OBB: Online Burn Book

Gale Khan

As Gale walked home, he thought about the lecture Mr. Travis had given him in his office.

"I don't know why you thought it would be appropriate to shout what you did during the assembly," he said sternly.

"I'm sorry, sir," Gale answered, his head down. He had never called someone 'sir,' but now seemed a good time to start the practice.

Mr. Travis harrumphed before leaning towards the desk, reaching for a pen and pencil. "What is your name? I'll have someone call your house."

Gale forced the groan back down his throat as he closed his eyes. "Gale Khan. Sir."

Mr. Travis nodded as he wrote Gale's name down. "Now, please tell me why you thought you had to scream what you screamed," he said.

Some psycho blackmailed me into saying it, that's why, Gale wanted to answer bitterly. Instead, he merely shrugged and looked down at the corner of Mr. Travis' desk. "I was just . . . angry, I guess."

"Angry?" Mr. Travis placed his elbows on his desk and leaned forward. "What could you possibly be angry about? Why would you be angry? What made you so angry?"

Gale accidentally lifted his gaze and made eye contact with the principal. The tone of his voice when he asked the questions made the whole scenario feel like an interrogation, and he couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated. "I . . . don't know," Gale drew out as he tried to come up with a good excuse. "Um, I was angry that Jason had decided to do what he did."

Mr. Travis' face suddenly looked a lot more relaxed, though he still had an eyebrow up. "But what does that have to do with what you almost blurted out?" he asked softly, "assuming we are both talking about the same thing here."

Gale frowned slightly. The founder had only told him what to say -- he had no idea what it all meant, or whether it was true or not; the incident from two years ago had happened before Gale had transferred to OBB High, so he wasn't as up to date with the infamous story. "Are you talking about the --"

At that moment, the bell rang loudly.

Gale stood up from the uncomfortable chair. "So, does that mean I'm free to --"

The principal held up a hand. "Mr. Khan, I will allow you to go," he said. "However, I will still be calling your parents. I will also request that you do not attempt to repeat what you tried to share during the assembly, as it is a lie. Whoever or wherever you heard that from, they were incorrect when checking their sources."

Gale nodded quickly. "Of course, sir," he said before running out of there. 

Now, Gale wondered why the principal had acted so strangely. Could it be possible that there was some truth to what the founder had told him, after all?

Nah, his brain answered just as quickly. If someone had committed suicide before, the news would have been everywhere. However, when Gale first received the information, he couldn't find anything that correlated with a suicide at OBB High.

Sighing, Gale unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped in, only to have his mother at his face, screaming about a phone call she had received from the school.

Well, that was great.

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