Chapter 2 Principal Martinez came storming in looking pissed as hell , shooting Rodriguez a death glare that made her drop her hand real quick . He turned to me , trying to keep his voice steady . " Ma'am , let's take this to my office . " Once we got there , he grabbed a couple of water bottles from his mini - fridge . I ignored mine completely . Just spread out all those ripped - up pieces on his desk , putting them back together like some messed - up puzzle . Then I rolled up my daughter's sleeve and showed him those nasty red marks where Rodriguez had dug her nails in . He stared at the test and the scratches for like forever before meeting my eyes . " This is absolutely not okay . Give me seventy - two hours . We're gonna look into every single detail and handle this properly . You have my word - you'll get answers . " I glanced at his face - he looked sick and furious at the same time - then down at my daughter who was practically passed out against me . " Fine , " I said . " Three days . " I burned a few sick days and camped out at home with her . She wasn't crying anymore . Wasn't talking either . Just curled up on the couch , staring at this random spot on the wall like she was in a trance or something . When I tried to feed her , she'd open her mouth when the spoon got close , chew , swallow - but her eyes stayed totally blank the whole time . I was completely obsessed with my phone , checking it like every two seconds for a call that was never gonna come . All my hope was riding on that stupid silent phone . Third day , around 3 PM . Still nothing from the school , but then my work phone rang . " Vanessa , get your ass to the office . Right now . " My manager and the HR lady were both there waiting for me . They shoved this printed email across the conference table . The subject line made me want to puke : " RE : Your Employee Vanessa Martinez - Harassment and Defamation of School 07.27 Mom Dials Fy : Your Daughter Got Expelled for " Annles Times Oranges " -Come Now ! 0.69 % Chapter 2 Staff . " I read the whole damn thing , word by word . They painted me as some psycho mom who barged into their office , screamed at teachers , and basically terrorized the principal . Those scratches on my daughter's arm ? They said I coached her to hurt herself for attention . The kicker was at the end - they " thought the company should know " that having employees with " serious behavioral issues " might hurt their reputation . The paper was getting all crumpled from how hard I was gripping it . " This hit our public complaints inbox , " HR said , totally emotionless . " The whole company got cc'd . We have a zero - tolerance policy for this kind of thing . " I felt like someone had dumped ice water on me . " This is complete bullshit ! They bullied my daughter ... " " Stop ! " My manager held up his hand , looking pissed . " I don't give a crap about your personal problems ! Your drama is making us all look bad . This is so unprofessional ! " I just stared at him , not saying a word . He got all uncomfortable , and HR cleared her throat , sliding another paper my way . " Based on the negative publicity you've brought to the company , we need you to sign this . " I tried to grab it , but my hands were shaking so bad it just slipped right through my fingers and hit the floor . I drove home like a zombie . Found a certified letter from the school stuffed in my mailbox . Tore it open and another paper fell out . Expulsion letter . Reason : [ Student shows emotional instability , worked with parent to make false accusations against staff , and disrupted the learning environment . ] At that moment , my phone buzzed with a group text notification . Ms. Rodriguez had posted this new team photo of her MATHCOUNTS kids , everyone cheesing for the camera . Her caption : " Drama - free zone ! Now we can focus on what really matters - WINNING ! " Come Now ! 0.8 % Chapter 2 All the other parents were kissing her ass in the comments . [ You're amazing , Ms. Rodriguez ! ] [ So glad you handled that situation ! ] [ Our kids are lucky to have you ! ] I started cracking up . So this was their idea of " handling it . " Sitting there with my pink slip and my kid's expulsion notice , staring at that bullshit photo , I laughed until the tears came . Laughed until I was shaking all over and felt like someone was twisting a knife in my gut . Chapter 3