91 | Sucked in

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Thank you @amone.de.beer_ for this cozy poster!

Have you voted?  Here's a virtual fist bump if you did :)  And now, let's get... sucked in...

Chapter 91: Sucked in

There were so many ways this could go down and none of them were good.

It was a bad situation to begin with. The threat of being expelled was hanging over all our heads... and that was before my mom appeared with her new boyfriend.

Before Luke's parents came in with daggers for eyes.

And before Roland Chadwick Senior walked through the door.

No, Roland Chadwick Senior didn't walk. He confidently strolled in wearing a sleek navy suit, white pocket square and silver cufflinks to match his watch. His assistant hurried after him, juggling a briefcase in one hand and phones in the other.

My head rotated away from Roland Chadwick... to Austin Taylor... and then to Cearra Akil...

Oh.

Holy jumping father of a weasel in a fancy side-car with chocolate spread and a ho-

"Principal Lee will see you in her office now," the receptionist announced.

Why did she make it sound like we were in 50 Shades? I wonder if she reads the-

"Ow!" I complained as my mom tugged my earlobe.

"Why has the school called me here?! What have you done?!" she hissed in my ear, before letting go when noticing Cearra's mom glance worriedly over at us.

Nothing about this situation was relaxing. Except for the gentle typing sounds the school receptionist was making on her computer. She seemed so calm over there.

The two Chads led the way to the Principal's and Austin veered off after them with his backpack raised over his face.

What was he doing?

I rubbed my pained ear and watched Luke's family as they walked past. We kept our distance from them, and I'm sure they were delighted to do the same.

Luke looked back.

"Uh," I glanced at my mom's boyfriend who was following us, "Is he coming?" I whispered to my mom.

I don't even know his name.

"Why else do you think Doz is here?" she snapped at me, "It's like you only have two brain cells banging about in there."

OK, now I know his name.

I looked over at Doz and he looked back at me. No comment. So I walked towards the principal's office. Maybe my last trip as a non-expelled student in this high school.

Maybe I should start thinking about what my tombstone would say.

**

The Principal's office had a bunch of plaques on her wall with quotes about discipline and creativity and progress... like a tamer version of a meme page.

I almost tripped over my own feet as I stared at the walls. I've never been in here before. There were several chairs which were already taken by the time I sheepishly walked in.

I knew this situation was already bad, I couldn't bear to think what our parents would do to make it worse. The door opened behind me and I stepped out of the Principal's way.

Principal Lee walked into her office and shut the door behind her, "Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to come here today."

Well, it wasn't really a choice.

"As you know, bullying can lead to expulsion for the perpetrator and we take these allegations seriously."

She locked the door.

I caught Luke's eye. He gave me a look, his perfect lips curled into a smirk.

He's a breath away from detention and this boy still manages to make the room hot.

The Principal walked past Luke who glanced down, hiding the smirk on his lips. I live for the small moments. I wanted to ruffle his hair and pull him out of his chair. Seeing Luke so relaxed made me feel like he had this all under control.

Which is difficult to imagine, since it's Luke who led us all here in the first place.

We're like mice to the pied piper. All of us fools followed Luke to detention. Or worse - expulsion.

Unlike some other people in this room, I don't have parents who would help me apply to another school. I don't have money to apply to all the colleges I want to go to. And I can't rely on my looks or my 'athletic' skills to get out of these situations...

I felt my emotions spin from being so attracted to him in one second to getting angry at him in the next. I'm a fool for thinking I'd end up OK. Luke Dawson gets away with things most people don't. It's part of his charm, but when you get sucked in... it's difficult to find a way out.

"As you know, bullying can lead to expulsion for the perpetrator. We take these allegations seriously and, in our policy, being a bystander is the same as being an offender," Principal Lee said, arriving at her massive desk.

She found Roland Chadwick II seated comfortably in her chair.

"Hello," he greeted her.

"Mr Chadwick," she informed him, "you are in my chair."

"Am I?" he asked, looking around before he chuckled, "It appears so. Comfortable too."

And he didn't move. He just waited for her to carry on and explain what we were all doing here.

I was seated near Cearra's mom and overheard her remark, "Is that Chad's dad? He sounds different on the phone."

Principal Lee was still struggling with how to handle the chair situation. She bit her tongue and spoke to the rest of us instead, "I don't want to waste your time, but this is serious news. Witnesses say your children bullied a junior classmate today."

Mrs Dawson spoke up, "Define bullying."

"The boy was physically strapped to a chair and placed in the center of the basketball court-"

"That's already wrong," Chad said, before Luke shoved him in the stomach.

Principal Lee raised her pen, observed Chad and scribbled something down.

Then she continued, "Luke Dawson was described as the leader of this gang. He threw a basketball that knocked the boy off his chair-"

"Well that's ridiculous," Mr Dawson interrupted, "How weak is this kid to get knocked down by a ball? My son is good at sports, but he's not superman."

Art chuckled.

"As I said, Mr Dawson, there are witnesses," the Principal replied, observing him before she picked up her pen to scribble something else down. "There are further reports of Roland Chadwick the III walking around and intimidating onlookers with a whip."

"A whip?!" Chad exclaimed, insulted, "Do you think I was putting on a costume show?!"

Cearra tried hard not to laugh.

To be fair to Chad though, it was a skipping rope – not a whip. These 'witnesses' were getting creative.

I was shocked by how no one seemed to be taking the Principal seriously, right now.

Chad's father raised his hands behind his neck and leaned back in the Principal's chair, "Principal Lee, this is becoming laughable. You dragged us all here to discuss these childish games. Let kids be kids."

"Mr Chadwick," the Principal spun round, "I will not let kids be kids, when their actions cause bruises such as these!"

She pulled a photo out of her notebook and raised it for him to see. It was of a shirtless boy with bruises down the side of his rib cage and his arm. Only his neck down to his hip was visible, to keep his face anonymous. Kaden must've gone to the school nurse to document what happened.

Austin, Chad and Luke all got out of their chairs to take a closer look at the photo.

"Are we still pretending like we don't know who this is?" Luke asked, pointing at Kaden's scrawny body.

Chad answered, "Millie should recognize her ex-boyfriend topless. Is that him?"

Oh my...

Chad.

If there was ever a time I wanted to harm Chad...

All the parents turned to stare at me. And I felt the judgement. How had this become the topic of conversation?

And Mrs Dawson, who had heard me say some pretty weird things in the past, did not look surprised.

"I knew it," she sighed, "It's all her fault. She's brought endless drama to these well behaving boys and our family since that summer camp."

"Oh ho ho," my mom chuckled before raising her voices a couple octaves, "You really want to air your dirty laundry out here?! My daughter is a grade A student-"

"I'm not," I muttered, shaking my head.

I have one A in math. And that's it.

"And what do you think my son is?!" Mrs Dawson argued back.

He's not a grade A student either.

Principal Lee was getting disoriented by the interruptions, "You were called here to settle the dispute between the children. I was unaware there were issues at the parental level also."

Issues don't even begin to cover what we have.

The Principal picked up her notepad and scribbled something down.

"What are you writing?" my mom asked.

"She's judging us," Mrs Dawson gasped.

Luke leaned back in his chair and covered his hand over his mouth to hide his smile.

At least he was enjoying this. The Principal hadn't expected our parents to be... our parents. At this rate, I'm surprised Luke and I ended up so normal.

Actually, did we?

From the other side of the room, Cearra's mother spoke up now, "I've listened patiently and have yet to hear how my daughter is involved in this mess. If she is not a participant, then I don't see the need to be here."

She stood up from her chair and grabbed Cearra by the wrist to pull her along. Austin backed well out of their way.

"Cearra was on the court," Principal Lee said, "Standing with Austin Taylor and Roland Chadwick the III. By all accounts, she was on their side."

Cearra's mom slowed before she reached the door.

"What accounts?" Chad glanced over at Austin, "Any of your friends? You're the most well-liked person here."

Austin waved Chad's question away and crossed his arms, still not saying anything.

To me, it seemed like Arturo and his dad were the only smart people in this room. They had stayed quiet throughout this entire exchange. I guess they were also worried about what would happen after reality set in.

I wanted to walk up to the Principal and say that I had nothing to do with this, and that I had tried to stop the whole thing. But that would implicate Luke. And I didn't want to do that.

If I said I tried to stop it, that means there was something that had started.

Principal Lee tried to regain control of the situation. "Here are the facts. In this room right now, there are three seniors and three juniors. I am deciding between suspension and expulsion. In either case, we will have to notify the colleges that have accepted you and they may rescind your offer."

Luke. His basketball scholarship would be taken away.

I looked over at Luke, feeling my heart race at the idea that he was about to lose his dream. But he was sitting very still, not giving off any emotion. She had just threatened to take away everything he had worked towards, but he stayed calm.

Luke may have looked calm, but his mother was shaking.

Then a voice no one had heard before said, "That seems harsh."

We all turned to stare at Doz. I forgot he was here, since he'd remained very quietly near the door. When he realized his comment had gotten everyone's attention, he stopped leaning against the Principal's bookcase.

Principal Lee raised her pen, ready to write into her notebook again, "And who are you?"

That's the million-dollar question.

"I'm Doz," he said.

The legend.

We all looked back at her. She paused awkwardly in the silence and then let it go. He's Doz.

The Principal returned to the photos of Kaden's bruised body. But before she could speak, Doz opened his mouth. Chad was already nodding his head, encouraging Doz to speak up.

"I know these kids a little," Doz said, "They have good characters-"

Chad muttered, "We do pay on time."

"Sorry?" Principal Lee frowned, confused by everything going on now, "Uh... whose parent are you again?"

"No one's," Doz admitted and then said, "Should I wait outside maybe?"

The Principal nodded, "I think that would be appropriate."

I was disappointed to see Doz go. In the five minutes I've known him, I've grown to like him. He made a noble attempt to save us.

"Hey kiddo," he said to me before he left.

He stuffed a hand into the pocket of his ripped jeans and pulled out something white. "Take one."

Is he giving me drugs in the principal's office?

"You look exhausted. It'll give you some energy," he encouraged me.

I stared at the little white square in his hand. Is my mom just letting this happen right now?!

"It's gum," he clarified.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, quickly taking it and feeling guilty for doubting.

Doz stuffed his hand back into his pocket and walked out.

I was exhausted. I hadn't slept in days and I tried covering the bags under my eyes with concealer, but I guess I wasn't fooling anyone. Being this tired made everything harder to handle.

The door hadn't fully shut behind Doz when it swung open again and Coach Griffith walked in. He was wearing the team's basketball jersey and a whistle around his neck.

"I got your text, Luke," he announced to everyone in the room.

That reminded me; while we were waiting for our parents to arrive, Luke had been texting someone. I guess he did have a plan after all.

"Coach Griffith, this is a personal matter," Principal Lee sighed, confused why all these random adults who were not parents were getting involved.

"It doesn't get more personal than this," Coach replied, "Anything that involves my players, involves me."

"Let's take this outside," Principal Lee said, walking to the door with her notebook in hand. She didn't want to be seen disagreeing with one of her staff in front of parents.

But Chad Senior swung round in the principal's chair and stood up, "I practically donated the damn basketball court, and this is how I get repaid? We're not wasting more time here."

He followed the Principal and Coach out the door to interrupt their conversation. The door swung shut behind them, closing a scene I wish I could've seen.

**

~Ten minutes later~

Coach Griffith walked back into the room with gusto.

"I'm taking my players," he said and pointed one hand at Luke and one at Art, "Let's go."

"And me," Chad said, getting up.

"Sitting on the bench doesn't count," Austin commented, before quickly avoiding Cearra's mom's gaze.

Chad looked back, "You couldn't resist that one, could you, AT?" he then glanced at Cearra's mom, "Even when I hold the key to blowing this whole sham i-"

"That's enough," Luke said, stopping the conversation with a hand on Chad's shoulder.

Cearra was already looking terrified, and Austin didn't add any more comments - he didn't want Cearra's mom to recognize his voice.

But she was too busy watching Art's father and the Dawsons get ready to leave.

"What in the privilege is this?!" she exclaimed the second the Principal walked back in with Chad's dad, "You're telling me the athletes and the rich kid are off the hook?"

"Ha!" my mom commented from beside me, "You sound surprised."

"I'm not surprised," Cearra's mom replied, grabbing her bag and swinging it over her shoulder, "I grew up with privilege being shoved in my face, but am I going to accept it for my daughter?! Hell no. Cearra, get your phone out and record this."

"Look," Roland Chadwick tried to calm everyone down, "I'm sure there's a practical solution here for everyone."

"I don't know how things work over in Sweden, but you and your son getting off free while the rest of us are stuck here is not how this is going down."

Oh, we're in it now.

Luke's jaw clenched. He saw it coming too. My head moved like a ping pong from watching one side of the room to the other.

"Sweden?" Chad's dad replied, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Austin lowered his head in his hand.

Cearra stepped back as if she wanted to walk through the wall.

And Chad tried to help the situation, "It's a figure of speech."

"It's not," Cearra's mom responded, "I'm dead serious."

Cearra whispered, "And I'm just dead."

A/N: I thought I could squeeze more in this chapter, but so much is happening!  The good news is that there will be TWO chapters next week so it'll come quickly <3

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