by Katie Bradford
Abby walked nervously into the school office and stood at the counter, waiting for one of the secretaries to notice her. They looked like they were all extremely busy and she was in no particular hurry to find out why she had been summoned out of class, so she waited, trying not to bring attention to herself.
It hadn't taken long though before Mrs. Montgomery noticed her and asked, "What do you need, hun?"
"Somebody called me down here?" Abby asked more then stated.
That's when Mrs. Potter, the principal's secretary, looked up and said, "Are you Abigail Levine?"
"Yes, ma'am," Abby replied, frowning at the use of her given name. She hated that name; it was too old-fashioned.
Speaking more to Mrs. Montgomery then to Abby, Mrs. Potter said, "Mr. Murphy wanted to see her. I believe Miss Levine's father is in the office right now and they wanted her to join them."
At the mention of her father, Abby's face turned ashen white! She had no idea why he would be there, but it would have to be pretty serious for him to take time from his busy police schedule to come up to her school!
Giving Abby a half smile, Mrs. Montgomery said, "Have a seat, Abigail, and I'll let Mr. Murphy know you're here."
Abby looked behind her to see four black leather chairs lined up against the wall and chose the one farthest from the principal's office! Plopping down into the tattered seat she wondered how many others had occupied the same worn out chair waiting to be called in.
Fumbling with her fingers, Abby tried to think of a reason why she would be called into the office. There was only one thing she had done that would warrant an office visit and she was pretty sure there had been no witnesses around when she had done it! But she wasn't naive enough to think she had been called down to discuss the weather either!
"Abigail?" Mrs. Montgomery interrupted her thoughts. "Mr. Murphy will be with you in just a minute, okay hun?"
No, it wasn't okay, but there was nothing she could do about it! Wanting to be anywhere but right there at the moment, Abby simply nodded her head and said, "Yes, ma'am."
Besides stewing about why she was there, Abby watched and listened to others as they entered the office for one reason or another. She had been so enthralled by the hustle and bustle of the office visitors that she'd almost jumped out of her skin when Mrs. Montgomery finally called her, telling her that Mr. Murphy was ready to see her.
Abby's eyes automatically shot up to the clock hanging over the counter and noticed that they had kept her waiting fifteen minutes. Who knew what in the Hell they had been talking about during all that time.
Taking a deep breath, she stood up and tried to prepare herself for whatever lay beyond the closed door. She felt like an unarmed soldier about to go into battle.
Slowly, she approached Mr. Murphy's office and turned the knob, opening the door just enough to let them know she was there.
"Come in, Miss Levine," Mr. Murphy ordered firmly but not unkindly. "We've been waiting for you."
Abby walked in and stopped dead in her tracts! Not only was her father sitting there with his usual dour face, but Ms. Castleberry, her fourth period History teacher.
"You have some explaining to do, young lady!" Mr. Levine snapped, eyeing his daughter coldly.
There was no doubt in Abby's mind that somehow they knew something about her cheating on the History final! But unless they knew the particulars of the situation, they were going to be in for a very disappointing meeting! She wasn't going to admit to a thing.
She decided to take the brainless blonde approach, even though she was a definite brunette!
"Daddy! What are you doing here? Is everything all right?
"I think you know good and well why I am here!" he snarled as he pointed to the chair next to him and added, "SIT DOWN!"
"Sir?" she asked, trying to look confused as she took the appointed seat.
"Now, Miss Levine," Mr. Murphy began calmly as he leaned forward and clasped his hands together thoughtfully across his desk, "I'm sure you know why you've been called to the office."
"Actually, Sir, I'm sorry but I don't have a clue," Abby replied, glancing over at the principal.
Mr. Levine rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms and shifted positions in his seat. He could tell his daughter was lying. Her little innocent act was pretty lame. Any time she was withholding evidence from him, she started acting like this. Very little got past him; he wasn't the Chief of Police for nothing.
"Abby! You were seen, for heaven's sake!" Miss Castleberry interjected with disgust.
"Seen doing what, Miss Castleberry?"
"Young lady..."
"Daddy, I really don't know what you all are talking about!" Abby interrupted, trying to look really confused.
"Like heck you don't!" Mr. Levine frowned.
With an audible sigh, Miss Castleberry asked, "Abby, did you study for your History exam?"
"Yes ma'am..." Abby hesitated, "...maybe not as well as I should have, but I studied."
"So you admit you didn't give it your all, did you?" her teacher asked.
"Well, I had to split my studying up between History and Science because both tests were the same day ... I studied the best I could. I did okay on the test, didn't I? I mean I didn't flunk it or anything, did I?" Abby asked with wide eyes.
"No ... no, you didn't fail." Miss Castleberry smirked. "Far from it. You passed with flying colors!"
Mr. Murphy cleared his throat and said, "A student came to my office earlier this morning and said he saw you alone in Miss Castleberry's room on the day of the exam, copying something at her desk."
"What?" Abby's mouth fell open. "You've got to be kidding?! Are you accusing me of cheating?"
"Well, I am sure we would all like to hear why you were in Miss Castleberry's room all alone that day, Miss Levine," the principal replied.
"I wasn't!" Abby snapped back. "Mr. Murphy ... whoever told you I was in her room was lying! I have NEVER EVER cheated on a test before in my life!"
Mr. Levine said nothing as he sat listening to his daughter. He had decided when she started denying the accusation just to let her hang herself. He knew eventually she would cave in and that's when he would intervene. He was quite happy to sit back and let Mr. Murphy and Abby's teacher handle the whole situation. At least for the moment.
"Our source is very reliable ..." Miss Castleberry said rather haughtily.
"Well, it must have been someone who looked like me because it wasn't me!" Abby retorted.
His resolve to stay quiet quickly faded as Mr. Levine leaned closer to his daughter and growled, "Young lady, so help me ... I'll put you across my knee right here in this office if you don't stop lying! You better damn well tell the truth and do it NOW!"
Abby was getting a little nervous. Her father was not someone to mess with when he was angry, and right then she could tell he was near boiling point. She knew if she pushed much further he would do exactly what he said, even if it had been over a year since her last spanking.
But even though she wasn't endeavoring to make her father mad, Abby was a little irritated that her father wasn't inclined to believe her at all. She was his flesh and blood. Shouldn't he back her up just a little? It always seemed he sided with the adults, no matter what the situation was.
Her voice was a little more cheeky then she had intended when she turned to her father and said, "Well, it's plain to see no one believes me! So there is no use arguing! Go ahead and tell me what my punishment is ... suspension? Grounded until I turn fifty? A paddling? What?"
"I wouldn't be so flippant if I were you, young lady!" her father warned.
Crossing her arms rebelliously, Abby snapped, "Well, I didn't cheat!"
"I can tell you're lying ..." her father replied though clenched teeth.
Looking straight at Abby, Mr. Murphy interrupted the yelling match between father and daughter and said, "Miss Castleberry would like you to retake the History exam after school tomorrow..."
"But ..." Abby tried interrupting.
Cutting her off immediately, Mr. Murphy continued, "I think she is being very fair under the circumstances, Miss Levine."
Abby realized she was going to be punished regardless of whether or not she admitted to cheating. It was very clear no one believed her, especially her father. The fact that she had actually done what they were accusing her of was blindsided by the growing animosity she was feeling towards this small group of adults.
"I'm actually very surprised you would stoop to this kind of antic," Mr. Murphy said calmly, "with your father in the position he is in and all..."
Abby sank even lower in her chair muttering, "It wasn't me!"
Mr. Levine angrily grabbed Abby's chin and forced her to look up into his Irish green eyes. "You did it and you know it! We will be discussing this matter further at home, but right now I believe you owe Miss Castleberry and Mr. Murphy an apology for wasting their time this afternoon! AND ..." he added, squeezing her chin even tighter, "...thank them for ALLOWING you to retake that test!"
"Yes Sir!" Abby winced from her father's pinching fingers.
Releasing her chin, Mr. Levine stood, pulling Abby up with him, and pushed her lightly towards her teacher.
Looking down at Miss Castleberry who was still seated, Abby mumbled, "Sorry, Miss Castleberry."
"SAY IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT, YOUNG LADY!" Mr. Levine groused, giving her bottom a good solid smack.
Embarrassed that her father would whack her butt in public like that, Abby unwittingly turned to him and protested, "GAH, DAD! How embarrassing! I'll apolo..."
Before the rest of the words were able to make their way out of her mouth, she felt a volley of sharp swats land across the seat of her pants.
"Don't be impertinent! Apologize ... NOW!"
Totally humiliated now, Abby turned back to her teacher and in a cracking voice said, "I'm sorry, Miss Castleberry, for the trouble I've caused, and I really do appreciate you letting me take the test over."
Ignoring the forced apology, Miss Castleberry said, "I'll expect you in the classroom tomorrow after school, Abby, and you will have forty five minutes to take the test."
"Yes ma'am," Abby replied and then turned to make the rote apology to her principal.
Upon hearing the insincere apology, Mr. Murphy replied, "I can assure you, Miss Levine, that if this situation ever comes up again, your punishment will much worse. Only because this is the first time I've had to deal with you in this manner are you getting off this lightly."
"I appreciate your leniency, Mr. Murphy." Mr. Levine half smiled as he shook his hand. "And I can assure you this will NEVER happen again," he added, cutting his eyes down towards his daughter.
Miss Castleberry stood up and handed Mr. Levine a piece of paper. "Just so you don't forget, Mr. Levine, I have written the day and time for our little conference. I know you're busy securing our little town, but I do appreciate your time."
Abby looked incredulously from her father to her teacher, having no idea what all this was about. She figured the meeting had been set up between the two of them during the time she had been stuck sitting out front.
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