The Rancher's Only Daughter

“Naomi, Naomi, Naomi,” the principal shook his head, tapping his pen against the papers on his desk.

            Naomi shrugged in response, letting her eyes wander around the walls of the principal’s small office.

            “Why did you have to go and do this?” The principal stood up and sat on the corner of his desk, his eyes narrowed in a stern glance. “You are usually a good kid.”

            “He tried to kiss me,” she protested, her eyes snapping to him.
            “Mhm.”

            “That’s sexual assault. Besides, his parents should have smacked that butthead up a little bit so I wouldn’t have had to fill in for them. I was just making up for all the years they didn’t do their job.”

            “It’s not your job to discipline Ralph,” the principal admonished.

            “And what kind of name is Ralph anyway?” Naomi’s face betrayed just how ridiculous and outdated she believed the name to be.

            The principal sighed in exasperation, “We are not here to discuss his name, Naomi.”

            “Well, it’s his fault,” Naomi retorted, then internally scolded herself for getting short with the principal.

            “Naomi, what do I do with you?” The slump of his shoulder’s clearly displayed the principal’s dismay.

            “Say ‘good job’ and give me a gold star,” Naomi mumbled, slouching in her chair.

            He laughed good-humoredly and stood up from the corner of his desk. “I don’t think Ralph would appreciate that very much.”

Naomi just shrugged in response and the principal chuckled at her once more. “So what do you propose I do then as a form of punishment, since I doubt a gold star would be a very good idea?”

            “Why do you find it necessary to punish me? I was just protecting my virtue,” Naomi’s annoyance was clear in her voice.

            “Well, if I just let you go around punching men cause they asked you out, other people will think it is acceptable to just smack people around.”

            “He’s a boy, not a man. I didn’t punch a man.”

            “Oh?” The principal raised his eyebrow.

            “Yes.”

            The principal pursed his lips for a moment, “Well, I’ve already given him punishment.”

            “Oh?” Naomi said, sitting up straighter, she opened her mouth to say more but the principal didn’t let her finish.

            “Yes,” the principal put up his hand at Naomi, motioning to her to cease in her train of thought. He cleared his throat after a moment, and continued, “And as for you…”

~~~

“Naomi!” A girl’s voice flung across the air before the speaker shortly embraced Naomi in a tight bear hug.

“Marie!” Naomi smiled, hugging her best friend back.

“So, what are they going to do to you?” Marie’s amber eyes were sincerely curious.

“Slap my wrist and send me home for a day’s suspension,” Naomi grumbled.

“Uh-oh,” Marie said, her gentle, endearing face clearly displayed her worry in deeply creased worry lines that spanned the width of her forehead.

“Tell me about it,” Naomi muttered.

“What’s your dad going to say?”

“I have no idea. It all depends on his reaction to the story. It’s Thursday though, so you know, it will just sort of just be like a three-day weekend,” Naomi shrugged in dismissal as she mentioned the silver lining to the dark cloud upon her day.
            “Well, good thing it’s so close to the end of the school year so you don’t have so much homework to worry about,” Marie joined in the optimism without hesitation, she was always looking on the bright side. Naomi’s short, spritely best friend always had a way of brightening her mood.

“Yup,” Naomi said, pulling her backpack onto her shoulder.

“What about Ralph?” Marie questioned hesitantly.

“What about him?” Naomi asked, unaware as to why Marie would have the slightest inkling of concern for the wellbeing of such a despicable character.

“Well, is he going to go tell his friends or something?”

“Yeah, and what’s he going to say, ‘I got beat up by a girl’? Get real.” Naomi chuckled.

“Good point,” Marie giggled and then moved to stand by Naomi’s side as Naomi began walking, and the two of them headed toward the high school parking lot.

~Grace Marshall

From my novel, "The Rancher's Only Daughter"