Pretty Savage

Chapter 02: Inside the Principal's Office

Mrs. Alexis was just about to read the first lines on page 15 when she saw that one of her students didn’t take out her book. It was Lily Snow… 

“Ms. Snow, where’s your book?” the teacher asked.

Ivy raised her head up to look at the teacher ahead and replied, “I think I forgot to take them with me when I left home today. I’m sorry, Mrs. Alexis.”

The teacher frowned disapprovingly at her. “Next time don’t forget to bring your books.” Just as Mrs. Alexis was about to turn her attention to the class, she said, “And before I forgot, the principal was looking for you this morning. He wants you to come to his office as soon as possible.”

Ivy didn’t respond to that and just stood up. She left the classroom, stunning everyone else as she didn’t even say an excuse to the teacher to leave the classroom or have a fearful look on her face as she headed on to the Principal’s office. On the contrary, she looked like she was up to something bad as she strode with her hand in her pocket, on the front of her blazer.

…

In the principal’s office.

An elderly man sat behind the wide oak desk before him. He had his hands folded in front of his face and elbows on the desk. Mr. David Garcia, the principal of the prestigious Ashbourne academy, was waiting for a certain student inside his office even though he should be quite busy.

Mr. Garcia tapped her foot nervously on the carpeted floor underneath the table. It was an unusually hot afternoon in June and he was almost certain he was sweating through his navy blue coat.

‘Knock, knock.’

Mr. Garcia stiffened at the sound of the knockings at the door. He wiped the sweat that pooled on his forehead and called out, “Come in!”

The door swung open and revealed a beautiful girl clad in the academy’s uniform. 

“I heard you called for me, Mr. Garcia?” Ivy asked as she entered the room.

Mr. Garcia swallowed hard and nodded, “Yes, I did.” Then he added, “Please, have a seat.”

Ivy didn’t shy away and sat down on one of the soft couches nearest to the door. She crossed her legs, and lazily put her chin down on the back of her hand. She looked like she was the one who owned the place and not the principal, and with how the principal was trembling under her gaze, it even made his ancestors shake their heads in disappointment at how their descendant ended up like this.

“Ms. Snow… I mean Ms. Peterson.” Mr. Garcia said nervously and looked at her, when he saw that she was willing to listen, he continued, “I know you came here to this country to get justice for your sister, but I don’t think I can help you with that.”

Ivy narrowed her eyes when she heard him. “What do you mean by that, Mr. Garcia?” 

Mr. Garcia lowered his head, avoiding her eyes and continued to say, “I don’t want to destroy the trust of every parent that had their children enrolled in this academy. And if you do succeed in taking the justice you wanted, it will destroy the Academy’s name. I can’t have that!”

Mr. Garcia knew the reason why Ivy was in the academy. She was there to know the truth behind her sister’s death. And as someone who stood at the top of the school’s system, Mr. Garcia was the first person Ivy approached when she returned to the country. And coincidentally, Ivy knew someone whom Mr. Garcia wouldn’t dare offend, hence, the Principal was coerced to agree and let her come back in her sister’s place as a student of Ashbourne Academy. 

At first, Mr. Garcia was stunned when he found out that such a young woman would be able to know someone so powerful and use them to coerce him, the principal of the academy. But, Mr. Garcia didn’t like her plan. It was too risky and dangerous.

After hearing the principal speaking, Ivy stood up and walked over to him. With the table in between them, she flattened her palms on top of the table and leaned forward. “Mr. Garcia, what about the trust I had for you? You’re afraid that you will lose the trust you tried so hard to build, but what about mine? Did you keep my sister safe from harm? What about that person? Are you prepared for the repercussion after I leave this office?”

“You said you can’t have the academy’s name down the drain, but I think we both know that once what happened to my sister is made known to the public, not only you, the academy, and the students involved will have to answer to the government. You also have to answer to every shareholder and sponsors that are connected to the school. Do you know what will happen to you when they found out you pulled them with this mess?” 

Mr. Garcia stared blankly as he could see himself being thrown around as everyone tried to take a piece of him, to punish him, and kill him for ruining the big names that have involved themselves with the academy. 

Ivy smirked as she saw the fear in the principal’s eyes. He paled at her words, but she wasn’t done. “Of course, that future won’t happen for as long as you keep quiet. Do not tell anyone I am here as my sister’s replacement, and do not tell anyone about me. Do you understand?”

Mr. Garcia’s hand shook tremendously. He forced a smile on his lips, and changed his tune, “Yes, yes, yes. I completely understand, Ms. Peterson.”

“Ms. Snow.” she corrected him, “For as long as I’m in this country, call me Ms. Snow and not Ms. Peterson.”

“I will do that, Ms. Snow.” 

Satisfied with the principal’s reaction, Ivy turned around and left the office. 

Her eyes were cold, dark, and filled with sinister. She seemed quite ruthless.

Closing the door behind her, Ivy walked a few steps ahead, away from the principal’s office, and made a turn when she finally let everything go and gasped for air. Holding herself up with the help of the wall beside her, Ivy wished she could tear that man’s face up. 

As principal, Mr. Garcia didn’t even do anything when these bullying kept on happening to her twin sister. There should be a record about the hellish things that her sister had to experience. Someone in the staff room and higher ups should know what these people did to her sister. What was happening last year. But they chose to keep silent about it.

Earlier, her eyes contained murderous intent, but now that she was struggling to keep her emotions together, Ivy didn’t notice how wet her cheeks were.

When she finally noticed, her cheeks were already wet and her nose was blocked.

She ran a shaky hand through her hair and indignantly wiped the tears that escaped from her eyes. When she was done calming herself down, which was a few minutes after, Ivy turned around, however, just as she took a step, she didn’t realize that someone was walking from the other side of the corner and bumped against her.

Ivy wanted to evade but because there was too little time to do that and she was completely caught off guard, she ended up grabbing the person in front of her to the floor due to the impact.

Quickly, the person was at her side and had an arm around her waist, stopping the two of them from falling to the ground. Ivy could feel a strong muscles brushing against the sides of her waist, pulling her close—

Ivy looked up and saw a face so unfairly good looking. A hard, chiseled face, like that of a statue you could always see inside the museum. He had a pair of dark blue eyes that seemed to be darker than the ocean during night, and if you looked at it, you could drown in it and never swim up again for air.

Then, she stiffened when she heard a deep and strong voice whisper beside her ear, “Careful, love. Don’t stare at me too much, or else, I’ll assume you want me to kiss you.”