There’s a first time for everything, I guess.
Even a trip to the principal’s office.
Talia and I sat on the other side of her desk, our hands between our knees. Principal Lopez looked at us, her bright red nails drumming on the desk.
“Girls,” she said. “I know you two are smarter than this. Talia, I haven’t known you very long but I know you are a smart girl. And Libby.” She sighed. “I’ve known you since you were in kindergarten. This is not behavior I thought I’d see from you.”
I kept staring at my knees. I couldn’t look at her.
She was right. That was why I felt so bad. It was like something hadn’t been working in my brain. Hadn’t been connected. I hadn’t thought one tiny little bit about what might happen after we poured the sand. Why hadn’t I thought about that? Because I was only thinking about making Talia feel better. About making her happy.
About making her my friend.
And now here we were, waiting for our moms in Principal Lopez’s office.
“Why didn’t one of you come and tell me what had happened? With Dustin and the pictures,” asked Ms. Lopez.
“How did you—” Talia said.
“Another student saw him do it,” said Ms. Lopez. “You kids think you’re so sneaky, but we know. So why didn’t you tell us yourself?”
For a second nobody said anything. Then in a voice like a snapping turtle Talia said, “Like anyone would have cared.”
I gulped, nervous that Talia was brave enough to talk like that to a grown-up. I thought Ms. Lopez might get angry, but when I glanced up at her face, she looked sad.
Ms. Lopez leaned forward over her desk, her arms out. “Talia, are you listening to me? I need you to listen.” She put a hand flat down on her desk. “If anything has happened before, anything like this, and the adults you spoke with didn’t believe you, or didn’t take you seriously, then I want you to understand something. They were wrong. I want you to know that I will do my best to listen. I will always care.”
Talia sat very still. Her ears were red.
“You should know,” said Ms. Lopez, “that I have already spoken with Dustin and his mom, and heard his side of the story. I’ve got a letter of apology for you, Talia. He will be out of school for the next three days.”
Then there was a knock on the door. When it opened, Mom walked in along with a woman who looked exactly like a grown-up Talia.
Mom had that nervous crease along her forehead. She mumbled, “Oh my goodness,” and put a hand on my shoulder. Mrs. Latu said in a loud voice, “Now what’s going on here?”
Principal Lopez explained what had happened. She explained about the big pile of sand in the hall that the janitor was cleaning up. I hadn’t thought about the janitor having to clean up the sand. She explained about the chocolate frosting. She explained, too, about the pictures of butts in Talia’s locker and how Dustin had already been sent home.
“Girl, girl, girl,” said Mrs. Latu, shaking her head. Her voice sounded stern, but her hand was softly patting Talia’s thick, curly hair.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mom whispered.
I didn’t know what to say. Telling Mom that I’d kept quiet because Talia had told me to sounded too much like an excuse. Like I was blaming Talia. When really the sand was all my idea.
“Look,” said Ms. Lopez. “It’s been taken care of. I’m going to send you girls down the hall to help clean up, and then home for the day, okay? And when you come back I expect a letter of apology from each of you. Tomorrow you’ll be back and ready to learn, yes? Without the sand?”
Talia and I nodded.
“And if anything like this happens again, please, please, come talk to me first. I am here to help you with exactly this kind of thing.”
Mom promised that I would talk to her next time. Ms. Lopez stood and said goodbye, and we left her office.
We walked slowly down the hall, Talia and I keeping our eyes to the ground. Mom’s hand stayed on my back, and it did make me feel a bit better. It helped me breathe easier. This wasn’t a good thing, but it could have been worse. I could have been expelled. Or sent to prison.
“What does BB stand for anyway?” asked Mrs. Latu, as we neared the dreaded locker.
Talia glanced at me and we caught each other’s eye. To my surprise, she was grinning.
“Beach bum,” she said.