Chapter Forty-Eight: Blame Game

Expulsion: the action of forcing someone to leave an organisation.

*

"Landon! Landon!" Amada called as he ran across the courtyard. He had gained the attention of the Delinquents I was sitting with, as well as everyone within a fifty-meter radius of her.

"Something happen?" Dylan asked.

Amada came to a stop and leaned on his knees to pant. "Gimme a minute," I requested as I got to my feet and walked to him, "Amada, what's wrong?"

Amada managed to catch his breath, but his voice sounded choked as he wheezed, "Ava and the others got called to the front office. Robyn is with them too."

Together we went to the front office, a rectangular building with a very modernised interior. The front office itself was hidden behind glass barriers, protecting the receptionists from aggressive parents or the occasional wandering animal, like birds.

The other girls, except for Alexis, had already arrived, sitting in the waiting bay seats or crowding around the water cooler in the corner.

"What's happened?" I asked, sitting next to Estelle.

"Ava got called over the intercom to meet in the councillor office with the principal and other teachers," she explained. Estelle looked close to vomiting. "It looks really bad Landon."

I placed an assuring hand on her back, "Don't get worked up. We don't know what's happening."

"Yeah, that's probably worse," Bonnie stated, looking over her little sister's shoulder as she played a phone game. "The longer we wait, the more scenarios we can come up with to freak each other out." Mia softly nudged Bonnie in the side but didn't take her eyes off her game.

"Robyn was called in soon after," Amia informed as she passed her brother some water, "This is definitely about yesterday."

"Are parents here?" I asked, looking through the glass to see some idle receptionists' fiddle with a printer. Past the aisle of desks that shaped the office, I could see the doorway to student councillor, Miss Moore. I remember speaking to her a few weeks ago just to give an update on my dormmates.

I doubted she would have expected this.

Estelle shrugged, "Probably some representative of the family or something. Maybe a phone call." She checked the wall clock obnoxiously ticking in the otherwise quite waiting bat. "They've been in there for twenty minutes now."

"They'll probably stay there all lunchtime," Amada spluttered after he finished the cup of water.

"Then I guess so are we," Estelle stated slouching in her chair.

I rest my chin on my hand. "What happened to a princess must never slouch?" I quizzed.

Estelle crossed her arms and slid further down the chair. "Right now, I'm not a princess," she informed.

The bell rang for lunchtime to finish, and no one exited the office. The receptionists tried to shoo us, but somehow to no avail. Eventually, the door did open, but Robyn's ex-friends emerged, accompanied by a very well-dressed figure I assumed wasn't part of the school staff. When the door opened, we all peered inside and caught a fleeting glance at Robyn, who was sitting before an obscured desk, and Ava, who was in the middle of sombrely translating something.

When the students wandered out, they all looked like they had gotten yelled at. They trotted through the office like guilty toddlers following their parents to time-out as they filed out of the front office and outside. On the way past, I saw the boy Ava had punched in the nose. His face from the centre out was bruised a dark purple, the veins under his eyes swollen and affecting his ability to close one of them. He breathed out of his mouth and had a zombie esc walk to the way he dragged his feet.

None of them looked at us.

And for their sake, I'm glad, because the glares we all shared were full of disdain.

Alexis started texting me, her typos gave me a quick smile, but otherwise, we all sat with blank expressions as we waited, another twenty minutes going by before the doors opened again and both girls walked out, the Principal Mr Wittman and councillor Miss Moore close behind. When they emerged from the office and into the waiting bay, we all stood up, the girls overwhelming them with a hurricane of questions all at once. The principal was quick to dismiss them, announcing how it was inappropriate to ask or discuss the incident with us.

Robyn walked up to me and clutched to my face, determined to hide her face in my chest, as another man, a burly, wide-shouldered man in a navy-blue uniform approached. He motioned for Ava to lead the way and, without a word, Ava complied, walking back towards the school grounds.

SECURITY was sprawled on the back of the man's uniform.

Bonnie spoke up, "Wait, what's happened? Where are they taking her?"

Ava finally spoke, "I've been expelled. I have to clean out my locker."

"What!" everyone collectively yelled. All the girls attempted to talk to the principal at once, causing another uproar as each demanded answers and for the decision to be changed.

Robyn shook in my arms, holding fistfuls of my shirt as she continued to silently weep. In all the noise, Ava had slipped out of the office with the security guard.

Estelle's voice overpowered everyone else's as she snapped, "Are all the kids getting expelled then?"

"We are not at liberty to discuss this for privacy reasons, Estelle," Miss Moore informed.

"Yeah, that means no," Estelle hissed crossing her arms.

"It's inappropriate to discuss details of the situation with any of you. It would be just like if I discussed any sessions I may have with any of you," Miss Moore added, "The situation at hand is being handled."

"Handled?" Bonnie rumbled, "Do we have a right to know if we should feel safe with those other kids after what they've done to Robyn? We know about that already; what action are you taking with them?"

Mr Wittman held up a hand, silencing the group in the single motion. "Appropriate punishments will be given out to all involved, ladies," he assured, fixing up his tie and rebuttoning his coat, "But it is as Ava said, she has been expelled for her involvement in an incident that occurred yesterday with other students. We have a policy to uphold, ladies, and will not have it squandered because of circumstance."

"Squandered?" Amia awed.

"Circumstance?" Amada added.

Mr Wittman opened his arms when he saw me, a weird sense of delight on his face, "Ahh, Landon, my boy, you're already here. Perfect. We will need to have a little chat with you also."

Robyn continued to shake in my arms, spluttering every now and then as her grip around me tightened. "I don't think now is a good time, sir," I replied.

"Landon, please," Miss Moore requested in a calm tone.

Trying to suppress my growing contempt, I ushered Estelle to calm Robyn, tapping her on the shoulder and distracting her for a moment. "Robyn, I have to talk to them," I said slowly so she could read my lips.

Robyn sniffed as she scratched her nose with the back of her hand, stepping away from me and towards Estelle, who held her with similar comfort.

I was led back into the councillor's office, a small room made to be even smaller by the inclusion of bookshelves across an entire wall. A green toy chest was opened to show off the different dolls and games available, as well as a large oak desk before a wall of certificates, achievements and appealing photographs of Mr Wittman or Miss Moore shaking someone's hand or standing with students. The room reeked of plastic despite the open windows.

"Please, sit," Miss Moore requested, taking her own seat behind the desk, leaving the principal to stand.

I hesitated but eventually obeyed when I caught Mr Wittman's eye.

I had been in my fair share of student councillor offices over the past few years, but never in the middle of the term. Always at the start and when I leave to make sure I 'find my way okay' and that I'm 'not leaving because of particular issues.' Miss Moore had the sweetest voice out of the lot of them.

"Landon, I'm sure you know why you're in here," she said, putting her fingertips together as she leant over her desk.

I stayed silent like I felt I was supposed to.

"There was incident yesterday, involving Ava and that group of kids," she glanced down at some papers on her desk, "Anita Dame, Yasmine Toushi, Alex Carey, Logan Olive, Timothy Carlington and Nelson Davis. I've had interesting phone calls from parents telling me about how distressed their children were after being attacked by Ava. They all say you were witness to this." She pushed aside the papers on her desk and leaned back in her chair. "Is this true?"

I mimicked her as I leaned back in my seat and sighed, "Yes. I was there." No point in lying if everyone already puts me there.

Miss Moore nodded, "Landon, do we need to call your parents? Do you think we need to keep them in the loop about this?" Despite the question, she was reaching for the phone.

"My Dad's on an archaeological dig, and the school doesn't have the most current phone number for my Mum," I informed bluntly, "I got emancipated last year when I enrolled at this school if you're worried about legal stuff. You don't have to call them."

Miss Moore's hand still rested on the phone. "Do you want us to call them, Landon? What's happened isn't to be taken lightly."

I paused. "Am I in trouble?" I asked.

"Did you do something wrong?" Mr Wittman asked.

I tried not to glare, although I'm not sure how successful I was. "I don't think so. But what you guys think may be completely different."

"We're not here to accuse you," Miss Moore assured, "We just want to make sure we have all our facts straight. Can you please tell us what happened?"

I was nervous when I retold what happened. I didn't know if those other kids were truthful in what happened, and I felt like I was doing something wrong by admitting I saw Ava punch the boy in the face. I left out how she had hit me.

Miss Moore seemed to catch onto that though. "Logan Olive said that you tried to stop Ava but she pushed you back and you waited a while before trying again. Is this true?"

Damnit, I thought, my chest tightening at the memory of it. The mention of it made me aware of my heartbeat in my ears, the speed of my heart concerned me, but I didn't voice it. I clarified that Ava had hit me and it sent me into a state of shock. When they started questioning me about why I didn't tell them, I got defensive.

"Why are you expelling Ava?" I quickly asked, "She lost her temper, fair enough, but it was only because of what they did to Robyn."

Miss Moore held up a hand to silence me. "Regardless of what caused it, Landon, she attacked a student and threatened to maim another," Miss Moore informed, "What happened to Robyn is terrible, and completely avoidable if we knew about it, but because of Ava's actions she has demonstrated she's a danger to other students. It doesn't matter the circumstances, Landon, that is grounds for expulsion for the safety of other students."

I bit my tongue to stop from swearing and decided to sigh.

At the mention of my chest pains questions about my health were asked, if I was okay, doctor appointments, letters, how long it lasted, if I needed the nurse's office. At times I was convinced they went through a list specifically for me if I said anything was wrong with my heart.

The conversation shifted slightly to Mia, asking briefly about how Mia was since the incident, and the overall psyches of everyone in my dorm. It very quickly delved into a 'how is everything at home' interrogation.

I wanted to leave.

"Am I in any trouble for this?" I clarified.

The councillor and principal shared a look before she added, "You have afternoon detention for not reporting the incident."

I withheld from scoffing or sighing as I went to stand and attempted to dismiss myself. Mr Wittman was quick to dash those hopes. "Sports season coming up, champ. Saw your name on a few of the tryouts."

I forced a smile, pocketing my hands to simulate nervousness as opposed to deep seething anger. "Yeah, I have. Gotta put my scholarship to good use, right?" I think my laugh was convincing, but it felt so forced.

The moment my back was to the two, and I was approaching the girls, my smile dropped, and I couldn't withhold an eye roll. Out of all the girls waiting for me, only Mia caught my eye roll and sucked in her lips to hide her grin.

Estelle and Robyn had disappeared, likely to go find Ava, leaving me with the twins, Bonnie and Mia. "What was that about?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm a witness," I informed, "Never be a witness. It's nerve-wracking. I think I had a heart attack while in there." I placed a hand on my chest to draw out the joke, to which it was not received well. "I've got afternoon detention, I assume for this afternoon."

"What?!" was the collected response.

I waved away their outrage, more concerned by the fact I had been walking home with them for the past few weeks every afternoon. "Will you guys be okay walking home by yourselves?" I asked.

I got a murmured response of yes and fine, but our minds were too preoccupied with Ava to really care.

Ava's locker was on the ground floor outside block B across campus, and we were quick to get over there. The school was so empty between classes. The grass was student-less, the courtyards had no handball games in progress or weird games of hopscotch, everything just seemed deserted.

We got there in time for Ava to be in the middle of stuffing her backpack with her locker items. The security guard watched and wait patiently, even smirking when he saw a bright pink haired troll bobble-head amongst her things.

When we approached, Ava struggled to zip up her bag. "This is bull," Bonnie hissed, crossing her arms and glaring at a poster on the wall.

"It's really not," Ava assured with a smile, "Despite how unfair it looks, I did attack another student with the intent to hurt them."

"But why can't they get expelled too then?" Amia asked.

"Because Ava doesn't have money," Amada explained. This earned him an elbow to the ribs.

Ava didn't agree or object with the security guard right next to her. "This is going to be a tense conversation with my parents," she stated as she swung the bag over her shoulder, she staggered for a moment from the weight before regaining her footing, "Honestly, I think that will be the scariest part."

Ava didn't mention family very often, a part of me thought she was part of Robyn's family with how absent they seemed.

"What about Robyn's family?" I asked, "What's happening with them?"

Ava sighed, "We shall see. The school contacted Robyn's parents and told them about what was going on. They're flying down this afternoon to deal with the manner," Ava gulped, "personally."

Like Ava, I knew next to nothing about Robyn's family. Robyn never spoke about them, I've never accidentally intercepted phone calls or walked in on video chats or anything. I recalled the faintest idea that her father was a politician or some highly ranked career with the government, and I could scarcely remember what her mother did.

Ava looked to the security guard. "Ready to kick me out, good sir?" she asked.

Without a word, the guard smiled and gestured towards the front of the school. Ava dipped her head and started for that direction, turning to walk backwards as she called out, "I'll be fine. You guys stay in school, okay? I'll see you when you get home."

When the security guard started to overtake her, he nudged at her. She jumped away from him, putting on a strange, playful façade as she cooed, "Alright, alright. I'm going."