Here & Now

Chapter Ten

Oh fuck! The room seemed to grow larger as I sunk into my chair and a burning sensation overtook me. The heat from people's glares made me start sweating. I needed to get out of there as soon as possible. My chair launched to the ground as I stood up, grabbing my bag to leave—but a jarring voice over the PA stopped me in my tracks.

        'Good morning, students.' Principal Ribbon's voice filtered through the speakers.
'Will Mr. Aiden Lewis please come to my office immediately.'

       Are you fucking serious right now? This is legit the worst morning ever. The sense of dread became an overwhelming hurricane of defeat. Moving towards the door, I heard a mixture of exaggerated vomit noises and laughter. Miss Gilberry appeared at my shoulder and ushered me out with her, closing the door behind us.

       'Are you okay, Aiden?' she asked, crouching down to my eye level.

       Her eyes searched mine for answers. I couldn't respond. My act of playing last night was supposed to be the catalyst to a better life. I thought I had shown courage, but I had only been rewarded with humiliation. This is what I deserved for acting on my courage.

        Miss Gilberry could see I was beyond talking, so she placed her hand on my shoulder and said, 'Come on sweetie, let's see what the Principal wants.'

       As we passed classrooms, I envied the students sitting inside... I'd give anything to be just 'another' student again. My mind reeled with the prospect of changing schools. If I explained the situation to Mom, she'd have to agree. If she refused I could just get myself expelled—surely it couldn't be that hard.

       As I walked into Principal Ribbon's office, his intimidating figure jolted me from my scheming thoughts. He sat staunchly behind his desk, arms folded. Sitting across from the Principal in one of the chairs was Aya. Both were looking at me, Principal Ribbon with an unreadable expression and Aya with a soft, sympathetic smile.

       I heard the door close behind me as Principal Ribbon prompted me to take a seat next to Aya.

       Principal Ribbon cleared his throat. 'Morning, Aiden. You may be curious as to why I called you here this morning.'

       I wasn't really curious, I was sure it had something to do with my vocal performance last night. Principal Ribbon turned his laptop around and confirmed my fear. On screen was the same video I'd watched on PJ's phone. As the video played I felt my skin go hot with embarrassment. Aya sat right next to me, watching the clip intently. I turned my attention to the Principal's medals instead—I didn't need to see this crap again.

       Principal Ribbon cut the video short when he realized that I wasn't watching it. I returned my gaze to the Principal, my skin still flushed as rage began bubbling inside me.

       I decided to get the first word in. 'I didn't do anything wrong Sir, people get nervous sometimes and when they do, stuff like this can happen!' A strange defensiveness had taken hold of me—I could hear it in my voice.

       'Ah Aide...'
I cut him off. 'Just cause you served in the army, and you think you are king shit, doesn't mean you're better than me or anyone else here! All you care about is this school's reputation! You don't care about any of the students!'

       Aya started, reaching her hand out to mine, 'Aiden, relax—' I cut her off as well.

       'And why is she here?' I stood and pointed at Aya. 'So you can embarrass me even more?' I tried hard to restrain my shaking voice, on the verge of yelling.