The Tuners

Chapter 13: Apology and Forgiveness

The bell then goes off as Carter walks towards his locker. After getting his stuff, he sees Xavier and Sophie walking towards him. Before Carter could get away from the two, Xavier grabs Carter by his arm and slams him against a wall. "Looks like you didn't learn your lesson about staying down. But maybe this time you'll get it." Xavier said. Just as Xavier was about to punch the lights out of Carter, the sound of the announcement bell sounded through the hallway, "Will Xavier Matthews, Sophie Johnson, and our very own music club please report to the principal's office?" Luisa's voice said through the speakers. "Tch. You got lucky." Xavier said as he let go of Carter before he and Sophie left for the principal's office. Meanwhile with Seth, Sicily, Sara, Henry, Ryan, Maya, and Michael as they arrived at the principal's office before seeing Xavier and Sophie, "Oh great. It's you two." Michael said. Seth then knocked on the door before the principal opened the door. After the 9 students entered the office, they saw 2 more men with the principal, one with green hair, brown eyes, and wearing a gray business suit with a white shirt, brown shoes, and a black tie, and the other having a buzz cut, blue eyes, and wore a blue tracksuit with white sneakers. "Daddy? What are you doing here?" Sophie asked. "I should be asking you the same question Dad." Xavier said. "The principal called us here because he had something to show us." Xavier's dad said. "Ah yes. Now that everyone is here, I believe that there is something that I should tell you." Principal Winters said getting everyone's attention. "Now I'm sure that the students are aware of this, but recently our music room was vandalized and the culprit was believed to be Carter McAlister." Principal Winters said. "This again? We already know that he did it. So why wasn't he expelled?" Xavier asked. "Xavier, be quiet." Xavier's father said. "Yes Mr. Matthews. Mr. McAlister should be expelled for vandalism, but he wasn't because he didn't do it." The principal said surprising the others. "What do you mean he didn't do it?" Xavier asked. "Yeah. I mean, we saw the video. It was obvious that Carter did it." Sophie said shortly after. "What video are you talking about Sophie?" Sophie's father asked. "I believe this is the video your daughter is talking about Mr. Johnson." Principal Winters said as he pulled up the video. After the adults watched the video, Sophie's father spoke up, "I don't see what was wrong with the video. It was very clear that Mr. McAlister was the culprit." he said. "See?" Sophie said. "I see that you do not see the errors in the video. For instance, have you noticed that Mr. McAlister is wearing the same hoodie that Mr. Matthews usually wears?" The principal asked as the students looked at the video. "Hey! You're right. Carter always wears a jacket, not a hoodie." Seth said. "Well it doesn't prove that Carter didn't do it." Xavier said. "Another thing I would like to point out is the way how the culprit is holding the weapon. What hand is he holding it in?" The principal pointed out. "Wait! He's holding it with his right hand. Carter's left-handed." Seth said. "And come to think of it. Xavier, aren't you right-handed?" Henry asked Xavier, "Well, yeah. But that doesn't prove that I did it." Xavier said. "Yeah. Unless you have actual proof, I ain't buying it." Xavier's father said. "I see that you're all unconvinced about this, but I have one final piece of evidence to show you...a video that was just taken this afternoon." the principal said before playing a video showing Carter, Xavier, and Sophie in an unused classroom, "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 before the principal pauses the video. "So, are you all convinced that Mr. McAlister was not the culprit but the victim?" Principal Winters asked, "Sophie! Is this true?" Sophie's father asked infuriated. "D-Daddy, I can explain." Sophie said cowardly. "Tell us the truth!" Xavier's father said. "*sigh* Okay I admit it, Sophie and I did vandalize the music room and framed Carter." Xavier said in a defeated tone before getting slapped by his dad, "I am SERIOUSLY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU! Doing something like this and having no shame? All out of jealousy?" he said. "Yeah same here!" Sophie's father said shortly after. "Principal Winters. I humbly apologize for what my son has done." Xavier's father said as he and Xavier bowed their heads, though Xavier was forced to bow. "I apologize for what my daughter did as well." Sophie's father apologized as well. "Now now. No need to bow. But as far as punishments go, I was thinking about expelling Mr. Matthews and Ms. Johnson. But I suppose you have any other ideas?" the principal implied. "I was thinking of sending our son to military school." Xavier's father said. "What? No dad! Anything but that!" Xavier pleaded. "Quiet Xavier! I am fed up with how you treated the others!" Xavier's father said angrily. "Well, for Sophie I was thinking we shut down all of her social media accounts and bring her car back to the dealer and have her take the bus." Sophie's father said. "Ew! Not the bus! It's full of weirdos." Sophie complained. "Be quiet young lady." Sophie's father said. "That actually sounds like a good idea. Might just do that too." Xavier's father said. "Not Veronica!" Xavier complained before being silenced by his father. "I agree that those are fitting punishments. But I was also wondering if you would like to donate the money from the cars to the school for the music club?" Principal Winters suggested. "I think we might just do that." Xavier's father said. "Excellent. I was also thinking about having Mr. Matthews be suspended from the school football program." the principal said. "Sounds good to me. Besides, it'll be a good idea for him to learn some humility for others." Mr. Matthews said. "No dad! Please don't take football away from me!" Xavier pleaded once again. "Too bad. Now get your things and get in the car! Wait until your mother hears about this." Xavier's father said as he dragged Xavier by his ear. "Please excuse us Principal Winters. But I will be taking my daughter home so we can discuss this further with her mother." Sophie's father said as he walked out of the office with Sophie in hand, leaving the music club members in the office. "Now then, I believe that you all have someone to apologize to?" Principal Winters asked. "Yes, I believe we do." Sara said. "Let's go find Carter!" Seth said before getting up from his seat. "Hold on Mr. Farland." Principal Winters said before Seth left, "If you wish to find Mr. McAlister, I believe that he should be up on the roof. But before you go, there is something that you must know." he then said. "What is it?" Seth asked. "His mother told me about you kicking him out of the club. She said that he was so distraught by it that he woke up in the middle of the night crying blood from his eyes." Principal Winters said shocking the students. "What?" Sicily said. "Yes. He really cares about all of you. So when you find him, show him that you all care about him." Principal Winters said. "We will. Thank you Principal Winters." Sicily said as she and the others left the office to head to the roof. Meanwhile on the roof, Carter just sits by himself as he watches the clouds go by before the sound of the door opening interrupts his train of thought. As Carter looks up from his spot, he sees Sicily, Seth, Sara, and the others standing at the door before running up to him, "Hey guys." he simply says. The others didn't say anything but had guilty looks on their faces. "Guys, I'm not mad at you. It was all Xavier and Sophie's fault. So don't beat yourselves up about it." Carter said. "But the principal said that you woke up crying blood last night. What happened?" Ryan asked. Carter then explained his nightmare to the others. After the others listened to Carter, they all hugged Carter with tears in their eyes. "Carter. We are really sorry for not believing in you before. We're also very sorry for what you have been going through because of us." Sara said as she started crying. "Yeah. We feel terrible for not hearing you out." Seth said as tears rolled down his face. "Not to mention that you've been getting bullied because of us kicking you out." Maya said. "Maya, getting bullied by Xavier and Sophie was worth it if it meant preventing you guys from getting bullied as well." Carter said. "No it wasn't!" Sicily yelled surprising everyone. "We could care less about being called freaks. But you getting beaten up was NOT okay. You have no idea how much you mean to us Carter, especially me." Sicily said as she cried into Carter's chest. "Sicily..." Carter said as he was lost for words. "Carter, being called freaks is something that we don't care about. But you are our best friend and seeing you take multiple hits for us is something that we cannot stand for." Michael said. "We really care about you Carter." Ryan said. "Please forgive us!" the club said together. "Guys..." Carter said as he felt tears rolling down his face, "I forgive you!" he then said before hugging his friends.