Most teenagers disliked going to school and only did so because their parents told them to. Every holiday was a joy since it meant one day of not having to go to that dreaded place, so the concept of 'punishing' someone by making them not go to school, had always seemed rather bizarre.
For a troublemaker, being excluded essentially meant they got a free week to do whatever they wished. However, now that Emily was suddenly faced with that situation, she began to realise the real horror of it.
'What the hell do I tell Mum?'
Their high school had a relatively good reputation in New Tylon. Getting suspended for a week was rather unheard of. In fact, any more than that and it would have meant expulsion.
Was this Mrs Young's way of telling her how close she had come to being…expelled?
Suddenly, Emily started to consider the consequences about what would happen if that had happened. She would have to change schools, probably forcing her family to move apartment' to another area. It might mean her mother would have to find new jobs.
Essentially, it would ruin the lives of the entire Harrington family.
On top of that, with nothing to do but to stay at home on her own, she was worried that she might go mad… or worse, do something extremely stupid like go out and look for Dire fang.
"As someone who's now excluded, you won't participate in any more lessons. For the time being, you're to stay here. Feel free to start on that apology letter and I will have my secretary bring you some other school work later." Headmistress Young explained. "Honestly, I would have just sent you home immediately, but there is a reason why I'm keeping you here."
"By now the whole school is aware about what has occured, including the teachers. One teacher in particular has strongly insisted for you to be let off."
Emily was baffled to hear this. She wasn't particularly friendly with any of her teachers, nor did she excel at any subjects. Her relationship with her homeroom teacher wasn't out of the ordinary either, so it was hard to pinpoint who exactly it could be.
"Never would have I thought there would come a day I would see Mrs. Ava begging me to not expel a student like you. Unlike what your stature suggests, she claims that you're a very gifted Aerion football player, one she simply can't do without."
Mrs. Ava would have been the last person Emily would have suspected, even if she had been doing better in their training matches, was it really to the point where they needed her this much?
"I have therefore agreed to make a special exception for you. Despite being Excluded, you're allowed to attend the club lesson after school for the whole week, and that will include today. I will look forward to your performance on the weekend."
For some reason, Emily felt quite happy with the news. At the moment, playing Aerion really was the only distraction she had left. Given her performance, she was very excited to test herself in their first official game.
After giving her the sheets of work she needed to go through Mrs Young stayed in the room doing her own work.
'Mom should be at her job, so I doubt she already knows. Mrs Young's secretary will probably notify Mom via a letter, so all I gotta do is get to it before she does. I sorta got a week off… maybe I can use this to my advantage. It gives me more time to figure things out.'
*******
Out on the field, Emily had joined the club practice. She noticed that Willy wasn't out yet. Willy didn't care for Aerion football in the first place, so it didn't matter if he was on time to not and it didn't seem like the teacher did either. Which was why Emily thought it wasn't so strange.
Before the lesson started, Mrs. Ava had pulled Back Emily to the side.
"Listen here, Snowflake, I don't know what exactly made you do what you did this morning, but let me tell you this. I'm used to dealing with kids who have anger problems and who have an aggressive nature. You didn't really seem the type, but you have proven me wrong more than once already. The good thing is, there is an easy fix. "
"Use that pent up anger, frustration whatever is inside you, out on the field. Use it to run faster from the others, use it to snatch the ball out of their hands, and use it to tackle them, because on the field all of that is allowed."
The practice had started, and the words that Mrs. Ava used had spurted Emily on. In today's practice she was playing even better than before. She was sharper as if her eyes were glued to the Aerion orb. It was strange because her technique and play tactics weren't as sharp as someone like Daniel, but she made up for it with her talent.
Eventually, some other students also arrived on the field. Naturally, they got a scolding from Mrs. Ava and after running a few laps, they were allowed to join in the practice game.
The bulwarks tried to tackle Emily when she was in possession of the ball but they were too slow. Instead a couple of the faster, lighter Skirmisher students managed to get a hold of her. Still, Emily with her inhumane strength was able to move forward until she passed on the Orb to Daniel, allowing him to score the try that won them the practice game.
Both Daniel and Emily were praised as if they had won the world cup, the two of them had proven to be an unexpectedly good match as a team.
"You two!" Mrs. Ava said. "If you can repeat what you did today on the weekend, we are going to destroy Heaven Dune High!"
Emily was enjoying the praise just like she had done on Friday, and her mood felt better than before, but she noticed something. Although Aerion practice was nearly over, Willy wasn't on the bench, Finally she could see him approaching, Willy had his head down staring at the ground while muttering something.
Emily decided to jog to his location." What's up willy."
" My parents heard what happened th... the..they want me to stay away from you."