TOO CLOSE IS TOO DANGEROUS

Melissa woke drowsily—neither fully awake nor fully asleep. She stared out the rear passenger-side window when her mum’s car came to a stop.

“Are we there yet?” she said, her voice groggy from sleep.

Her mum reached for her bag from the front passenger seat. “Yes, honey.”

Melissa yawned, stretching her arms in the air as she tried to get rid of the sleep.

“Pick up your things let’s go, the principal will be waiting for us by now,” her mum said, stepping out of the car.

Melissa got out of the car sluggishly, strapping her backpack to her back.

She paused for a moment and heaved a sigh of relief when she stepped into Jasonville High School.

“Come on Melissa,” her mum whispered, beckoning her to walk faster.

Melissa moved her feet reluctantly as she observed each student who passed by.

“Brace yourself girl, we are in your new school,” her mother giggled excitedly when they reached the principal’s office.

Melissa rolled her eyes “Honestly, Mum, I prefer my previous……..”

“Come on in!” the principal shouted from his office, cutting Melissa off abruptly after her mother knocked.

“Melissa Whitmore!!” the principal said excitedly as he offered them a seat. “I’ve heard so much about you and all I can say is that we are happy to have you here.”

Melissa faked a smile. “Thank you Mr. Ray.

Mr. Ray was the principal of Jasonville and has been in charge for the past ten years.

“Mrs. Whitmore,” Mr.Ray said with a wide smile, shaking Melissa’s mum. “Thank you for raising such a brilliant daughter.”

“Urgh” Melissa muttered to herself grabbing her stomach which gurgled noisily, reminding her that she hadn't eaten all day.

She felt a bit embarrassed as her mum and the principal turned to look at her.

“Ummm, sorry about that,” she said, still grabbing her stomach.

The principal smiled. “It's fine.”

“You can go down to the cafeteria to get yourself something to eat, your mum and I have some things to discuss before you're finally settled in.”

“I'd better get going before I starve to death,” she said, pushing her seat backward which scraped the hard floor loudly as she stood up.

Melissa walked to the school premises and finally found her way to the school’s cafeteria.

The cafeteria buzzed with conversations while the aroma of freshly baked pizza and fries hung in the air.

She walked in quietly, collected her food on a tray, and spotted an empty table close to the window, then walked towards it.

As she walked towards the table, a group of boys whispered and giggled among themselves as she walked past.

Then one of them stuck out his leg.

Melissa Stumbled.

Her tray came crashing down hitting the tiled floor and spilling the food content all over her body.

The boys flared in laughter.

“Watch where you're going, jerk,” the boy who stuck out his leg said.

Melissa stood up, feeling embarrassed.

She looked around and discovered the whole cafeteria’s attention was on her.

Some laughed and whispered among themselves, some took photos of her while others screen-recorded the whole incident.

She turned to herself.

Her white t-shirt which clung to her skin had been badly stained without recognition.

Rage spewed within her but she was too calm to show it.

She turned to the boy who had caused the whole chaos.

His voice was the loudest among everyone gathered and he sure had a phone in his hand, capturing every humiliating moment as if his life depended on it.

“What did you do that for?” she asked calmly, her voice almost inaudible.

“You aren’t gonna cry are you?” he asked mockingly.

Already all teared up, Melissa ran out of the cafeteria.

She broke down in tears, slamming to the ground.

“I knew this school was bad news right from the beginning,” she said to herself between quiet cries.

She made her way back to the principal’s office and the moment she stepped in, the principal screamed.

“Oh my God!!”

“This must definitely be Nicole’s doing. I’m so sorry Melissa.”

“What happened hun?” Her mother asked in panic, drawing her close and holding her in a tight embrace.

But Melissa was too emotional to speak as she kept crying silently.

Mr.Ray reached for his phone from the table and called the front desk. “Send Nicole Caldwell to my office immediately!!”

A few minutes later, a tall boy with short brown tousled hair walked into the office.

“Melissa, is this the boy who did this to you?” Mr. Ray asked, calling her attention.

Melissa, whose face was buried in her mother’s chest, looked up.

And when her eyes met those of Nicole who stood defiant, Something hotter than rage fueled within her.

Mr. Ray looked at her and asked again. “Was he the one who did this to you?”

Melissa nodded.

Melissa’s mum turned toward the principal in a fit of fury.“Is this how the school treats people on their first day?”

“I’m sorry Mrs. Whitmore, this is definitely going to be taken care of.”

Melissa’s mum's blood steamed as she turned towards Nicole. “I can't believe the most famous school in Chrisborough harbors scoundrels as students.”

Mr.Ray turned to Nicole. “Seems the fun you're having gets interesting as each day passes.”

Nicole said nothing.

Rather, he had that smirk curved at one side of his lips as he stared at Melissa who was bitter.

“You feel you can do anything and get away with it just because you're the school’s famous player huh?”

“I’m sorry Mr.Ray,” Nicole said unapologetically.

“Well I guess not,” Mr.Ray answered. “And so for that, you'll be cleaning the school’s auditorium for two weeks.”

“What!!” Nicole screamed in shock, the smirk fading away immediately.

He didn't see that coming.

“Yes, Mr.Caldwell,” the principal said, stamping a report. “Since you have decided to be unreasonable, I've decided to add a little bit of spice to your nonchalant attitude.

Nicole turned to look at Melissa who seemed to enjoy the turnaround of events.

She felt satisfied.

“Okay, Mr. Ray. Promise not to do this anymore. Can we get the punishment canceled now?” Nicole said, smiling as his hands were firmly tucked in his pocket.

He turned to look at Melissa once more with a sneer, feeling confident he could get away with his act.

“Then I think you're up for suspension then, from both games and school.”

“Whoa!!” Nicole screamed in surprise. “I didn't do anything, it was just an accident!!”

Nicole moved closer to Melissa. “Come on, new girl, explain to him!!”

“One more inch closer to her and you get to join the librarian.”

“Not the library,” Nicole muttered to himself as he took a few steps backward away from Melissa.

Nicole became suddenly enraged. “Sir, you're taking this thing too far.”

“The same way you decided to take bullying students of this school too far,”

“Okay accepted, anywhere but not the school’s auditorium Mr.Ray,” Nicole pleaded.

“Would you prefer the restroom either?”

Nicole froze for a moment then wrinkled his nose in disgust which clearly signified a No.

“I thought so too,” Mr. Ray responded, after seeing Nicole’s expression.

He turned to Melissa’s mum with a smile. “Are you satisfied now Mrs.Whitmore?”

She looked at Nicole and returned her gaze to the principal. “Not too impressive but I think I’ll manage.”

Nicole made a move towards the door before he was abruptly stopped by Mr.Ray.

“And who permitted you to leave?”

Nicole sighed in frustration. “I thought we were done here,”

Mr.Ray smiled. “Not yet, Mr. Caldwell. Go on, apologize to Miss Whitmore”

Nicole scoffed. “What!!. You don’t expect me to apologize to her after the punishment that has been inflicted on me.”

Mr.Ray’s expression turned stern. “That will leave me with no choice but to call your coach to exempt you from two seasons of the game.”

Nicole screamed. “That's too much!!, You're overreacting.”

“Not me, Nicole. Actually, you're the one taking it too far,” Mr Ray said, as he returned his gaze to the laptop on his table.”

“Okay fine, I'll do it,” Nicole said grudgingly.

“I’m sorry,” He muttered to himself.

“I guess that apology was meant for you,” Mr. Ray blinked. “ If you want to apologize, make sure you do it properly.”

Nicole frowned. He turned to look at Melissa who kept smiling through the whole scene.

Nicole burned with fury.

“I’m sorry,” he shouted one more time before walking out of the office furiously and slamming the door hard after him.

Mr. Ray sighed. “Now that's better.”

He turned to Melissa’s mum. “On behalf of Jasonville High, we are truly sorry for the reprehensible act performed by our student.”

Melissa’s mum felt contented with the punishment lashed at Nicole.

She turned to look at her daughter who smelled like bolognese spaghetti and her white, which had suddenly become deep brown.

“ I think my daughter needs a change of clothes,” she said, pushing her chair backwards as she stood up.

“ Most definitely Mrs.Whitmore, Mr. Ray nodded.

“Mira will show her around the school once she gets back.”