White Lies and Music Notes

Chapter Twenty-two

-authors note-

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Two hours later, we were sitting in the Principles office.

"Leah." He gave me a pointed glance as he rested his elbows on his desk and removed his glasses. "Would you please explain to me, what EMERGENCY, allowed you to go out of school grounds, without an adult?" His voice was calm and low, frightening me more than if he had been shouting.

"We...we..." I couldn't speak. I was too terrified of this man I front of me.

"Basically," Melanie chipped in, saving me. "We were out on the grass, with some...friends...." She faltered "when Leah here," she gestured to me, "received a very panicky phone call from Roxanne," she pointed to Roxanne, who was sitting next to her, "and we took ONE WHOLE HOUR searching the bloody school for her twin!" She started raising her voice. "And when we found him NOWHERE we decided he must have left on that fucking horse," oh dear, now she was really getting pissed, "I mean," she rolled her eyes, "how were WE meant to know Boris was ill, and THAT'S why his bloody stable was empty?!" She took a deep breath before ranting on, "It was a simple act of friendship! He worried the shit out of us," she was going to far now, but I was too amused to stop her, "And you," she pointed an accusing finger at Mr Cartwright, "are punishing us." She practically screamed at him.

"Melanie." He said, his voice calm. "I am glad you're explained this to me, but next time, loose the bad words. You do not SWEAR in my study. And I could help but noticing, I asked Leah." He looked at me.

"Eric." He looked at the boy sitting next to me. "Will you please explain to me, where were you this whole time?"

I could see him gulp. I looked at his profile, and remembered that night. The night where this all began. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

"I was..." His throat closed up, and the next words were just a croaked jumbled mess of vowels and continents that didn't mean a thing.

"Could you all leave, please." The Principle demanded to the rest of us, probably seeing the tension in Eric's eyes. We obediently stood up and left, never know where Eric actually was. We never found him, and came back after missing dinner. We thought we would get away with it, but Matt - as bloody stupid as he was - went and told some stupid teachers that had no right to know!

And the door of Mr Cartwright's study clicked shut Roxanne broke down.

"I'm so sorry guys!" She sobbed into Taylor's shirt, as she folded her in an embrace, "It's all my fault! It was me who got you guys all worried!"

"Now, now, Roxy, it's okay." Taylor soothed her.

"That's absolute bullshit, Roxanne!" Uh oh... Melanie was still going... "I was the one who suggested we go out of school to look for him!"

"Yeah," I agreed, "it wasn't just you who made the decision to leave. It isn't all your fault. We are going to go through this together!" I took hold of her hand, many emotions going through me. I never had friends before, and having ones that cared so much, meant a lot to me.

"Thanks guys. I think I was just really scared for him. I already lost one fam-" she looked up at me, and her eyes went wide as she suddenly realised what she had said.

"It's okay, Roxy." I said, sadly, "I know you probably aren't ready to tell me your biggest secrets. That's okay. I don't have to know. You can tell me when you want." I smiled reassuringly at her, even though I was dying inside, knowing that all it took was her to tell me, and then all my questions would be answered, because she knew everything.

"Thank you, Leah. I really appreciate that. I just need a little...time." I nodded. The door opened and Eric peeped around.

"Guys you-" he broke off, seeing Roxanne's tear-stained face, "Roxy!" He murmured pulling her to him, holding her small, thin frame against his. "What happened?" He shot Melanie and accusing glance. His eyes boring into her. My heart started beating faster, my breathing becoming unsteady, as he pushed his hair out of his face, making it fall in a Robert-Pattinson-just-rolled-out-of-bed way.

"No, it's just that... it was all my fault, Eric, I was worried for you so I..." She trailed off, burying her face deeper into his toned, yet not bulky, chest, leaving me wishing I was her.

"It's okay, lil' sis." He murmured, his voice low and husky, leaving a layer of goosebumps on my skin.

"Big sis." She laughed, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.

"Yeah, by - what? - ten minutes?" He grinned, his eyes sparkling. "You guys are meant to go back in now." His gaze swept over the other two girls and landed on me. I suddenly felt so out of my depth, next to Melanie's beautiful figure, just standing there, unaffected by Eric's gaze. A gaze that left me feelling drunk (not that I knew how that feels like). A gaze that left we wondering about him for days.

I walked back into the room and took my place again, next to Melanie.

"Okay, girls." He announced, as he scribbled something down. "I have decided on a punishment for you -"

"You are punishing us?" I interrupted, "For caring? For worrying about a friend? For trying to be the Good Samaritan? For trying, to help?" My voice was shaking slightly, as I whispered my words, trying to defend my friends and I.

"No." He said, sympathy in his eyes. "I am punishing you, because you broke a rule, because -"

"Suppose - just for a moment - Mr Cartwright, if Eric had been injured. Lying somewhere, unconscious. No one knows. No one cares. And when the teachers go around to check for lights-out, they realise he is missing. By then it is too late. By then, he is gone." I took a deep breath, before continuing. "Do you want that? Do you want your pupil, to die? We could have been the ones that saved his life. The difference of life or death, could have been on our shoulders. If we had decided to stick by the rules and stay at school, and he was lying somewhere..." I could feel Eric's stare boring into me, but I had to continue looking at the Principle. "He could have died." I whispered the words and tears threatened to cascade out. "He. Could. Have. Died." I said, this time louder, emphasising each word.

Mr Cartwright looked at me, his eyes showing sadness. "I understand your point completely, Miss Withington. But, as you can see, Eric was not lying somewhere, dying. He is perfectly fine. And by going out, you risked your own lives, as well as those of others. What you should have done, is told a teacher, and find out facts. For all you know, he could have been in my office the whole time." He smiled, "And then the teachers would search for him, leaving you all, safe."

Ugh. Why were adults always right? Why? Why did I always have to be overpowered by adults?

He started shuffling some papers into a drawer before continuing.

"I have decided that the punishment for each of you will be one weeks worth of helping a teacher. Roxanne, this is the second time I have had to see you today. I am very disappointed in you." He pulled the 'disappointment' card? Really? "So you will be helping Professor Ironside clean up the labs for one week and three days now, instead of just three days. Taylor, you will help Mr Maloney, with whatever he needs help with. And you two," he pointed to Melanie and I, "will be using your lunch-times to muck out the stables." I groaned inwardly. Sure, there wasn't much wrong with mucking out stables. But when you could be spending time with your friends, mucking out really didn't seem appealing. Well, at least I had Melanie for company.

"As for you, Mr Davis," Mr Cartwright looked Eric in the eye, "you know what your punishment is for leaving." Ha! So he DID leave! We were right!

Eric nodded, ashamed, his eyes glazing over. I looked at him, realising that today was the first day I had ever been able to see any kind of emotion on his face. Something had changed. Whatever it might be, I had a feeling it affected us all.

Today, a lot of things changed.