Hi! My name is Clarice (15) and everybody would tell you that I’m a good girl. Well, perhaps everybody would have told you that a week ago. Now I don’t know what to make on what people may think of me. I’m scared for my reputation. Most of my life I’ve been a standout in all my classes. I’m a nerd, I guess. I try my best to study a bunch because I want to feel successful at my level, which for the moment it’s just school. On the other hand, studying is not that hard for me. I’m not trying to say I’m super smart, but I love reading. And since my parents cultivated that habit in me since I was 4 or 5 years old, it simply comes easy. Now I love to read and research.
I love my school and my classmates too. I’m a sophomore, yet I have friends or at least cool acquaintances in every year. I’m not your stereotypical shy-nerd, I’m actually very social. I can speak about certain sports with jocks, about old films with the AV Club, or ancient Greek rhetoric with the Debate Team. Well, that one is easier because I’m part of it.
Everything was going really well with my school until it wasn’t. Our old principal retired since he was literally our OLD principal. Mr. Crawford was probably 75 years old. He was so sweet, but he decided to move to Miami. As Seinfeld says, the law says that’s where old people have to go.
So, Mr. Carney came to step into his role. He was the other way around. Young, early 40s tops, dad-bod kinda handsome, a nice smirk, yet cold. He had a calculating look in his eyes. Mr. Crawford imposed elderly respect, Mr. Carney displays discipline.
All students felt hesitant. After a couple of calm weeks, we started to hear some rumours about him. Very bad stuff Even though he wears a ring, people were talking that he had knack for young, pretty girls. Oh boy! The rumours were strong. Every girl in school kept his distance from him. We were all afraid of what could happen.
Then...Mr. Carney called me in to this office. SHIT!” What can I do to get away from this now?”, I asked myself. “Well, if it comes down to it...I’ll use my pepper spray.”
So I went in as he asked me to. He closed the door. Shit, shit, shit. It’s happening! I was so scared. He noticed and calmly poured me some water. “It’s okay. Take it. I don’t bite”, he spoke. I awkwardly smiled. Mr. Carney sat on his desk and leaned towards me. He said: “I want you to help me….” I was freaking terrified now. I wanted to run away but he continued: ...Help me to find out who started those rumors about me.”
Wow. I never saw that one coming. I felt relieved...and confused. Why me? Well, assured it was because my teachers say I’m very inquisitive. “Apparently, you’re like Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs”, he said. “You’re damn right I am”. We both smiled and connected.
He asked me to spy, so I did. It took a couple of weeks of asking around and observing a bunch of people. I kept getting false leads. And then it hit me right in the face. The most common answer to the question “Who did you hear the rumours about Mr. Carney?” was Jacqueline. Jacqueline told me, or X told me after Jacqueline told him or her. I too, heard it first from her.
Jacqueline was my best friend in the whole world. So I had to ask her who did she hear it from. “Around”, she said. “Just around”. Huh, seemed weird. She also said it with this evasive attitude.
I managed to distract her and take a peek inside her diary. I know you’re not supposed to do that. I know, but it confirmed what I suspected. I found out love messages to Mr. Carney. I found out hot, detailed descriptions about her fantasies with our new principal...and I mean hot.
I interrogated her about it. She denied it all until she broke and confessed that she tried to flirt with him and started the rumours after getting rejected. I was sad about my friend, so I lied to the principal and told him I felt it was impossible to find out who started the rumour. I thought I was being a good friend. She had a completely different attitude.
She started a second rumour. My schoolmates knew I was having meetings with my principal, yet nobody thought of it as a bad thing. As the leader of the debate team and a start student, they figured out I was working with him in a science project. I told them so and they had no reason to believe otherwise. Until Jacqueline came and convinced everyone that I’m sleeping with him just to protect herself
WHAT THE F******. I’m a virgin. How could she do this to me? It’s been a week since I found out about the new rumours and now everybody treats me differently. Either they keep their distant or they make jokes about me to my face. I’m now being bullied, they say I’m the ultimate teachers’ pet. THAT IS SO OFFENSIVE AND UNTRUE!
SHIT!
What should I do? Please, help me out! I’m desperate to change the narrative, but it’s so hard now...
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