The Education of Hailey Kendrick - Eileen Cook [22]
“I’ll pay for it. I can use some of the money in my savings account, and I’ll get a job this summer and send the money here,” I offered.
“You better believe you’re going to pay for it, and you’re also going to write the school administration an apology letter.” A tired sigh came through the speaker. I could picture my dad at work in his office, rubbing his temples. Discipline wasn’t really his thing. My mom used to do it, and after she died, he hadn’t needed to punish me. I had been too busy being the perfect kid. We were in uncharted territory.
“There is one other issue still on the table,” Dean Winston said, leaning over so his voice would be picked up by the speaker. He was stroking his tie as if it were a cat. The whole thing gave me the creeps, and I had to fight the urge to pull my chair farther away from him. “Hailey has not been willing to give us the name of the”—he cleared his throat—“young man from town that she was with last evening. ”
“I don’t see why his name matters,” I said. “It was just a guy from town.”
“I’m sure your father would also like to know about this guy from town that his daughter is cavorting about with in the middle of the night, committing acts of vandalism.”
“I thought you were dating Taylor. Who is this boy?” My dad asked.
“Tristan. His name isn’t Taylor. This was just a guy I met. I really don’t want to talk about my dating life,” I said.
“This boy is responsible for half the cost of the damages. Non-students are not allowed on school grounds after hours.”
“I said I would pay for it,” I said again, kissing my hefty savings account good-bye.
“Are you protecting this boy for some reason?” My dad asked. “Is he threatening you? How do we even know Hailey had anything to do with this vandalism? My daughter is not the type to be in trouble. I think it is far more likely that this boy was the instigator.”
“Your daughter appeared to our security guard to be a very willing participant.”
“What exactly are you trying to say about my daughter? I would think there might be a need to spend less time smearing her reputation and instead looking into how this boy was allowed on what is supposed to be a secure campus,” my dad snapped back.
I ground down a millimeter of tooth enamel. I hated how both Dean Winston and my dad were talking about me like I wasn’t even in the room. It seemed to me that it wasn’t about the statue anymore. Now it was about which one of them was more in charge.
“This guy has nothing to do with this. I was the one who was upset. It was my idea to damage the statue. The guy was just there. Nothing more,” I blurted out, shutting both of them up for a beat.
“Hail, why were you so upset?” My dad asked, his voice tuning in to what I was saying for the first time. I felt my throat seize shut with rage. He wanted to know why I was upset? Either he’d completely forgotten that he’d torpedoed our summer plans a day before, or it had mattered so little to him that he couldn’t even imagine that I might have been upset about it. I pressed my lips together to hold in what words might come flying out. I felt myself starting to tear up, and I stared down into my lap.
“Mood changes can be a sign of substance use,” Mr. Winston said. “If Hailey has fallen in with an unsavory crowd, this might be something we need to investigate.”
Dean Winston was about to see a mood change. I pictured how satisfying it would be to sweep my arm across his desk and send the phone flying to the floor. I forced myself to take a deep breath.
“I’m not on drugs. I understand you want to know who I was with, but I’m not willing to get anyone else in trouble for something that was my fault. I’m not going to tell you. I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“It’s not that simple, Hailey. What happened impacts the safety of the entire school,” Dean Winston said. “As you know, we’ve had security challenges of late with the paparazzi. If there are unauthorized people sneaking onto campus, we need to know.”
“If she refuses to tell, I’m not certain what you expect to happen,” my dad said. “We can’t force her.”
“I assure