Anger Issues

seventy

Jessica

Austin's parents ended up calling Mom and telling her what happened. Still lenient to everything going on, she took my phone and laptop away, but allowed me to watch TV and go to a friends house for school purposes only.

It could've been worse, and I had it coming. As long as Austin's punishment was shortened, I was fine.

Once I got to school, I silently went to my locker. I still had no information from Kayla at all, and the guilt was killing me.

I still felt the stares of every few students who didn't take their eyes off of me. I had nothing to say, but one of them even referred to me as "the girl who's friends with the girl who was outed."

Okay.

Shutting my locker, I reached to my pocket only to remember that I didn't have my phone. Sighing, I started walking to class.

I didn't really see any of my friends until lunch. Well, I saw Kyle walking to class, but we were too far to interact.

I was sure Kayla was out of school again, and for Austin, I simply hadn't seen him until he approached me at my locker.

"Guess what?" He asked, as I softly hugged him. "What?" I questioned.

"My parents cut down a month of my grounding, now it's one instead of two," he said. I smiled.

At least now, I was sure that what I did had the impact I hoped for.

"Really?" I asked, pretending that I didn't have any part in it. He nodded his head. "I'm not sure why. It was pretty random," he said.

I shrugged. "I guess they realized how harsh they were," I said. He smiled softly. "Yeah, probably."

When we got down to lunch, Kyle was sitting with his phone beside his ear.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he help up a finger and quickly silenced me.

I turned to Austin who simply shrugged.

"Fuck, man," Kyle sighed, running his hands through his hair as he dropped his phone on the table.

Austin picked it up and turned it towards the both of us. Scrolling down a few times, all of his call logs were unanswered calls to Kayla.

I had nothing to say. Turning my head away, I looked at the table.

"I've been calling her since last night," he said. "Dude, chill. She probably needs some time," Austin said.

"She's here," Kyle retorted. I immediately looked up. "In school?" I asked. He nodded. "Where? How do you know?" I fired questions.

"I saw her on my way to physics, but haven't since. She didn't even look in my direction," he explained. I leaned my forehead in the palm of my hands. She hated us, I knew it.

"Uh, Jess," Austin nudged his head behind me. Turning, the principal walked towards us. His eyes on me, specifically.

I turned back to the two with confused expressions. "Wha-"

"Can I please speak to you?" He asked me. I waited a second for him to speak to the guys as well, but nothing happened.

"Yeah, sure," I stood up. "Is she in trouble?" Austin asked. The principal shook his head, but his solemn expression hadn't changed.

As we walked towards his office, I couldn't help but question what was happening.

"What is this about?" I finally asked. "You'll see in a minute. Don't worry, you're not in... big trouble," he said.

Big trouble? I was still in trouble.

As he opened the door to his office, my eyes immediately landed on Kayla, and her mom.

"Kayla.." I softly spoke.

"Take a seat, Jessica," the principal told me. I nodded and sat in the chair beside Kayla.

She hadn't even looked in my direction.

He cleared his throat, getting our attention. "We need you to tell us everything that happened at the party."