I've worked at a high school for ten years, and I've never met the principal.

I used to think working in a high school environment would be a pretty cool experience. I would be surrounded by young people, I would hear all the gossip, and I’d have more free time than I could shake a stick at. I imagine it’s something like working at a hospital but without all the blood, death, and shitty hours. <br><br>I was right on all counts. And I do like my job. But the reason I got it in the first place was because of my dad. He died when I was 12 and left my mom with stacks of medical bills that we couldn’t pay. When I turned 18, I had to drop out of school and get a job. I graduated with my GED, moving straight into an office job that was pretty low level. I spent most of my time answering phone calls and directing people to the right place. <br><br>The school is actually a big place with about three thousand students. It takes a while to get around to all the buildings, and apparently a lot of parents get lost or confused when they come in to pick their kids up for appointments or to drop off their lunch (which I think is a bit strange, I would have loved it if my parents had done that for me when I was a kid). But I suspect the parents who did that had the money to send their kids to a preparatory school, not whatever this shit hole was. <br><br>When I turned 27, my mom got diagnosed with cancer. It was pretty bad and she needed a lot of Chemotherapy. At the time, my brother was about to get married, and was saving for the wedding, so I took it upon myself to pay for all of mom’s treatment. I sold my car, which meant I had to get a job that was close to home. When I saw the advert for the school, I jumped on it. It paid minimum wage, but the hours were regular and the building was only a few blocks away from where I lived. <br><br>Things were pretty tight for a while. But after mom got better and my brother married and moved out, I realized I kind of liked the job. The staff were all super friendly and the kids cause a bit of trouble now and then, but no one was downright nasty. I had ample time to do my work, and I was even able to get my bachelors degree in business management while working there. <br><br>But there was one weird thing about the whole experience. I never met the principal. <br><br>It sounds odd. I know that. But hear me out. The principal has his own office, which is padlocked. It’s in the same building as my desk which is in the front hall, in the reception area. The principal’s office has an exit to the outside, and one to a long, empty corridor that goes right across the building. Nobody uses that corridor except for the custodians, and even then, only to clean the office. <br><br>I was curious at first, and when I asked one of the security guards about the principal, he said that we don’t really have a principal anymore. I didn’t think that made much sense, but I had other things on my mind at the time. When mom got sick, I stopped worrying about it all and just focused on my job. I did my work to the best standard that I could, and if I was lucky, I got to go home and take care of mom. <br><br>Sometimes things would come up that required someone to talk to the principal. New staff arriving, parents complaining, or money going missing. I’d just have to write a note on a pamphlet and slide it into the principal’s office door. Sometimes the note would be replied to, but I’m pretty sure it was just the vice principal writing. The vice principal was a really nice woman, and I think she was probably covering for the principal in a lot of ways. <br><br>They say the principal is a man, by the way. His name is supposed to be Mr. Hemmings, and he’s a smart, kind person who takes the safety of the kids seriously. They say he was a biology teacher years ago, who worked his way up to principal. But I’m not sure I believe any of that. <br><br>It was ten years before I finally saw Mr. Hemmings. <br><br>I don’t know why, but I had the feeling that I would be working at the school for the rest of my life. I don’t mean that in a “this is the only job I can get” way, I just can’t see myself going anywhere else. I know everyone there, everyone knows me. I could probably work there forever if I wanted to. <br><br>I had been at home during the summer vacation, and I came back to start the new year on the Monday before the kids were due to come back. I was busy setting up my desk area, unpacking some boxes that had been closed since June, when I noticed that the principal’s office door was open. <br><br>I’m not sure why I did it, but I stepped inside. <br><br>The office was bare, with no furniture other than a desk and chair in the center of the room. I felt a weird feeling of unease, but I wasn’t scared. <br><br>I walked over to the desk, and looked down. There was a photograph. <br><br>I recognised the uniform in the picture. It was the uniform for my old high school. I picked it up, looking at it more closely. <br><br>My dad was in the picture. He was sitting in the front, smiling at the camera. I recognised some of the other kids too. I went to middle school with them. <br><br>On the back of the photograph is a note. “The kids are waiting for you”. <br><br>I felt a chill run down my spine. How did this get here? <br><br>I stared at the photo for what felt like a long time. I could have been there for minutes or hours. I don’t know. <br><br>But eventually, I heard a noise. I looked up. <br><br>There was a wall where the door had been. <br><br>I was trapped in the office.