𝑀𝒾𝓍𝑒𝒹 𝒰𝓅 | Joseph Descamps x Michele Magnan

The Hearing

After Jean-Pierre got in a fight with Descamps, my family worried about the future of his education. 

We had watched him get up nearly every morning for the last few years and meticulously groom himself in the mirror before leaving for school--never a hair out of place. Then, after he would come home, he would spend hours relearning the content from the day while working on his after-school work. My parents often let him study instead of working with them in the shop, knowing how dedicated he was to his education. 

It was hard enough seeing him so distraught about his upcoming hearing, but it was harder for me knowing that it was my fault. I shouldn't have provoked Descamps and his friends, but I couldn't just sit there. 

"If only your brother could do something," my father sighed. "It was an accident!"

I had heard that Jean-Pierre accidentally damaged Descamps' eye, but I had no idea how serious it was. When I left for school in the morning, Simone said she heard it blinded him. 

"He has a disciplinary hearing this afternoon," I mentioned to Simone. 

"Stop worrying. There's nothing you can do."

I knew that. My parents made sure of it. 

"Guess what's today? Our first gym class." Simone rolled her eyes. "Guess what happened to me this morning? I fell, and I'll probably have a massive bruise on my knee for everyone to see."

When we made it to the school, I looked ahead of us to see the boy from the nurse's office earlier, Laubrac, glancing at me over his shoulder. 

"Good morning Laubrac!" Simone smiled.

He nodded. "Salut."

"Why did you say hello to him?" I whispered to Simone. 

She looked confused. "Why wouldn't I? You're all so weird."

We walked by that same bench from a few days ago, and I only noticed two out of the three usual characters lounging around it. When I looked around, I couldn't see Descamps anywhere. It must have been a serious injury, I thought. This might mean Jean-Pierre will get a heavier sentencing. Or, maybe he's skipping. 

"If my brother gets expelled..." I started, shaking my head worriedly.

Simone stopped. "He won't."

"You know what he did to Descamps!"

 "But you know what's good?" 

"Don't say the other eye."

"No," Simone explained, "he's at home resting peacefully, so the teachers aren't seeing him and how bad his injury is. But they are seeing your brother. They're seeing his tidy suit, his combed hair, his good grades, his good manners..." She trailed off. 

As we started to climb the stairs to the front door, the people in front of us stopped and turned around to stare at something over our shoulders. 

I turned around to see Descamps walking through the front gates with an expression darker than the weather on a rainy day. His left eye was now covered by a makeshift gauze eyepatch, and he wasn't wearing his glasses. 

I looked at Simone worriedly, and then back toward Descamps. My stomach felt like it was doing backflips. What will the teachers think when they see him? 

In homeroom, I couldn't stop looking at him. He had said nothing to anyone, not even his friends. He just sat there. What was he thinking about?

Just then, he turned to look back at me. We met eyes for a second before my face flushed and I looked down to my paper.