“Mom, what’s going on?” I asked as I arrived back at school, my parents standing by their car. The whole walk back, I couldn’t think of a good reason as to why Mr. Way would call my parents in. My mind was just blank.

My mom looked at me confused, “That’s what we’d like to know! In your entire school life, there’s never been a problem. You start a new school, and all of a sudden there’s a problem. Could you please explain to me what it is that you’re supposed to have done?” She gave me a stern look. It was not going to be easy to get out of this.

I shook my head, “Really, I don’t know. I haven’t done anything wrong, I promise.” I knew they weren’t listening to me. They hadn’t even spoken to my art teacher yet, but already he was right.

“That’s not what... who is it? Mr. Way? That’s not what he’s said,” My dad spoke up. It was rare for him to give his say on things. Mr. Way’s lie must have been pretty bad, and convincing.

“You spoke to him already?”

Dad shook his head, “No, the school receptionist called and gave a brief explanation. We were waiting until you arrived for us to go see him... Honestly, Sam, its art! How much trouble can you possibly cause in art?”

I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I followed my parents into the building. They soon stepped aside, as they had no idea where Mr Way’s room was. I could feel my hands shake. What possible reason could he have for calling in my parents? This was getting beyond ridiculous. I should speak up, tell them Mr Way isn’t doing his job right and get him fired!

That’s what I should do, but for some reason I didn’t want to tell anyone. I wanted to figure this out on my own!

Mr Way’s door was open when we eventually arrived at his room. Being polite, I knocked as I entered to signal our arrival. I glanced at the clock – class was starting again in twenty minutes. Hopefully this would be over before then, so I wouldn’t have the embarrassment of the whole class trying to listen in.

Mr Way turned at the sound of knocking, and from behind me I heard a small gasp from my mom. I turned and saw a poorly disguised look of shock on her face, as well as my dad’s. What was that about?

“Mr and Mrs Phillips, how nice to meet you,” Mr Way held out his hand to shake my parents with a – what I assume was his first – smile on his face, “Sit down and we can discuss your daughter.” He went back to sit at his desk as my parents took the two empty seats opposite him. I remained standing. Typical.

I saw my parents glancing at each other every few seconds, with a look of discomfort, while Mr Way just smirked. Something isn’t right.

Mr Way looked through some papers on his desk, “Now, I called you here today to discuss Samantha’s progress in my class.” He rested his arms on the desk, the smirk now gone from his face, the deathly glare taking over, “I am very disappointed with your daughter, Mr and Mrs Phillips. She is constantly turning up late, she fails to hand in work on time, and her last project wasn’t anywhere near good enough, which shows she is lazy... I am losing my patience with her, and I may have to move her from my class if she doesn’t step up.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My mouth dropped at the lies he was spilling about me. If anything, I worked harder than anyone in his class. Apart from the very first class, I was always on time, even early on occasions. I’ve never had any negative feedback on my work, and as for our last project? That wasn’t even due to be finished until after Christmas break.

“Mom, you don’t really believe any of –“

“Quiet, Sam.” My dad cut me off, “Your teacher has brought up some interesting points.” His voice was slightly shaking as he spoke, “You’ve been so distracted lately, and you’ve had detention – Detention! You never once had detention in your old school.”

I could see the smirk on Mr Way again. He loved this. Why though? Why was he so set on making me miserable? And to add to that, my mom and dad seemed almost scared of him. I didn’t even know they knew each other.

“What do you suggest we do, Mr Way?” My mom asked her hands clenched tightly, “We don’t want her to get into any more trouble.”

Mr Way looked lost in thought for a moment, “Well, just make sure you remove all distractions so she can get some work done at home... Other than that there isn’t really anything you can do, I just thought you needed to be made aware of the problems. IF Samantha can step up in class, and she gets all her work done, then after Christmas, I’ll consider keeping her in my class... I’ll be setting her an individual project over Christmas break to do. If she puts thought, time and dedication into it, then there shouldn’t be any more problems.” He smirked.

The drive home was quiet. Since leaving Mr Ways classroom, my parents hadn’t said a word to each other, and hadn’t said a word to me.

This was so unfair. Mr Way was being completely unreasonable towards me, and I just couldn’t understand why. I’d never met him before starting school, and the only time I’ve ever really heard about him was when his and Mikey’s parents died, but other than that... There wasn’t anything to link us together in any way.

This whole thing was becoming such a headache to me.

When we got home, my parents removed their coats and turned to me, “Sam, go upstairs. Do homework, or whatever it is that you need to go, but just go.” My mom said. I didn’t try to argue with them, I just went.

Just as I was about to open my bedroom door, I heard my mom and dad whispering to each other. I sat at the top of the stairs, trying to listen, but it was hard to hear.

However, I did manage to catch one part.

“I can’t believe it’s him! What are we gonna do?”

What was going on?

Notes

Thanks for reading and commenting :)