Page 114 - NS 2024
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confidently give her two middle fingers. “So be it! That’s another week on toilet duty for you!” This earned a scornful sneer and the lanky teen turned and raised an eyebrow at Tonya.
“I’m sure you’re loving this, Ms. ‘holier than thou.’” She waited a second, though Tonya opted not to grant this a response. “You hags are so lame,” and with that, Charlotte pushed her way past the other Sister and stomped down the stairs. “Have fun scissoring each other!”
Tonya sighed and walked into the office. Min was sitting with a bashful smile creeping at the edges of her features. Sister Maggie was looking at Tonya, clearly exasperated. “Do you have any idea what this insolent little girl and her hotheaded friend were caught doing on break?” Tonya shook her head, though she could project that the answer would not be good. “They were smoking, Sister. They were smoking cigarettes out back near the dumpsters, and it seems that they may have even been selling some to the other children!”
Sister Tonya took a long sigh and sat herself in the chair beside Min. Min’s half-smile wavered ever-slightly, but still held as she avoided Tonya’s gaze. “Are you proud of yourself, Min?” No response, but the smile seemed to fade a bit further. “Do you think your grandmother would want you to fall into the same habit that killed her?”
Min raised her eyes to meet her instructor and woefully inadequate mother-figure. “I don’t know. She’s not here to tell me now, is she?”
The bluntness of the response seemed to slap Tonya across the face, and all she could do was turn and shrug to her superior.
“And what punishment do you see fit, Reverend Mother?”