Rejected

15: Afternoon Detention

Gabriel was no stranger to the Principal's office. But this was the first time he shared it with Crowley and Sam. And this was the first time he was in trouble for blatantly brawling.

Across from him, the principal had been lecturing him on the "high standard of excellence all students are expected to have". The three students had been sitting in front of her in silence for what seemed like forever.

Crowley and Gabriel were silently staring daggers at each other. They had shared this room before, but it was for little things. Never for something so out there as full-out brawling in the hallway. Crowley's bruises had swollen and turned dark blue and purple, and Gabriel had a tissue to stop the bleeding from his nose. The blood in Gabriel's hair had not been washed out, the principal hadn't let him, and it matted down the front of his hair.

It was worth it, Gabriel thought, turning away from Crowley to stare at his own shoe. It was so worth it.

It didn't matter why Gabriel had fought Crowley, or that Sam had been trying to stop the two, not get in the fight himself, to the principal. In her eyes, fighting was fighting, and it warranted detention.

In the end, the principal decided on three-day detention for Gabriel and Crowley, and a one-day detention for Sam. They had the option of taking after-school or before-school detention. But no one did before-school, mainly because you had to get up super early to attend, but also because the morning detention room was next to the cafeteria, and the smells coming from there were not pleasant to smell for two hours.

The first detention, and the only one for Sam, would be that day, after school. They were supposed to go into the gym and sit in the bleachers for two hours. They were allowed to do homework or sit, nothing else. It was going to be a fun afternoon.

~~~Time Skip to Last Period~~~

As the final bell rang, Gabriel leaped up from his seat and ran out of the room, flying down to where his and Sam's lockers were. Sam was already there, slamming his shut. How he got there so fast, Gabriel didn't know.

"Heya, Sammy." Gabriel said in greeting, opening his locker.

"Hi, Gabe." Sam said back, hefting his backpack on his back.

"Ready for detention?" Gabriel grabbed his backpack and threw some books in it before slamming his locker shut.

"As I'll ever be." Sam sounded nervous.

Then, out of the blue, Gabriel felt Sam's fingers wrap around his own. It was such an unconscious movement of Sam's that Gabe wondered if Sam ever realized he had done it. Not that Gabriel was complaining or anything.

The two headed down to the gym for their detention. Opening the doors, they saw that they wouldn't be alone with Crowley. There were about a dozen bored students sitting in the bleachers. Crowley wasn't there yet.

Gabriel and Sam took seats in the top of the bleachers, away from everyone else. The detention monitor, Mrs. Grey, wasn't there yet, so everyone was doing whatever they wanted.

"Sam, you okay?" Gabe asked.

Sam didn't look okay. He looked sick. "I guess." Sam whispered.

"Really, what's up. Tell me. You look awful."

"Well, I've never been in detention before. Not even for a tardy. I guess I don't really know what to expect."

"Expect to be bored out of your mind." Gabriel said. "But seriously, chill. This isn't going to ruin your chances of getting into Stanford or Princeton or wherever. Everyone gets detentions."