Dear Jason

Carnegie

"This oughta be good," I mumbled, getting up and poking my head out the door.
What I saw what probably the most disgusting thing to ever occur at Westerburg High School.
Ethan and Jake had cornered these two kids, Colleen and Michael. They were twins and both of them were on the spectrum. Michael's autism was slightly more severe than Colleen's, but they were still both pretty cool kids. I mean, they were obviously different, but they had their own personalities and quirks just like everyone else. The two of them were in my grade; I never really became friends with them, but I knew their names and I was always sure to be friendly to them.
Ethan and Jake had them cornered, and everyone was behind them, watching. Colleen and Michael both had very specific sounds that they couldn't handle. A lot of anything would result in a bit of overload for them, but the sound of a hiss was past their breaking point. Hissing was exactly what Ethan and Jake were doing. The twins couldn't escape, they didn't have their aides with them, and no adult was around to intervene. The two of them stimming and being panicky messes was really giving Ethan and Jake a good laugh.
I stormed out of the classroom and pushed through the crowd of people who were watching this happen. I shoved myself between Ethan, Jake, Colleen, and Michael, and looked at the two football players.
"What. The FUCK. Is wrong with you?!" I yelled.
I immediately recognized that my yelling was going to make Colleen and Michael feel worse, and I had no idea how to calm them down, so I looked for a familiar face.
"You," I said, pointing to a blonde kid who was watching all of this happen. "Go to the special ed office and someone who can calm them down."
The kid stood frozen in his spot for a second, and I shot him a glare.
"Now," I shouted, and he hurried off.
As the blonde boy returned with two special education aides, most of the crowd that Ethan and Jake drew had disappeared. The aides took Colleen and Michael, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Ethan and Jake begin to slip away.
"Hold on a mother fucking second," I yelled after them. "The hell was that? You think being on two kids who are autistic makes you look cool?"
I got no response from either of them, so I continued.
"You realize they're going to be the ones who deal with consequences because of your bullshit, right? And you're gonna get away without even a dent on your reputation. You aren't going to get in trouble for this because no adult in this school gives a rats ass what goes on as long as we're all fucking passing. You know that, and I know that. But you bastards better listen here and listen closely. I will go to the ends of the earth to ensure that your lives after high school are a living hell of you lay one finger or say one thing to those two, or anyone else smaller than you ever again. Capiche?"
The two boys nodded, and Principal Carnegie appeared behind them.
"What's going on here?" he asked, his balding head glistening from the hall lights.
"Frankie was threatening us," Ethan whined, looking at Carnegie like a lost puppy.
"Yeah," Jake agreed, and I threw my hands up.
"What are you talking about?!" I yelled. "Mr. Carnegie, Ethan and Jake were-"
"Is this true, Ms. Chandler?" Carnegie interrupted me.
"Well, I guess, yeah," I mumbled. "But Colleen and Michael Brockley were-"
"And you brought two special needs students into this?" he asked, his voice growing stern. "Come with me. Ethan and Jake, go to class."
And, just like that, I was doing the walk of shame down to the principal's office.

***VERONICA'S POV***

"So he just suspended you from after school activities, just like that?" Alex asked Frankie, and she nodded.
"Just like that," she replied. "And there's nothing I can do about it because Ethan and Jake are above me."
"They aren't above me," Heather Chandler smirked.
"Heather," Frankie sighed, "I really don't want to get dragged in to more of this bullshit. I mean, I try to stand up for people and but assholes in their place and what do I get? Lab cleanup duty and a suspension from all after school activities."
"Maybe you can get one of the aides who came and got the twins to back you up," I suggested, but Frankie just shrugged.
"I mean, I'm not too bummed about it," she said. "It just sucks that everyone's treated so differently and the fact that adults 'solve' the problem by handing out punishments to whoever they see fit, without even hearing the whole story."
"Let's not dwell on all that," Heather McNamara chimed in. "It's girls night, the radio show will be on soon, and we have candy."
"It's all about the candy," I laughed, hoping to god that no one would ask me if I knew who the guy doing the show was.