Ronnie drummed her fingers impatiently on the principal's desk, not at all happy about the reason she was here. Someone had given her up, and when she found out who, she had every intention of making their life (online and offline) a living Hell. He fingers stopped moving when the office door opened and her Tony, still in his police uniform, walked into the room and gave her a disappointed look. She looked down at her feet, the first hint of guilt for her actions seeping through.
He closed the door as the principal cleared his voice and finally spoke, “Ms. Brennan, are you aware of why I’ve asked your father here today?"
She sighed harshly. Because someone in the computer science club was a douche, that’s why. But she didn’t say that. Instead she responded as they expected her to, anything to get this over with. “Because I hacked into the school’s computer system."
“And...?” the principal prompted.
“And?” Now she was stumped. All the teen had done was program all of the school’s fancy LCD screens to play Bad-CRC’s ‘All Your Base Are Belong To Us’. It was a harmless prank...a joke to make people laugh. “Umm...because it was a bad thing to do?” Ronnie was fishing now, not sure what she was supposed to say.
“Veronica...” That was Tony, a hint of warning in his voice.
The principal sighed. “Typically, Ms. Brennan what you’ve done would be punishable with expulsion...”
“What?!” Her head jerked up at that, actual fear on her face. “But I...!"
The teen’s protest was cut short when Tony put a hand on her arm. “Let him finish, Ronnie."
With a grimace, she nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. Oh, yeah - whoever had done this to her was going down!
The principal continued. “However, having discussed some things with your father, and considering your outstanding educational record, the school has decided to make an exception."
“Meaning what, exactly?” She asked, looking suspiciously between the two men. There was a catch - there had to be a catch.
It was Tony who spoke. “You’re going to start tutoring one of the other students.” Ronnie desperately wanted to interrupt, but held her tongue. “And since you’ll need some free time for your new duties; you’ll be ceasing any and all extracurricular activities.” This time she did open her mouth to protest, but she was stopped short by a wave of Tony’s hand. “You’re also grounded until further notice. The only time you'll be allowed to leave the house is for tutoring sessions. Is that understood?"
The teen nodded, as angry tears began to form in her eyes. It’s not like she’d been stealing test answers or changing grades, for crying out loud!
“Good,” the principal interjected, with a smug bob of his head. “Now, Ms. Brennan, I have a few more things to discuss with your father. The young man you’ll be assisting should be waiting just outside. Why not go and say hello?"
Standing silently, Ronnie made her way back out of the office and into the reception area, eyes immediately scanning the room. Her brows shot up when she realized her new ‘charge’ was sitting close enough to the door that he’d probably heard everything. When their eyes met, she tried not to glare at him. After all, it wasn’t his fault she was in this mess. So, she tried to be polite, holding out her hand to him. “Name’s Veronica.” She shrugged slightly. “Or Ronnie...whatever. So, I guess we’re stuck together, huh?” Suddenly she realized no one had said exactly what kind of tutoring she was supposed to be doing. “Um, not to be rude, but what exactly is it you need help with, anyway?” Ronnie’s grades were generally good across the board, although she excelled in both History and Math. The only class that consistently gave her trouble was art.
