She loses it

Valerie steps into the room, her face anxious and nervous. You see that she's cleaned herself up, her knees no longer muddy and it looks like she's changed her socks. She looks around the room as though seeking a friendly face, smiling nervously at you and Brian.

"Take a seat Miss Cummins," the Headmistress says. Valerie glances around, looking for a place. Her father gestures to the empty chair next to him but she pulls a hard backed chair between you and Ms. Naylor.

"We've brought your parents up to date on your status at this institution Miss Cummins," the Headmistress says. "I thought it was appropriate for you to be here. To give you the opportunity to say anything on your own behalf."

"Um...I'm sorry...That I behaved badly," Valerie says quietly, obviously struggling for words. "Mr. Carter and Coach Watts, they've like showed me...how much I was hurting people...and myself...and...I'm gonna try real hard...to be a good girl from now on..."

"Well, I'm not going to let them paddle you," her father says firmly. "I'm thinking very seriously of taking you out of this place. Enrolling you in some school that....."

Valerie's scream interrupts him, making everyone in the room startle. "You're not taking me out of here! You're not! I won't go! You're not! Don't you dare!" She's staring at her father, her face scarlet with rage, tears streaming from her eyes as she slams her fists on her knees. He looks at her in shocked horror, his mouth moving but saying nothing, his eyes looking wounded and frightened.

"Sweetie, I just meant..." he begins weakly, only to be cut off by her again.

"I'm not your sweetie! You don't care about me! You don't care at all! I hate you! I fucking hate you!" she shrieks, collapsing into hysterical sobs and bending over in her chair. Ms. Naylor reaches out and strokes her back, murmuring comfort, and Valerie leans into her sobbing like a child. Her father sits in horror, her mother rises as though to approach her then sits back, her stepmother looking on placidly.

"If you take me out I'll...I'll...I don't know what I'll do!"Valerie wails as Ms. Naylor comforts her.

"Tell Miss Holliday to call the nurse," the Headmistress says to you as she holds the distraught teen, her eyes flinty as she looks at Valerie's father.

You nod and step to the door, asking the secretary to call the nurse. She doesn't hesitate, picking up a phone, her eyes flickering to the open door behind you where Valerie's hysterics are clearly audible. She holds a brief conversation and nods at you, saying that the nurse is on her way.

When you return, Ms Naylor has commandeered the couch and has laid Valerie down on it, stroking her forehead and muttering soothing words. Brian and Kyle are standing, whether intentionally or not providing a human shield between the distraught girl and her parents.

The only sound in the room until the nurse arrives a few minutes later is Valerie's heartbroken sobbing and Ms. Naylor's quiet comforting murmurs.