of me and held up her fingers. “What is this?”
The mystery of the lost joint had been solved.
“Mrs. Vickers,” I blurted, “I don’t smoke pot. That’s not mine.”
She walked back to her chair, sat down, and rubbed her forehead. She was silent for several torturous minutes. “This is very serious, Eden. I’m afraid I’m going to have to report this to Principal Edwards. You can explain things to him.” She rose again from her chair, holding my mom’s joint like she was holding a vial of deadly bacteria. “Follow me.”
“Holy crap,” I muttered as I trudged behind her through the office, past a stream of curious onlookers, and down the hall to the principal’s office.
She pointed to the bench lining the hallway wall. “Sit here.” She went inside and shut the door behind her. Definitely one of those times when I wished that my mom had been more like a real mom.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Vickers poked her head out. “Come inside, Miss Saxon.” Apparently showing up to school with pot on your backpack elevated you to surname status.
Principal Edwards was a tall man with a shiny, bald head and a welcoming smile but that smile did not make an appearance as I stepped into his office. He glanced down at the tiny stub of a joint on his desk and then looked up at me. “I must say I’m puzzled, Eden. You’re an honor student, and you’ve never been in this office for anything but accolades.”
“It’s not mine. It must have dropped on my backpack when I was walking down the hallway.” Tears streamed down my cheeks again. “You have to believe me when I say it’s not mine.”
He tapped his long thick fingers on his desk as he leaned back in his chair. It squeaked beneath the burden of his weight. “I have no reason not to believe you, Eden.” There was a long pause as he stared down at the joint. “I’m not going to report this to the school police.”
The tears flowed faster. “Thank you, Principal Edwards.”
“However—” There were few words in the English language as heart-wrenching as however.
“I’m going to have to revoke your privilege of walking in the graduation ceremony, and you’ll have to skip grad night at Disneyland. Are your finals finished?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll call your parents. Someone can come pick you up.”
I returned to the bench in the hallway, dropped my backpack to the floor, and plopped down hard. Closing my eyes tightly did little to stop the flow of tears. Of course, I’d never had the money to buy a ticket to grad night, but I’d looked forward to the graduation ceremony. Now I just wanted out of this wretched school. Now I just wanted this awful morning to end.
Principal Edwards poked his shiny head out of his office. “Your dad is on his way.”
I wiped the tears from my face, leaned back against the wall, and shut my eyes again. Then the bench moved as someone sat down next to me. Mrs. Vickers was sitting next to me with her thick glasses and a look of contrition on her face.
She held a piece of paper in her hand. “Look, Eden, I’m terribly sorry about all of this.” I guess my earlier assessment of her not really caring one way or the other might have been hasty. “I think I have a job for you this summer if you’re interested. It pays well and includes room and board. I know your family struggles with finances.” Her face blushed as if she was the one who was dirt poor.
“What kind of job is it?” My throat was dry and achy from the shitty morning.
“My cousin is Nicky King.”
It took me a moment to figure out why this piece of information meant anything. “Do you mean Nicky King, the singer of Black Thunder?”
“The very one,” she said with a beaming grin. “Our fathers were brothers.”
“My dad loves that band, but what kind of job is it?”
“Nicky has a nineteen-year-old daughter who needs a companion.” She looked down at her lap for a second. “Finley has some problems with anxiety, and she doesn’t really leave the house.”
“Do you mean she’s agoraphobic?”
“Yes,” she hesitated, “among other things.” Her face brightened. “But she is a wonderful girl. She loves animals, and she has a great sense of humor. Nicky would like her to have a companion— at least for the summer. He’s going on tour with the band, and her brothers are always in and out