ASSUMPTIONS

“You better apologize to Jasmine for writing that article about her,” Carina advised. I rolled my eyes at her, not caring about anything at the moment. Everyone was against my article, but they had to know that it was the truth. Jasmine is nothing but a thief and a liar.

“Look, I still stand by my article,” I said to her, crossing my arms. Carina raised one of her plucked eyebrows and looked at me with disbelief. She was wondering why I was acting like this all a sudden.

“Layla, what do you have against that poor girl?” Carina asked. “The fact that…”

“Alright Layla, step into my office,” A stern male voice said behind me. I snapped my head backwards, only to see that it was the principal. He was wearing the same old brown coat he wore almost every day. His bald head was reflecting the light from the chandelier in the middle of the school hallway. I rolled my eyes once again, and sauntered towards his tiny office.

His office wasn’t much to talk about. It was a tiny room with three sofas, an oakwood desk in the middle of the room, with a chair behind it. A few shelves were lined up by his desk with binders, notebooks, and other files. His table had a few pictures of some old students and his family.

Once I took a seat on one of the sofas across his desk, he also sat. He looked at me with disappointment and anger.

“Why did you write that article?” He asked, trying to look anywhere else but my face.

“Principal Walker, with all due respect, I only wrote that article because it was the truth. And it is a befitting addition to my portfolio,” I said with confidence. He cocked one of his eyebrows and clasped his hands together.

“You can write a lot of articles for all I care. But, if it has something to do with the defamation of the school, or a fellow student, then I won’t take it . Do you know the number of phone calls we’ve gotten from the School Board? They are querying the school’s administration on our expenditure” He said. He opened his mouth, about to say something, when someone knocked on the door. He stood up and walked towards the door, to open the person. That was when two females stood in front of him—one was Jasmine, the thief, and the secretary, Stephanie.

“Jasmine, take a seat while I attend to the secretary,” He said. Jasmine looked at me, and stood rooted to the spot. The color on her face drained immediately she saw me sitting on of the sofas with an intimidating smile. “Jasmine, I said take a seat,” The principal repeated. She sighed , and took slow and steady steps towards one of the chairs. She sat on the farthest seat away from me and fidgeted with the hem of her school skirt.

‘Sorry girls, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Layla, behave,” He said, and walked with Stephanie. I chuckled at the latter part of his speech and busied myself with Instagram. I felt a pair of eyes glued on me. I tried to brush it off, thinking I was hallucinating. But when I looked up from my phone for a split second , I saw a furious Jasmine glowering at me.

“Stop staring at me,” I said, feeling uncomfortable under her creepy gaze.

“Why?” That was the only thing Jasmine said.

“Because it’s creepy and…”

“No, why did you write the article?” She asked. Oh boy. I knew she would ask me sooner or later, but I didn’t think she could muster the courage to speak to me.

“Because it’s true,”

“Is that true? Is it the fact that I engage in illicit acts to pay for my fees the truth, or the fact that you feel threatened by me the truth?” She asked, seething with anger.

“How can you intimidate me?” I asked, giving out an awkward laugh. I scratched the back of my head, trying to convince myself that I was better than her. Nobody is better than Layla Simpson.

“Throughout my entire stay in this school, you’ve been nothing but cold towards me. When I started hanging out with your friends, you pushed me away and made me feel I didn’t belong. And when I got a perfect score in the Math Quiz, you ignored me for an entire week, and now we’re here. So, I’m asking you Layla, why would you soil my name all because of a hearsay?” She poured her heart out with that speech. That was when I knew I had nowhere to hide.

“I felt threatened by you, but I had my doubts when you started going to a wealthy house in my neighbourhood. Everyone knew he was a womanizer. I thought you slept with him for money. I also heard that your family was going through financial constraints. Carina told me your father died a few months ago,” I explained, trying not to look at her face.

“Have you ever thought of asking me how I got to pay for this school? Or why I visited that man’s house? No. You decided to whip up an article which has humiliated me,” She replied. She stood up and knelt in front of me. I looked at her and leaned in for a hug, which she reciprocated.

“I’m very sorry Jasmine,” I said with tears streaming down my face.

“It’s alright. I afford to go to this school from contests and work,”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“I join a few writing contests that pay hefty prizes almost every week. Also, I went to clean that house every weekend. But when the man tried to sleep with me, I stopped work there immediately,” She explained. That was why she didn’t come to our neighbourhood after storming out of the house with anger.

“I’m so sorry Jasmine. I shouldn’t have written the article in the first place. I can’t imagine how you must have suffered ever since I printed them out,” I apologized.

“It’s alright. But please, verify your facts and assumptions before writing anything. You don’t want to be a journalist who spreads fake news, do you?” She said with jest. I chuckled at her statement, and we hugged again. I wiped away the tears from my face with a tissue. Soon, the principal entered his office.

“Alright Layla, what do you have to say to Jasmine?” Principal Walker asked. I turned to look at Jasmine who only nodded at me with a wide smile.

“I’d like to apologize to Jasmine for sullying her image. I should have double-checked my facts before writing and publishing that article. I take any punishment that may come my way due to this shameful act,” I said. Principal Walker looked at me with pride and soon, we left the meeting with satisfaction. The school decided to delete the article from the School Press' website. Also, I got a two-week suspension. I had to see that coming.