Important Choices

“Why are we whispering, Jody?”

“We’re breaking into the principal’s office at 10pm. It’s pitch black and we’re trying to steal answers for the mid-term from the principal’s office! That’s why.”

“There’s no one to hear us. The security guard won’t make another round for 15 minutes. Relax, you’re being freaky.”

“I’m not being freaky, Mark. Let’s just do this and get out of here before we get caught.”


“We’re NOT going to get caught. How many times do I have to tell you? I’ve done this before and it’s no big deal. Just relax!”

“Shhhhhhh!”

I put my finger up and glared at Mark although I wasn’t surprised by his blithe demeanor; Mark has a reputation for being a hotshot and letting his mouth get him into trouble. How much more can be expected from a senior football jock?

“Fine,” he said. In the dim light, I almost missed seeing his eyes roll.
I still can’t believe that I’m doing this. A straight ‘A’ student, captain of the cheerleading squad and possible valedictorian, I had no place in this scheme, but I wanted desperately to be part of the senior cheerleading squad next year. The only problem was that there were two junior cheerleaders and one senior spot open. In order to get in, one of us would have to out-do the other. One girl suggested that we could write all the answers to the mid-term on a note and pass it around. Another senior cheerleader suggested that I steal the answers. I reluctantly agreed with her, but with all of them staring at me, what was I supposed to do?

“C’mon,” I said, hissing through my teeth, “let’s go.”

We crept along the outside of the principal’s office, keeping as low as possible. It was very cold outside and our breath was making white clouds around us. The hard, cold dirt was working its way through the thin soles of my shoes and my toes were beginning to go numb.

“I’d give anything to numb my nerves right now,” I said softly.

When we were finally under the window to the office, he pointed to the windowsill mimicking an “open the window” sign with his two hands.

“Do your magic, open the window,” I whispered.

“Watch and learn,” he said aloud. I shook my head slowly.

Mark grabbed a pocketknife from his jacket and jammed it in between the windowpanes. He slowly worked the blade back and forth until there was a large click. He looked down at me and winked; I looked around to see if anybody heard the noise; it was loud enough to wake the neighbors three blocks down. The other only sound in the darkness was the pounding of my heart.

Mark took a quick look inside the dark window, grabbed the sill with both hands and jumped into the room. I held my breath expecting an alarm to go off, thankful that none did. A few seconds later, he reached out of the window and tapped me on the head.

“The coast is clear; we have the whole place to ourselves,” his subtle overtones more than obvious.

I carefully made my way through the window, being careful not to touch anything that would keep my fingerprint alive and well until the police arrived.
Inside, I fumbled around in my pocket for a small flashlight, turned it on and gave it to Mark. “Where are the tests? Are they in a file cabinet somewhere?”

“Nope. They’re in the principal’s desk. Locked up.” He flashed me another one of those football jock grins. He was enjoying this way too much.

Mark walked over to a large desk in the corner, put the flashlight in his mouth and began to play with the lock. Almost to the point of shivering, I wrapped my arms around my shoulders and reminded myself that by next week I would be welcomed into the senior cheerleading squad with open arms.

I heard a small snap outside the window and turned around just in time to see a large shadow bobbing its way toward the window.

“Oh my god, the security guard, he’s coming!” I squealed running to Mark and grabbing his jacket. “We have to get out of here, now!”

Before I could stop him, Mark dropped the flashlight, pushed me out of the way and jumped out the window. I heard him curse as he hit the hard dirt and listened as his footsteps raced away.

I looked down and quickly found the flashlight that had rolled under the desk and turned it off. Quickly making my way to the window, I looked out to see where I thought the security guard would be. I didn’t see him and assumed that he heard Mark’s running footsteps and chased after him.

I lowered myself through the window and onto the ground all the while thinking how disappointed the cheerleaders would be and how upset it was going to be watching the other girl cheer with the senior squad while I was destined to be stuck on the bleachers, on the side-lines, a nobody.

I slowly closed the window, turned around and came face-to-face with a very large and very angry security guard. In one hand he held a bright flashlight and in the other a very scared football jock.

I hung my head, completely convinced that my life was over.



The security guard moved us inside the principal’s office and sat us down on the two chairs in front of the desk followed a few moments later by the principal. Grabbing my head with my hands, I suddenly remembered that there was a teachers meeting tonight in the school’s library

“Mark, Jody,” the principal said, sitting down at her desk. “What are you doing here?”

Just as I was about to open my mouth, Mark started blathering some lie about losing his watch while he was in here a couple days ago. He gave the principal one of his patented looks of helplessness, followed by a quick shrug of his shoulders. She obviously was impervious to his charm.

Looking down at the broken lock on her desk, she breathed a sigh and turned to plant a look of disappointment on me.

“Why would you do something like this, Mary? Why would you risk your future?

I looked at the principal and immediately felt tears well up in my eyes.

“I don’t know why I did it. I knew I was being stupid and careless, but I let them talk me into it anyway.”

It was at that point that I told the principal the whole story behind our break-in, barely pausing to breathe. When I was finished, I had tear streaks down my face and was completely exhausted from emotion. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mark looking at me like an angry cobra, just waiting for the chance to strike me down.



“Mark, we will talk about this in morning with your family,” the principal uttered. “You are suspended for three days and you need to pray that you won’t have to repeat your senior year. Wait for me outside and I’ll have the security guard call your parents.”

When they had left the office, the principal turned quietly and her features softened.

“Listen, Jody, I’ve been in your shoes. When I was in high school, I had to deal with a lot of peer pressure. I had friends that tried to talk me into doing dumb things too. And I have to be honest with you, I did do some of them. That’s part of growing up.”

She rounded the desk and sat next to me. “But that doesn’t make them right and it certainly doesn’t make them worth it. I know how hard you are trying to fit in and make everyone proud of you, but this is the wrong way to do it. You have a very bright future ahead of you and if you wreck it by giving into peer pressure, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

She handed me a tissue from the top of her desk and I used it to wipe my face.

“I know that I did was wrong, but a part of me didn’t listen. A small part of me needed to be accepted. I can kick myself now for being so stupid.” I had the courage to look into the principal’s face.

“I truly am sorry and I promise that it won’t happen again.”

The principal stood up and went back to her chair. “I know that you’re sorry but you do understand that what you did was wrong. I can’t let this go unpunished, but if you make it up to me, I promise that I won’t put it into your record.”


“I promise to do anything that you want.”

“Yes you will,” the principal said.

The next morning at school wasn’t as bad as I thought. Some of the students looked at me funny and the cheerleaders were more than a little upset that their meet was cancelled because of the prank.

The rest of the school year came and went, I enjoyed my summer and I finished my senior year of high school, without cheerleading, without pranks and I made valedictorian of my class. I look back and I’m thankful that we were caught and that I didn’t have to cheat to make myself look good. Peer pressure is a hard nut to crack but a little persistence, hard work and making good choices are the real keys to making it through high school.