Chapter 92: Long List RIP Cearra, you will be missed. I loved you dearly, but nowhere near as much as you loved BTS. It had started out with good intentions. Months ago, Austin convinced Cearra's mom that she should come to Dubai with us. He succeeded, by pretending to be Chad's dad and putting on an accent. A Swedish accent. And now the house of cards was crashing down. Not just for Cearra, but for the rest of us too. The Principal said she would punish everyone and that it would impact our academic records. I didn't grow up in the warmest of homes. Literally, we didn't have heating for a few years until my mom started earning more. I always told myself that if I studied hard enough, I could get a better life. But I got distracted. My grades were sinking and here we all were. "Sweden?" Chad's dad asked, "What does that have to do with anything?" "It's a figure of speech," Chad said. "It's not," Cearra's mom replied, "I'm dead serious." Chad's dad took a moment before he replied, "I don't know how this would be handled in Sweden, but I'm trying to get my son out of trouble in this country, and I understand you're trying to do the same for your daughter." Cearra went into a meltdown and dropped into her chair. Austin turned his head away, trying to keep a low profile. And I tried to keep so straight faced that my eye started to twitch. They were moments away from being busted. "Except that it sounds like my daughter had a very small part to play in this incident, unlike your son and his whip," she gave Chad the side eye, "But he's getting away with it because of your bank account, while my daughter is still in the hot seat. That's the definition of privilege." New voices sounded outside, interrupting the debate. "Gloria, it's this way. Trust me, I know my way around this school," a voice said, "I've been here enough times by now." I perked up the moment I recognized her voice. A few seconds later, the door swung open and Dr Taylor walked in with Gloria. Before the door shut behind them, I saw Doz's face in the hallway, trying to peek in. Dr Taylor was wearing blue hospital scrubs. She waved at the Principal like they knew each other and marched towards her son, "Austin Taylor, what did you do now?" They swarmed him; Gloria started patting his hair down while his mom tried to adjust his shirt. Austin brushed them off, but couldn't say anything. He still wasn't speaking in front of Cearra's mom. He glanced over at Luke and Chad, his eyes pleading for help. Luke got the cue and said, "Dr Taylor, there's been a misunderstanding." "There's always a misunderstanding when it comes to you three," she replied, "I know my son and if he's in this office, he's probably done something wrong." "At least someone is admitting it," Art muttered from his chair, before his dad glared at him to stay quiet. "Can we wrap this up?" Mr Dawson asked, "I have an appointment at four that I don't want to miss." Everyone turned to Principal Lee who was now just standing there. "I hate my job," she sighed, and placed her notebook against the table, "Perhaps I need to remind you all that this school is built to educate children and keep them safe. Today, we failed in that mission, so I need to hold someone or multiple people accountable for what happened. It's school policy and it's the right thing to do." I'd like to look at that school policy. Bullying isn't just physical, and I haven't seen any existence of this 'no-tolerance' policy supporting emotional harassment. I tried to get help multiple times freshman year, but was told that it's too hard to prove. Over time, verbal bullying has destroyed my self-confidence and heightened my trust issues. I can readily admit that Luke has helped me open my eyes to that and helped me start to rebuild. But it's a long road to walk back up. Coach Griffith said, "With all due respect, Principal, we agreed that I will handle the punishment of my own players-" "I now need to revisit that agreement," she said, pointing at the rest of us who were not part of his 'team.' It was ridiculous that Luke and Chad had been about to walk out of here free of any repercussions. "Suspension and expulsion are on the table for everyone," she repeated, "Now you either confess or I'll have to determine who willingly participated in the bullying. We have witness statements that describe everything." Jokes had died down now. The boys had been so used to getting out of trouble; they knew how to work the system. But this time was different. Hate Kaden all we want, but Luke hurt him on school grounds. I know Kaden had bad intentions, but you can't right a wrong with another wrong. Arturo's dad asked respectfully, "How will you approach this, Principal?" "I'll ask each of you to recount what happened. I'll have to separate you since I think there's a lot of peer pressure in this group," she said, staring directly at Luke, "To be honest, it's not looking good for you kids. School records will be affected." "You make them sound like they're guilty already," Mrs Dawson criticized, though she sounded incredibly concerned. Everyone seemed concerned. Finally. We needed to start giving this situation the attention it deserves. "These kids are in serious trouble," the Principal replied to Mrs Dawson, "I am not trying to be cruel to your children, but you have to understand that it is my job to make this school a safe place. We cannot have people being punched and thrown around a room. And if we can't settle this here today, we'll take it to the school board." She took her seat behind the large desk, since Chad's father was no longer occupying it. It creaked as she sat back. Everyone watched her collect her files into one stack, waiting for the next step. She had control. Until Luke spoke out. With his arm resting against his chair, he calmly said, "It sounds like you haven't heard enough." "Ssh," his mother whispered, trying to get him to lay low, "Luke, now is not the time." The Principal leaned forward, "You, young man, are in the worst position out of all your friends. I'd stay quiet if I were you." "These witnesses have talked," Luke replied, "So why can't I? I'm a witness too." Principal Lee raised the picture of Kaden's bruised rib cage and arm, "Do you think this photo is a joke, Mr Dawson?" Dr Taylor gasped at the photo, "What is happening in this school?!" Cearra's mom leaned over to bring Dr Taylor and Gloria up to speed. The tension in the room was high as the gravity of the situation had finally come to grips with everyone. Everyone except Luke, apparently. "Is this ridiculous to you, Luke?" the Principal repeated, waving the picture emphatically. "No," he answered and his sharp blue eyes kept a firm gaze on her, "But neither is accusing us without proper evidence. I'm willing to bet that your witnesses are two people," he said and pointed at the picture, "That's one. And I have a good idea who the other is." Principal Lee lowered the picture, "Let me guess; your new plan is to intimidate the witnesses?" Luke took his time before he said the next part. "No," he said, "But if you do your job properly, you'd collect statements from all the witnesses. There were a lot more people in that court today, other than the two who hate us. Why don't you ask around before you round us up and expel us?" The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.