William repeated himself. "Your daughter has been seducing a male classmate at this school! I need you here to deal with this right now!"
Silence again.
I almost couldn't hold back my laughter.
If this principal had any idea who was on the other end of that line, he'd have wet himself on the spot.
Too bad he didn't know.
He just stood there, chest puffed out, waiting for my "parent" to come grovel.
"Principal Whitney," the voice on the line took on a strange edge, "are you certain you're talking about my daughter?"
"Of course I'm certain!" William snapped. "Are you coming or not?"
The voice replied, "I'm on my way. And Principal Whitney, until I get there, no one lays a finger on her."
Click. The line went dead.
William set the receiver down and scoffed. "Quite the attitude."
Delia sidled up to him. "What happened? What did they say?"
"Said they're on their way." William dropped the handset into its cradle. "Told me not to touch his daughter."
Delia's eyes darted around, and then her face lit up with sudden excitement.
"Principal, I have an idea! Call a school-wide assembly. Make this little tramp apologize in front of every single student! Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. Let every girl with wandering eyes get a good look at what happens!"
William hesitated. "Isn't that a bit much?"
"How is it too much?" Delia's voice climbed to a shrill pitch. "My son placed first in the citywide mock exams. He's the pride of this school! If we don't deal with girls like her, every tramp on campus will think she can throw herself at him!"
William nodded, about to speak, when Delia reached over and grabbed a fistful of my hair.
I caught her wrist and twisted. Hard.
"Ahh!" She cried out, the color draining from her face.
"I can walk on my own."
I shook free of her grip and looked at her calmly.
Delia clutched her wrist, my stare forcing her back half a step. The curse on the tip of her tongue died before it left her mouth.
She hadn't expected me to fight back. She definitely hadn't expected me to be that strong.
In the hallway, she walked ahead of me, throwing glares over her shoulder every few seconds, her mouth running the whole time. "Shameless little tramp. Homewrecking fox. Born trash!"
I stopped walking.
She stopped too, eyeing me warily.
"Watch your mouth."
My voice was quiet, but she flinched back half a step. Her lips trembled twice, and she didn't dare say another word.