Asher
Chris drags a hand over his face. "Goddammit, Asher!" Lucas and Max shoot me dirty looks. "Guys. Don't worry, the key has to be there." Evangeline pipes up. "Quickly finish up and we can go search."
Breakfast is finished in tense silence. By the time the plates have been cleared, there is less than ten minutes to spare. Immediately, we all begin the search for the key. Evangeline and Chris drop to their knees and begin combing through the carpets, while Lucas and I scan the tabletops and Max checks the bag once more.
After minutes of fruitless searching, Max straightens. "Nothing." He chews on his lip. "Come on. We have to get to school or we'll be super late."
Everyone seems to snap out of their daze and hurries to grab their bags.
-
Evangeline
"It's all my fault. I'm really sorry." Asher murmurs as the five of us brisk walk to school. I force a smile, the chain clanking as we move. Chris and I have our bags slung over one shoulder on a single strap in order to accommodate our conjoined hands. "It's fine. I probably shouldn't have been that stupid to put the cuff onto my wrist."
He shakes his head, royal blue eyes filled with remorse. Chris chips in. "Another problem. Oliver may or may not have the key, and as of now there's no time to break the chain, so we're probably gonna be stuck together for who knows how long. Don't forget that we're both in different grades."
Lucas curses under his breath. "Oh yeah."
"So how are we going to go about the school day? Evangeline and I have homework due, and there's a presentation too." Asher is pale as a sheet as we enter the school compound.
"We have to go to the principal and explain the situation. Maybe then she'll propose a solution for this."
-
"I see." Principal Jones eyes us over the rim of her red-framed spectacles. "Very well then. Just for today, I will grant you a pass on today's activities. Evangeline will go with Christopher to his classes, as their eleventh grade examinations are approaching. She may attend lessons online, and have Asher submit due assignments for her. However, please ensure that such an incident does not occur again. It is...highly inconvenient. Do have those handcuffs removed by tonight, and I will call your parents to inform them of the circumstances regarding this situation."
We duck our heads. "Thank you, Principal Jones."
She sniffs, handing over a piece of laminated paper and five pink cards, then waves a hand to dismiss us. "Here are your late passes, as well as the pass for today." We thank her once again and hurry out of the office to our various classes.
"Good luck." Lucas smiles and runs off. I pass Asher my notebook, as well as a stack of paper. "Here's my homework. Thanks for the trouble."
"None at all. Again, sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you!" He calls as he takes his leave as well.
The twins flash grins at me, though they seem rather strained. "Off to Physics we go."
As we go up the stairs, Chris bends down and murmurs in a low voice. "Sorry, Evie. Are you upset you're missing class? If I could, I'd follow you there but you know what the principal decreed." That's super sweet of him. I smile genuinely and boldly press a kiss to his cheek. "No, I'm not. To be honest, Professor Henley is kind of a jerk sometimes." On my other side, Max barks out a laugh.
"Oh, Evie. You're gonna have lots of fun in eleventh grade."
