Unpredictable

Chapter 16

There was no way I could forget the permanently narrowed eyes and scowl of Ms. Stokys, our school's old principal. The poor woman got fired after getting accused of repeatedly stealing coffee mugs from the teacher's lounge when it was actually one of Chase's many pranks. Image her humiliation while apologizing to the whole student and teacher body for taking and storing all the mugs in her office cabinets even though Chase was the one who put them there.

Of course every single student knew that is was Chase who did it, but since everyone hated Ms. Stokys nobody spoke out in her defence. I admit I did feel a bit guilty for a while, but come on, it was hilarious and she was the worst principal ever so I let it slide.

Imagine the surprise when we entered the little dump office to find the grumpy middle-aged woman already glaring daggers at us. She sure didn't upgrade to a better job after the mug fiasco. I glanced up at Chase to find him stifling a laugh, probably at seeing where Stokys ended up. I too was holding myself back from laughing by biting my tongue.

"Well, we meet again Johnson," she inquired in a tone so full of distaste I was tempted to hand her a mint.

"Yes we do. I see you've moved up in job position," I can literally see the steam coming out of her ears and I wouldn't be surprised if she jumped up and strangled Chase, and I would join her, because what the crap is he thinking? This woman is the only thing keeping us out of jail at the moment, and unless he doesn't shut up and start begging for forgiveness we're both screwed.

"Actually," I glower at Chase for a second before giving Ms. Stoika my most angelic smile, "we are both extremely sorry for trespassing, it's just that um, we were looking for my dog."

I swear I can feel Chase facepalming in his mind, but this excuse is much more believable than the real reason. Hopefully Stokys has a big heart for animals and lets us go with a warning.

"You were looking for your dog in a landfill?" It was easy to tell she didn't believe us with the boring tone she used. I should have known that using the dog excuse wouldn't work with an ex-principal but I've already dug the hole so why not keep going, maybe I'll come out the other side this once.

"Yeah, we were walking to the park nearby when I accidentally tripped and let go of the leash, I guess Skippy smelled the rotting meat and couldn't help himself," I glance over at Chase and see him shaking his head and biting his cheek, trying to stifle a laugh. I groan silently and not very gently kick him in the shin, if he doesn't get his crap together it's going to be too obvious that we're lying.

Ms. Stokys gives each of us an irritated stare, "Okay, well either way this is a serious matter so I'm afraid I'll have to call both of your parents," I let out a relieved sigh and am about to thank her for showing mercy and not throwing us into jail when I get interrupted, "Please," Chase? Chase was begging? Why wouldn't he want to get the heck out of here, "Just don't call my parents."

"Chase," I hissed, wanting no more trouble than he's already caused.

"You'll be taken to the county jail where your parents will pick you up. Is that a problem, Mr. Johnson?" a cracked and wicked grin spread across her face. "Because if that's a problem I could call your parents and discuss it with them directly, rather than the police calling. I'm sure they'd trust the news much more if it came from me."

Chase's jaw locked and his eyes became larger. "Don't," he said hoarsely. She pulled out her phone. Chase lunged at her, reaching for the phone, trying to pull it from her hands. She screamed and jumped up, her wheeled chair darting across the room and crashing into the brick wall. She raised her hand and slapped Chase across the face. Stumbling back, he let the phone fall from his hands, and stared at her in awe. Then he looked to me for a few seconds. Bewilderment in his eyes, as if he couldn't believe what he'd just done.