What The Heart Wants (gxg)

Part 6

TW: This part discusses sexual assault.

When we got back from the Tavern it was late, and we all passed out, without saying much to each other.

The next morning, very early, there was a knock on the door.

I bolted upright, and so did Samantha and Blaze as the door opened.

"Who is there?" Blaze asked.

"It's Emilio." said the soft male voice, "There will be an assembly in the theatre in a half hour. Make yourselves ready. Juliette is excused."

"In a half hour, seriously? What time is it?" Samantha asked.

"6:30 AM. Please be ready." Emilio said, and then walked away.

Violetta groaned next to me, "Well, I believe we know what this is about."

"What is it about? And why is Juliette excused?" Danica asked, sitting up. She looked around at all of us suspiciously.

"You'll see." Samantha said to her, "Let's get ready."

I went into the bathroom and threw on my sweater, skirt, and high socks, and put my hair in a high ponytail. No use for makeup today.

At one point I walked past Blaze in the hall. She looked at me- and it didn't seem full of pure hatred for once.

I walked with Samantha to the theatre, thankfully it is in the castle so we didn't have to go far. Juliette was still asleep when we left. I could imagine how exhausted she was.

We walked arm in arm, shaken up from the night before. All of us were entering the theatre when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blaze give Eve a kiss on the cheek near the theatre door. I felt my stomach drop. I wasn't sure if they were still an item, but I guess that answered that.

As if on cue, Melina caught up with Samantha and I. "How are you two?" she asked, and the three of us sat down in the plush red seats, me between Samantha and Melina.

"I'm more concerned about Juliette," I said, and Samantha nodded in agreement. "Are you okay, Melina?"

"Shaken up, I won't lie. I can only imagine how Juliette is," she said.

Headmaster Ryland then walked up onto the stage. Headmaster Ryland is a woman in her forties, with light blonde hair that is always up in a tight bun. For it being 7 AM, she was dressed to the nines. I've only spoken to her once- when I was accepted into Crossroads. She was nice- a bit formal- but nice. On the surface at least.

"Attention students." she said loudly, "Attention please."

We all stopped talking and looked at her.

"I had the displeasure of speaking to the police at 2 AM this morning. A terrible incident occurred with one of our students at Raya Tavern last night that could've ended much worse than it did." she said, "Why I have called you all to this assembly so early. I wanted to announce that for the next month, until Halloween, for all of your safety, you all must be on campus by 8 PM."

There were a few groans among us.

"Do but moan and groan." Headmaster Ryland said, harshly, "This is for your own good. A student was involved in a dangerous situation. And may I also remind you- to always stick to the dress code."

"I hope she isn't insinuating that this happened to Juliette because she broke the dress code," Samantha mumbled to me.

Headmaster Ryland dismissed us, and we went back up to our rooms until breakfast was to be served at 9 AM.

When we got back to the room, Juliette was still sleeping.

"Did this involve her?" Danica asked angrily, to no one in particular, pointing at Juliette.