Why Would She?

“Whatever,” Sade replied to Miss Talbot. She was so over this punishment.

‘You kick one Douche McGee in the balls and suddenly the administration is breathing your neck,’ she thought. But then she realized of course had they simply given her detention she’d never have shown up for it.

Sade McDermott, 20 years old, 5’6” tall. Distressed gray eyes. Had a body built for MMA, with her hair, make-up, and attitude that would’ve been more at home fronting in a British punk band than the school uniform she currently wore. She wore heavy mauve eyeshadow against a cool skin tone with dark grey lipstick that contrasted sharply with her short feathered hair that was dyed like a rainbow flag. She had multiple piercings on her upper ear lobes in addition to a pair of earrings featuring slightly holographic cartoon skulls. She had a silver stud on the right side of her nose and a matching silver eyebrow ring above her left eye.

She was the daughter of a Gulf War Marine veteran turned web mogul and a German mother who was presently wanted by Interpol. They were divorced, of course. Her father had won custody easily enough when her mother was facing potential manufacturing and distribution charges. Her father had been the reason she’d studied multiple martial arts, his reasoning was simple. If he couldn’t be there to protect his daughter all the time, he’d make sure she could protect herself.

Some part of her still loved her mom, even if she was pissed at her for breaking her dad’s heart. She’d never admit it though. Her mother had basically dropped off the face of the earth about three years ago when she was implicated in shady business with some kind of designer **** but she didn’t really know more than that.

She made it across the campus and entered the gymnasium. It was filled with the sights and smell of the sweaty bodies of the girls' basketball team. The auditorium echoed with the sound of the balls dribbling and squeaky shoes against the polished court surface. Sade smacked her chewing gum and wolf-whistled at the girls on the court to announce her presence and make them uncomfortable. She drew a mixture of glances and snickered as a basketball smacked a student the face since they were too distracted to catch it.

The bleachers were sparsely populated, a hand full of boyfriends, a few girlfriends too. Some overly enthusiastic parents with too much free time and a couple of other shameless students there simply to appreciate the athletes. She couldn’t blame them. Spotting that shoulder-length curly red hair was easy enough. She smacked her gum again as she approached, “yo! You Jayne Bronson?”

Jayne’s reverie was suddenly interrupted. She’d been sitting leaned forward, legs together, elbows on her knees with her hands clasped together to support the weight of her head as she watched and waved at Anri anytime she’d glance over. She furrowed her brow at the rainbow-haired girl, “that’s Jayne Bronwen,” she corrected her.

Sade gave her a sidelong grin, “really? ‘Cause I thought you were packing heat...” her eyes glanced down to in between Jayne’s legs. The redhead cringed and blushed at the same time, “oh my god, that reference is so old.” Sade laughed and gave her a playful wink. “Com’on, the headmistress wants to see you in the meeting room.”

Sade turned to go, having found her charge, but she looked over her shoulder and gave Jayne a come-hither motion with her finger. Jayne only blushed harder and glanced over to Anri who had seen the whole thing. Anri was out of breath but somehow managed to laugh, she waved Jayne off to let her know it was fine.

The two made their way out of the gym with Jayne following Sade she couldn’t help but admire the sway of her ass. It was a pretty nice distraction from the existential dread welling up inside of her. “So uh...” self-conscious of where her eyes lingered Jayne closed the distance between the two of them in order to walk alongside this punk girl. “W-what am I wanted for?”

Sade smacked her gum and gave the redhead another sidelong glance, “wanted for? You do something I should know about, Red?” She grinned teasingly at Jayne’s expense. “I... oh. Uhg,” Jayne stammered, but managed a short laugh, she appreciated this girl’s humor. “Nah, for real though. I don’t know. But watch yourself, been hearing the headmistress shouting on the phone today. Rumor is she only takes the stick out of her ass to beat people with it.”

Jayne felt slightly queasy, she paled at that as they entered the main building. “I... see.”

The front staircase they now climbed went up to the second floor directly where all the administration offices were. The first floor could be accessed through a passage under the staircase. Rumor is that the basement connected to the natural tunnels that ran everywhere under the Emberburgh. The passages were said to lead to the old church’s catacombs, the town hall, the train station, their small museum, and the waterfront of the nearby river. There was even said to have been an old cold war era bomb shelter in there somewhere.

Jayne had never seen any of it though as it was closed off to the public. She’d guessed maybe it was because the tunnels were in bad shape or not maintained well enough to be safe because otherwise, it sounded like a great tourist attraction. Then again this was the kind of town that didn’t exactly seem like they wanted a lot of tourists when she considered some of the names that lived out this way.

Sade stopped in front of the meeting room, “well here you are, and I am headin’ outta here for today.” She stretched and suppressed a yawn. “Name is Sade by the way... since you asked,” she grinned teasingly at Jayne again who then bit her bottom lip in embarrassment. “Sorry! Just... a lot on my mind and kinda dreading this meeting. I’m... well you already know my name,” she offed Sade her hand who looked at a long moment before ignoring it. Instead, she leaned in and gave Jayne a kiss on the cheek, “hey, don’t worry about it. As for whatever they’re draggin’ you in for, you got this, Red.”

Jayne’s heart skipped a beat, and she lightly touched her cheek where Sade had kissed her as the rainbow-haired girl spun around and left, waving goodbye without looking back, “and hey, if you survive I’ll see you around sometime.” Jayne was grateful, but unsure how literally she should take the part about her survival at the point. She could only manage to wave back despite Sade not looking her way. Finally, she turned toward the meeting room and knocked.

The only response was the cold voice of the headmistress. “Enter.”