Red Room

17

Just as promised, Moloch arrived at the school at short past 7 o' clock in the morning. He would have got there earlier if he hadn't miscalculated the time and passed the bus. But fortunately, not many people had to get going at that time, so the bus made really short stops at the stations.

Juho had been sitting in front of the building for a few minutes now, waiting for him. He'd expected to need more time to get there as the traffic was infernal between 7.00 and 9.00. However, there were surprisingly little cars in the way.

The boys greeted each other. Juho took a marker out of the pocket of his hoodie and handed it to his commerade.

"What's this for?", the younger one questioned, confused.

"Didn't we agree yesterday to pull a prank on Erik?"

Of course Moloch remembered about that. But why would they need a marker? What did Juho exactly think of?

The older boy noticed the cluelessness in his friend's eyes and decided to explain what was going on: "Let's say we're gonna vandalise his locker a bit. You guys still have lockers in the school, don't you?"

"Dude, you only graduated two years ago! How much do you think schools have changed?"

Juho shrugged, "Just wanted to be sure. Do you know where his locker is?"

The other one nodded and motioned his friend to follow him. They entered the school carefully, especially Juho, who would get in trouble if he were seen in the building, considering he was not in high school anymore. And even if he were, he went to the one in his hometown, so he'd have had problems just the same.

Each class had their lockers right next to the door. Thus, younger and older students would meet less often and possible altercations should be avoided. Also, all of them looked exactly the same: red, middle-sized, square-shaped boxes made out of metal. Everyone of them had a white tag with their names on the bottom-right corner. Customizing the exterior was forbidden.

Erik's locker was among the ones in the top row, since his surname started with B. There were only 4 others before his.

Grinning, Juho took the top of the marker off.

"Now what?", Moloch questioned.

"Now comes the fun part."

The boys started to 'decorate' the metallic square. They drew caricatures of his face and wrote things like 'whimp', 'coward', 'crybaby' and 'only gay guys hit girls'. Their job was finished in around 20 minutes.

By that time, more people were entering the school. Quickly, the boys tucked the markers in their pockets and Moloch walked his friend to the exit. Until going out, Juho wore the hood over his head and kept his gaze to the ground so as not to be recognized and then identified as an intruder.

Ironically enough, they came across Erik. The boy sent his class mate a death glare, letting him know that there was no more chance for a peaceful relationship to happen between the two.

The friends' hearts stopped for a moment. They were sure he'd go to the principal and announce the unwanted presence right away. However, he didn't seem to notice the strange need of Moloch's commerade to hide his face.

In the end, Juho made it out of the school building with no problem. A few moments later, he was out of sight.

The first class happened as normally, but in the break, hell broke loose. Erik lost his calm when he saw the surprise which has been awaiting him. Even more ironic is that Moloch was the last person to be suspected of vandalism.

"Ms. Kataleya Ryman's presence is requested in the principal's office.", the school secretary informed the teacher that was in the class at that moment.

Suddenly, all eyes were on the dredhead. Everybody in the classroom was curious about what Kataleya had done, even her. She didn't remember breaking any rule. But still, she didn't want to get on anyone's nerves so she did as she'd been told.

In the office, she was welcomed by a fuming Erik and a highly displeased principal. It had to be something serious then.

"Good morning.", she greeted.

"It's not so good for everybody, Kataleya.", the man lectured, "I heard you've caused no trouble in your previous school. What made you begin now?"

Kataleya's eyes widened in surprise, "Me?!"

"Yes. You."

"But what have I done?"

Infuriated by the girl's acting, Erik decided to mix in, "Don't play dumb!"

"Erik, please calm down.", the principal motioned him to take a deep breath, "We can solve this situation without any further arguments."

He then turned to her, "Kataleya, your colleague is sure that you have vandalised his locker this morning."

She rose an eyebrow. How could she have vandalised a locker if she had no ideea that it happened?

"I don't know what you're talking about.", she excused herself.

Erik was visibly becoming angrier with each moment that passed. Neither did the principal seem to believe her, which irritated her slightly. How did they want her to prove she wasn't guilty?!

"Very well then.", the principal rose from his seat, "How about we take a look at the 'crime place'? I think this will be much more efficient than sticking to assumptions."

The three exited the office and headed for Erik's locker. It was full of offensive messages indeed, but the dreadhead still had nothing to do with it.

After giving her enough time of looking at the vandalised locker, the principal demanded answers. Of course Kataleya could have taken the guilt upon herself and made his job easier. However, she didn't want to face consequences of something she hadn't done.

"Wasn't me.", she shrugged. Seeing the males were still not moved by her answer, she continued, "That's not even my handwriting! Plus, I'm left-handed. The words should have been a bit smeared, don't you think?"

It seemed her argument was still not convincing enough. Annoyed, Kataleya asked for a piece of paper and a pen. Then, she wrote down every single word that was decorating the metallic square. After finishing, she handed the paper over to the principal, so that he could compare the handwritings.

The man scanned the paper attentively, then moved his attention to the locker. He repeated the process a few times to be sure he was giving the appropriate sentence. In the end, it turned out that the girl was innocent, just like she had said.

"Sorry Erik, but I can't punish somebody who hasn't disobeyed the rules.", the man concluded and noticing the disappointment in the boy's eyes, he added, "But don't worry, I'll keep looking for the prankster."

Turning to the dreadhead, he spoke, "You can go now. The class must have started."

She nodded and started to head for her classroom. Once inside, she was sure she had to explain to the teacher why she was late and the other kids wouldn't leave her alone until they'd forced every detail out of her mouth. She rolled her eyes.