✮Ｓｔｅｐｈａｎｉｅ✮

CH.13: UNION

"You've come to the right place," said Paul.

He was seated on a table, drinking juice from a carton, and we helplessly stood before him.

"So..." Said Arthur

"Only I can't help you."

"What?! Why?" I said.

"Because you're gonna wreck the school's security footage for some reason and I don't wanna get my hands dirty... I just got a manicure treatment from those pretty twelfth graders," he screened his nails and smiled.

"Come on, dude," said Arthur.

"However, my apprentice might be willing to help you."

"Well, call him right away. I ain't got all day."

Paul grunted and made a quick phone call with his "apprentice."

Few minutes later, Christian arrived with a bandage on his forehead. Christian appeared to be his apprentice. The school nurse had discharged him from the ward.

"Yeah, Chris is gonna help you with your stuff... for a hundred bucks."

"You again?" I asked him.

"A hundred bucks?!" Arthur hurled.

"The security footage? I already took care of it," Chris said. "You've got nothing to worry about, Steph, we got her for real this time."

                    ***
I fretfully walked to the principal's office to turn myself in and let Nicole off the hook so my mind could be released off the burden.
Just as I was about entering the principal's office, Emlyn walked up to me and pulled me back.

"Hey Steph, what are you doing?" His glowing eyeballs spelt curiosity.

I had told him about everything and he shared the same stance with Arthur. He wasn't so surprised about Nicole's atrocity. He claimed to have known about it beforehand.

"Well, things didn't go as planned, so I'm going to turn myself in or Nicole probably gets expelled," I replied looking so pensive. I wasn't really certain of how positive my actions were.

"For real? Hope that goes well for you," he said. "Anyways, when you're done with your Samaritan act, could you please meet me at the theater? I've been working on this book for years now. Then I thought, why not make this a script for a lit play or even a movie?"

"Is it the one you told me about? Rain..." I tried to remember.

"Rain and Sunshine. That's how I got the nickname for you," he smiled.

Immediately, some girls sluttishly gathered around him and threw themselves on him.

"Emlyn, when do we get to listen to your new song? You know, live."

"Are you gonna join us at the theater soon?"

He looked slightly embarrassed but I was fine and expressionless. I knew that every girl had eyes on him and Nicole's social status made no exception. It was one of the reasons why I couldn't keep female friends at school. They seemed to be full of envy because he preferred to hang out with me. No surprise there. I couldn't find a reason to care.

"Oh, okay then,"I smiled lightly and walked away.

                      ***
I entered the principal's office and I nervously stood at the balcony, mulling over how I'd begin my explanations.

I withheld my thoughts when I heard a loud, manly voice yell in fury, in the office. In order not to disrupt the conversation, I decided to be patient until the noise was over or until the man would leave. But rather than taking a turn to leave, I stayed back to eavesdrop a bit.