Caught In The Middle

The secret is out

SABINA'S POV

The rest of the day went smoothly until I was called into the principal’s office just after lunch. It was not very often that I was summoned by the principal but whenever he did, I knew it had something to do with the school paper. I was never nervous about meeting him unlike some other kids that always got in trouble and either got expelled or suspended. Arianna thought it was suspicious that he would ask to see me alone if it concerned the school paper. She actually thought it had a lot to do with my love life which in the short period of time it had began, had become quite a spectacle. But I thought it would be bizarre for a whole principal to take note and even be interested or bothered by my love life, I mean I wasn’t the only student dating.

But I was the only student dating the Mafia king, by the time I went to the principal’s office I had convinced myself of all the reasons why this could end badly and I was nervous.

“Miss Turner, you can come in now” I heard Mr Robinson call my name after about 10 minutes of me waiting and fidgeting outside his door and rehearsing any come back I would have to give him.

“Good afternoon sir” i said nervously

“Please take a sit” he said after he nodded and I sat down opposite him, the formality in his voice making me want to pass out.

“It has been brought to my attention that a certain dangerous young man is becoming a regular at my school’s parking lot. Now Miss Turner you know school policy concerning pickups, and you are no stranger to school laws and principles.” He said and i swallowed hard

“Especially if the person in question is making another student uncomfortable and unsafe, I have received a complaint and this person who wishes to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, says this young man poses a danger to the school. Now it is not my place to tell you who to be friends with but it is my place to control who has access to the school premises, can I trust you to make sure this never happens again and this man in question no longer makes an appearance at the school parking lot?” he asked

“Sir with all due respect Marcus hasn’t even spoken to anyone in this school besides me, and he is a grown ass... I mean he is a grown man and I cannot possibly dictate to him how to behave or act” I said, my argument made a lot of sense to me but I knew it was just gibberish to Mr Robinson

“Well I guess I will just have to ask your mother to attend to the matter” he said and I immediately jumped up in panic mode.

“There is no need to do that” I said quickly “there is no need to do that Marcus is my friend and i will talk to him...I give you my word” I said and he nodded thoughtfully. I stood up and made my way to the door

“And Miss Turner, I would advice that you chose your friends wisely. This is your final year and you shouldn’t entertain any distractions” he said and I nodded and quickly opened the door eager to get out.

Damn you Chloe...

The rest of my day was total s**t, Arianna wanted to have her head after I told her what she had told the principal. After school I had to rush and wait for Marcus outside the main school gate so that I could stop him as soon as I saw him pull up.

After a few minutes there he was, looking all angelic. He immediately saw that I wasn’t ok and came out of his car.

“My love, are you ok?” he asked after kissing me

“I am fine” I whispered as I threw myself in his car. To be honest I just wanted to cry my eyes out but I was going to do that once I got home.  So I just settled for looking out the window and sinking myself in thoughts which depressed me further.

“So are you going to tell me what happened or do I have to call Arianna” he asked again immediately getting my attention

“You wouldn’t...” I challenged

“oh yes I would” he said pulling his phone out and showing me Arianna’s number before dialling it and I shook my head rapidly as I tried to snatch his phone from him.

“Fine I’ll tell you” I screamed as he started laughing. The last thing i wanted was to be teased by Arianna that Marcus was fighting my battles for me

“So?” he asked again as he slid his phone back in his pocket.

“So, I was summoned by the principal today because of you” I said as I took a deep breath and leaned back.

“Because of me?’ he asked and I could sense the shock in his voice

“yes, Chloe complained and said she wasn’t feeling safe” I said but immediately regretted it after i said her name, what if he searched for her and did something horrible to her.

“Chloe...Who is she?’ he asked and I immediately went into defence mode

“No Marcus, you will not pay her a visit and neither will your man, that’s not how things work in high school. I just want to finish my final year with no drama ok. Don’t make me regret my decision to bring you into my life” I threatened and I saw panic set in his face.

“No baby, I won’t do anything to her...I was just curious” he said

“Keep it like that...can you take me straight home am kind of tired today” I said yawning. I was just stressing over my mu finding out I was dating someone and that someone was Marcus Pressler, this guy was like the bogey man.

And I was dating him and madly in love with him.

“that’s cool, I also have business to take care of.

We arrived home and he parked his car on the side of the road by my house I could see my mum was already home. So I quickly kissed Marcus and sent him away and then nervously made my way inside my place. I was nervous of my mum hounding me and pestering me with questions that didn’t concern her.

As soon as I walked in I could sense something was wrong.

Very smart of me to send Marcus away when I really needed him, what if there were intruders and they had already had their way with my mum.

“Mom...” I called out and there was no response

“Mom, where are you?” I yelled as I made my way through to the living room and then made my way to her room. I was stopped in my tracks when I reached her door and heard sniffing sounds. It sounded like she was crying. Panicked, I flung the door open and burst inside to find my mother curled up on the floor.

“Mom what the hell... what’s wrong” I said with a shaky panicked voice, trying to assess if she wasn’t hurt at all. She got up and hugged me tight and then wiped off her tears

“Sabina I have been calling and calling you, where have you been?” she asked

“I was at school mum, why what’s wrong...you are scaring me” I said close to tears

“Well why didn’t you answer your phone?” she asked “I thought they found you and got to you somehow”

After she said that I moved away from her, now was the moment she was going to tell me everything. I was so sick of this

”mom, tell me the truth... what is going on, who is after us and why?’ I demanded

“It’s nothing am just relieved that you are ok” she said trying to brush me off

“Am not a little girl anymore and I demand you tell me the truth” I said standing up

“You are in no place to make demands” she said as she wiped her nose

“Mom its either you tell me now or I leave and I will go and sleep at Arianna’s place, and I will stay there until you are ready to tell me the truth” I threatened and she stood up and shook her head

“No you can’t do that baby you have to understand I can’t protect you when you are there...” she said

“Understand what? That my life is in danger and you won’t tell me why? Mom you are acting crazy” I screamed

“Fine” she screamed “the men that your father owed found where i work today and they visited me” she said and my eyes grew wide

“They gave us until the end of this week to pay the balance” she sobbed and I sank to the ground afraid to ask my next question

“How...how much do we still have to pay?” I asked and she shook her head and I knew it was way more than I could ever think.

“How much is it mum?” I asked again

“Its $150 000” she whispered

“Mom, what was dad doing with all that money?’ I asked tears streaming down my face

“Honey that’s not important now, what important is getting this money. Do you think Phil can give you an advance?” she asked

“No he already paid us and I gave you all the money” i said and she nodded hopelessly

“Then we are dead meat” she said, one thing I hated about my mum was all the pity parties she always threw herself. I stood up and left her on the floor to drown in her tears and i headed to my room and locked the door. What a shitty day this had been, first it was Chloe and the principal now it was my mum and those damn debtors. How did my father end up mixed with such people?

I threw myself on the bed and sobbed, allowing myself``` to sink into a whole of self pity and hopelessness like my mum. I wished I could call my best friend and ask her what to do but I couldn’t because I couldn’t risk her knowing my family’s secrets.

But what would Arianna do if she were me?