Chapter 6.

Tiffany's POV

Tiffany left Freya to go for her classes alone, and made for the Principal's office. It had to be important if they'd called her right before classes began.

When she got there, she greeted the secretary, a young woman in her thirties who told her to knock. Tiffany did, and a voice from inside answered her, telling her to come in.

The principal, Mrs. Campbell was relatively young herself, in her forties or fifties. She always wore her dark brown hair in a low bun tied tightly behind her head, with a pair of emerald green glasses perched low on her nose. Tiffany had always liked her, and she'd liked Tiffany in turn, as a star student who was talented in other areas as well. She'd always had a smile for her in the past, but today she wasn't smiling.

"G-good morning ma'am," Tiffany greeted, the cold demeanour making her nervous. "You asked to see me?"

The principal didn't even look up from the documents she was going through. "Yes," she said, have a seat."

Tiffany sat down elegantly, nervously folding her hands in her lap. "Thank you," she said.

"I assume you know why I called you here, Tiffany."

Tiffany shook her head. She didn't have the slightest clue. In fact, she was very confused.

"Well," the Principal continued, "I'm afraid I have some bad news." She pushed some papers across the table, and Tiffany looked down at them. Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw that it was her report card from the last school session. There were very few As, with all the other letters taking up the remaining space. It wasn't looking very good.

She spoke up immediately, "Ma'am I.. I promise I'll do better this year. I was just going through a hard time and–"

The principal silenced her by raising a hand. She removed her glasses and placed them on the table, sighing. Her expression had changed to one of compassion. "Tiffany," she began, leaning forward, "You're one of my favorite students, so I have to do this for your sake. Unfortunately, I have to inform you that if your grades continue like this," she gestured at the report card on the table, "You're off the student body committee. You already left the music club, or else you would be out of that too."

Tiffany's lips trembled, and she tried her best to conceal her emotions. Off the student body committee? She couldn't afford that. Everything she was doing was to ensure she stayed in such a prestigious school, and in it's student body government, all for her future resumé. If she got let off now, how would that go?

"I… I'm sorry," she said, eyes casted down. "I'll do my best, I really will."

The Principal's eyes searched her own, and finally she sighed. "I know you're a very bright student, and that things are hard at home right now. I have the untmost faith in you, so I'm willing to give you a chance. I wouldn't have done this for any other student."

Tiffany nodded, grateful."Thank you, Mrs Campbell," she said, "I won't let you down."

"I hope you won't. That's alright, you can leave now."

Tiffany got up to go, but Mrs. Campbell's voice drew her attention back to the older woman.

"And Tiffany," she said, "I'm sorry about your father's company. I hope you get back on your feet soon."

Tiffany nodded, not trusting herself to speak without bursting into tears. She hurried out of the office, not even bothering to stop and say goodbye to the Principal's assistant who waved at her as she was leaving.

First period was halfway gone already, so there was no point going to her first class anymore. And, she didn't want any of her classmates to see her in such a state. She was sure that the instant anyone showed compassion or tried to ask her what was wrong, she would burst into tears, and the last thing she wanted to do was start crying in front of everyone.

Instead, she made her way to the back of the school. There was a secluded corner hidden between two large alcoves, an architectural oversight that she and Timothy had discovered in their very first year at Shine, and even now they were the only two who knew about it.

There was a little dust there from the holidays, and she quickly wiped it down before sitting down, putting her dusty hands to her face as she began to cry. All the stress of the last few months, coupled with last night's events, her decision this morning, and now her meeting with the principal, was all a little too much. Not only was her father's company failing, but she had the power to help and didn't want to, because the man she was supposed to marry was so insufferable and childish. And now, she was even failing and might get kicked of the student body committee. Everyone would find out, and her reputation would be ruined.

She didn't know how long she sat there, silently sobbing into her hands, but suddenly she noticed that she wasn't alone anymore. She sensed the presence of somebody else and looked up to find her other best friend, Timothy McVeigh, standing over her with a worried expression on his face.

He immediately sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, and she turned her head into his shoulder to continue crying while he rubbed her arms and made soothing sounds.

"It's okay," he said, "You're okay."

After a while, Tiffany finally calmed down enough to wipe her face with a handkerchief she always kept in her purse.

"What's wrong?" Timothy asked her, concern written all over his face. But Tiffany wasn't ready to answer. She didn't think she could begin to talk about all her problems without beginning to cry again.

"It's nothing," she said, but quickly backtracked when she saw the look on Timothy's face. "I mean, it's not nothing, it's just– I'm not ready to talk about it yet."

Timothy nodded, showing he understood and that he wouldn't pressure her until she was ready. He pecked her on the forehead and held her closer to him, and they both sat there in silence for a long while.

Tiffany sighed, feeling very grateful for her friend. She and Timothy had met on orientation day, the very first year they had both been admitted into Shine. A bunch of bullies had been picking on him because he was black, small, and skinny, and she had stepped in to silence them with her sharp words of reproach. One of them had pushed her, but emboldened by the support he recieved, Timothy had joined her to stand up against the bullies, and they had all soon run off, scared. They had sat down next to each other at orientation and had been inseparable ever since.

Now, five years later, Timothy had grown a lot taller and more attractive, having started working out two years before, and now he didn't get picked on nearly as much as before. For some reason, though, even though he was highly sought after, he never seemed to have any girlfriends. Freya had speculated once that he was gay, and didn't want to come out because their school wasn't exactly too progressive, but since he never had any boyfriends either, it could only remain a speculation.

After they sat for a while, Timothy procured a magazine from his back, in the hopes of distracting her.

They oohed at the food columns, pointing at all the various exotic spicy foods and sea foods they would like to try when they next traveled out of the country. They aahed at the fashion columns, at the elegant clothes and the elegant people wearing them, and Tiffany dreamed about the day she herself would wear one of those clothes and walk down one of those runways. She had been to a few local shows, but dreamt of a wider stage.

Finally, when they got to the business column, she had to pretend to be as excited as Timothy. Everywhere she looked, Shawn Gold's name and face seemed to pop out at her. The writers and editors, and even Timothy were in love with him as usual. They kept praising his achievements, and there was even a rumour of him being set to become the youngest director in all of Canada.

So, that was his price for marrying her, huh?

Tiffany scoffed. At least he would be too busy to bother coming home or even paying her any attention, and through that she might find some peace. Even now, she shuddered at the thought of staying alone in a house with him. There would definitely be a lot of noise complaints coming from the neighbors, the way they would be arguing.

She giggled a little at the imagery, and Timothy smiled at her, happy tht she was cheering up, even though it was for different reasons than he thought.

The bell rang for lunch, and Tiffany gasped in surprise.

"Oh my god, Timothy! Did we just miss the entire first half of school?!" she said, aghast.

"Relax," Timothy said lackadaisically, "It's only the first day, most of the teachers are only doing introductions. And your grades are fine, anyway, a few absences won't make a difference."

Tiffany pursed her lips and said nothing. Afterall, she hadn't told either of her friends that she had been struggling in school lately. They were already worried enough about her quitting the music club even though she loved singing, and the situation with her father's company. She didn't need them to be bothered about her poor academic state as well.

And so she elected to once again keep quiet about it, and she walked with Timothy to meet Freya at Lunch, talking and laughing as they went.