Part 3: What A Joke
Already feeling powerless, the moment I sat down at my desk, I began crying hard while I texted my mom saying a girl had hit me while walking to class (I worded this wrong hit → shove because I was too upset to think straight). I cried and begged her to get me out of school and that I just wanted to go home. Thinking someone actually laid their hands on me, she made an immediate call to the school asking for my Uncle/Vice Principal, Mr. Hetrick, to call me into his office. While all of this is happening, my classmates had already came in and seen me trying to catch my breath because of my constant crying. My advisory teacher, Mr. Jones, had also tried to calm me down, but it didn’t help. Within five long minutes, I had been shoved into a wall, texted my mom to get me out of school, and was already heading to my uncle’s office. None of the security guards even attempted to stop me even though the advisory bell had already rang. I didn’t have a pass, but I didn’t care. I needed to be away from everyone.
It was around 10:00 am when I finally made it to my uncle’s office. I could barely see anything because my eyes had already been puffy, red, and sore. He sat me down on a chair, handed me a tissue, and then called my mom to let her know that I was with him. Feeling safer than I was a minute ago, I began calming down. Hetrick then looked at me and asked what happened. I described what occurred that morning and the night before, and he made a note of what I was telling him. Then he looked at me with the most mournful expression and said, “The school principal, Dr. Ali, isn’t here this week. I’m sorry I can’t help you Anna. I’m the freshman class Vice Principal. Because you’re a sophomore, your VP is Mr. Enos. I have to hand your case over to him.” I didn’t trust the authority of anyone else besides Hetrick, but understanding the situation, I sadly watched as Enos came into my uncle’s office and took a seat in the chair. Before exiting the room, he told Enos, “Take care of her.” For some odd reason, right when I saw Dygre’s face, I could already tell through his fake smile that he was going to be of no help AT ALL.
I was asked to retell the events of the story, and while I was talking, you could tell he wasn’t really listening. He saw me as a student who only cried for attention. You could just tell he wasn’t actually going to bring me justice. When I was done talking to Enos, I began texting my mom to update her on my situation as he told me to “Wait, while I make a call.” As much as I told her I didn’t trust being in Enos’ care and I just wanted her to pick me up and go home, she told me to wait it out and see what he says. She trusted that he was going to use his authority and position as a Vice Principal to get me the help I needed. BOY WAS SHE WRONG.
The phone call Dygre made was to his wife who was the principal of a neighboring school at Makalapa ES. While I sat less than 10 feet away from him, he began telling her my situation. He said, “So I have this student, a girl, who came in because people were talking about her online. She says she got shoved into the wall by a senior and this is all happening because her mom told her to reply on a Facebook status. Her mom now. How stupid is that right?” Shocked, all I could do was stare and look at him in disgust even though he was trying so hard to avoid eye contact. This was a Vice Principal, someone who was put in this position to protect their students (specifically the sophomore and senior class), and someone who my own parents trusted to keep me safe. I knew the odds weren’t going to be in my favor.
When Enos hung up the phone, he swiveled his chair towards me and asked, “What do you want to do? Do you want me to call down all the seniors involved so you can confront them yourself? Or do you just want to sit here in my office all day?” Irritated with the two choices he gave me, I said “I don’t want to confront anyone. I just want to go home.”
"So you don't want to work it out with them?" Dygre asked.
"No. I already said I was scared for my safety. Can I just get taken out of school?" I pleaded.
“How about this. I’ll sit in my office and you can stay here. I’ll talk to them myself.” Enos negotiated.
“I don't know how many times I have to say I don’t want to be here. I just want to go home.” I said frustratingly.
He then said “I can’t let you go home until we solve this. Unless you just want to drop it and I can send you back to class.” (What kind of choices, right?)
Not giving an answer and remaining silent, he went next door to his own office while I updated my mom through text. All she kept saying was ‘protect your sister,’ but who was supposed to protect me?
Going against my wishes, I overhead Dygre call in both GR.F. and GL.F. at the same time. He purposely left the door to his office and my uncle’s office open, and I had to sit in the other room listening to the sisters lie through their teeth. They said things like “I never said my friends and I were going to beat her up. I don’t even go on Facebook.” After sending them off, he proceeded to call over J.M. (T.K.’s friend), A.I. (The girl who shoved me), and more of GR.F.’s friends, and they all continued to lie. It was like they had all planned to tell the exact same story. What pissed me off wasn’t that they were being dishonest, but that Enos was literally joking around with them. Instead of speaking about what happened, he spent majority of the time laughing and cracking jokes until he walked them out the front office doors. There was no strict voice or disciplinary warnings because he treated these people as his friends. I knew by now that I was going to be screwed over.
I sat in my uncle’s office for such a long time that I had missed advisory, third period, recess, and fifth period. By now it was 12:20 pm when the bell rang for lunch. Enos finally appeared from his own office and asked if I wanted to leave and go to the cafeteria to grab food. Disgusted at his change of concern and wanting to slap that sly smile off his face, I rolled my eyes and rudely said no. Did Dygre really not understand how fearful I was for my own safety? He called his wife to bad mouth my mom while I was still in the room, and then he went against my wishes and called in the seniors who cyber-bullied me while keeping his office door wide open for me to hear. Did he not get that if I walked around the school in the situation I was in, I would’ve been even more harassed? Was this Vice Principal even cut out for this job or is he just a big joke?
He excused himself for lunch and still, I begged my mom to take me out of school. She said to wait a couple more hours since school was going to end soon. I was so ready to walk off campus and catch the bus home. I did not want to be around these people anymore. Many of my friends began texting me asking to fill them in on what’s going on (Again, they didn’t actually care about my well-being, they were just being nosey) and I told them. Soon lunch was over and everyone started making their ways to seventh period. Enos came back into the my uncle’s office and said he was going to call my sister in. An instant feel of relief came over me. I felt so alone in the past three hours, so the thought of being able to see and talk to my sister was the best thing that ever came out of his mouth.
Dygre went back into his office and phoned N.D.’s teacher to have her come down. After a long 5 minutes, I heard my sister enter the front office doors. Meeting her at the front desks, he and my sister walked into his office. He explained to her why he called her down and asked if she knew what was going on. I sat in the other room waiting for him to call me into his office, but then I heard him close the door. All I felt in this moment was anger. Since when was it proper procedure to interrogate two BULLIES at the same time where they are able to make eye contact, change their stories, and agree with one another right then and there. Since when was it proper procedure to interrogate individual BULLIES and do nothing but act like their friend when you were supposed to be the one with an authoritative title? Since when was it procedure to take a case already being biased with no intention of truly helping. Then make it worse by bringing in 95% of people who were friends with GR.F. and automatically take their side? Now the moment my sister comes in to get questioned, not only do you restrict me from seeing her, but you also close the door for the first time today too? None of it made sense. I was angry.
Once my sister left his office, Enos stood at the door of the room I was in and sighed really loudly. I hoped that whatever my sister told him was enough to bring me justice, but still a part of me knew this wasn’t going to end well. While trying to hide a devious smile, word for word he said “After questioning everyone, I’m going to be honest with you. It’s hard to believe your side of the story since everyone else is telling me something different. I’m going to give you two options: 1) You can either stay in school while the seniors, including your sister, don’t walk for graduation, or 2) I can expel you and your sister won’t be punished. I honestly think it would be better if you just left Radford.” Every part of me was holding back my rage because I wanted to punch him in the face. Since when is the person seeking help at fault? I’ve heard of some crazy responses, but this took the cake, no doubt. Dygre continued to explain that everyone’s story didn’t match up with mine. I looked at him disgusted and said “Well maybe that’s because they didn’t want to get in trouble.” I couldn’t help but be disappointed with how someone with an authority treated my situation. How was this person even appointed to this position? He was literally the biggest fucking quack I’ve ever seen in my life.
It was around 10:00 am when I finally made it to my uncle’s office. I could barely see anything because my eyes had already been puffy, red, and sore. He sat me down on a chair, handed me a tissue, and then called my mom to let her know that I was with him. Feeling safer than I was a minute ago, I began calming down. Hetrick then looked at me and asked what happened. I described what occurred that morning and the night before, and he made a note of what I was telling him. Then he looked at me with the most mournful expression and said, “The school principal, Dr. Ali, isn’t here this week. I’m sorry I can’t help you Anna. I’m the freshman class Vice Principal. Because you’re a sophomore, your VP is Mr. Enos. I have to hand your case over to him.” I didn’t trust the authority of anyone else besides Hetrick, but understanding the situation, I sadly watched as Enos came into my uncle’s office and took a seat in the chair. Before exiting the room, he told Enos, “Take care of her.” For some odd reason, right when I saw Dygre’s face, I could already tell through his fake smile that he was going to be of no help AT ALL.
I was asked to retell the events of the story, and while I was talking, you could tell he wasn’t really listening. He saw me as a student who only cried for attention. You could just tell he wasn’t actually going to bring me justice. When I was done talking to Enos, I began texting my mom to update her on my situation as he told me to “Wait, while I make a call.” As much as I told her I didn’t trust being in Enos’ care and I just wanted her to pick me up and go home, she told me to wait it out and see what he says. She trusted that he was going to use his authority and position as a Vice Principal to get me the help I needed. BOY WAS SHE WRONG.
The phone call Dygre made was to his wife who was the principal of a neighboring school at Makalapa ES. While I sat less than 10 feet away from him, he began telling her my situation. He said, “So I have this student, a girl, who came in because people were talking about her online. She says she got shoved into the wall by a senior and this is all happening because her mom told her to reply on a Facebook status. Her mom now. How stupid is that right?” Shocked, all I could do was stare and look at him in disgust even though he was trying so hard to avoid eye contact. This was a Vice Principal, someone who was put in this position to protect their students (specifically the sophomore and senior class), and someone who my own parents trusted to keep me safe. I knew the odds weren’t going to be in my favor.
When Enos hung up the phone, he swiveled his chair towards me and asked, “What do you want to do? Do you want me to call down all the seniors involved so you can confront them yourself? Or do you just want to sit here in my office all day?” Irritated with the two choices he gave me, I said “I don’t want to confront anyone. I just want to go home.”
"So you don't want to work it out with them?" Dygre asked.
"No. I already said I was scared for my safety. Can I just get taken out of school?" I pleaded.
“How about this. I’ll sit in my office and you can stay here. I’ll talk to them myself.” Enos negotiated.
“I don't know how many times I have to say I don’t want to be here. I just want to go home.” I said frustratingly.
He then said “I can’t let you go home until we solve this. Unless you just want to drop it and I can send you back to class.” (What kind of choices, right?)
Not giving an answer and remaining silent, he went next door to his own office while I updated my mom through text. All she kept saying was ‘protect your sister,’ but who was supposed to protect me?
Going against my wishes, I overhead Dygre call in both GR.F. and GL.F. at the same time. He purposely left the door to his office and my uncle’s office open, and I had to sit in the other room listening to the sisters lie through their teeth. They said things like “I never said my friends and I were going to beat her up. I don’t even go on Facebook.” After sending them off, he proceeded to call over J.M. (T.K.’s friend), A.I. (The girl who shoved me), and more of GR.F.’s friends, and they all continued to lie. It was like they had all planned to tell the exact same story. What pissed me off wasn’t that they were being dishonest, but that Enos was literally joking around with them. Instead of speaking about what happened, he spent majority of the time laughing and cracking jokes until he walked them out the front office doors. There was no strict voice or disciplinary warnings because he treated these people as his friends. I knew by now that I was going to be screwed over.
I sat in my uncle’s office for such a long time that I had missed advisory, third period, recess, and fifth period. By now it was 12:20 pm when the bell rang for lunch. Enos finally appeared from his own office and asked if I wanted to leave and go to the cafeteria to grab food. Disgusted at his change of concern and wanting to slap that sly smile off his face, I rolled my eyes and rudely said no. Did Dygre really not understand how fearful I was for my own safety? He called his wife to bad mouth my mom while I was still in the room, and then he went against my wishes and called in the seniors who cyber-bullied me while keeping his office door wide open for me to hear. Did he not get that if I walked around the school in the situation I was in, I would’ve been even more harassed? Was this Vice Principal even cut out for this job or is he just a big joke?
He excused himself for lunch and still, I begged my mom to take me out of school. She said to wait a couple more hours since school was going to end soon. I was so ready to walk off campus and catch the bus home. I did not want to be around these people anymore. Many of my friends began texting me asking to fill them in on what’s going on (Again, they didn’t actually care about my well-being, they were just being nosey) and I told them. Soon lunch was over and everyone started making their ways to seventh period. Enos came back into the my uncle’s office and said he was going to call my sister in. An instant feel of relief came over me. I felt so alone in the past three hours, so the thought of being able to see and talk to my sister was the best thing that ever came out of his mouth.
Dygre went back into his office and phoned N.D.’s teacher to have her come down. After a long 5 minutes, I heard my sister enter the front office doors. Meeting her at the front desks, he and my sister walked into his office. He explained to her why he called her down and asked if she knew what was going on. I sat in the other room waiting for him to call me into his office, but then I heard him close the door. All I felt in this moment was anger. Since when was it proper procedure to interrogate two BULLIES at the same time where they are able to make eye contact, change their stories, and agree with one another right then and there. Since when was it proper procedure to interrogate individual BULLIES and do nothing but act like their friend when you were supposed to be the one with an authoritative title? Since when was it procedure to take a case already being biased with no intention of truly helping. Then make it worse by bringing in 95% of people who were friends with GR.F. and automatically take their side? Now the moment my sister comes in to get questioned, not only do you restrict me from seeing her, but you also close the door for the first time today too? None of it made sense. I was angry.
Once my sister left his office, Enos stood at the door of the room I was in and sighed really loudly. I hoped that whatever my sister told him was enough to bring me justice, but still a part of me knew this wasn’t going to end well. While trying to hide a devious smile, word for word he said “After questioning everyone, I’m going to be honest with you. It’s hard to believe your side of the story since everyone else is telling me something different. I’m going to give you two options: 1) You can either stay in school while the seniors, including your sister, don’t walk for graduation, or 2) I can expel you and your sister won’t be punished. I honestly think it would be better if you just left Radford.” Every part of me was holding back my rage because I wanted to punch him in the face. Since when is the person seeking help at fault? I’ve heard of some crazy responses, but this took the cake, no doubt. Dygre continued to explain that everyone’s story didn’t match up with mine. I looked at him disgusted and said “Well maybe that’s because they didn’t want to get in trouble.” I couldn’t help but be disappointed with how someone with an authority treated my situation. How was this person even appointed to this position? He was literally the biggest fucking quack I’ve ever seen in my life.
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