Pastel Punk [Phan] ♡ HIATUS

Chapter Four

❀ Chapter Four ❀

When Aubrey had reassured me into remembering there was nothing to worry about, in the moment, I had cooled down and believed her.

I shouldn't have listened to that girl.

"Yes... He's taking a quiz, can he come afterwards?...Yes sir, I understand.... Alright, he'll finish up quickly... Dan? The principal would like to see you when you finish your test," My English teacher, Ms. Winters, said to me cheerily, pressing the telephone against her chest to mute it.

I looked up from my vocabulary quiz. I was still contemplating the difference between the words tenebrific and pyrophoric, and my brain felt like it was melting. "Finish quickly, please..." She put the receiver back to her ear. "I told him... Yes... Thank you. Good day." She forcefully hung up the phone and we shared a look. The teachers knew just as much as the students how tyrannical and pushy Principal Wilson was- he most certainly did not put the 'pal' in 'principal'.

I finished the vocabulary quiz as quickly as I could, mentally freaking out, as I always did at the end of any quiz or test, and surveyed my answers as I stood up. My chair scraped against the tile, startling nearly everyone immersed in their quizzes, and I flushed bashfully when I handed her the piece of paper.

"Go on then," Ms. Winters shooed me off, smiling politely.

"Do I need a hall pass?" I asked quickly, tapping my foot nervously. Why did the principal want to see me anyway?

My brain would not shut up with the assumptions possibilities. Oh god, it was because of the vandalizing! He knows I was there, oh, he has to! Oh man oh man, I'm so screwed! I'm going to live the rest of my pathetic life in a cardboard box and dumpster diving behind fast food restaurants with the mice!

Okay, Dan, now you're definitely overreacting.

"You don't need one- are you alright? You look as white as a ghost," Ms. Winters said worriedly. I snapped back to reality, smiled reassuringly at her with a nod of my head, and whirled around to the door. I escaped the classroom silently, entering the vacant halls that led to the main office.

As my feet dragged against the floors, I thought about what I was going to say. Do I tell the truth? I've never lied to a school official in my life, because I was always the teachers' pet, and frankly, I liked it that way. I was a horrible liar anyways, I got all shaky and tripped over my own words, both clear giveaways I had no idea how to fib. I figured I wouldn't do a too stellar job on lying, but I had to try the best I could, to save my own butt.

Getting pummeled by a teenage punk gang was not on my list of happy after-school activities.

My breathing was ragged and uneven when I arrived to the front office door. The secretary immediately spotted me, smiled warmly, and pointed to the back hall, where the principal's office presumably was. I avoided tripping over a potted plant- an accident I'm grateful i circumvented- and knocked softly on Principal Wilson's door (which was clearly labeled with a fake gold door tag nailed into the wood).

"Come in."

I fiddled with the doorknob, eventually working it and managing to get inside, and I became face to face with my stern looking principal and two broody, stoic police officers, who were not, disappointedly enough, eating donuts.

"Take a seat, please, Mr. Howell," One of the officers demanded with an intimidating voice. I followed his command and sat on the uncomfortable wire chair whilst glancing longingly at Principal Wilson's fluffy leather club chair. I trained my eyes on his desk name tag, purposely avoiding his steely gaze. My fingers drummed uncontrollably against my thigh.

"How are you today, Mr. Howell?" He asked politely. I wondered if he was actually curious or he was just calming me down before they started shining a flashlight in my eyes and pounding question after question at me.

"I'm fine, thank you, sir," I said, gulping when my throat felt dry.

"So, Mr. Howell, we'd like to ask you a couple questions, if that's alright?" The other officer asked smoothly.

Even if I said it wasn't alright, you'd still ask anyway, I thought with distaste. Nevertheless, I nodded once and waited.

"According to the librarian, you were the only one in the library on the afternoon of the incident," Said the taller policeman calmly, pacing the room. "What were you doing in there?"

"I was working on an English essay," I responded softly. "I-"

"You what?" He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I-" I caught myself before I said something about witnessing the real criminals. I was determined not to squeal. Why, I have no idea. "I left before anything happened, sir."

"Are you sure you didn't vandalize the library yourself, Mr. Howell? Or at least see something?" He muttered suspiciously.

"I don't mean to cut in," Principal Wilson butted in, totally meaning to cut in, "Dan is one of our best students here. I really don't think there's much worry with him being the criminal."

"See, I don't know about that," The shorter officer tapped his chin. "Because this was found on the crime scene."

Crime scene? I mentally rolled my eyes through my bubbling worry. What is this, CSI?

The man held up a book, but not just any book, but Of Mice and Men. My copy of Of Mice and Men, to be exact- it had my silver-pen book annotations and my name written in it and everything. I felt my heart drop to my toes and I stared at the novella in shock- didn't I put that in my bag when I fled to the door? The officer flipped to the front and showed my curly handwriting on the inner cover.

"This book that clearly belongs to you, the fact you were the only one in the library yesterday afternoon, it all seems pretty fishy to me, Mr. Howell, and I think you're hiding something," The officer demanded, striding to stand in front of me. He shadowed over my petite frame and I felt myself scrunch down in my chair in a futile attempt to disappear into a puddle of mortification and fear.

"Wait, no!" I cried out desperately, my voice sounding scratchy. "I'm innocent, I swear!"

Principal Wilson stood up roughly just then, slamming his palms against his polished, cherry-wood desk. "Enough!" He hissed harshly. "Officer McGuinness, you're harassing the poor boy. He is a star student, extremely intelligent, and very kind to everyone. He would never do that sort of thing."

I felt the back of my neck grow warm. I silently cursed my parents for giving me the flush-easily genes.

"I understand..." The officer sounded slightly more reasonable. "However, my hands are tied. There is simply no other explanation for this crime. If Dan can clear his name with tangible evidence, he will be in the clear, but if not, then, well... You fill in the rest."

And in that moment, my world began to crash down all around me. My heart was rapidly beating so loudly I thought people in Canada could hear it. My hands shook as I tightly clenched them to keep them still. I abruptly stood up out of my uncomfortable chair and ran out of the room, blinking back tears that stung my eyes as I scrambled down the empty halls. I heard faint, commanding yelling echoing behind me, but I couldn't hear it over the sobs I was choking out.

This couldn't be happening. It's not fair- it's not fair! Oh, I just wanted to finish my dumb essay on time, why did all of this have to happen? Why me?