“I have another question for you,” Lara said in a rush. “Caroline and Benny and Noah . . . do you think they can forgive me?”
Aviva looked straight ahead. “I am not Caroline or Benny or Noah,” she pointed out. “I can’t really say what they think or feel.”
It was just the sort of logical response she ought to have expected from Aviva. Lara sighed. She did not ask her cousin any more questions.
Yet as she went about her morning, the question continued to nag her. After much consideration, Lara only knew one thing for sure. If she were in Caroline’s or Benny’s or Noah’s place, she wouldn’t forgive her.
* * *
Principal Jenkins peered at Caroline from behind her dark-framed glasses. Not a single muscle in her face twitched. Still, Caroline felt quite safe in her assumption that the usually unflappable principal was, in fact, flapped.
Ima could sense it too. “I understand that this was a major mistake on Caroline’s part,” she said. “She will, of course, accept any punishment that you think is appropriate.”
Caroline tapped the “yes” button on her tablet for extra effect. She hadn’t gotten much of a chance to talk thanks to Ima’s long explanation of what had happened, but hopefully she managed to seem properly sorry.
The principal twirled a fancy pen in her hand and looked straight at Caroline. She willed herself not to run screaming from the room, however appealing such a move felt in this particular moment.
“The other day, when I called you into my office, were you lying to me?” the principal asked.
Caroline chewed on the insides of her lip with vigor as she tapped the “yes” button once more. Both Ima and Dad winced visibly.
“I must say that is surprising,” the principal said. “And disappointing, of course. Although I certainly understand wanting to help a friend.”
Never before had Caroline seen Principal Jenkins so out of sorts. She would have been sorry for her, if she were not so distracted. It felt as though her insides were made of dry clay that might crumble at any moment.
Ima nudged her, and Caroline quickly tapped another button. This morning, she had programmed her app with several remorseful statements about the fake rat incident. At least she hoped that they seemed remorseful.
“It was my idea to play the trick on Marissa, not Micah’s. I am very sorry for all of the harm I have caused.”
Maybe it was silly. But Caroline wanted the principal to understand that it really had been her idea. Not Micah’s. Hers.
“Yes. However, I cannot help but wonder. Caroline, would you say that Micah participated in the prank?”
Caroline hesitated. Of course Micah had participated in the rat prank. (And the other one, although Caroline had very carefully avoided discussing it.) Yet she sensed that Principal Jenkins was asking something quite different.
She squinted at the screen. Right now, all of the words and letters felt inadequate for the task of explaining, well, everything. In fact, Caroline was not sure she could explain any of it.
Tapping her fingers against the edges of the tablet, Caroline reminded herself to breathe. Then she typed.
“I did it,” she repeated. “I painted one of our cat’s toys to look like a dead rat. I put it in Marissa’s lunch box during art class.”
And there it was—a slight twitch on Principal Jenkins’s face. Caroline could not begin to guess its meaning.
“Well, if that’s your story, then there need to be consequences,” the principal said after a too-long pause. “You will serve detention every day for a week. And, of course, you need to apologize to Marissa. It’s acceptable to give her a written apology, given . . . everything.”
Caroline tapped the “okay” button, but her thoughts certainly were not okay. One week of detention! It sure felt like a lot. But—and this was an important but—was it enough? Would a normal kid have gotten two weeks of detention? Possibly even a suspension? Caroline didn’t know, and she didn’t dare ask.
“Thanks for your generosity, Principal,” Ima said. Dad nodded his agreement.
After Ima nudged her, Caroline began typing once more. “Yes. Thank you. I will not do anything like this again.”
The principal smiled tightly. “I’m sure the next time you’re in my office, it will be under much better circumstances.”
As soon as Caroline left the office, Dad and Ima still glued to her sides, she began flapping her hands at maximum speed, letting out all of the emotions she’d been holding back in front of the principal. She supposed her confession had gone about as well as she could have hoped. But there were still so many uncertainties, especially the not-so-small matter of Micah’s reaction. Had she just lost her only friend?
Caroline would have liked to talk all about it with Lara. But that was the one thing she absolutely could not do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: THE MANY REGRETS OF CAROLINE FINKEL
Caroline spilled it all out the moment she saw Micah in art class. After she finished her explanation of everything that had happened, she stared at the tablet screen. Looking anywhere in the vicinity of Micah’s face was entirely too much.
She could only hope he wouldn’t hate her now.
He didn’t respond right away, and Caroline could feel her heartbeat quicken. Then, he let out a most unexpected sound. A soft chuckle. “Wow, your sister is kind of the worst,” he said.
After the events of the past day, defending Lara was just about last on Caroline’s list of things she wanted to do. Still . . . this was Lara. Micah shouldn’t be able to talk about her that way. She clutched her tablet tightly.
“She’s not so bad.” After she hit the “speak” button, Caroline realized that this defense might not be very convincing to Micah. She started typing again. “Well, she’s usually not bad.”
“You’re such a nice person,” Micah said. “If one of my brothers
