17 The punishment

Students who hadn't known Zara a day ago came flocking to her offering her compliments on anything and everything. She felt good to have somebody who cared for her. Even though, she felt that the licking thing was a bit dramatic.

Zara had wanted to go to the washroom afterwards to clean herself though Jake had run outside and poured a bucket of water on himself making everybody follow suit. She stood where she was as Jake removed the flimsy t-shirt he had been wearing and her eyes feasted on the sight of his muscular and toned body that showed a perfect six-pack.

Not that he was showing it off though. He quickly changed into a spare t-shirt that he often kept at the cafeteria when he would get soaked in sauces and ketchups.

Their eyes had met just for a moment and his eyes had fuelled with a reckless desire to walk upto her and complete his unfulfilled wish. Zara shivered both from the cold ice seeping in her clothes and his intense gaze that made her unable to breathe. Their eye fest ended when Veronica downed three buckets of water on Zara and they began play-fighting.

Principal Wood had to come to the cafeteria and had called security to get the kids under control as everybody was shivering in the cold yet laughed and threw water on each other. The principal could give Mrs. Norris a run for her money when it came to being strict and the students scattered around like tiny mice seeing a cat standing before them.

He had an intimidating personality that even the bullies feared. In an eerily calm tone he asked as his voice boomed through the silence, "Who started this chaos?"

Students bent their heads and looked at each other but nobody said a word. Mr. Wood commanded respect from the worst of the students and had helped many students turn a new leaf who would have otherwise wasted their lives away.

He low-key growled, "I am going to ask just one more time and if I do not get an answer, I will randomly pick someone and then you all will be sorry of not having spoken earlier. So, I ask again, who is responsible for this?"

Veronica pinched her righteous friend to keep mum but Zara took a few steps ahead and managed to say, "Sir, It was me."

To say that Mr. Wood was surprised was an understatement. He was shocked but he knew better than to tell-off a bright student in front of the entire school and crush them. He would do it in his cabin. He took a minute to lower his raised eyebrows and was about to say something when he was interrupted by Jake "I'm sorry Sir, she was not alone in this."

He turned to see Jake, "Aren't you Mr Turner's grandson?"

Jake replied, "Yes Sir"

Mr Wood shook his head, disappointment clearly written on his face. Jake continued in his same tone, "Sir, don't get me wrong. I am guilty of this but so is Rebecca. In fact, Zara is taking the blame when Rebecca was the one who started it."

If hatred had a face, it would have been what Rebecca looked at that time, staring at the two of them. Mr Wood couldn't have been more pissed. He ordered, "The three of you in my cabin-Now!"

The rest of the students hurriedly left campus before Mr Wood would start punishing everyone and the three of them walked to his cabin in the building opposite the cafeteria. Jake kept shooting glances at Zara trying to assure her that everything would be okay while Rebecca walked to his office alone, pretending to be busy in her phone.

Jake and Zara stood in a corner and were pleasantly surprised when Veronica showed up. Zara was happy to see her though she was worried, "V, what are you doing here?"

Veronica replied, "I'm doing what I should have done back at the cafeteria. Owning my mistake."

Zara took her hand, "You did nothing, idiot. Now go before he sees you."

Veronica was determined, "It all started because I bumped into that stupid witch. Besides, what will I do if you both are suspended? I'll get bored to death alone."

Despite the tension of the punishment, Zara relaxed. Rebecca watched the three out of the corner of her eye though she pretended to not care.

After what seemed like an hour, they were ushered inside and they stood in front of the principal's desk as he was busy signing a large stack of documents. The room was empty save the large desk and a massive cupboard that had books lined across the shelves. Zara looked at the books longingly. Her fingers ached to touch them- she had always liked the feel and smell of old papers.

Principal Wood got up from his chair and went to the window. He appeared deep in thought and turned around meaning to state the punishment when he saw a fourth student standing there. He looked at her, "Don't tell me you were a part of it, too."

Veronica had never been called to the principal's office. She was an average student who neither scored excellent grades and neither was a troublemaker-the two main reasons for the Principal knowing a student.

Veronica's throat went dry and she only nod her head and meekly uttered, "I…I am responsible for it as well, Sir."

"Now, I think I may have to punish the entire school." They shot each other confused looks as Mr. Wood let out a low chuckle, "What you guys did was a disturbance to the school's decorum and could have caused considerable destruction of property, had it not been contained well before time."

He then sighed, "But, I can't seem to decide a perfect punishment for throwing water on each other."

His sentence made all of them look up as his lips formed a smile- a barely thin smile, but it was there, nonetheless. Zara couldn't believe her eyes. Mr. Wood was smiling for an infraction.

He continued in his calm tone, "To impress the gravity of your act, I ask all of you to choose a book from my collection, read it and write a review/analysis of not less than 2000 words debating the pros and cons of the subject." Jake and Zara's face lit up while Rebecca and Veronica mentally groaned.

He opened the doors of the large mahogany cupboard by unlocking the key and said, "You have five minutes to choose a book. If you haven't chosen after five minutes, you will be assigned a book of my choice. Your time starts now."

Rebecca grumbled at the thought of more homework and tried to open her mouth when Mr. Wood turned to her and said, "I would be expecting high standards of work, especially from you, Ms Cabot."

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