UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #1)(11)

Principal Hame slumped into his chair and had a moment of awkwardness as his chair slid back three feet from the desk. After a few grunts and pushes, he maneuvered the chair back to the desk. He didn’t win any awards for being suave. “As you may have heard, Channel 6 and the Herald Stadium are here to do an interview with you about your heroic efforts yesterday. What I need to know Mina, is whether you love your school?”

Mina was perplexed at the question. This was not what she expected to hear come from her Principal's mouth. “I don't understand Principal Hame?”

Principal Hame coughed. “Well Mina, what I should be asking is maybe how much you like your school here and friends, Nan Taylor. It would be a shame if our school lost funding and had to close down because of bad publicity.”

“How could this be bad publicity? I'm not sure I understand what your question is. Of course I love this school. I'm terrified of giving an interview and would actually prefer not to. So if you could find a way out for me, it would be appreciated.”

“Mina you have to do the interview. I just want to make sure that you don't place blame on Mr. West for the incident that happened at Babushka’s. If it was publicized that he wasn't there when the accident occurred, it could be seen as negligence and we could lose our most valued supporters and be forced to cut funding or even, God forbid, close. The Carmichael's have a lot of powerful friends. I need to know whether you think Mr. West is to blame for the accident.”

Mina was at a loss for words. “Of course not! He wasn't the one to blame it was my-no one’s fault. Just an accident.” she had almost said it was her fault. Mina had almost admitted the truth. Secretly she knew that it was her fault. How could she place blame on an absent teacher when she knew that even if Mr. West was there, the same events would have probably unfolded with the same outcome. It was just her bad luck that followed her everywhere. She couldn't possibly blame her teacher.

Principal Hame smiled brightly. “Excellent! Glad to hear it. Well, we better get you to the gym.” He stood up and ushered Mina out the door, quickly following close on her heels.

“No really, I'm not feeling that well and would rather go home,” Mina pleaded. In retrospect, she wished she had used the time in his office to try and blackmail him into letting her go home and not do an interview. But Mina wasn't assertive enough and just the idea of confrontation had her sweating.

Again Principal Hame ignored her, “Make sure you tell the reporters how much you love our school. We would love to get a new pool installed you know. Good publicity equals good funding.”

“But I...”

“You heard me, do your school proud.” Principal Hame escorted Mina down the corridor and before she knew it she was at the gym. He entered the doors first and the feminine voice of Vice Principal Merris talking on the microphone filtered into the hall where Mina stood frozen.

She tried to take a few breaths to calm herself before entering the double doors; maybe she could slide onto the risers without anyone knowing she was late. Mina pulled the hoody over her head to hide her identity and with a quick pull similar to yanking off a band aid, she opened the door and ducked in. She was almost to the nearest bleacher and about to sit down when Nan spotted her and waved. Mina knew something bad was about to happen when she realized Nan wasn’t waving at her but at a large group of people off to the side.

“THERE SHE IS!” Nan yelled waving at the Reporters while pointing to Mina.

Yep. Mina thought to herself, she was definitely going to kill Nan.

Principal Hame sauntered proudly to the center and took the mic from Vice Principal Merris. “And here she is: Kennedy High School’s own real life heroine. Wilhelmina Grime!” He started clapping which caused a chain reaction amongst the whole student body.

Mrs. Colbert, the music teacher, came forward and gently led a nervous Mina to the half court line in the gym. Principal Hame heartily slapped Mina’s back as if she was a linebacker instead of a five-foot-four girl. Mina choked back a snappy retort, when a bright flashing light blinded her. Photographers appeared from nowhere, the band started playing the school theme song and the whole student body began stomping on the bleachers.

No longer was the air filled with cries of Slimy Grimy, Loser or Nerd, but her name; they were chanting her full and much-hated, antiquated name, Wilhelmina Grimes. Everyone, except for one tall good-looking boy. Mina felt her heart sink when she saw that Brody Carmichael wasn’t standing with the other students, chanting or cheering for her. He was sitting. Just sitting and staring at her, brows furrowed, leaning forward to see her over the crowd. When she briefly made eye contact, what she saw in his eyes scared her. He didn’t look happy, he looked mad.

“Mina, tell us what happened at Babushka’s Bakery, the day you saved the Carmichael’s son from certain death?” The reporter from the Channel 6 news station thrust a microphone in front of Mina’s face. Another flash from the Herald Stadium newspaper photographer caught her off guard, making her dizzy. But that wasn’t what irritated Mina, it was the reporter's poor choice of words.

“He has a name.” Mina shot back, furious that the reporter would refer to as the Carmichael’s son, and not by his name. She thought he deserved better.

“Of course he does,” The reporter countered absentmindedly. “Are you going to answer the question?”