Page 24 of Didn't See That Coming

The admin lady glances up from her e-reader when I walk in, and her eyes widen slightly, like she’s not used to students coming in here. She recovers quickly, though, putting down the e-reader and giving me a kind smile. “Hi. What can I do for you?”

“Uh…” Now that I’m actually here, I realize that I don’t really know what to say in such a situation. “I was asked by my teacher to speak with Principal…uh…” Gah, of course I’ve completely forgotten the principal’s name.

“Principal Lin?” She winces. “Okay. Wait here. I’ll let him know.”

Geez, she didn’t need to wince like that. What did that wince mean? Oh god, she must feel bad for me, because she knows I’m in for a terrible punishment. What if I get suspended? What if I get expelled? Would that go on my permanent record? My rib cage constricts as the admin lady gets up and knocks on the principal’s door. She pops her head in, says something, and a moment later, she turns back to me.

“Principal Lin will see you now.”

I try to decipher the expression on her face, but I can’t tell if that’s a sympathetic smile she’s wearing or a “sucks to be you” sort of smile. My knees wobble as I walk toward the office, and I grip the doorknob to steady myself.

I’ve seen Principal Lin’s picture in the main hall of theschool. In the picture, he’s smiling with confidence, both his hairline and jawline strong. In person, he seems somehow rather diminished, a little bit more crumpled, and both his hairline and jawline are softer. He glances up at me from behind his desk.

“Come, sit.” He gestures at the chair opposite his desk, and oh god I wish to all the atoms in the universe that I hadn’t been sent here. He must have seen the apprehension on my face, because he gives a close-lipped smile and says, “Don’t worry, sit. We’ll just have a chat.”

Right. It’ll be okay. Yeah. Mami mentioned to me in passing that Mr.Lin has been the principal here for almost thirty years, so he knows his shit. He’ll see that I had a good reason for calling Jonas a twat.

Never mind my stomach—my entire body clenches as I walk into his office and sit down opposite him.

Principal Lin leans back in his seat, crossing his hands over his belly. Behind his glasses, his eyes are shrewd, and he speaks in a clipped, rapid way, like every word is something he needs to waste as little time as possible pronouncing. “So. You’re new here, yes? Your name is…Siregar?”

I nod. My mouth is too dry to speak.

“And your teacher sent you here. Who’s your teacher?”

“Uh.” It takes a second to recall her name. “Miss Rumanou.”

“Ah, yes.” Principal Lin frowns. “Miss Rumanou is quite lenient. You must have done something really bad to be sent here. What did you do?”

Bile burns its way halfway up my esophagus, and I have totake a deep breath before I’m able to answer. “Uh, I…sort of called one of my classmates a rude name.”

The frown deepens. His eyebrows are practically touching each other. He places his hands—his fingers are very elegant, like a pianist’s, I notice, and then immediately after noticing that, I’m like,Why am I noticing his hands? That is so weird—on the table and leans forward. “Okay, I understand that you’re new, but here at Xingfa, you need to address your elders by using Sir or Madam or Teacher, do you hear me?”

“Oh! Right. Okay.”

“Okaywhat?” Principal Lin says, enunciating the “what” so it comes out pointed and threatening.

Crap. “Okay, sir.” My voice comes out in a mumble. I have never wished for anything more than an excuse to get out ofhere.

“Good.” He leans back again, looking satisfied. I hate him already. “So why did you call your classmate a rude word? What was the word?”

“Uh. ‘Twat.’ Sir,” I add at the last minute.

Principal Lin’s upper lip curls in open disgust. “Maybe in your old school that kind of language is acceptable, but here at Xingfa, respect is everything. Purity of character and discipline, that’s what we’re known for. We cannot abide foul language, do you hear me?”

He says this with so much venom that one might think I’d kicked a puppy instead of calling someone a twat, and something inside me ignites. It’s not right that I’m being punished for this while Jonas gets away with bullying me. “Yes, I hearyou. Sir. But, um, in my defense, I was sort of being bullied? And I know that Xingfa takes bullying seriously too. Uh, sir.”

Principal Lin narrows his eyes at me. “All right, tell me about this bullying incident.” His tone is skeptical.

“Um…” Where do I start? This whole situation is so not what I expected, and it feels so bizarre to be telling this man about Jonas. Still, I’m here now, and the only way to go is forward, so I will myself to form the words somehow. “So this is only my second day here, and—”

“Where did you transfer in from?” he interrupts.

“Oh, uh, Mingyang.”

The corners of his mouth go down, and he grunts. “Mm.”

Okaaay, make it obvious that you disapprove of my old school, why don’t you? Still, I soldier on, because my last school shouldn’t matter, shouldn’t even be part of this discussion. “Anyway, as I was saying, this is only my second day here, but the other students have been picking on me. Calling me names, like ‘Crazy Kiki.’ And there’s this video of me going around, and someone even uploaded it onto TikTok and it’s gone a bit viral—”

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