“At the very least, the principal will know.”
When we get to the administration office, we’re told to wait. We sit on the couches, and while Audrey looks as cool as a cucumber, I’m shivering. I haven’t met the principal, and I would have liked to keep it that way.
“Did someone really put a bunch of socks in your locker?” Audrey asks, drawing me out of my panicked haze.
“What?”
“Socks. Locker.”
I nod. “I don’t know who, though.”
She mimes gagging. “That’s disgusting.”
“Girls, Dr. Mérieux will see you,” the administrator calls from her desk.
Audrey walks in like she comes here every day and has coffee with Dr. Mérieux.
Dr. Mérieux himself looks exactly how someone who runs a school for the wealthy would look. A tailored three-piece black suit, and I’m sure he has a monocle peeking out from a breast pocket that also houses a multicolored handkerchief. He can’t be older than fifty with the fine lines around his eyes and an impressive mustache. His eyes are piercing blue, and I avoid looking at them. His hair doesn’t seem to have aged, brown with a few stray silvers in it.
“Hello, girls,” he says warmly. “Have a seat.”
We do, and my stomach pulls and pulls.
Dr. Mérieux settles behind his mahogany desk. It’s empty save for the wide-screen monitor and one Moleskine notebook. Behind him are shelves filled with leather-bound textbooks from top to bottom.
He smiles. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Audrey looks at me, but my bravado has abandoned me. When I don’t say anything, she takes over explaining from her own perspective.
Dr. Mérieux gazes at me intently the whole time, and I try my best not to look guilty. I suspect he must be thinking I made the whole thing up, put the paper on my own back to try to trap the boys of this school. To ridicule them and get them into trouble.
When Audrey finishes, he presses his lips together, looking grave.
“Well, thank you for letting me know,” he finally says, and turns his attention at me. “Are you all right, Miss Dabbagh?”
I nod.
“Do you know who did this to you?”
I glance at Audrey, who raises her eyebrows.
“I—I’m not sure,” I say quietly.
“There’ve been other things too,” Audrey chimes in. “Old socks in her locker. There’s a rumor about who can steal her hijab. I’m not sure where it came from, but I heard Adrian talking about it.”
I suppress a shudder.
Dr. Mérieux frowns. “That’s not good.”
We then fall quiet. Audrey looks at Dr. Mérieux, waiting for him to say something, and I look anywhere but the door. I just want to leave.
Dr. Mérieux nods again and then stands. “All right, I will personally look into this.”
Audrey’s expression relaxes, and she stands as well. “Thank you, Dr. Mérieux,” she says, pronouncing his name in a perfect French accent.
When we’re outside she turns to me, smiling. “Didn’t I tell you it would help?”
I want to laugh at how innocent and naive she’s being, but I don’t. “Thank you.”
