The Fire and the Veil (Veronica Barry Book 2) by Sophia Martin Page B

“Lola expresses a great deal of aggression for a girl her age.” “Called Miss Parkins, classroom aide, ‘Fatty stupid bitch.’ Behavior unacceptable.” Fifth grade: “Refused to dress for PE. Defiant.” “Called seat partner a ‘s—t-eating f—-er.’” “Shouted obscenities when asked to sit in the corner.” Sixth grade: “Hit peer with ruler. Denied it when confronted, but I saw it happen.” “Got in fist fight in the hall with two other girls. See related referrals.” “Defiant, refused to work. Called me a ‘f—-ing b——.’” In seventh and eighth grade, more of the same. Freshman year: “Implied inappropriate things about Mr. Cruz, PE teacher.”
    Veronica frowned. She shuffled the pages and sure enough, she found several more documents about that incident. It started a series of problems that led to Lola being expelled—which coincided with the second move to Concord. One copy of a letter home said, “Lola accused Mr. Cruz of inappropriate actions in the boys’ locker room. We take accusations of this nature very seriously. Considering the potential damage to a teacher’s reputation and career, when such an accusation is false, we have no choice but to severely punish the student…” It went on to detail a five day suspension for Lola and the terms she must abide by when she returned to school. “There will be zero tolerance for defiance and hostility towards teachers. Lola must use appropriate language at all times. Further disruptions of this nature will result in expulsion.”
    And it had. She’d gotten in a fight, and to cap it off, they found controlled substances in her locker.
    Well, this certainly painted a picture of Lola’s school career, but it didn’t give Veronica any indication that she was suicidal. No disturbing drawings, no copies of referrals to the school psychologist—although the fact that she took Ritalin indicated she’d seen a doctor, or doctors, who diagnosed her with ADD or ADHD. Veronica didn’t like the idea of Ritalin. She’d seen several students who used Ritalin as children develop drug problems as teenagers.
    Veronica sighed. There was more to the file. She flipped through quickly. Nothing helped Veronica with her present dilemma. Lola certainly had problems but if suicidal inclinations were among them, no record of that existed here.
    Veronica chewed on her bottom lip. She wished she knew what happened. Things seemed to have taken a turn for the worse around fourth grade. The first move to Sacramento occurred at about that time. What happened when they moved here?
    Maybe nothing specific. Plenty of the kids had a rough time at home. Add being uprooted three times, changing schools, the lost friends and the difficulties making new friends, the gaps in learning that would lead to more frustration as she tried to adapt to new classrooms… That could be enough, Veronica mused, to make any happy kid into a hostile one.
    She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. 3:20. She had to get back to her classroom, tidy up, and head to Penny Coffee. If she missed the 3:30 bus she’d be late meeting Khalilah.
    Veronica straightened the stack of papers and made sure everything was back in the right file folder. She shut the drawer and locked the file closet behind her as she left. Cumulative files were confidential. She’d catch real hell from Candleman and the rest of the administrators if she forgot to lock the closet.
    Back in her classroom, Veronica made a quick attempt at cleaning up her desk, but without any real success. She glanced around the room and trotted between the rows of tables, picking up pencils, wadded paper, candy wrappers, and other odds and ends. The pencils she put in a cup on her desk. The rest she threw away.
    The clock showed that she was cutting it close. She stuffed a file of papers to grade in her bag, made sure she had her keys and her phone, and bolted from the room.
    ~~~
    Khalilah was already there, sitting a small table far