“I’m sorry for your loss, Bay.”
“Same. If you ever need to talk to someone, I’m available.”
“Thank you, really.” We’re silent for the rest of the drive, but my emotions settle down quickly. I don’t feel the need to explain further because Bay understands the grief I’m feeling.
I find Zander watching tv with Troy on the couch after Bay drops me home. “Hey Summer, have fun?” Zander asks.
“I did,” I tell him, taking a seat at the end of the couch and waving to Troy.
“I received an email from the school. We’re scheduled for a meeting with the guidance counsellor in the morning. They emailed you too.”
“Okay, I’ll go do that, then I’m going to do some reading. Night,” I wave, heading to my room.
Chapter 23
Zander and I go to the high school to meet with the guidance counsellor and drop off my transcripts in the morning. I have a feeling it won’t go well after the tone of the email. The school’s front door is unlocked, so we follow the signs to the office and Ms. Johnson’s room. Her office is down the hall, behind the receptionist’s desk. Zander knocks and sticks his head inside as the door is cracked open. “Hello, Ms. Johnson, I presume? I’m Zander Finn.”
“Mr. Finn, where is Summer?” She asks abruptly. Zander turns to me and rolls his eyes, pushing the door fully open.
“Hello, I’m Summer,” I wave.
“Do you have your official transcripts?” She asks. No pleasantries, I see. I walk in and hand them to her, then she turns to her computer and starts typing. I glance at Zander, who shrugs and sits in one of the two metal chairs in front of the desk, so I sit in the other. We wait as she prints something off and starts comparing the papers I gave her with what she printed.
“It’s just as I thought,” she says. “Summer, you can’t possibly expect me to approve the AP Seminar class.” She looks over at Zander. “Mr. Finn, I’m sure you’d agree Summer can’t handle four AP classes. Have you seen her grades?”
Wow, rude much? I’m getting Mary, my CPS advocate, vibes. “I have, yes, and I have every confidence Summer can handle the four AP classes,” Zander replies with a smile.
“While we approve some students to take an additional course, those students are ones who excel in their studies. That is not Summer,” she says to Zander, waving my transcripts in the air. Turning to me, she says, “You need to choose another course.”
“I’m not sure what I can choose. The classes I requested are identical to the ones I took in Virginia. I’m not sure what course I could take when we’re already over halfway through the semester. I’d have missed over half the year of coursework and tests,” I reply.
“You’ll have to find something else to take. You can take AP History next year. There are several regular classes with room in them.” She clicks her keyboard and prints off another sheet, sliding it over to me. History, economics, political science, and algebra. I’ve already surpassed history and algebra and have no background in the other two courses. Great.
“I’m sorry,” Zander says, holding up his hand, “you’re saying my daughter has to take a regular course when she has been taking AP classes all year? She is already halfway through her AP History course, and you’re telling her to take all that again next year? If I’m not mistaken, she is passing all her AP classes in Virginia. Why not allow her to finish what she's started?”
“Four AP classes are a reward for excellent grades, Mr. Finn. I see nothing of the kind here. Is there something I’m missing? A reason I’m not aware of that I should approve this?” She asks, looking between us.
“Will you excuse us for a minute, Ms. Johnson? Summer and I will re-look at the class list,” Zander says with a smile. She waves us off, so I follow Zander out of the office and down the hall. “So Ms. Johnson has an inflated ego,” Zander says, looking irritated.
“I had a feeling she was going to be difficult,” I nod.
“How do you want to handle this? Your grades were excellent before the accident, which she can see on your transcripts. Do you want to explain to herwhy they changed?”
“I really don’t. She’s already fishing for information. This is a fresh start for me, and none of her business. I have no idea what else to do. I’ll have to retake AP History next year and just choose the easiest course available and hope I can catch up.” I shrug.
“I can try pushing, but if she won’t budge, you could pick another class for now, and we can try the principal or vice principal on Monday.” He offers.
I nod. The regular history course would be the easiest. When we head back to her office, Zander tries again to reason with her, but she isn’t budging, so I tell her to sign me up for regular history class. I’m told I’ll get an email later today with my class schedule and contact information for the track and field coach, so we head back to the car.
There’s a meeting at Finn for everyone working the wedding tomorrow we need to get to. I follow Zander into the large conference room when we get there, where Troy and Seb are setting up.
“Hey Sunshine,” Seb hollers. I smile and walk over to help him put the packets of papers in front of each chair. “How did the meeting go?”
“Not great,” I say. “I’ll tell you later.” People arrive, so Seb tells me to sit at the left end of the table closest to the front, and he takes the seat beside me.
“There now, no one can touch you but me,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows. I chuckle and shake my head. Nick, Bay and E soon arrive and take seats across from us.
Once everyone is seated, Troy clears his throat to get everyone’s attention.
