Barely: A night with my principal

the door, leaving me lost, shocked, and tryi

me achingly, confusingly,

r

Paul Rudd or Seth Rogen or something, and I'd be... I don't know. Someone quirky and fun? My mask would drop, the music would record-scratch, and one of u

, no perfectly timed music pauses or funny pop song in the background. The

club to give your first ever lap dance, only to find your Principal sit

hank

shut behind me as I stumble over to the disgusting sofa in one corner, slumping down on it and burying my face in my ha

rummy sofa, tears pooling in the corners of my eyes as my gut twists. And for the millionth time since I wa

ks,

r. Some people get an investment in their future-maybe money for college, or a fund set up in their name for way later in life when they want to buy a house or som

four weeks ago, my parents got me a divorce a

irthday

in finance" or "work in politics." But the specifics are vague. That was my dad to me. Frequently gone on business or locked in his office on a

rivals the GDP of some countries. When you don't just have a horse stabled at the country club, you own the stable. When your first car at sixteen wasn't

e warning lights and sirens. Maybe that's why I was blindsides when my father was pulled away from the dinner table

wenty. And now, it all ma

some kind, I guess. Except you don't get hauled away by the FBI fo

ealin

context of charges being levied at your dad, it takes on a whole new

ts, took one of my dad's planes, and flew off to the Mediterranean to one of his yachts moored at Mykonos to start

o. And to where is the great mystery that I, Geraldine's lawyers, his own

thing until he can be found. So, it's not in the news. No one at school knows that my father is behin

et me know that "my father and them" had agreed that the best place for me

got their facts mixed up about my dad

cks, but it's doable. Or, it was doable, until the other shoe dropped. Because you know what hap

udden, you start to realize how meaningless those little

ice was to "keep my head down" until they reached out. A week after that though, I sor

anger. I mean, I was at boarding school, which has a Michelin-chef-run dining hall. So, it's not like I was going to have to sleep on a park bench or go hungry. But, that's

out it wasn't just rich country-club types my dad stole from.

ll! Look who

man in the ill-fitting suit with a cigar hanging out of his lips, eyes me in a way that makes my ski

eak time

hands twisting in my

I j

decided to renege on our deal? You want

e sees the disgust on my

You s

, I wa

as he glares at me. He's got two of his goons with him, lurking over his shou

in, top of the food chain in the T

t he's hiding out God knows where, and now that my mother i

e to me to collect on w

doned me, I've got the mob breathing down my neck, literally, and I just gave my

me,

orenzo hisses, glaring

ren

of the goons barks,

don't know where my dad is, but I

who they're going to make him pay back first? It'll be the IRS, then the other ri

llow.

here are two ways here. You work that debt off shaking that nice l

urns. He's already made it abundantly

you damn well better know by now that walking

wo songs, and

ping at 'almost over' means complaints, and guys getting

d my eyes, and Lorenzo spots it. He

heart? Not used to being talked to like that, huh?

ght up to me. The sour smell of body odor and cheap cigars w

t there. And hey, sweetheart," he smiles a sickly smile. "I get it, really. So how about we go wit

and I almo