rivals in the sheets

chapter eighteen

The bell rang and Ethan immediately dashed out of the classroom.

He wanted to get out as soon as possible. People were talking about the party and some people were saying the weirdest stuff he'd ever heard.

A few people were saying that Hamilton offered him sexual services but obviously Ethan turned them down.

That was the most flattering recount of the events, at least.

Still, most people were saying worse things and Ethan didn't want to deal with it any further. He just wanted to go home and rest, then maybe call Coach and tell him that he was sick.

It would work because Coach had no way to check on him, right? Ethan could be sick for all anyone knew, he just couldn't tell anyone that he was faking it.

Before he could get far, something behind him interrupted him.

"Mr. Emmerson?" spoke a voice behind him, making him turn around.

Ethan saw the vice principal standing behind him, and he looked pretty serious about it, so Ethan was confused for a second, unsure if he did something wrong.

"The principal would like to talk to you." When Ethan looked confused, the vice principal added, "It's about football, I think. But I do think it's pretty important so you shouldn't wait too long before going to the office."

Ethan understood that it wasn't a request, it was a demand. If he didn't do what was asked of him he would probably get in trouble somehow.

Principal Meyers didn't ask to see students out of goodwill, she asked to see them because they had done something wrong and she wanted to sort it out directly with them.

If she wanted to talk to him directly, then it meant that something big enough was brewing and that she didn't want to keep it behind.

He nodded and left for her office immediately .

When he came into the principal's office, he saw two chairs, both empty, right in front of the principal's desk.

"Sit down, please," said the principal with an unreadable smile on her face. "I wanted to talk to you."

Ethan knew that there was usually just one chair there, so if there was another one, it had to be because someone else was coming, but he didn't want to point it out.

He just sat down and smiled back at the principal, but he knew that he looked a lot more nervous than usual.

He wasn't even sure what he did to get into trouble, but he was certain that he wasn't there because he was on his best behavior or some other positive thing. No, the principal definitely called him in because he did something wrong.

He was just starting to calm down when he heard a knock on the door and turned around.

As if someone was messing with him, there stood Lucas Hamilton, with a big smile on his face, but Ethan could see that he was just as confused as him.

The boy sat down and put his bag next to his chair, then waited for the principal to say something, exactly like Ethan.

"So, I got wind of the two of you not behaving like you should around each other. That there's some bad blood that is evident to everyone."

Ethan fought the urge to make a backhanded comment about how that wasn't hard at all, but he held himself back. The last thing he needed was to get in trouble with the principal.

"Oh, you know, people like to talk but I think we get along just fine," muttered Lucas with a big smile on his face. He looked as if he had it all figured it out now, like he could trick the principal and get through this unscathed.