« You have got to be kidding me! »
I was out of my car so fast that I didn’t even close the door behind me.
I marched toward the pickup truck. Emily saw me first. She was laughing at something he’d said, but her smile dropped the moment we made eye contact.
I marched up to the driver’s side window and rapped my knuckles against the glass.
Slowly, the window lowered.
« You have got to be kidding me! »
« Hey, Zoe, what are you doing— »
« Following you. » I braced my hands against the door. « What are you doing? Emily is supposed to be in school, and why on earth are you driving this? Where’s your Ford? »
« Well, I took it to the panel beater, but they didn’t— »
I sharply raised my hand. « Emily first. Why are you helping her cut school? You’re her father, Mark, you should know better. »
Emily leaned forward. « I asked him to, Mom. It wasn’t his idea. »
« But he still went along with it. What are you two up to? »
« Why are you helping her cut school? »
Mark raised his hands in a placating gesture. « She asked me to pick her up because she didn’t want to go— »
« That’s not how life works, Mark! You don’t just opt out of the ninth grade because you don’t feel like it. »
« It’s not like that. »
Emily clenched her jaw. « You don’t get it. I knew you wouldn’t. »
« Then make me get it, Emily. Talk to me. »
Mark looked at Emily. « You said we were going to be honest, Emmy. She’s your mom. She deserves to know. »
Mark raised his hands in a placating gesture.
Emily lowered her head.
« The other girls… They hate me. It’s not just one person. It’s all of them. They move their bags when I try to sit down. They whisper ‘try-hard’ every time I answer a question in English. In the gym, they act like I’m invisible. They won’t even pass me the ball. »
I felt a sudden, sharp pang in the center of my chest. « Why didn’t you tell me, Em? »
« Because I knew you’d march into the principal’s office and make a giant scene. Then they’d hate me even more for being a snitch. »
« Why didn’t you tell me, Em? »
« She’s not wrong, » Mark added.
« So your solution was to facilitate a disappearance? » I asked him.
Mark sighed. « She was throwing up every morning, Zoe. Actual, physical sickness from the stress. I thought I could just give her a few days to breathe while we figured out a plan. »
« A plan involves talking to the other parent. What was the endgame here? »
« She was throwing up every morning, Zoe. »
Mark reached into the center console and pulled out a yellow legal pad. It was covered in Emily’s neat, looped handwriting.
« We were writing it out. I told her that if she reported it clearly — dates, names, specific incidents — the school has to act. We were drafting a formal complaint. »
Emily rubbed her sleeve across her face. « I was going to send it. Eventually. »
« When? » I asked.
« The school has to act. »
She didn’t answer.
Mark rubbed the back of his neck. « I know I should have called you. I picked up the phone so many times. But she begged me not to. I didn’t want her to feel like I was choosing your side over hers. I wanted her to have one safe place where she didn’t feel pressured. »
« This isn’t about sides, Mark. This is about being a parent. We have to be the adults, even when it makes them mad at us. »
« I know, » he said.
« I picked up the phone so many times. But she begged me not to. »
I believed him. He looked like a man who had seen his daughter drowning and grabbed the first rope he could find, even if that rope was frayed and rotten.
I turned back to Emily. « Skipping school doesn’t make them stop, honey. It just gives them power. »
Her shoulders sagged.
Mark looked at me, then at Emily. « Let’s go sort this out together. The three of us. Right now. »
I looked at him, surprised. He was usually the one who wanted to « sleep on it » or « wait for the right vibe. »
« Skipping school doesn’t make them stop, honey. »
Emily blinked, her eyes wide. « Now? Like, in the middle of second period? »
« Yes, » I said. « Before you have time to talk yourself out of it. We’re going to walk into that office and hand them that legal pad. »
Walking into the school felt different with both of us there.
We asked for the counselor.
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