Chapter 36 Expulsion Is On The Table

Chapter 36 Expulsion Is On The Table
The next morning at school, I'm walking through the halls with my hoodie pulled low, avoiding eye contact with anyone who might ask questions. Lena tried to talk to me again before I left the house, but I told her I needed to handle something on my own. She did not look happy, but she let me go.
Practice is later this afternoon, but I cannot wait that long. The video is still sitting on Sarah’s and Haley’s phones, and every hour it exists is another hour they can use it to destroy me. I need to end this now, before it spreads any further.
I wait until the halls clear out after the last bell. Most students have gone home or headed to clubs and sports. I slip into the girls’ locker room, the door clicking shut behind me with a soft sound that feels too loud in the empty space.
I move quickly toward Sarah’s locker. I know her combination from months of sharing the same space during practice. My fingers tremble slightly as I spin the dial, but I force myself to stay focused until the lock finally clicks open. Inside, her bag is sitting on the bottom shelf with her phone tucked into the side pocket. I pull it out, and the screen immediately lights up with notifications. Haley’s locker is two rows over. I open hers the same way and find her phone as well.
I carry both devices to the row of sinks near the showers and turn on the tap for the first sink, watching cold water rushing out in a steady stream. I hold Sarah’s phone over the basin, my thumb hovering over the power button one last time. Part of me wants to watch the video again, to see exactly how bad it looks, but I know that will only make me hesitate. I drop the phone into the sink and water immediately covers the screen. I do the same with Haley’s phone in the next sink, turning both taps on full.
The sound of running water fills the locker room. I stand there for a moment, watching bubbles rise as the devices short out. Relief starts to creep in. This could actually work. No more threats. No more fear of waking up to my face plastered across every group chat.
The thought has barely left my mind when the locker room door swings open behind me.
Sarah walks in with her earbuds dangling around her neck and a gym bag slung over one shoulder. She stops dead when she sees me standing at the sinks with water pouring over two phones.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demands.
I freeze for half a second, then I quickly grab Sarah’s phone from the sink and slam it against the edge of the counter until the screen cracks loudly.
“Consider this a system reset,” I mutter.
Sarah drops her bag and lunges at me. “You bitch! That’s my phone!”
She grabs my arm, nails digging into my skin as she tries to yank me away from the sink. I shove her back, my shoulder connecting with hers. We crash into the row of lockers, rattling the metal loudly. She swings at me and I feel hot pain bloom on my cheek. I twist free and slam Haley’s phone down next, cracking it against the tile floor.
“You're fucking insane!” Sarah screams, grabbing my hair from behind and pulling hard.
“You haven’t seen the half of it,” I respond with an elbow to her ribs hard enough to make her grunt, but she still doesn’t let go. We stumble across the wet floor as the water continues pouring from the taps. I manage to knee her in the thigh, and she finally releases my hair with a curse.
“You’re going to regret this,” she hisses, breathing hard. She pulls out another phone from her jacket pocket and starts recording. “Smile for the camera, Bennett. This is going straight to admin.”
I lunge for the phone, but she dances back, still filming. “Security!” she yells at the top of her lungs. “Someone call security! Riley Bennett is destroying school property and attacking me!”
Footsteps thunder down the hallway outside. Two security guards burst into the locker room, radios crackling. They take one look at the scene, water everywhere, phones smashed on the floor, and Sarah holding up her phone like evidence.
“Break it up!” one guard shouts, stepping between us.
“What the hell happened in here?” another one asks.
“I came in and caught her destroying me and Haley’s phones.” Sarah jabs a finger at me. “When I tried to confront her about it, she attacked me too.”
The guards turn to look at me.
“Is that true?” one of them asks.
“That’s not–” I begin.
“I’m 100% sure that if you check the hallway monitors you’ll see footage of her breaking into our lockers to get our phones.” Sarah cuts in, wiping water from her face.
“And if you need evidence of the part that happened in here, I have plenty.” She continues, waving her phone with a triumphant smile on her face. “I have everything on video.”
The guard grabs my arm firmly. “I'm afraid you have to come with us ma'am. We're taking a little trip to the athletic director’s office.”
I don’t bother arguing as the guards escort me out of the locker room. Students who stayed late for clubs stare as we walk down the hall. Whispers follow us all the way to the administrative wing.
The athletic director’s office feels too small when we enter. Mr. Hargrove is sitting behind his desk, looking tired and disappointed. The dean is there too, along with a woman from student services. They sit me down in a hard plastic chair while Sarah gives her version of events, voice shaking with fake tears.
“She’s been bullying me for weeks,” Sarah says. “Ever since Coach took the captaincy from her and gave it to me. Today she followed me into the locker room and destroyed my phone then attacked me when I tried to stop her. I have it all on video.”
Hargrove looks at me with a heavy expression. “Riley, do you have anything to say?”
I keep my voice calm, even though my cheek is throbbing and my hands are still wet. “She and Haley have been blackmailing me with an edited video from a party. They spiked my drink and tried to assault me. I was trying to destroy the only copies.”
Sarah scoffs. “That’s a blatant lie. She’s just mad she’s not captain anymore.”
The dean looks at me. “If this is true, why haven’t you reported it before now?”
“Well,” I swallow. “I... um... I...”
How am I supposed to tell them that the reason I did not report it is because my soccer coach slash mobster don slash best friend’s father has been handling it himself by terminating the boys who touched me?
Hargrove sighs and rubs his temples. “We have a very strict no-bullying and no-harassment policy at this school, Ms. Bennett. Destroying school property and assaulting a teammate is serious. We have security footage from the hallway and Sarah’s video. This does not look good for you unless you have a credible reason for this behaviour. Do you?”
I look down at my hands folded on my lap but say nothing.
“In that case, you’re looking at immediate suspension,” the woman from student services says. “And depending on what we confirm... expulsion is absolutely on the table.”
I sit there feeling my heart sinking as the reality settles in. Expulsion. The word echoes in my head. No more soccer. No more scouts at the tournament. Everything I have worked for, gone because I tried to protect myself the only way I could think of.
Hargrove leans forward. “We will speak with Coach Fletcher as well, since this involves the team. Until then, you are suspended from all practices and games pending review.”
I barely hear the rest of what they say. My mind is already racing ahead to what this means. Lena will be devastated. Mom will be disappointed. And Cole… Cole will find out exactly what I did.
As they dismiss me and tell me to wait outside while they call my coach, one thought keeps repeating in my head: If Cole had handled Sarah and Haley the way I asked him to, none of this would have happened.
I thought I could take matters into my own hands and fix it. I thought I could take control.
Instead, I just handed them exactly what they needed to destroy me.