

“Mrs. Rivers.” She said as she shook her hand. Sienna was left speechless as her seemingly sober mother entered and took a seat followed by the twins.
What were they doing here?
Meredith just gave her a pointed ‘what have you done now?” glare whilst Cora scowled at Sienna and shook her head. “I’m Mr. Blake. Sienna’s chemistry teacher.” He said as he stood to shake her mom’s hand.

“Oh welcome to our country.” Maria Rivers replied gleefully in her thick Colombian accent and shook his hand a little too vigorously. Sienna shrunk in her chair wishing she could evaporate in to thin air.
Crap
. She was still drunk as hell.

“Meredith. Cora. How are you both?” Sharpe asked as she smiled at them fondly. She had been their principal when the twins had attended the same high school just a few years ago. Meredith had always been a super nerd and on the student council and all round do-gooder whilst Cora was relatively unknown but at least she never fought with her teachers. She didn’t have the cojones for it.

“We’re fine, thank you.” Meredith replied cordially.

“We called you in just to inform you of Sienna’s lack of commitment to her classes, being disrespectful to her teachers, her punctuality and starting fights in class.”

“Starting
fights
?” Meredith reiterated incoherently as she glared at Sienna feverishly.

“Well, it’s more that we’re worried about her.” Mr. Blake quickly backpedaled as he picked up her paper that still lay on Sharpe’s desk untouched and all but forgotten.

“Her grades are also slipping.” Sharpe informed her with a sigh.

“Is it true what they’re saying?” Meredith barked.

“I got a B on my midterm.” Sienna replied quietly.

“What? A
B?”

“I thought she was smart?” Her mother said confusedly and looked around the room as if she had just woken up. She probably had for all Sienna knew. She had a knack for dozing off when the attention was on someone else other than her.

“Her teachers have complained of her not paying attention in class.”

“Other than this one exam, this one B, what grade have I been consistently getting in my class?” she asked Mr. Blake who opened his mouth to answer but Sharpe got there first. “Its not even about the grades. It’s your attitude, your blatant disrespect for others. Its as if you’ve got this idea that you’re smarter than everyone else.”

Sienna looked up at Sharpe and wondered what it was about her that made her completely despise and loathe her. She didn’t get it. Sure, she was a brat and a know-it-all but she was by no means a miscreant worthy of such judgment and disapproval. Or perhaps she was? Sienna didn’t even know who she was anymore.

Maybe they were all right? Maybe she really did have anger management problems? Maybe she was stupid? If that were the case, Sienna could think of at least ten people off the top of her head that deserved to be cautioned and called in to the Principal’s office more than her. Sienna bit her tongue and was notably silent, appeared docile and compliant on the outside but on the inside she was positively fuming, shrieking and straining against the shackles that held her down.

“Wait, so what exactly did she do?” Cora asked gruffly, her face blank as always.

Blake looked up at Sienna remorsefully with the paper in his hands. It had been turned to question six where he had marked her answer wrong along with a couple of others. He was new at this. It was a multiple choice question paper. It was easily to mark it wrong and at heart Sienna didn’t really fault him besides as Sharpe said she wasn’t there because of her grades, she was there for Sharpe’s own twisted agenda. An agenda Sienna was certain to get to the bottom of.

“Sienna, perhaps it would be best if you waited outside.” Sharpe said in her sickly sweet condescending voice, which translated as get out so I can get your family on my side and so you don’t have the right to detest anything I have to say. What she didn’t realize was they were already on her side. Not once in her entire life had anyone of them ever sided with her they weren’t exactly going to start now.