Invictus

Chapter 11: Internship

Sunday I woke up and went with Donnie's parents to church. They weren't particularly religious but I knew what they were thinking, maybe if they attended Donnie would show.

It didn't happen, and with each passing hour we became less hopeful.

The good in all of it was that his parents wanted me to stick around, so I wasn't forced to face Tia. I gave them a sob story about how we got in a fight and I didn't want to talk about it. They didn't press me after that. Told me I could stay as long as I wanted.

I made sure to help Karen with the chores around the house to make my stay less of a burden.

Then Monday morning came.

I had barely set foot onto school premises before I was called in to see Mr. Myser.

I entered the office and he motioned for me to sit. Myser didn't allow any time for the tension to build or fade, instead he cut right through it by being blunt.

"I saw the video." He said anxiously.

Swallowing hard, I turned away from him, trying to find the words to speak. My initial reaction was to scramble for a defense, a line to plead my innocence, but I decided against it.

I'd never had a serious run-in with the law or knew anything, other than what I saw on television about legal matters. From the little I did know, I was certain that it would be impossible for anyone to pin Cal's death on me, so I held my tongue and played stoic.

"And?" I tried to sound annoyed as I said it.

"Look, it didn't happen on school property so there won't be any repercussions for you."

I nodded to him, refusing to make eye contact. It was hard to play tough when your life was an absolute train wreck.

Myser's empathy gnawed at me. I could feel tears along the edges of my eyes so I tucked my lip and bit down on it. The pain helped to clear my head a little as I continued to wear my tough guy mask.

The bad kept snowballing and there didn't seem to be any good in sight.

I stayed silent.

"I don't want to drag this out any more than you do. All I wanted to say was if you need someone to talk to... Don't hesitate to reach out."

Myser was a good guy but he was making one big mistake: he assumed that the suffering in my life was isolated to Cal's death. If he only knew how much worse it was.

I went to get up but he stopped me.

"Hold on."

I stared angrily back at him. Myser adjusted his tie and shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"Look, I know you want to be done with all this, but you and I both know that too much has happened in the past week."

He didn't need to specify, we both knew what he was referring to.

"It's not going to be easy from here on out for you. I've already heard rumors around the school this morning. They're saying you're responsible for Cal's death." Myser looked me directly in the eyes.

"Who was talking?" I asked.

His face twisted into a disappointing frown.

"Saying who would be considered a breach of privacy. Bottom line, your name came up not once, but multiple times." Myser said with a stern tone.

I thought about who it was but it didn't take me long, it was obvious. Lainey. I had a quick flash of anger shoot over me. Everyone at that party treated me like I was some A-list celebrity until Cal dropped. Hypocrites.