Page 15 of All I Ask
“Hello, Teagan, this is Mr. Beeson from the middle school.”
“Oh, yes. Hi, Mr. Beeson, is everything okay?”
He takes a small pause. “I’m going to need you to come down to the school and pick up Chastity.”
“Okay? What happened?”
“There was an incident with another student and I’m afraid the school has very strict policies regarding bullying.”
My poor daughter. This kid doesn’t deserve to be picked on by anyone. She has never gotten in any trouble, and I can only imagine how much this upsets her since she prides herself on having a perfect record.
“Did she come to you about it?” And then it dawns on me that they want me to pick her up. “Why would I have to get her? Is she hurt?”
“No, she’s okay, just come down here and we can sort everything out.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
I hang up the phone and tell Nina what he said.
She clutches her chest. “Poor thing, I’ll stay here until you get back.”
“Thank you! I’m sure my mother will stop by. Let her know I had to get Chas.”
“Just go!” She shoos me out the door.
On the ride to the school, I go over a million scenarios. Did someone make her cry? Did they hurt her? I wish I could go back in time and slap myself for the way I treated others or stood by and watched when my so-called friends bullied anyone they didn’t deem worthy. I was as culpable as they were. Now my daughter is on the receiving end of other people’s cruelty and I can’t help but feel this is some sort of karma.
I park the car and go inside to find her sitting in the office.
“Chastity,” I say her name and she leaps up, running toward me. Her arms wrap around my middle and I hold her close. “Don’t let them see you cry.”
She looks at me, nodding her head in understanding.
There’s nothing that vile people thrive on more than the pain of others.
“Ms. Berkeley,” Mr. Beeson calls my name. “Please, come in. We’ll ask you to join us in a few moments, Chastity.”
I touch her cheek, leaving her in the front office as I walk down the long hall with Mr. Beeson.
“As I said on the phone, we take bullying very seriously here.”
“Yes, I hope that whoever was harassing my daughter will be punished,” I say as we move toward his office.
“I think you’re misunderstanding.” Mr. Beeson touches my arm, stopping me from going forward.
“I’m sorry?”
“It wasn’t Chastity who was being bullied, Teagan.”
No. That makes no sense.
“You’re confused,” I say with a short laugh. “My daughter is the farthest thing from a bully. She’s kind even when people have been horrible to her. She’s dealt with constant ridicule her entire life thanks to this town and now you’re trying to tell me that she was the one bullying someone?”
Of all the ridiculous things I’ve ever heard, this tops the cake.
“I wish I could say it wasn’t the case. Chastity has always been a model student, but I saw this with my own eyes.”
“Mr. Beeson, you’ve known me my whole life. You’ve known Chastity since she was an infant. Do you really mean to tell me that you saw her being cruel? Isn’t there a chance that maybe you saw something else?”
