Pinhole, Higher Learning
Copyright© 2024 by Fanlon
Chapter 2
Mr. Staderfeld stood in the doorway to the central office watching me as I said goodbye to Laura and Dana. I smiled at him when I turned to walk in his direction, but he didn’t return it. He looked angry, but that wasn’t abnormal. He had one of those faces that always looked pissed off. I did notice his eyes flicker to the girls as they hustled away before they again returned to me. He stepped to the side and ushered me inside where there was a long counter where the two receptionists handled most of the day-to-day things students, teachers, and parents needed taken care of.
Once I stepped into the main room, he hurried me back into his own little office and closed the door. He moved to sit down behind his desk as I just stood there waiting for whatever was to come.
“Sit,” Mr. Staderfeld said.
It was not an offer, but a command and I did what was asked of me. On instinct, I sat in one of the two chairs closest to the door.
“Do you know why I called you in here, Davis?”
“No sir?” I answered.
I had a good idea why I was here, but I wasn’t going to open my mouth just in case it wasn’t what I was thinking. I scanned the small room, trying to keep my nerves under control. Mr. Staderfeld didn’t say anything, instead he just watched me, studying me, as if I were a puzzle that he hadn’t quite figured out yet but would in time.
When I didn’t say anything else, he leaned back in his chair as it squeaked under his weight as it settled in. His elbows rested on the armrests and his fingers came together in front of his face.
“I have been informed that you will be leaving on Tuesdays and Thursdays after your fourth period classes to attend the university,” Mr. Staderfeld finally said, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Yes sir,” I answered and even smiled a fraction. “My parents are still working out the transportation details.”
“I see. Well, you only have this week left before the spring semester starts on campus downtown. It’s not our responsibility to take care of that, you understand?”
“Yes sir, I understand.”
There was another long pause before Mr. Staderfeld leaned forward, his elbow now on his desk.
“Don’t think that I and Principal Williams aren’t aware of what happened last quarter.”
“Sir?” my voice squeaked.
My throat tightened and it felt like I was trying to swallow a huge cotton ball suddenly.
“Don’t act like you don’t know exactly what I am referring to.” Mr. Staderfeld’s hands fell onto the top of his desk and the sound made me jump. “Do you realize how much trouble you could have been in? How much trouble you should be in frankly?”
“I didn’t—”
“Mr. Watts nearly lost his job when Mrs. Satori called in to complain about you taking advantage of girls here in our school. If it wasn’t for him, Mrs. Peterson, and her husband...” he said, cutting me off. “What are you doing hanging around with Mrs. Satori’s daughter, Laura? Are you looking for more trouble?”
“What? No!”
“Then answer the question,” Mr. Staderfeld demanded. “I will not abide one of our students taking advantage of other students in my school. Do you understand me?”
I gulped. I could feel my heart racing in my chest and my face felt like it was on fire. The bell signaling the start of the first period rang out and I looked towards the clock on the wall. If there was ever a time to be genuinely saved by the bell, this would be it, but Mr. Staderfeld didn’t even flinch as he waited for my answer.
“She’s ... she’s, my friend. My um, girl, uh friend,” I managed to stammer out.
“And what about the other girls you took advantage of, are they your girlfriends too?”
The way he asked it sounded terrible. Like he was trying to catch me in a lie and accuse me of something. I just shook my head no quickly in response.
“If I hear of you doing anything like this again with one of my students, I will be the first one to report you to the authorities. If it were up to me, you would already be in jail.”
“I understand, sir.”
“You better,” Mr. Staderfeld snapped. “Now get out of my office and get to Mrs. Peterson’s class, you’re late.”
I scrambled to my feet and hurled my backpack over my shoulder and bolted from the office, not bothering to shut the door behind me as I ran right past the two ladies at the counter and into the halls.
When fourth period was finally over, I walked briskly to my locker and deposited my books.
“Hey, Josh,” I heard Dana’s voice say to my right on the other side of the locker door. “How did it go after we left this morning?”
“It wasn’t good,” I replied and closed the door, attaching the Master Lock and spinning the dial.
“What happened?”
“Mr. Staderfeld accused me of taking advantage of the girls in school.”
“What? Really?” Dana’s eyes were wide with surprise. I just nodded my reply. “What else did he say?”
“He told me to stop doing what we were doing, more or less,” I answered. “Are we going anywhere for lunch?”
That was my attempt at changing the topic and thankfully Dana let her line of questioning go.
“No, not today. My car is filthy.” If Dana claimed her car was filthy, then it must have been a complete and total disaster—even more so than usual, which was saying something. “Let’s get some pizza.”
“Sure, sounds good.”
The two of us walked side by side down the hall towards the old gym that was converted into a lunchroom to accommodate the size of the student body. We moved quickly, weaving around clumps of people talking around their lockers or just in the middle of the hallway. We needed to get there early or else all the pizza would be gone. The local pizza joint that supplied the school with single slices and soda only brought so much each day and once they were gone, they were gone. It’s not like the crappy square pieces of pizza you would normally get from the school cafeteria. This pizza was actually good, pepperoni, hamburger, and cheese; those were the three options.
I saw Laura and Adam standing on the side of the hall in front of Mr. Watts’ photography classroom. That’s when the sluts, Stephanie, Claire, and Jennifer, walked past us, headed in the opposite direction. All three of them were seniors and all three of them were gorgeous—perfect hair, perfect makeup, perfect clothes, and even more perfect bodies, especially when they were naked. That was a sight to behold, trust me.
Those three were the reason for me getting in trouble with Mr. Staderfeld. Jonathan, Claire’s little brother, had found the pictures I had taken of the three girls and started telling people about it. The rumors spread like wildfire and my days of taking pictures ended shortly thereafter. That was, until Laura agreed to pose for me, thankfully.
“Hey” I said and gave a subtle wave to the three as they marched past me, but not one of them even acknowledged I existed. I guess that was the best way to put the whole rumor mill to rest, act as if I didn’t know them and the pictures I took didn’t exist. That was fine with me. I was happy to leave that whole thing in the past.
“Bitches,” Dana grumbled low enough that I could hear her but those close by wouldn’t.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“So, who’s going to be your first model now that you are getting your own darkroom and studio?” Adam asked, his mouth half full of pepperoni pizza.
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