The Grover Girls Chapter 19-21

CHAPTER 19
Arriving back at the dorm, I was not surprised to see that my three friends had waited up for me. They were all concerned. I assured them that I would not be kicked out of Northwoods, and they seemed to breathe a bit easier. They all had questions, and I answered them as best I could. I was trying to cover up my concern about my pending punishment, but I do not think I was doing such a great job. They could all see right through me.
“Oh Lex, it’s not going to be that bad. This is the first time you have ever been in trouble at Northwoods. You’ll probably have to mop the floors in the cafeteria one weekend or something”, Chloe offered.
The others nodded. It will not be that bad, they agreed. A first offense would not mean pulling me from the Chorale. My friends knew that losing Chorale would be the worst punishment Dr. Phillips could dish out.
That night, I lay awake for a long time. When I finally did fall asleep, I slept fitfully, haunted by dreams of Lacey and I stuck in a dungeon together. Dr. Phillips was there, too. He was dressed as if for a funeral, and stood over us saying, “Let the punishment fit the crime!” over and over. Needless to say, I was not at my best the next morning.
As I readied myself for a full day of classes, I tried to put my mind off my impending sentence. I figured that worrying about it would not make Dr. Phillips decide our fate sooner. Worrying would put me in the infirmary for the day, a luxury I could not afford with midterms approaching.
As I exited the elevator on my way towards Pre-Calculus that morning, Ms. Bracken stopped me and asked me to join her in her apartment. She mentioned that Lacey and Dr. Phillips were already there. The brick rematerialized in my stomach. I desperately clung to the hope that Dr. Phillips would not take Chorale away from me. Please, please, please my mind begged with each step towards Bracken’s apartment. I felt like I was walking the Green Mile. Wasn’t I supposed to get a phone call or a last meal or something? Stop being so dramatic, Lexi, I argued with myself.
I had never actually seen the inside of the faculty apartment. I was surprised at how large it was. I was also surprised to see that it was tastefully decorated. As the head of the math department, Ellen Bracken was hardly the Coco Chanel among the faculty. Leave it to me to think of fashion and interior decorating at a time like this!
“Ms. Frost, so glad you could join us”, Dr. Phillips began. “As you have probably guessed, I have decided on the consequences to yesterday’s little spat. Ms. Blume, since this is not your first offense at Northwoods, you will be getting a notation in your permanent file. One more incident and there will be a hearing to discuss your future at Northwoods. Ms. Frost, since this is your first offense, you will not be getting a notation in your permanent file. Since I believe that the cause of the friction between the two of you young ladies was a gross misunderstanding, I am hopeful that since I have cleared things up, there will not be any more incidents”, Lacey and I both nodded at this statement.
“However, because we believe in a very strict no-violence policy here at Northwoods, there will be a punishment for each of you. Usually, our protocol for fighting includes the removal of extra-curricular activities for each of the parties involved. Since Ms. Blume has a leading role in our fall musical, I cannot see any benefit from her removal from the cast. In addition, the removal of Ms. Frost from the newly formed Chorale would also not be appropriate at this time.” He was KILLING ME! I wanted to shout at him. Get on with it, Doc!
“Your punishment is as follows. Neither of you will be able to participate in open visiting hours for the rest of the marking period. Instead, you will be joining me in my office during visitation, and I will find tasks for you that I feel will renew your appreciation for Northwoods and its policies,” he looked down his nose at us then. I glanced at Lacey and then quickly looked down at my shoes.
“That is all. Your penance will begin this evening at 6PM. I will expect you both in my office immediately following the evening meal. If you are tardy, there will be consequences. Until then.” He nodded, his way of dismissing us.
It was not until I was halfway across campus, heading toward my math class that I finally let out a long, low breath. I was not being kicked out of the Chorale! None of this silliness would be going on my permanent record! Hurrah! Who cared if I had to spend visitation with Lacey and Dr. Phillips? I could see Pete at other times during the day, and we had Astronomy together. Moreover, there were only three weeks left in the marking period anyway. What was three weeks? Nothing! I floated the rest of the way to the math building. I could not wait to tell my friends that it was not that bad at all! Nothing Dr. Phillips could make me do would be worse than losing Chorale. Even if I had to scrub toilets with a toothbrush, I would still be grateful that I would not be losing the one thing I loved the most, Chorale.

CHAPTER 20
Even though I felt better about not losing Chorale, I was still in the dark as to what the punishment may be. We would be spending our visitation hours with Dr. Phillips in his office, but what would we be doing? He cryptically mentioned something about “learning to appreciate Northwoods and its policies”. Would we have to study the handbook or something? I tried not to let thoughts of “what if” cloud my mind. Exams were upon us, and my professors were operating with a full-steam-ahead attitude. Once I was immersed in my classes, it was easy to forget about the unknowns that were awaiting me that evening.
During Astronomy, I had to break the news to Pete that we would not be spending much time together outside of class for a few weeks. He seemed a bit disappointed, but he understood. I had spoken with him briefly following the incident on opening night, and he asked why I did not hit Lacey harder! His philosophy was, if I was going to get in trouble anyway, why didn’t I make the most of it? It was tongue-in-cheek; of course, Pete is not a violent kind of guy. Ever since she broke up with him, Pete has harbored a keen dislike of all things Lacey. Good thing, too, considering who his girlfriend is!
Since we rekindled our romance, Pete and I had been taking things slowly. We spent all of our visitation hours together, of course, but we usually spent those hours cuddling and talking. No more sneaking into boy’s rooms for me! There was a lot I did not know about Pete, and I was enjoying learning about his family and his life in Phoenix. Just because we had been taking things slowly didn’t mean we weren’t physical at all. We kissed and touched a lot, but both decided that our studies needed to take first priority. Sex complicated things and neither of us was ready for that kind of complication. Pete admitted that he and Lacey were very physical early on in their relationship and it made things difficult and confusing. As Pete so eloquently put it, “it’s not like you can go back to just kissing”. I was happy that he was willing to take things slowly with me.
The rest of the school day passed quickly, and I was overwhelmed with homework and studying. Since I would not have those visitation hours to study, I needed to jump right into my studies that afternoon. I headed to the basement, hoping to find an empty study carrel and lose myself in my History book.
I was not the only one with that idea, apparently. I arrived in the basement to find that only one study carrel was available, and it was the one that everyone avoided. The chair was wobbly, and the desk was at least fifty years old. Fifty years worth of graffiti was on the desk. Even the most diligent of students found themselves reading the carvings and writing, and forgetting all about their books.
I decided to give up on the studying. As much as I knew I would kick myself for it later, I knew I would not be able to concentrate until after my first evening with Dr. Phillips and Lacey.
During dinner, my friends tried hard to keep things light and fun. Owen and Pete joined us that evening, and they both knew about the fate that was awaiting me after the meal. Thankfully, all of my friends considerately stuck to topics that didn’t include Lacey, Dr. Phillips, visitation, or anything that would remind me of the crappy evening I was about to have.
When dinner ended, Pete and I loitered in the hallway for a few minutes. He held my hands and we talked about what he would be doing during visitation since he would not be with me.
“I think I’ll get to work on the star chart for Astronomy. That way, I can help you out when you are ready to do yours. I figured that would be what we would be doing if we were together, anyway.” Pete was so considerate.
I gave him a quick kiss, and headed off towards Dr. Phillips office. Whatever mind-numbing task Dr. Phillips had in store for me, I could at least daydream about Pete while working.



CHAPTER 21
Lacey was waiting on the bench outside of Dr. Phillips office when I arrived. It was five minutes to six. I glanced at her but did not say anything. I sat down.
“This is totally all your fault, you know.” She accused me without looking at me.
“How the hell did you come up with that one?” I had to ask.
“If you hadn’t been trying to get me kicked out like you got Devin kicked out, this would never have happened.”
“Dr. Phillips told you, I had nothing to do with Devin not being here this year.” I tried to defend myself.
“Yeah, whatever. Like I believe that. He just does not want us fighting anymore. That’s why he said that.” Did she actually believe that?
“You believe what you want, Lacey. Just know that when you do find out the real story, you’re going to be very embarrassed.” It just slipped out.
Lacey whirled her head around and stared at me. Her mouth dropped open. I stared back at her. I had not meant to say anything. The last thing I needed was for Lacey to know that I knew something that she did not about her supposed best friend. It was not a good position to put myself in.
Thankfully, Dr. Phillips opened his office door then and ushered us in. We took our seats in the leather chairs as we had the night before. Lacey continued to give me the evil eye, and I expertly ignored her.
“Ladies, so glad you could join me this evening”, Dr. Phillips began. Yeah, like we had a choice.
“As I made reference to this morning, I have devised a task that will reconnect you with Northwoods grand history, and hopefully you will grow to fully appreciate the school and its policies. Given that you have both been students here since the sixth grade, I believe that the assignment I have chosen will be well suited to both of you. Since the two of you have had such difficulty getting along, I propose that you will work together for the next three weeks. Our annual Meet and Greet for prospective sixth graders and their parents is to be held the Friday before homecoming, and I would like the two of you to be ambassadors for the day. This is to say, you will be giving tours of the campus, answering questions, and serving as historians. I would like for the two of you to work together. Giving tours together, researching school history together, and learning policies together. I expect that at the end of three weeks, you will get along famously, and you will both also have a grasp on why our policies at Northwoods are so important.” Dr. Phillips looked so overjoyed that he had devised this ingenious plan; it was almost hard not to smile at him. Almost.
Every year, prospective students and their parents visit the school on the Friday before Homecoming weekend to take tours, listen to speeches by the headmaster, faculty and some students. There is also a big fancy dinner, nothing like the usual dining hall fare, to impress the families. Dr. Phillips usually chooses two uber-peppy tenth graders as tour guides for the prospective families, earning them the underground nickname of “Rah Rah Squad”. Each twelfth grader joins a prospective family for the evening meal, and the eleventh graders host a question and answer session for the prospective students. There is also some entertainment after the evening meal by the orchestra and the drama department. Chorale would be performing a few songs this year, too. It is a very big deal. Upon hearing the news that I would be a tour guide, I could only think of one thing: I would never live down the fact that I had to be a Rah Rah Girl this year.
He clapped his hands together and stood up. “Let’s get started! You will start by studying these books, which contain the history of Northwoods since it’s beginnings as a private boys school in 1928. Next week, I will be giving you a little quiz to make sure you can handle any questions incoming parents and students may have about the history of the school. Off you go then!” He sent us out of the room with a flourish. He was MUCH too excited about all of this.
Lacey and I looked at each other. We both were clearly not as excited as Dr. Phillips was. Spending hours locked up in Dr. Phillips’ office with nothing but Lacey and a few history books was not my idea of fun. I can only imagine what Lacey was thinking.
“This blows.” She said as we made our way out into Dr. Phillips’ library. At least we agreed on that.
We sat down across from each other and each picked up a history book. This I could handle. We were just reading, and happened to be in the same room together. What would happen three weeks from now, though? Would there be another brawl in front of the puny soon-to-be-sixth graders and their parents?
Lacey spoke first. “So, what’s your plan, anyway?”
“What the heck are you talking about?” I asked.
“Your plan. For getting me kicked out. Now that your underwear scheme did not work out. And telling Dr. Phillips all that stuff about Amanda and Devin and I trying to cheat off of you…well, that clearly didn’t get you anywhere. I was just wondering what your next plan was going to be. So I can be prepared.” She stared at me.
“Jeez, Lacey. What can I say to convince you? I DID NOT GET DEVIN KICKED OUT! I am not trying to get you out. That whole underwear thing on opening night was really a stupid mistake. I would not have done that to you on purpose. Really.” Was I trying to convince Lacey or myself?
“You are so full of it. It is so damn obvious. And now we’re saddled together, being the damn Rah Rah Squad for the prospective students and their families. This gives you the perfect opportunity to try and sabotage me again.” She really did think I was plotting against her.
“Well what about you and Graham trying, and succeeding, to screw up my TSOM audition? What was that all about? And you telling me that you were going to make my life a living hell this year? Am I just supposed to sit there and let you ruin my year? You’ve got another thing coming if you think I’m just going to sit idly by and let you destroy what’s left of tenth grade.” I threatened.
Lacey did not have much to say after that. She stared at me for a few more seconds before I could not stand it anymore and turned back to my history book.
We worked in silence for the next half hour. Dr. Phillips came in to check on us here and there. Honestly, other than our little spat at the beginning of the evening, it was not too bad. Northwoods has a very rich and interesting history, and I actually enjoyed reading some of the stories in those old books. Please do not tell anyone that I said that, though. I am such a dork.