Sisters

“We don’t want them to feel dejected. We want them to feel uplifted!” Sarah said to Principal Groft. She’s the best actress in our grade. She could make herself cry instantly as she did now. Principal Groft, a stout teapot of a man and very uncomfortable with emotional females, the perfect qualities needed of an all-girls school principal. He kept looking at his hands, so he didn’t have to look at Sarah.

Principal Groft’s office was sky blue; he didn’t want to keep it lavender. His office was bare except for the wall behind him. It had the school motto, “As sisters, let’s be kind to one another,” in a black cursive script. There are so many of us that we sit in a 4x4 grid of chairs. It’s not our first time in Groft’s office. We sit in our seats, a bit relaxed almost; we have little reason to believe this visit will end badly. None of our other visits had. 

We’re here because the new girl Becky’s mom called Groft and called us bullies. Word spread and other girls who didn’t get to join us said the same thing. Some of the girls are lying. But there were enough of them that we got called to Groft’s office.

Sarah thought Becky would be a perfect addition to the group. We were losing our “innocent” look, and what’s more innocent than a fresh-faced farm girl with apple cheeks? Sarah used the same welcoming charm that she used on all of us. She invited Becky to sit next to her during first period, then at lunch. We all had to shift over a seat from our usual places to make room for Becky. Sarah laughed at all of Becky’s jokes; we did too. We laugh as one. Sarah's laugh is distinguishable from ours. 

After two weeks of Sarah pampering Becky and  Becky loving attention from humans instead of animals, Sarah told us she was going to invite Becky over for initiation. Some of us tried to voice our concerns. Becky was too innocent. It would be cruel to put a girl with so little experience with humans through this. Sarah gave us all the glare. The glare meant, “I found you. I discovered you. Now you think you know better than me?” We became quiet. This didn't feel right. The first time we weren’t all in sync with Sarah. But we weren’t going to protest, get kicked out, and have Sarah hate us.

“All of the girls have the same complaints Sarah,” Groft squeaks. “Becky says she’s been in therapy for the past five months. Lindsay says she’s developed a nervous tic. Ruth says she’s depressed. There are ten other girls that have grievances against you!” His voice raises two octaves when he reaches the end of his sentences, like a whistling teapot. 

“How can you accuse me without any proof?” sobbed Sarah. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. We all marveled at how much water her eyes could produce.

Groft begins to fidget as if being held over a fire. “I’m not saying there is any proof, but I know for a fact you hung out with these girls, but they didn’t make it into your…group,” he simpers. “You know how hard it is to get along with other girls?” Sarah sighed. She opened her mouth again but was cut off by Groft. “Becky’s mom has filed a complaint with the police. She said Becky took a lie detector test, and she passed.’ Sarah stopped sobbing, but the tears kept running down her face.

Initiation happens on the second Saturday of the month at Sarah’s house, when they do happen. We pampered Becky. Putting on makeup, baking cookies, and watching romcoms until she felt at ease. Then we went down to Sarah’s basement. There are black chairs in a perfect circle around a red chair. Sarah told Becky to sit in the red chair, as we filled up the black chairs. “You’re real nice, Becky, and we’d love to have you join the group.” Becky beamed at that. “We just have a little test to see how committed you are to the group and how you respond to a little criticism.” Becky’s smile faltered.

The comments started off nice enough.

“You’re so pretty.”

“They don’t even make your hair color as a hair dye!”

“You have such a bright personality!” 

Becky looked relaxed and happy. She hadn’t been complimented like this before. Then it was Sarah’s turn. We couldn’t look away, so we thought of other things.

“Do you think you can drop y’all when you talk, Becky?”

“Don’t snort when you laugh, Becky. It’s unbecoming.” 

Becky’s eyes widened.

“Do you think you’d be able to drop 15 pounds?” Becky’s eyes started getting watery.

“You’re from a farm, but since you go to our school, can you stop bringing homemade bags and accessories?”

Becky turned the same color as the chair and she opened her mouth and closed it. The tears were running down her face as she ran out. We looked at Sarah, who looked disappointed.

The silence in Groft’s office deafened all other noises. We began to worry, it took Sarah too long to answer. Groft looked at us. 

“None of you have anything to say?” 

The office became too small. We wanted air. We wanted to be free. Free of Groft. It had been so long since we’d been addressed individually that we didn’t know what to do.

“Betsy is a teen mother. Ruth snuck drugs into school, and Lindsay curses out the teachers. I, I mean we win awards for this school, keep it in the public’s good graces.” 

Groft shrunk “But the lie detector…” 

“Where did she get the test taken, did you physically see the results?” Sarah said. Groft turned purple.

He pressed the intercom button and squeaked, “Becky to the front office.” She walks in and freezes. We don’t acknowledge her, and neither does Sarah. Groft, wanting this to be over quickly, said, “Becky, do you think you can have your mom provide the lie detector test results?” 

Her mouth opened and closed, just like in Sarah’s basement. Sarah started sobbing.

 “We’ve been brought here on allegations!” 

Becky turned the same purple as Groft. 

Groft sighed. “Don’t accuse students of something unless you have proof. I feel a headache coming. Go back to class, girls.” 

We got up and waited for Sarah to lead us. She paused in front of Becky, gave a loud sob, and said, “As sisters, let’s be kind to one another.” She exits the office, and we follow.