The Blood-Bound Bond

Chapter Four: Guinea Pigs.

Waking up the next day for school was Hell. I woke up to two black eyes so dark that I didn't even need eyeliner for them, and I was sore in any sort of joint or limb I had in my body. I looked as if I had just gotten in a fight with Mike Tyson. However, if I looked bad, I'm sure the other students looked ten times worse. I grabbed my lunch and waved to my father on my way out the door, before hitting the road. Today's car ride to school seemed longer than usual, like time had somehow managed to slow down between yesterday and today. However, I still managed to get to school on time. Right on time, actually. As soon as I got out of the car, the bell rang, and I went inside. Walking through the hallways, I noticed that they were strangely silent. Friends were gathered together, but none of them were talking to each other. It's like we all felt mutual wrath with one-another. Almost everyone down the halls was bruised in some way, shape, or form. I guessed that the fight we had last night was counter-productive, if anything. Suddenly, I heard a voice on the intercom. It seemed a little early for morning announcements, but I was willing to accept it.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Could Alexis Bradley, Xavier Young, Matthew Song, Yasmin Najjar, Teresa Flores, Jai Devi, and Zoe Winston please come to the main office? Thank you!" The old principal requested, before turning the intercom off.

I followed the woman's orders, walking the short distance to the main office. When I finally entered the room, three of the other people that were called to the office were already there, and the senile woman was looking straight into my eyes with furrowed brows, a quite intimidating look.

"Ma'am, I don't think I have anything to do with this. I mean, I was on the field!" Matthew excused, a frightened look spreading across his face.

"Mr. Song, we've gotten word that you've started the riot by spreading gossip." The principal replied in a stern tone, clearly meaning business.

Matthew just furrowed his brows in a confused state in return. That's when I knew that this whole office scenario was about the fight that broke out in the bleachers the night before.

"We need to discuss punishment and consequences, as what happened last night is very detrimental to not only your reputations, but the school's reputation as a whole. Understand?" The woman declared, trying hard not to raise her voice at us.

I watched as more people came in, including Teresa, Alexis, the boy who punched me, and the nerd I rejected earlier in the week. Teresa quickly sat next to me, frightened as hell. I tried to comfort her as much as I could without speaking, to no avail. We all nodded as the principal continued to rant.

"We understand, good. Now, we have developed a new plan of disciplinary action that we believe will be very effective in teaching our students crucial morals that they'll carry throughout their lives. After discussing it earlier this morning, the board of education decided that you six will be perfect testers for this project, 'guinea pigs', if you will. You all have weekend detention." The woman proceeded to announce.

"Excuse me, ma'am. What does this 'weekend detention' entail exactly?" I quickly asked in reply.

"Why, Miss Winston, I'm glad you asked! Each of you will arrive here on tomorrow, Saturday, at nine a.m. sharp. Bring blankets and pillows, as you will be spending the night at this school working on homework and doing special bonding exercises until Sunday evening at seven p.m. One of which includes creating a time capsule, so bring treasured items as well. This will prove useful both to you guys and to Reagan High student generations to come." She continued, handing each of us sheets of paper with more information.

"Ma'am, as much as I respect your methods of discipline, I can't go to detention this weekend. My family is having dinner with the mayor." Alexis bragged, tossing her hair back.