Angela had worked hard over the past two years. She never went to parties, never drank or did drugs, and always followed the rules. She was in the last year of high school and had turned 18 the month before hand. Her best friend Rhea had tried to convince her to try some beers to celebrate but Angela has firmly shut the idea down.
She was determined to leave this small town behind her and move as far away as possible when she went to college. Rhea had a much more laid back approach to live and was in ways the polar opposite to Angela in personality with her seemingly aiming to break every rule given to her.
Angela was relatively petite and had short mousy blonde hair which barely came over her shoulder. She found it a distraction and like with all the other distractions in her life she had got rid of it. She hidden her pretty face behind her glasses so as to try and divert attention from boys.
Like any 18 year old girl, she had her urges, but she had the rest of her life for boys. She was NOT going to have one get in the way of her getting into college.
It was the final Thursday before spring break and she was very much looking forward to some well earned rest. Rhea had messaged her that morning telling her she had a treat for them for their time off to celebrate the end of the term but she had no idea what she had in mind. If it was anything like the last 'treat' of beer she wasn't interested so she simply waited to get to school to ask rather than messaging back.
Hen she arrived at her locker and opened it up she heard the sound of bubble gum popping and instantly said "hi Rhea" as she shut the locker door and saw Rhea leaning against the locker next door clutching her bag to her chest looking very shifty. "What's wrong with you?" She asked, with a genuine bit of concern in her voice.
Rhea just smiled back at her. Angela had seen this smile a number of times in the past and new it meant trouble. This smile never meant something that she would be happy about.
As Rhea flicked her head left and right down the hall to ensure no one was paying more attention than normal to them before opening her locker and putting her bag in it before opening it up.
She beckoned Angela to come closer before slowly unzipping the bag and pulling out a small clear zip locked bag of "weed!" Angela gasped in a loud whisper.
"Keep your voice down!" Rhea snapped in an even louder whisper back at her before quickly stashing the zip bag back into her backpack. She gave a few nervous glances around but no one had heard their brief outbursts and her shoulders dropped a little as she relaxed.
"So this is what you meant." Angela snapped.
"Don't be moody Angie. You've worked so hard recently. I thought you needed some help to relax!" Rhea replied as if she was offering Angela some chocolate.
"This is not something that will make me relax, it's...." She looked around and then very quietly whispered "illegal." Even the word made her shiver a little. "How do you think it will look if I'm arrested for drugs on my college resume!"
"Like always, you're massively overreacting. They expect you to push boundaries and try new things." Rhea often took this too far. She had been suspended a couple of times and seemed to be outside the principal's office more often than not.
"If you're caught with that you'll be expelled!" Angela whispered sharply at her best friend. "They told you if you have to see the principal one more time this term they'll have no choice but to."
"There's only today and tomorrow left. I'll be fine" Rhea casually replied.
The two schoolgirls made their way towards their math class. Angela was so distracted about the weed that she forgot to hand in last week's assignment with everyone else as they took their seats.
She always enjoyed math class. Even though she decided she would wouldn't let any boys distract her, that rule did not apply to her math teacher. Mr Jones was 6inches taller than her with similar colour mousy blond short hair and blue eyes. Even though many of the students laughed at his jokes, Angela was always the one to laugh the loudest. She often found herself day dreaming about him and had etched Mrs Angela Jones into the back of her note book a few times.
She had ensured that Rhea had never seen this as she was always complaining about his jokes and complained that he seemed to want to try and be friends with the students rather than have a professional way of teaching. It was the only time Rhea had complained about someone not being professional enough as it was normally Angela who did this.
When the bell went for the end of the class the general furious scrabble to leave class occurred and as too of the popular kids walked past they knocked Angela out of the way which also knocked Rhea and Angela's bags against each other. They had always had identical bags ever since they went to kindergarten together. So as Rhea picked up the bag in-front of her she hadn't realised it was Angela's.
"What bitches" Rhea muttered so that only Angels could hear. Even though Rhea wasn't normally one to hold back her feelings even she held back with these girls.
They were the last ones leaving the room and as they walked past Mr Jones' desk Angela realised she hadn't handed in her assignment. "Just need to hand in my homework" she said to Rhea.
"I've got to run" Rhea replied. "I'll catch you after lunch."
Angela stood at the edge of Mr Jones' desk as her teacher turned around. "Oh Angela. Thought everyone had left. How can I help you?"
Angela was drifting into one of her day dreams as his eyes locked with hers and she did not realised that as she unzipped the backpack the bag of weed fell out.
"What's that?" Mr Jones said firmly.
Panic flooded over her. "It's not mine" she replied. The panic all over her words.
"I believe you. Whose is it then?" Mr Jones asked.
Angela froze. She realised she was trapped between a rock and a hard place. She knew if she admitted that it was Rhea's that she would be expelled for sure. She had no choice but to take the fall. Her perfect record was going to be broken.
"It is mine" she whimpered with tears swelling up in her eyes.
"First you say it isn't yours. Now it is yours? Which one is it Angela?" Simon asked again. He wasn't shouting but talking calmly but authoritatively.
"M....mi....it's mine" she softly replied with her head hung still.
"Angela. I know this isn't yours. Just tell me who's it is and you won't get in trouble." His voice soft and calming, reducing some of the panic in her.
"It's mine." This time her voice was more convincing.
"You know we have a zero drug policy after what happened last term. Anyone caught with drugs is instantly expelled now. I don't have a choice but to send you to the principle."
The panic that had filled her was being washed away with fear. Was she going to get expelled because if Rhea?!?! She looked up, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Please. Mr Jones" she began to beg. "I can't be expelled. Ple-ease. Pleeease!"
"Just tell me who's drugs they really are and then you won't have to be expelled. "
"They're.....they're....they're..." she began, but she couldn't go through with it. College and escaping this town had been her main thought for these past couple of years. However, Rhea had been her best friend for nearly 15 years. Rhea had always stuck with Angela when she had never fitted in with any of the other kids. Rhea was always by her side, defending her and sticking up for her.
"They're mine." She said clearly and surely.
Mr Jones looked at her for a minute before stepping out from the desk and looking at her from head to toe before saying. "Come to my office after school finishes and we can discuss this further and I'll decide what we'll do. Now get to class."
Angela felt a little lightheaded. She had no idea what was going on but quickly picked up her bag and ran to her class. Currently she wasn't being expelled. Currently she was still going to college. She just needed to convince him later to forget about the incident. But she would deal with that later.
The next lesson flew by and as she met Rhea in the canteen she pulled her aside and handed over the bag. "You took my bag!" She hissed at her best friend.
"I know" chuckled Rhea back. " I had to read from the book in English class and had to say I forgot the book." Rhea opened the bag to grab a bottle of water and then started rummaging furiously before emptying the bag on the floor. "Where is it?" She whispered at Angela.
Angela had to think fast. She couldn't let Rhea find out Mr Jones had found the drugs. Or more precisely she had essentially placed them on his desk because she was daydreaming about him. "I flushed them." She replied in a plain and casual voice.
"What?!" Rhea gasped in response.
"Don't get like that. This school has a zero drug policy after what happened with the Oakleys last term. I wasn't letting you get expelled!"
Rhea just stared at her for a brief second before grabbing her bag and storming off. She knew Rhea would forgive her quite quickly but could understand why she was annoyed, even though in Angela's eyes flushing them would have been the best thing to do in the first place.
As the final bell rang a wave of nerves and anticipation washed over Angela. She had not been paying attention to the class and just found herself staring at the clock. Each tick of the second hand seeming like a beat of her heart as time seemed to slow.
She slowly got up from her desk and headed over to the math department. She knew Mr Jones' office was at the far end of the block up some stairs. By the time she made her way there all the students had gone.
