Black Mountain Academy had hired me because they felt they needed someone who couldn’t be pushed around by the parents of the student body. We weren’t dealing with the average blue-collar mom and dad at this school. No. We had some of the most powerful people’s kids attending, and the academy was known for blowing through their staff because they couldn’t take the entitled bullshit for long. I, on the other hand, refused to be a casualty because I was shoved out. So, the board was wise in hiring me for that reason alone.
After Corrine Parker left my office, I had been busy the rest of the day with putting out constant fires. Finally, having a moment of time after school let out, I walked over to my computer and found the phone number on file and dialed. I didn’t think Corrine would lie to me, but I’d be an idiot not to at least try. I’d become accustomed to neglectful parents while working in my school in Oakland. Foster kids, or kids in worse situations were a majority rather than a minority, and it was something I was used to working around. But I hadn’t expected it in an upper-class school like Black Mountain.
I guess shitty parents existed everywhere.
When I heard the message that the voicemail box was full, I slammed the phone down in frustration. What kind of mother couldn’t care less about her daughter? I felt sorry for Corrine, and second-guessed my decision about giving her detention until I reached her mom. It was likely I never would. And while my position as principal meant I was considered a mandatory reporter, Corrine was nineteen, so it wasn’t like I could report her to the state to step in for neglect. Basically, this was a girl who no longer was part of the system.
Most likely not part of anything.
Another difference between this school and the one in Oakland was the fact that a Google search offered a plethora of information. These parents were famous for one thing or the other. All were notorious whether it was by celebrity status, crime status, or empire building domination. So, deciding that maybe I could hunt down Corrine’s mother by finding out where she was currently located, I turned to the internet to research her.
It didn’t take long to see that Corrine wasn’t lying. There were tons of articles about her mother traveling around the world with the leading actor from her last movie. They were supposedly in love and living it up on yachts and private jets. Pictures flooded my search of her mother drinking champagne, stumbling in and out of limos and topless in a thong bikini while sunbathing. She was the spitting image of Corrine with her long dark chestnut hair, mysterious brown eyes, and in almost all the pictures, her lips were parted in the same exact sexy smirk I’d seen Corrine wearing when sitting across the desk from me. Cora Parker was fucking stunning, but women like that knew it. Hence all the half-naked photos of her floating around the internet.
There were no mentions of Corrine in any of the articles, but frankly I didn’t dig for long. It made me sick seeing this so-called mother’s face so happy without her daughter by her side.
Having had enough for one day, I packed up my stuff and decided to leave before the sun set for a change. I was due for some booze and couch time. As glamorous as my life was not, it wasn’t like there was a lot to do around Black Mountain anyway. Unless you counted all the dinner invitations and parties I was invited to by every member of the board of directors, the parents trying to get in good with me, or the bored trophy wives who wanted some male companionship, my social life sucked. I abhorred those parties. I despised the dinners. And I detested fake women flirting with me. This world was everything I wasn’t, but unfortunately, I had to play the game and attend many events I hated. Tomorrow there was a board of directors’ gathering at the Johnson estate, and I was dreading it. So, at least tonight I was going to take the evening for myself.
As I walked out to the parking lot, I noticed Corrine bending over her car with the hood up. School had been let out hours ago, but she’d also had detention. The only cars left in the parking lot were mine, Corrine’s, and the janitor’s. Even though the last thing I wanted to do was deal with car issues, I figured that part of the reason she was out here alone was due to me, so the least I could do was offer some help.
Trying not to look at how her bent over position had her ass nearly on full display beneath her short, pleated uniform skirt, I made my way over to her.
“Any idea what’s wrong with your car?” I asked as I walked up behind her. The car didn’t seem to fit her. Most of the students drove cars that were worth more than the teachers here made in a year, but Corrine’s was a classic Mercedes. Old, but definitely classy.
She jumped and screamed, turning to face me with wide dark eyes.
I put out my hands in a gesture to show her I wasn’t a threat. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
She took a deep breath and relaxed a bit when she saw it was just me, although I could see she still trembled slightly. “It’s my mom’s car. Or one of them. I think it sat too long in the garage up here. We haven’t been to the house in years, and I think they were neglected. I actually had to brush off dust when I finally found the keys.”
“Did you check the oil?” I asked, considering the obvious culprits. “Gas?”
She nodded. “Yes, I did that on day one, but I think all the plugs and stuff need to be changed. Or maybe it’s the battery.” She looked at me. “Can I get a jump?”
“Let me get my car,” I said as I turned and walked over to my own vehicle.
The air was getting cool as the sun lowered over the horizon, and I really didn’t want to be dealing with this, but it wasn’t like I could just leave the girl stranded in the parking lot either. Especially knowing she didn’t have any parents to call for help. I had to hand it to her. At least she tried to be somewhat self-reliant. She could have been sitting in her car helpless, crying, and calling Daddy for help.
“All right,” I said, as I got out of my car, yanked out my jumper cables, and clipped them on the posts of her battery. “Go ahead and try to start it.”
She tried multiple times, and nothing. I was far from being a mechanic, but I didn’t think it was the battery. From the clicking sound, it seemed to be more the starter than anything, and if that was the case, we wouldn’t be able to fix it in the parking lot.
“I think we need to call and get it towed,” I said, knowing I was in for a much longer evening now that I would have to take her home after waiting for a tow truck to come.
“I have AAA,” she said as she pulled out her phone and dug around in her glove box for the card. “Unless my mom let it lapse or something,” she added under her breath.
I walked over to my car, turned it off, and leaned against my hood while she was on the phone. When she hung up, she looked up at me and smiled.
“Thank you. They should be on their way soon. You don’t have to wait here.”
“Someone needs to give you a ride,” I said, crossing my arms across my chest and settling in for the wait.
“I can call someone,” she said, but I could tell she was lying. She was still the new girl in this school, and I was pretty sure I had only seen her interact with a couple of people. She wasn’t exactly the loner type, but the school was brutal when it came to trying to fit in to any of the social circles. I’d seen no evidence that she had a best friend close enough who would be willing to drop everything and come help her.