The Skylar Experiment : The "X" in Apex

Chapter Twenty-Four - Homecoming

"This is sick," Adam said, paging through the half that I passed to him.

I'd made it to the history teacher's desk in a sweat, unsure if I would vomit right then and there, and dropped off the fairy lights. The best I could manage was to wave off his concerns, and on my way to the restroom, I ran into Adam.

He caught the shaking hands and voice immediately. I didn't know how to explain at first, but it became clear that I needed to do something now that I had these pictures.

"He was a completely different person."

We holed up in the girl's bathroom. My heart was still thumping from the rough-and-tumble. Adam fell on the one where I was going to ride with Luc, paused, then put the pile back on the tiles.

"Yeah, this needs to be turned in."

"Won't Chuck expect it? What if he's waiting me out somewhere?"

"What's important is that he can't do anything." He winced and gestured at my face. Redness marked my right eye from a scrape with his nails. I soaked some brown paper in water as a compress, but there was no concealing it without makeup. "I'll shadow you as long as you need."

I closed my eyes. What luck to deal with two wannabe bodyguards. However, I'd rather have Adam often around than asking Luc. It'd require telling him and having him save me again.

Could Chuck really plan to retaliate?

I wasn't sure.

The way he acted, it was an animal driven up a tree. He wasn't confrontational by nature from what I gathered. But I didn't know him well enough to bet on it.

"Thank you," I said.

Adam gave an apologetic smile that made me smile back.

"You're coming to our place after the parade. Luc usually drives you home. I can stick around in the halls. I don't think Chuck is going to be an issue until the school sees this and expels him."

"You think they'll go that far?"

"If they don't, the parents will convince them to—once they learn of this."

We stayed nestled here the whole period. After the anger eased away, I wasn't brave enough to face people with my scratched eye. Adam stole some concealer from Emma's bag at my request.

Plus, he hunted down my painkillers bottle for me.

Together, we knocked on the headmaster's office door.

The lady asked many questions and was shell-shocked at the array of pictures. That was when Adam spoke.

"Riley got them from Chuck directly. He hit her and she had to hide it with makeup just now."

"My goodness, do you wish to press charges?" she asked me as I was side-eyeing him.

"No!" I didn't want to be involved in stirring the pot more. "I just want the girls in the photos to be notified and for the school to... do something about him. He shouldn't take pictures anymore."

Ms. Perez stared vacantly at the pile between her elbows. She sighed and glanced at the phone on her desk.

"Very well... We're going to contact the parents of each girl and discuss an appropriate course of action for Chuck as soon as possible. Thank you both for coming to me, and you will be updated."

We exited the office with my soul ready to divorce my body. On one hand, I was glad it was taken seriously. On the other hand, my parents will be contacted.