Starry Eyed

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

It's cold inside the Principal's Office at Huntley Academy, as if the fan is jammed and can't switch itself off. Goosebumps crawl up on my skin, dot my arms with tiny little humps that make me feel as if I am permanently itchy. And this is the stupid thought I am thinking when the headmaster of the school is asking me to explain myself.

I kind of feel like being caught by the principal is less of a big deal than it should be. I mean, sure, I'm going to be punished, and there'll be trouble when I get out, but for some reason that isn't the big issue for me. The big issue is that I wasn't just caught with alcohol by the principal; I was caught by my best friend's dad. And that feels a hell of a lot worse.

You know when you're friends with someone, and you feel like that friendship is absolutely unbreakable, as long as you don't piss the parents off? That is perfectly correct, because if you piss the parents off, they'll do all they can to seperate you from your friend. They have the power to reduce your contact to as little as possible. They can ban you from hanging out with one another, control your texting and social media contact, cut you off almost at the seams. And to me, that's the scary part of sitting in front of Principal Huntley right now.

"Go ahead and try to tell me why you had that beer, Jones."

My socks are sticky and cold, adding to that awful, frozen feeling thanks to my clumsiness and my own raw panic. There's beer pooling in my sneakers. A situation I never dared to even consider occuring in my life. My throat feels clogged up with flem when I try to speak, and my first word is gargly, choked.

"Well."

I clear my throat awkwardly, staring at my soaked feet with a newfound fascination. I have never appreciated shoes quite so much as I do now.

"I, um, was playing a prank, actually." How embarassing is it that the first prank I ever even consider playing on someone, results in me trying to explain the planning to the principal? This is why it's better to stick to the rules and be a nerd.

"A prank?"

"Yeah, um, just a prank."

"And why were you pulling a prank?" Principal Huntley is suspicious, anxious for information. I gnaw at my lip, trying to think of a good answer to this question.

"Well, I, uh... I owed her one," I shrug, as if this is a good enough explanation. But it is not.

"Who did you owe one?" To him, the idea is ludicrous, that you could owe somebody the debt of a pathetic little prank that would only get them into trouble. Principal Huntley has never played a prank in his entire life.

And, I don't know how to respond to his nosy questions. Because in every high school, rats are almost equal to the real pests of the same name. Dob someone in, and you're stooping to the lowest level possible. I have usually fragrantly disregarded this 'rule', but right now, I am certain I cannot.

Her words float back to me. Well, you really don't have a reputation at all. But you don't want to make one out of ratting people out. I don't want to listen, but I trust Star. And yet there's no other way. I have to give in.

"Kim. Uh, Kim Smith. Do you know her?" Even after wanting to dob her in, even after wanting her dead on a platter for all this time, I feel awful finally doing it. There's no telling what this could mean for her- and for me.

"Yes, I do. And what reason did she have for you to... prank her?"

It falls short in my mind that to the teachers, Kim is an angelic creature sent from the heavens above. I know her. She aces all her classes, makes out as a geeky, snobby little genius, and somehow becomes queen of the school. At least in the teacher's eyes. But behind their backs, she bitches, she lashes out, she scars others and runs away laughing. She's one of those kids that gets away with anything, that's evil to other kids but freaking God around adults. This could prove to be a very large obstacle in convincing her wickedness to the principal.