Ashley Cooper's Arc

Chapter 7 of 37

Mrs. Poo-Poo's office sat behind the library. The thin librarian shut the door and pointed to a hard chair. Ashley sat. A stack of forms waited on the desk. One was pink. Ashley knew that color meant a discipline report headed straight to the office. "Fighting in my hallway," Mrs. Poo-Poo said. She sat and picked up a pen. "A council officer, screaming for the whole school. That seat is a privilege, Miss Cooper. I'm recommending you lose it." "I wasn't screaming," Ashley said. "I kept my voice down. Tyler came at me. I told him to let it go, and he did." "You started that chaos." The librarian's chair squeaked. A faint sour smell filled the small room. "Two boys, a crowd, a spectacle. That is your doing." "Then check the camera," Ashley said. Mrs. Poo-Poo stopped writing. "Excuse me?" "The hall camera by the gym doors." Ashley kept her bone arm on the desk, in plain view. She was done shrinking from it. "It saw everything. It'll show who walked up to who. It'll show I stood still and asked him to stop." The librarian's eyes narrowed behind her glasses. She had expected tears or excuses. She turned to her computer and typed. The screen glowed. Ashley watched grainy footage roll. On it, Tyler crossed the hall toward her. Ashley stood with Mike. She let go of his hand and faced Tyler alone. She never raised her arms. Tyler pointed, then dropped his shoulders and walked off. Mrs. Poo-Poo watched it twice. Her mouth pressed flat. She set the pen down. "He approached you," she said. "You did not swing. You did not shout." She dragged the pink form to the edge of the desk and turned it over. "The report goes on Mr. Marsh, not you. Your seat stays." Ashley let out a slow breath. "Thank you." "Don't thank me. The tape did it." The librarian stood and opened the door. "Now go. And Miss Cooper." She paused. "Next time a boy comes at you like that, come to me first. That's what the seat is for." Ashley walked out. Mike waited on the bench, just as he'd promised. He stood when he saw her face. "You're still on council," he said. "Still on council." She held up the bone arm and grinned. "She checked the camera. I didn't have to hide anything." Her phone buzzed. A text from her dad, Danny, the town's most careful accountant. It read: Principal's office just called the house. Something about a council review. Everything okay? Ashley's grin faded. The principal. Not the librarian. Someone above Mrs. Poo-Poo had already started asking questions before the tape cleared her. Mrs. Poo-Poo had dropped her report. But a bigger one had opened, and this time it wasn't about a hallway fight. It was about whether a girl with a bone arm belonged on student council at all. She texted back one word. Coming.