September 22

1:00 P.M.

The boy walked slowly down the empty hallway, his gaze shifting from the linoleum flooring to the drab white walls. The only sound that broke the overwhelming silence were his footsteps, resonating through the empty space like a drum beat. He tucked his white uniform shirt into the khaki pants and carefully adjusted his navy tie.

Reaching the end of the hallway, he turned left and walked towards the doors of the main office. Entering silently, he gave his name to the secretary and opened the door to the principal's office, as he had done countless times in the past.

With hardly a greeting, the boy spoke, "What have I done now?"

The principal, startled by the intrusion, jumped in his chair. "How many times have I asked you to knock before entering?"

The boy rolled his eyes and decided to contain the sarcastic response that was attempting to escape his mouth. After all, he did not want to worsen the punishment the principal was about to dole out.

The principal continued, "So, Mrs. Andrews, the freshman English teacher, told me that you placed an enormous clown statue in the doorway to terrify the freshmen as they walked into class. She said that two girls fainted and now, many of the students are terrified to come to her class."

The boy nodded silently, a hint of a smile forming on his lips as he recalled the prank.

"Mr. Gold, this is the twentieth time you have visited my office in the past month. The board has asked for your expulsion."

The boy cringed but remained silent. He knew he was somewhat rebellious, but never thought that the school would consider expelling him; his family's donations practically paid the salaries of the board. His mother would be livid, that is, if she wasn't busy vacationing in the Bahamas or Paris.

"But I have a way out for you. I need you to participate in our Anonymous Therapist program. We are short by a few students."

The boy's face relaxed, obviously elated that he was not going to be expelled. "You think that I need therapy?"

"Not exactly. I want you to be a therapist. There are some students at this school who have problems, who just need someone to talk to. You will be that person. You will call your assigned student everyday and just talk to her."

The principal passed him a paper with ten digits written in a messy scrawl. "Sounds boring. But easy," the boy spoke.

"But there's a catch. The two of you must keep your identities a secret from each other." The principal paused, noticing the boy's puzzled expression. "And Devon Gold, if I find out that you have refused to fulfill your obligations, you will be expelled."

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE*****

Dedicated to HSH_DeathStar, whom I admire so much.