The Tuners

Chapter 12: Darkness Comes to Light

The morning sun rose as a beam of sunlight hit Carter in the eyes, causing him to wake up. "Morning already?" Carter asked himself. "Morning kiddo." said a voice. When Carter turned to who the voice belonged to, he saw his mom sitting by his bed, "Oh, hey mom." Carter said as he pulled the blanket off of his body. As he got up from his bed, he felt his legs wobbling a little bit before he got his footing. "Man. I felt lightheaded for a while there." Carter said. "Must be because you stood up too fast." Amanda said. "True." Carter commented. "So how do you feel about going to school today?" Amanda asked her son. "Um...I don't know. I honestly want to go, but I just don't want to deal with Xavier and Sophie." Carter said worryingly. "No worries kiddo. I'm going to be going with you to talk to the principal about your situation." Amanda said. "Really? Thanks mom." Carter said hugging his mother. "You're welcome sweetheart. Now why don't you go take a shower?" Amanda said. "Got it." Carter said as he grabbed his clothes and went to go take a shower. About an hour later, Carter and his mom leave the house and make their way to the school. After parking in the parking lot, the two walk into the school and towards the principal's office. Carter's mom then knocks on the door before hearing the principal say "Come in.". After opening the door, Amanda and Carter walked in, "Ah Amanda and Mr. McAlister. What brings you to my office?" Principal Winters asked. "Principal Winters. There's something I would like to say. Yesterday, I was being bullied by my old friend Xavier Matthews and his girlfriend Sophie Johnson." Carter spoke. "I see. How have they been bullying you Mr. McAlister?" the principal asked. "They kept tripping me in the hallways, calling me a "freak", and Xavier also smacked me against a wall and kicked a soccer ball at my face in gym class yesterday. I got so scared that I ended up crying blood last night." Carter said. "Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry for what happened. Is there anything else you would like to share with me?" the principal said. "Yes actually. Carter also told me how he was kicked out of the music club for destroying their instruments. Is there any proof that he did it?" Carter's mom asked. "Of course. I received a video from an unidentified source showing Mr. McAlister destroying the instruments. Here, I'll pull it up now." Principal Winters said as he pulled up the video before showing it to Ms. McAlister. After watching the video, Amanda spoke up, "Sebastian, how can you not tell a fake video from a real one?" she asked. "Amanda. What makes you think this video is fake?" Principal Winters asked in response. "Sebastian, I used to work at this school before and I never remembered the camera in the music room having this good of resolution. Also, Carter never wears a hoodie. He always wears his father's jacket." Amanda said. "Yes. Besides, even if I wear a hoodie, why would I want to cover my head only to reveal it after I destroy the instruments?" Carter spoke up. "Huh. I see. I never noticed." Principal Winters said. As Carter looked at the hooded figure, he realized something, "Wait. I recognize that hoodie." he said. "What is it?" Principal Winters asked. "That's the exact same hoodie that Xavier always wears. Here, I'll pull up some pictures of him in it." Carter said as he took out his phone before showing Principal Winters photos of Xavier in a black hoodie, "I can't believe it. You're right Mr. McAlister. I cannot believe that I was lied to by a student. " Principal Winters said before turning to Carter and his mom, "I am terribly sorry for not believing you Mr. McAlister. I will call Mr. Matthews and Ms. Johnson in here right now." he said as he reached out for the phone only to be stopped by Carter, "No. I actually have an idea." Carter said. "Oh? What is it?" Principal Winters asked. "I'll tell you. But for this to work, I need the help of two people." Carter said. "Very well. Who would you like me to call?" the principal asked. About a few hours later, lunchtime once again approaches as Carter walks towards the cafeteria. As he is walking, he sees Xavier and Sophie walking up to him. "Well would you look at that, Sophie. He actually showed up." Xavier said. "Yeah. I would have thought that he'd stay at home and not come back. But it looks like he didn't understand." Sophie said. "Should we give him a little lesson?" Xavier asked. "We should." Sophie said before Carter ran away. "Hey get back here freak!" Xavier said as he and Sophie ran after him. About a few minutes later, Carter stops to catch his breath in an unused classroom. As he was panting, Xavier and Sophie caught up to him. "Got no where to run now." Xavier said. "Hold up. Before you bully me, let me ask you something." Carter said. "Alright. You have 5 minutes to ask your question. What is it?" Xavier said. "Why were you guys bullying me and the music club?" Carter asked. "Isn't it obvious? Ever since you've been hanging out with the music club, you guys have gotten more popular than us and we couldn't stand it." Xavier said. "So we came up with the idea to destroy the music club's instruments and pin the blame on you." Sophie said. "You guys blamed me for destroying the music club's instruments just because you didn't like how popular we've gotten?" Carter asked in disbelief. "Of course. And if I'm being honest, I have no remorse for doing it. But that's enough talking, your 5 minutes are up." Xavier said before holding Carter up by his shirt collar and punching him in the stomach. As Carter fell to the floor, Xavier walked up to him before grabbing him by his hair, "Just to let you know, you're much better off without any friends, you spineless freak." he said before punching Carter in the face and leaving. After a few seconds, Carter gets up before looking at a security camera in the corner and gives it a thumbs up. Carter then walks out of the classroom while holding his stomach. A few minutes later, Carter knocks on the principal's office door. "Come in." the principal said from behind the door. Carter then opened the door before entering the office, "Did you get the recording?" Carter asked. "Yes. I really would like to thank you for your support, Mr. Forester and Ms. Agreste." Principal Winters said to Henry and a girl with short silver hair, gray eyes, and wore an indigo dress with white leggings and black boots. "Yeah. I really appreciate your help Henry. Yours too, Luisa." Carter said. "You're very welcome Carter." Luisa said. "Of course. I always knew that you would never break our instruments." Henry said. "Now all we need to do is show the audio and video to Xavier, Sophie, and the others." Luisa said. "Yes. I'll call them in at the end of school." Principal Winters said. "Alright." Carter said. "Now then. You three are excused." the principal said before Carter, Henry, and Luisa left the office. Shortly after, Carter and Henry shared a bro-hug, "Man I really appreciate your help Henry. I'm so glad that you believed in me." Carter said as he cried tears of joy. "You're welcome man." Henry said in response. "And Luisa, I'm glad you agreed to help me." Carter said as he turned to face Henry's girlfriend. "Anytime Carter. Besides, this could be a great story for the school paper." Luisa said. "Well we should get to class." Henry said. "Good thinking." Carter said before the three went to their separate classes.