It All Started in Detention

Chapter Four

"Why is this important?" Jack rolled his eyes as he searched for Katherine's contact in his phone, listening to his brother's complaining. "There's no way this is as important as your math."

"Like hell it isn't", Jack argued weakly, grinning when he found her. He pressed call and placed the phone to his ear, stilling his talking to Crutchie. "This will finally put Mason Rivers in his place, once and for all."

The blonde was more than skeptical, Jack could see that much. It seemed like a good idea, a fool proof plan that would get Mason to finally get back to Earth rather than whatever egotistical land he was always on. He deserved it, and he should be grateful the headline doesn't have anything to do with a senior hitting on freshman and sophomore girls.

"I don't know, Jack", Crutchie sighed, and for once, Jack saw humility on his face. "I couldn't give less of a fuck what happens to Mason, but think about Davey. If this gets out to the teachers, he'll be kicked off the cheer team, student council. This could ruin him."

He hadn't thought about it like that. For Mason, this would've been a well-deserved ending to a villainous story, a chance of him getting what was coming to him. But for Davey, this could be the end of his career; something that could ruin his academic record. Jack didn't want to be responsible for that.

He hung up the phone and placed it on his desk, grabbing a pencil and tapping it between his fingers. Jack sighed in contemplation, glancing toward his record player. "Then what are we gonna do to put Mason down?"

"Nothing", Crutchie chuckled, and Jack made a confused face. "Calm your face down, Papa Smurf. There's no reason for us to do anything because at our five year reunion, we'll all be out of college—moving on with our lives—and Mason will be reminiscing in his high school years, wondering why he can't get girls to come down to his mom's basement."

Jack chuckled, agreeing. Mason did seem like the spoiled type, with his dad being a teacher and his mom being a lawyer. Neither of the boys were sure on why they knew this, but they knew it was true. Mr. Rivers showed up to school in a Toyota, but Mason was sometimes picked up in a Mercedes. It wasn't a secret they were divorced.

"Anyway, I got another note today", Crutchie started, piquing the interest of Jack. He pulled the small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to the older brother, a small smirk on his face. "I think it's from a freshman."

"Yeah, no shit, it literally says the class to meet her in", Jack pointed out, remembering how his English teacher taught both English IV and English I. "She's bold, that's for sure."

"How do you know she's a girl?"

"Handwriting's too good, and if she were non-binary, Finch would've told us."

"Right." They both just accepted as fact that Finch Cortes had more connections in school than Crutchie did, or the same amount. "Think I should go?"

"Fuck no!" Jack handed the note back, laughter behind his outburst. "She's a freshman, dude. Don't get tied up with that."

"Good point", Crutchie mumbled, and Jack watched as he ripped the paper in half, tossing it carelessly onto the floor. "Any homework?"

"Yeah", Jack answered carelessly, sighing into his chair. "I don't know if I'm gonna do it yet."

"Ooh, Jack Kelly: such a bad boy." The older rolled his eyes and threw a paper at the blond, a little upset at the slight. "It must be why you got hoes lining up at your door."

"You're asking for it."

"Go ahead and hit me, dickwad."

"Assface!"

"Dude, you look like an asshole."

Both boys immediately stopped their bickering when they saw their mother standing in the doorframe, as if the very presence of her was enough to get them to shut up. "What do you boys want for dinner? We're eating out."

Even though she was there mother, she couldn't keep them from bickering for long.

——————

"Davey, could you pass the salt?" The taller sighed, handing the large container to his older sister without so much as a glance. It wasn't hard to tell he was thinking about something, especially when he continuously sighed. "Something wrong with giving me salt?"

"No", he mumbled, pouting a bit. His hand still hurt from earlier that day, and he was wondering what his consequences would be. "Not at all, Saz."

"So then what are you sighing about?" Sarah turned the knob on the stove to heighten the fire, a small smile on her face. "You're making the rest of us depressed."

"I punched somebody today." Davey swallowed over the knot in his throat, and Sarah choked. "And I feel really bad about it."

"You punched someone", Sarah repeated, Davey nodding his head. "You, Davey Jacobs, punched a kid at our school."

"Yes, I punched Mason Rivers", Davey clarified, and Sarah shrugged away his tone. She would give him a pass for raising his voice at her since he was clearly distressed. "I just sent four years of extracurriculars down the toilet!"

"Well, did he deserve it?" Davey furrowed his brows at the question, as if Sarah asked the most obscene question in the world. "Do you have witnesses?"

"Of course he did", Davey admitted, finding more interest in his fingers. "I'm not upset that I punched Mason, per se, but that it was someone. And the entire cheer team was there. Hell, that's why I hit him."

Sarah hummed, gesturing toward the pack of spaghetti that Davey handed to her. She opened the pack and placed the uncooked noodles into the pot. After a while, she turned to her little brother, a small smile on her face. "I'm proud of you, Davey. Good on you for using the skills I taught you."

Davey broke into repressed laughter even as Sarah punched him softly. "Of course you are."

"You're answer is easy: just tell the principals." That was one crazy idea. "If you tell them now, then they'll likely give you a slap in the wrist. I mean, this is the first time you've done this."

Davey sighed, rubbing his fingers against his forehead and through his hair. The chances of him getting by with this is about 30% considering the schools very special "No Bullying" policy. To be fair, he was defending someone, and Mason started it first. He was the one with the record, not Davey.

"Maybe", he considered, a small smile sent to his sister. "I'll think about it, okay?"

"Whatever, bro", Sarah shrugged, taking a spaghetto out of the pot to taste it. "One day, you're gonna fry your brain from the amount of thinking you do, seriously."

"Shut up, Sarah. Just because I'm logical-"

"You're an over thinker; there's a difference."

Davey rolled his eyes, walking out of the question and leaving Sarah with the last word. He didn't have time for that—there was homework he could be doing.

And thinking. A lot of thinking.