Arianna Rose: The Gathering (Part 3) by Jennifer Martucci, Christopher Martucci Page B

don’t think I should say,” she said warily.
    “Ah , go for it.  What’s wrong with a little honesty?”
    “Huh, you want the list?”
    “Nah, just an answer.”
    “ Okay then, here goes.  In my experience, which is a lot, by the way, all principals are the same.”
    “Really?”
    “Really.”
    “How so?”
    “Let’s see, where do I begin?  Bad breath, bad suits, bad listeners, and don’t let me forget that they’re all pompous, power-tripping windbags.”
    “Is that all?”
    “That pretty much covers it,” Arianna said and shrugged.
    The man laughed.
    “What?  You know I’m right.  You just don’t want to agree with me because he might hear you.”
    “ Who?”
    “You know, Principal Keller. ”
    The man shook his head and said, “Come on, Arianna, let me take you back to the office.”
    She followed him down a short hallway and into a large office.  “Have a seat,” he told her then sat behind a large cherry wood desk.  He leaned back in the leather chair and put his feet on the corner of the desk. 
    Arianna began to panic and wondered whether she’d started off yet another first day of school on the wrong foot, perhaps the worst one to date.  Everything clicked and her heart dropped to her feet.
    “ You’re Principal Keller?” she asked.
    “Bingo!” he replied and laughed.
    She felt her jaw unhinge and knew she must look like an idiot.  She did not know what to do or say.  Surely words existed in the English language to apologize with, convincing words.  Unfortunately, all of them were escaping her. 
    “Oh my God!  I’m so sorry, you know, about the stuff I said earlier.  I jus t, well, it’s just that,” she fumbled.
    “No need to apologize.  Most of my colleagues do wear bad suits, have bad breath, and, what was the rest?  Oh yes, they’re bad listeners, as well as pompous, power-tripping windbags.  Did I forget anything?”
    “Nope, I think you got everything,” she replied and shrank into her seat.
    Despite being the most powerful witch on the planet, or so she’d been told, and possessing the ability to incinerate any man she pleased including the one before her, she still felt a nervous drop of sweat trickle between her shoulder blades in her principal’s office. 
    “Very well then, let me properly introduce myself.  I am Josh Keller, principal of this fine school,” he said and smiled.  He sat up and removed his feet from the corner of his desk.  He picked up a manila file and scanned it quickly.  “You are Arianna Rose.”
    “Yep, Arianna Rose with a big old foot in her mouth at the moment.  That’s me,” she said and felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
    “Please don’t sweat what happened.  How could you have known?  I mean, I’m not even wearing a suit , least of all the telltale ugly suit of a principal.”
    “Huh, true,” Arianna commented.  “If I may ask, why aren’t you wearing a suit?”
    “Truthfully, I hate them.  Really, truly hate them.”
    He didn’t like suits?  Impossible!  She thought all principals adored their awful suits, that they were their uniforms of sorts.  She wondered whether she’d entered an alternate, Twilight Zone-y dimension.  Never before had an adult in a position of authority been so honest with her.  Principal Keller was unlike any other she’d ever met.  Another principal would have made her squirm mercilessly before offering up a severe punishment for her comments earlier.  Keller didn’t even seem offended, much less like he would seek future retribution.  If she weren’t in some alternate dimension, then perhaps this new school had potential, after all. 
    “So I see here you’re transferring from Herald Falls after less than two months there.  What was your experience like there?  Were there problems you’d like to discuss?”
    Arianna wasn’t sure how to handle his question.  She’d prepared to tell a lie, but somehow lying to Keller felt wrong. 
    “My mom died,”