Page 111 of Nobody in Particular

Mom has to call me three times to wake me up for the meeting with the headmaster. When the ringing finally drags me to consciousness, the first thing I notice is my bed’s empty. Then I remember Rose left super early, and I forgot to set an alarm of my own. I swear and grab my phone.

“I’m here, I’m coming, sorry, I’ll beonesecond, love you,” I babble, throwing on my uniform. Okay, so I’m gonna be… less than polished. Not ideal, but it’s fine, it’s cool, we’re gonna be fine. I’m gonna be fine.

Oh god, oh fuck, what if I’m not fine?

Mom is obviously livid when I finally get to the headmaster’s office, but it’s not with me, exactly. She sort of just seems to be angry at the world right now. She gives me a long hug, then smooths her blond hair back and tidies up the bun she’s wrangled it into. “Sit down, Daniela,” she says. “I want to discuss something with you before we go in.”

I don’t like that look. “What?” I ask warily.

“Drinking. I want to know what part of getting drunk at a stranger’s house, underage,duringthe school term seemed appropriate to you.”

Oh. Yeah. Shit. Good thing she doesn’t know about the weed, then, or she’d bereallypissed right now.

“I raised you better than that, Danni. You know, maybe you’re too young to be at boarding school. You’re meant to be supervised here!”

I shrug. “We’re allowed to go out on the weekends.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“If you get a consent form signed,” I say, not meeting her eyes.

She looks at me flatly. “And I guess I just forgot signing this mysterious form?”

I purse my lips, and she throws her hands up.

“Great. Now my child is a drunk and a forger. You know, if you’re immature enough to be doing this sort of stuff, maybe youaren’tready.”

“To be fair,” I say, “there’d be plenty of opportunities to get drunk at house parties at public school. It’s junior year. Don’t you remember your junior year?”

“You’reunderage. Seventeen isnotold enough to be drinking, and—don’t give me that look.”

“I’m not giving you a look.”

“Danni, tell me you never went to a house party before boarding school.”

I hesitate. “I never went to a house party before boarding school,” I say in a robotic voice.

Mom looks scandalized. “Danni.”

I hold my hands up in surrender. “I’m a product of childhood trauma, Mom, it’s not even my fault! I got bullied my whole childhood, now I do whatever my classmates want me to do. I was corrupted in Boulder. The girls here corrupted me. I’ll be corrupted wherever I go. It’s better if we accept it.”

“I’ll homeschool you.”

“You’d probably corrupt me, too, Mom,” I say regretfully. “You do smoke.”

“Well, I need to, with a daughter like you.” She gives me a grudging smile.

Despite everything, it’s good to see her again. It makes me feel less alone. Even if there’s nothing she can do.

The door to the headmaster’s office finally opens, and he invites us in. Maybe he was just leaving us out here to torture me. One final “screw you” on the way out.

Mom and I sit side by side as he launches into a rehearsed-sounding spiel. It’s pretty similar to the one he gave me yesterday, actually. I broke the rules, nothing he can do, his hands are tied, he really is sorry.

The thing is, I kind of believe him. There’s something about the way he says it that comes across as sincere. And that gives me hope that my plan has a shot in hell at working.

“Now. Before I invite your input, Mrs. Baker,” the headmaster says, “Is there anything you have to say for yourself, Danni?”

I nod. Okay. It’s going to be fine. I’ve got this. I turn on my laptop, and bring up the two documents I prepared last night. I stayed up until stupid o’clock working with Leonora on two different versions of her profile on me.

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