This girl kept being sent home early from school, and the mother didn’t understand why. The final straw was when her daughter arrived home early for the 12th time, and the mother decided to act. However, her actions would lead to discovering who the principal was, leaving her speechless and with more questions.
Diana was working at home like usual when she looked out her window. Inside, on the sidewalk before her house, stood her daughter, Sophia. Diana stood up from her desk and walked to the front door to welcome her daughter home.
“What are you doing home so early?” But her question was answered when Sophia handed her a note, and her initial thoughts were confirmed. Her daughter had been sent home, and it wasn’t the first time. This was now the 12th time it happened. Her daughter would arrive home early with a note written by Principal DF. At first, the reasons seemed believable. Sophia wasn’t feeling well or the teacher got sick. But after a while, they changed, and now they were getting out of hand.
As Diana read the latest note, “Did she really bully someone?” It was hard for Diana to believe. So she confronted her daughter, “Darling, did you bully someone at school?” She asked, but Sophia’s response caught her off guard. The young girl looked at her mother and shook her head, “No, Mommy, I didn’t,” she said with a small voice.
A deep frown appeared on Diana’s face. However, one thing was clear, something weird was going on at school. The reasons became increasingly unbelievable, and the fact that Sophia now contradicted the latest note she had been given was the final straw for Diana. She needed to confront a superior, and not just any superior, no, she was going to contact the principal directly, as he was the one who had written the notes that Sophia had brought home.
Diana walked back to her desk and navigated to the school’s website on her computer. But when she opened the contact page, “No, that can’t be,” Diana mumbled to herself as she moved closer to the screen. Derek Foster was listed as the principal on the school’s website. Principal DF is Mr. Foster, she muttered, disbelief drenching her voice.
Her daughter’s principal was her former biology teacher and favorite teacher. Her memory started racing. Diana loved having Mr. Foster as a teacher, and she liked to think they had a strong bond since he was always so nice to her. It greatly confused her that someone she liked was sending her daughter home so frequently. This sudden and unexpected revelation made Diana even more eager to know exactly what was happening. Was she mistaken about Mr. Foster, or was there something else going on?
Without hesitation, they arrived just before school was over. “Come, hurry, sweetie,” she said as she grabbed Sophia’s hand. She didn’t wait to be invited in and immediately walked in after.
“Why do you keep sending Sophia home, Mr. Foster?” She demanded. The principal hesitated for a moment but then found his voice. “Diana…” Diana was persistent and told him she didn’t have time for his games. She explained how she felt betrayed and thought they had a real connection, eventually repeating her question. Mr. Foster’s expression changed, and he said he never wanted to harm her trust. “So why did you have to send Sophia home?” Explained Diana, waiting for him to elaborate, but no explanation followed.
“He came here for answers, but it seemed like the principal didn’t want to give her any. ‘But why?’ Diana asked desperately, explaining the multiple notes with different reasons she got. ‘Yeah, I find some of them hard to believe,’ she said. Mr. Foster let out a big sigh. ‘Was it about Sophia?’ The thought brought her back for a moment, and she looked around the room. Something was missing, and as she was looking around, Mr. Foster watched her. ‘Wasn’t Sophia with you?’ He asked.
The sudden sound startled Diana, but what frightened her a little was the tone of his voice. Diana nodded in response to his question. ‘She’s probably playing with some friends,’ she added. It was the least of her worries. She wanted to know why he sent Sophia home so regularly, but then Mr. Foster suddenly started pacing around the room and mumbled something to himself, which Jo Diana watched him with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. ‘What was he doing?’ She thought. ‘We have to find Sophia!’ He exclaimed quickly and without giving Diana any time to ask him what had gotten into him and made for the door and left the room.
Diana left the principal’s office and looked around. There was no sign of Mr. Foster. She asked one of the teachers and got pointed in the right direction. Mr. Foster was opening every classroom and looked around frantically for any sign of Sophia. ‘We have to find Sophia fast!’ He just repeated. Then the principal suddenly froze. He was looking through the main entrance into the school square. Diana’s heart leaped as she saw Sophia, but she wasn’t alone.
There was a man before her. At first, all the worries and concerning thoughts left Diana’s body. She could see her daughter was safe and still on the school grounds. But then her attention moved toward the man. ‘Why was Sophia talking to a stranger? That can’t be,’ she suddenly exclaimed. She needed to get her daughter away from there, away from that man, because Sophia was talking to her father and Diana’s ex, Ethan. He was a horrible person and an even more terrible father and husband.
“Sophia, get away, darling! I want to see my daughter,” he said in a direct tone. She urged Sophia toward the school and turned toward her ex-husband. He looked at her with a sympathetic expression and asked Diana and Sophia to follow him to his office. Once there, Diana couldn’t hold it any longer and broke down. The sudden appearance of her ex pushed her over the edge, and it was hard for her to process the situation. She peeked through the blinds and started sobbing as she saw Ethan still standing outside.
The principal offered her some water and helped her calm down. Once Diana felt somewhat better, she started to explain. “My Roni told Mr. Foster that Ethan was a dangerous man and couldn’t be let near Sophia. His appearance is a problem,” she said. But Diana wasn’t ready for the principal’s response. “I know,” Mr. Foster said with a sigh. Diana didn’t expect this answer and was taken aback. What did he mean? What did he know? And more importantly, how did he know?
The principal knew Ethan and Diana had been a couple since leaving school. He knew this from the time he used to teach them both. Shortly after starting his work as principal at Sophia’s school, he heard parents talk about Di’s. Mr. Foster had always liked Diana as a student and felt terrible for how her relationship with Ethan turned out. But to the principal’s surprise, Ethan suddenly showed up at the school. He had heard Ethan was mixed up in bad things, so the principal couldn’t just sit idly by. Diana was listening breathlessly
. The principal kept a close eye on Sophia ever since he saw Ethan for the first time. “First time? Did he come back?” Diana asked with a trembling voice. What did she miss? The principal nodded. “He came by frequently, and every time I saw him, I would send Sophia home early,” he said. Her ex-husband was visiting her daughter’s school, and she was walking home alone. He gave Sophia the notes but didn’t explain why she was being sent home. The young girl seemed satisfied to go home early and didn’t ask much. The principal kept her in the dark so she couldn’t tell Di what was going on.
“But I realized I made a grave mistake,” he sighed. “I should have contacted you immediately. I was way out of line,” Mr. Foster started his apology. He was silent for a moment as he tried to think of what to say. But before he could open his mouth again, Diana interrupted him. She knew he meant well, and he actually protected her child. “I can’t thank you enough,” she said as she wiped away her final tears. Then she realized there was one thing. Because Ethan violated his parole, Diana was opened up to many possibilities. She asked for a restraining order, and the police would look into that. In the meantime, while Ethan was still free to go wherever he pleased, Mr. Foster would bring Sophia home safely.
After a while, the police contacted Diana again. They told her they had built a case to get a restraining order. To strengthen the case, Diana asked Mr. Foster to be a witness. The principal accepted her request without hesitation, and partly due to his statement, the restraining order was given.
They could live a stress-free life, and Sophia could enjoy going to school for full days again. Everything was looking up. “I can’t thank you enough,” she said to Mr. Foster, but the principal was just happy that everything turned out all right. After that, the two of them stayed in touch and saw how Sophia flourished in school now that she didn’t have to go home early.
