The next day, classes were canceled and students were called into the hall for an assembly. Mae had read every article she could find. There were some horrible things. She had read that some boys had been forced to undress during their initiation so that they could be shown a gay porn. If they got an erection, they got beat up.
She had never heard of these stories but she didn't understand why someone would have fun lying about such serious things.
As she entered the room, she went to sit next to Henry. He too seemed worried about the situation.
"Hey." she told him as she sat next to him.
"Hi."
"Have you read the articles?"
"Yeah. That's messed up."
"Did it happen to you? The initiation with the gay porn?" she asked him.
He shook his head. "No. There was never any porn at our initiations."
At that moment, the door slammed and everyone stood up. A woman wearing a white suit walked in the middle of the room and turned to look at all the students.
"Good morning. Please sit down." she smiled. "My name is Vanessa Hamilton, and I'm the acting principal. Anette Lilja has requested a leave of absence until the veracity of the allegations that have appeared in media have been assessed. A complaint has been filed with the School Inspectorate. Because of that, we have decided that it is time for us to get tough. All extracurricular activities will end today."
"What?"
"The score competition is canceled."
"But it already started." some third years complained.
"The athletics meet is also canceled." the new headmistress continued.
"What?" Mae exclaimed, at the same time as the rest of her teammates.
"And your cell phones will be confiscated. You can use them an hour a day."
"No way."
"What the fuck?"
"There will also be a curfew from 7:00 in the evening for each and every one of you."
"Hold on, what? For everyone?"
The woman was remaining unmoved. "If anyone is found outside of their dorm while the curfew is in effect, or if they are found drinking alcohol or using nicotine, for that matter, this will result in immediate suspension."
"Suspension?" Henry repeated and Mae grabbed his hand.
He intertwined their fingers as she was looking at him. "That means we can't hang out anymore."
"We'll find something." he promised her.
"One question!" Vincent raised his hand. "Uh, hi, Vincent here. Nice to meet you. Um, the stuff you're talking about, uh... they don't apply yo us third-year students, right?"
"They apply to all students, even legal adults."
"But we're about to graduate!" someone exclaimed.
"All students." Mrs. Hamilton repeated. "I want to make it very clear to all of you what's at stake here. Unless we can show that Hillerska is a safe environment, we may be barred from operating."
"What does that mean?"
"Hillerska may be forced to close down, effective immediately."
★
They were in sports class. They were working out and Mae was talking with Britt, the captain of the track team, while they were lifting weights.
"I just don't understand why she would cancel the athletics meet. I mean, it's an annual competition." Britt was saying.
"I don't know." Mae shrugged. "But, like, it's the same for the score competition and everything. She just erased our traditions."
"It's ridiculous." Britt said.
The brunette nodded. "I know."
As the teacher blew his whistle to announce the end of the exercise, two arms went from behind to pull around Mae's waist and Henry's head came to rest on her shoulder. In surprise, she dropped the weights.
"You idiot, I could have crushed your feet with these." she exclaimed, turning to punch him in the chest.
He pulled back with a laugh before putting his arms back around her waist as she turned to face the teacher.
"I have a little bit of information regarding the annual spring hike. To Pinepoint." the man was saying. "Your parents have already been informed—"
"Wasn't it canceled? Like everything else?" Stella asked.
"No, it is not. Luckily, the school management understood how important it is for us to follow the curriculum. And, uh, if there's one thing we all need right now, it's spending some more time out in the open."
"Sure, we do." Henry said into Mae's ear as he was still hugging her from behind and she chuckled as they swayed from one foot to the other in a common movement.
"So we'll camp overnight, barbecue, and if someone has a guitar, feel free to bring it." the teacher said. "All right, come on. Here's all the info, come and get one." he said, waving the bunch of papersheets he had in his hands. "But listen, guys! I still expect you all to behave, okay?"
They all took one of the sheets and Henry looked back at his girlfriend as he put his arm around her waist. "You wanna go grab something at the cafeteria with me?"
She gave him a genuine smile. "Yeah, sure."
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— my second young royals fanfic (don't know how) is out now!! check it out <3
